by SheilaM 34 Replies latest jw friends
Valium can be addictive too; no thanks.
When I was in the hospital they gave me PRN's of adavan; HOLY SHIT! That stuff could knock a water-buffalo over, LOL! You put that majic little pill under your tongue and you're a zombie.
My mother was addicted to valium in the 70's due to a marriage from hell, thanks mainly to my father (who would go off for days at a time partying). No thanks.
Shamus:
I take Paxil, and it works, but say a complete and final goodbye to any sex life that you may have enjoyed. If you think I'm kidding, just try it.
Been there done that with different ones, it is so bad it can wreck a marriage. My goodie-2 shoes JW X wife actually thought I must have had 'sombody on the side' cause of our sex life problems -- even tho' I gave her the attention. I'm sure others have had this problem, too.
See what your Doc says about 'Remeron' a new class of drug...it is not a SSRI. It worked extremely well for me, it is well known to produce almost no bad side-effects. The only one they said is common is weight gain, it makes you crave carbohydrates. I did gain 40lbs...then lost it after I stopped it.
Rabbit,
Thanks for the advice; after years on drugs, I'm going off them slowly. By this time next year it will be all homeopathic for me; no more ssri's, or other chemical altering garbage to blow my brain cells.
The last time I tried a med switch, I had brain zaps, horrible depression, had to take time off work; no thanks. Meds are done in my books. Pfizer will have to take this as a loss.
I had panic disorder (yes, it can go away!) and was given prozac for it. I took it for a year and then stopped (during which time I did have the so-called sexual side-effects) then I took it again for a year and had no side effects. Go figure.
I'm not a doctor either, but it does sound to me like your sister has a combination of depression and anxiety/panic with agoraphobia. An SSRI (like prozac -- which is now generic and cheap, or wellbutrin or paxil or zoloft) would take care of that very quickly. I have an aunt that is bipolar and was on lithium. She had a horrible time with it. If her insurance doesn't cover a visit to a psychiatrist (which I had a hard time believing) you should look for clinics that offer sliding scales based on income. If you live near a major university I would suggest looking there.
my hubby took prozac and it worked wonders for him but sad to say had the nasty sexual side effects, which of course casued him to stop it. Nothing else he has ever taken helped as much as prozac. Effexor caused him to gain about 30 # in one month. Bad, very bad. Zoloft caused weight gain and it too had sexual side effects. Really almost all the depression drugs have sexual side effects, (and cause weight gain) with the possible exception of Wellbutrin. But not everyone can take that drug. it is generally an energizing drug, and if u are in a agaitated depression, it is not for u. Also if u have history of seizures, u CAN NOT take this drug.
Ther are some special meds just for agoraphobia/OCD. Ask doc about them.
The benzos have a place in treatment of anxiety and panic. Klonopin is good with panic. But docs generally prescribe the antidepressants. Ativan makes a great rescue drug for panic and severe anxiety. Put it under your tongue and within minutes u feel better. I see it as along the same line as a asthma rescue inhaler. It should not be your first line of attack, but it is good to have for the panic attack.Most docs do not prescribe valium anymore, but u can still get ativan and xanax from a psychiatrist. These drugs are very useful and if used as prescvribed, are a godsend.
Research is going on everday, and i think they will eventually find more effective meds to treat depression and control the side effects,which is why so many people stop taking their meds.
B/c i am bi-poplar, i can't take any of the antidepressants, except for one. A very old one, despermine. And i can only take it in tiney doses, way below the recommended dosages. Basically, all the antidepressants throw me into a manic attack.. not good. The old MAO inhibitors can be used for this, but they have food restrictions b/c if wrong foods are eaten it can cause a serius hypertensive crisis. So they are not prescribed a lot. but they do sometimes work for atypical depression when all else fails.
I worked in adult Psych for 10 years and also am bipolar. so i have tried most of the known drugs. I have also administered them to patients. It is such an individual thing, docs just keep trying one drug after another until they hit on one that helps u without too many nasty side effects. sometimes the cure is worse than the disease.
