Mental Health What is an anti-anxiety drug that does NOT affect mental clarity?

[jaxs0]

SSRIs are too numbing and the sexual side effect is not joke. Benzoz are too addicting. What is something that would help with mild anxiety and depression laced with OCD, but does not impair cognition?

 

[chompy]

cannabis. and a beer or 2. been dealing with ptsd for a while now. but if it is mild anxiety, exercise is your friend. go for a walk, lift heavy weights w/e.

 

[jaxs0]

cannabis. and a beer or 2. been dealing with ptsd for a while now. but if it is mild anxiety, exercise is your friend. go for a walk, lift heavy weights w/e.

I don't like weed because it makes me feel too down and depressed. I used to drink socially (still do but less that before, which was in the weekends). Funny thing is the more i drank the harder i fought with myself to stay sober. So instead of letting go and loosing up, it was always an intense struggle within to maintain composure, so it never is as fun as it should be.
As for exercise, i am very health conscious so i already eat healthy and work out 4-5 days a week. Been like that for the majority of my life. If that is helping at all, i can't imagine how bad my anxiety/depression would be if i stopped.

 

[Kittycat5]

Hydroxyzine may be an option. It can be sedating but lacks quite a bit of the confusion, brain fog, amnesia etc that benzos or SSRIs may cause.

 

[Vastness]

Are we talking something you can take every day? Or just to be used occasionally, as needed?

If the latter, then low to medium doses of Phenibut, or Tianeptine. Tianeptine can be prescribed for daily use but I think most people would agree that it's probably not advisable. Both substances can be abusable if you are particularly prone to this sort of thing.

 

[peaceheeb]

Hydroxyzine may be an option. It can be sedating but lacks quite a bit of the confusion, brain fog, amnesia etc that benzos or SSRIs may cause.

Have you had any success with hydroxyzine? I've been prescribed it more than a few times but it never had any antixiolytic effect whatsoever. Definitely a bit sedating as well.

Benzos work great but certainly cause memory problems and just a general mental fogginess. Add to that the addiction potential and one can see why they aren't intended for long-term use. The same goes for barbiturates.

Phenibut was ok for me but had some generally nasty side effects.

Have you ever tried beta blockers such as propanolol? I take 20mg 3 times a day and though it is rather mild it does help. No mental fog IME.

Do you suffer from GAD or SAD or both? I have fairly severe SAD and have yet to find a drug that truly helps without negative side effects. SSRIs were of no use to me either.

GL

 

[Kittycat5]

I do not suffer from anxiety but find it to be the best of all drugs for insomnia in my personal experience. Definitely can say it calms me and gives that feeling of well being when I do take it so definitely see the potential as an anxiolytic.

 

[jaxs0]

Are we talking something you can take every day? Or just to be used occasionally, as needed?

If the latter, then low to medium doses of Phenibut, or Tianeptine. Tianeptine can be prescribed for daily use but I think most people would agree that it's probably not advisable. Both substances can be abusable if you are particularly prone to this sort of thing.

Everyday is what i am looking for i guess, since there is no occasion for my anxiety, its always there.

Have you had any success with hydroxyzine? I've been prescribed it more than a few times but it never had any antixiolytic effect whatsoever. Definitely a bit sedating as well.

Benzos work great but certainly cause memory problems and just a general mental fogginess. Add to that the addiction potential and one can see why they aren't intended for long-term use. The same goes for barbiturates.

Phenibut was ok for me but had some generally nasty side effects.

Have you ever tried beta blockers such as propanolol? I take 20mg 3 times a day and though it is rather mild it does help. No mental fog IME.

Do you suffer from GAD or SAD or both? I have fairly severe SAD and have yet to find a drug that truly helps without negative side effects. SSRIs were of no use to me either.

GL

GAD. A mild one. I don't "worry" per se, but i avoid anything that is stressful. That includes any issue in my life. Cant sort out anything.
I'd looked up Propranolol. I hear it's a "performance drug" to be taken as needed and that it's affects are predominantly somatic, alleviating the physical effects of your anxiety. I don't really get much physical symptoms from my anxiety, unless i am in really high stress situations.

I'd also looked up Hydrozyzine but for the life of me i cant remember anything about it. I remember something putting me off though. Maybe it was people saying that they got some nasty side effects from it but the side effects wouldn't go even after they'd long quit taking it. Or maybe im thinking of another drug.

 

[Kittycat5]

Hydroxyzine is an antihistamine that also has some serotonergic modulating behavior. The side effects are generally pretty mild with sedation being the primary one. The pamoate salt is the one generally used for anxiety/sleep (Vistaril) but Hydroxyzine Hcl (Atarax) should do the trick too and is a bit cheaper. Neither is wildly expensive though.

 

[jaxs0]

Hydroxyzine is an antihistamine that also has some serotonergic modulating behavior. The side effects are generally pretty mild with sedation being the primary one. The pamoate salt is the one generally used for anxiety/sleep (Vistaril) but Hydroxyzine Hcl (Atarax) should do the trick too and is a bit cheaper. Neither is wildly expensive though.

Ahh...now i remeber; drowsiness! That's what put me off. Cant afford being anything less than bright eyed and bushy tailed with my job. Any idea what is similar, minus the sedation?

 

[Kittycat5]

Is the anxiety/OCD worse than the depression and your primary complaint? There are more treatments for depression that wont make you tired or have cognition issues but many treatments do overlap.

 

[PerpetualAnhedonic]

Most of the treatment options for anxiety carry sedation as a side effect to some degree. They're kinda meant to.
You're really not gonna find much that don't carry sedation (or any of your other noted)- your checklist exempts almost every option in the book really.

If you're really concerned with side effects, I really would at least give beta blockers a shot OP- even though somatic aspects really aren't your complaint, I'm sure you experience them to some degree and many times, alleviating them will also alleviate some of the mental aspects.
They're not much good to me personally, I generally require "strong" psychoactive effects to achieve relief, but I don't seem to experience as much impairment or drowsiness to them (benzos for example) as most people seem to, so side effects aren't an issue- or really even experienced (unless used/abused at unreasonably high dosages or in combination).

I wouldn't recommend phenibut as others have. But I only say this because it carries much of the same side effect profile of benzos that is undesirable to you. Plus, I strangely found it to be much more recreational/abusable than benzos...
Otherwise, it's a very useful and easily accessible tool.

-PA

 

[jaxs0]

Is the anxiety/OCD worse than the depression and your primary complaint?

I would say yes but there is a possibility that the anxiety and OCD are caused depression, or that's what the doc thinks so.

There are more treatments for depression that wont make you tired or have cognition issues but many treatments do overlap.

I am interested to know what they are.

Most of the treatment options for anxiety carry sedation as a side effect to some degree. They're kinda meant to.
You're really not gonna find much that don't carry sedation (or any of your other noted)- your checklist exempts almost every option in the book really.

If you're really concerned with side effects, I really would at least give beta blockers a shot OP- even though somatic aspects really aren't your complaint, I'm sure you experience them to some degree and many times, alleviating them will also alleviate some of the mental aspects.
They're not much good to me personally, I generally require "strong" psychoactive effects to achieve relief, but I don't seem to experience as much impairment or drowsiness to them (benzos for example) as most people seem to, so side effects aren't an issue- or really even experienced (unless used/abused at unreasonably high dosages or in combination).

I wouldn't recommend phenibut as others have. But I only say this because it carries much of the same side effect profile of benzos that is undesirable to you. Plus, I strangely found it to be much more recreational/abusable than benzos...
Otherwise, it's a very useful and easily accessible tool.

-PA

I guess im also more worried about the withdrawal symptoms of Propranolol .

 

[Kittycat5]

Off the top of my head drugs such as Wellbutrin (probably the least sedating), the SSNRIs like Effexor and Cymbalta (Cymbalta is actually indicated for both depression and anxiety) and the nutritional supplement SAM-e (its usefulness is debatable however) all are less prone to make you tired or not feel sharp.

I know you dont like SSRIs but fluvoxamine comes in a controlled release form and is useful not only for depression but also OCD and theoretically should cut down on side effects to a degree.

 

[PerpetualAnhedonic]

I guess im also more worried about the withdrawal symptoms of Propranolol .

Well, beta blockers (such as propranolol) are not addictive so there's not technically withdrawals. Rebound upon cessation perhaps (small temporary increases to vitals like BP and HR may be possible), but not withdrawals.

-PA

 

[BehindtheShadow]

Off the top of my head drugs such as Wellbutrin (probably the least sedating), the SSNRIs like Effexor and Cymbalta (Cymbalta is actually indicated for both depression and anxiety) and the nutritional supplement SAM-e (its usefulness is debatable however) all are less prone to make you tired or not feel sharp.

I know you dont like SSRIs but fluvoxamine comes in a controlled release form and is useful not only for depression but also OCD and theoretically should cut down on side effects to a degree.

I used Cymbalta for depression associated with chronic pain and it was amazing stuff - I felt like a whole new person

 

[PerpetualAnhedonic]

Kitty, I would definitely not recommend or advise bupropion for anxiety.....if anything, it'd increase anxiety- as any other stimulant. It would be effective, in all likelihood, for OP's complaint of depressive symptoms, but it could wreak hell on his anxiety.

I know you're not keen on SSRIs OP, but since Kitty recommended one (fluvoxamine), I'll also point out that citalopram (or better, escitalopram- which, to personal experience was much more clear headed than it's racemic origin) is very well known to be top of the line for anxiety sufferers as far as SSRIs go..

-PA

 

[Kittycat5]

I agree. I was going for treatments for depression as well but yes, if you are anxious, Wellbutrin is probably not the best.

 

[CosmicG]

Doctors Best High Absorption magnesium glycinate. Ashwagandha. CBD oil

 

[PerpetualAnhedonic]

^ can't believe I didn't think to mention CBD.....good call Cozzie.
I know many people, personally, who swear by it.
Though it can take some time to start working therapeutically.

I tried it briefly awhile back and experienced no side effects.....but YMMV.

If you do decide to go this route though, make sure you do your research and obtain quality product.....I know of a few local "CBD" products containing synthetic cannabinoids instead or in addition to CBD, so there are definitely things to watch out for considering it's an unregulated market...

-PA