Social phobia/anxiety and drugs/meds [long]

[bouncer]

How effective are Hydrocodone (Vicodin) or Oxycontin (Oxycodone) for social phobia + pro-sociability ? I've never tried those and am just curious. Also buprenorphine if someone has tried it.

 

[PurrrinInOk]

How effective are Hydrocodone (Vicodin) or Oxycontin (Oxycodone) for social phobia + pro-sociability ?

^ I would not recommend any of these. In the short term they might work. However, in the long term these can royally fuck your life up if you are not careful.

Basically....you need to find out the root of your problem, and deal with it on an emotional level.

Drugs are great used recreationally, and in moderation, they can be pretty fun. I am beginning to learn that using drugs as a "crutch" for any sort of emotional problem usually leads to very bad things happening in your life.

PS Please DON'T listen to doctors who hand these damned anti depressants out like candy and say "These are not addictive"
What they really mean is "These won't get you High"...period
If you try to go off of them....get ready for a hell of a ride folks!

Any of you ever tried to go off of an anti depressant cold Turkey? This is some scary shit to go through!!!!

 

[bouncer]

What I was thinking was:
take 1st day Tramadol, 2nd day Hydrocodone, 3rd day Amphetamine, 4th day Xanax 3x per day, 5th day Alcohol, 6th day Oxycontin, 7th day rest on sunday
Or one could substitute Xanax with Klonopin.
Or alcohol with GHB or phenibut/picamilon.

 

[PurrrinInOk]

^ That would be a fun week!!! LOL Count me in!! However in the long term, you would just running away from the things that need to be dealt with

 

[Gaz_hmmmm]

Any of you ever tried to go off of an anti depressant cold Turkey? This is some scary shit to go through!!!!

I was using 20mg of citalopram for 16 months, I cut down to 10mg over a two period then quit cold turkey. Never noticed much, there was times whenI was getting mood swings, felt suicidal and was spontaneuosly crying, but it never seemed that bad (I probably sound insane! ). I began using H whilst I was stopping the Cit', so I think this might have helped ease the withdrawl!

 

[PurrrinInOk]

I have been on an SSNRI called Cymbalta (duloxetene) for about 6 months now..It was suppose to help with the pain of Fibromyalgia (it doesn't).
I told my doctor I wanted to stop taking it, they are fucking expensive and do not work... he said ok just quit taking them.
*rollseyes* what a dumb ass he is!!!!

I was on 160 mgs...I cut back to 60. I tried taking 60 every other day, I thought I was going to be ok....Then all of the sudden 5 days later my brain and body started feeling like it was being SHOCKED. My husband came home from work and found me balling my eyes out, pretty much in the middle of an emotional breakdown.

I'm on 30 mgs now, and looking for a new doctor. Emotinally I was FINE until he put me on this shit.

hmmm....maybe it's a good time to start herion LOL

 

[Valium]

It's better to try simpler things before you try MAOIs or antipsychotics.

I ride the xanax rollercoaster. But I alternate - every few weeks, I take xanax, and the following week, I take phenobarbital [75-125mgs] which helps me much better than xanax. Of course phenobarbital is very addictive and somewhat unpleasant [there is much fatigue that comes with it, not to mention somnolence], I find that this is the only system that works for me.

I would explore benzos more - if you find that xanax does not help [except in very high doses] you could try augmenting xanax with another, longer-acting benzo. Although my recommendations include addictive drugs, I still feel its much better to try those options out first before you start taking MAOIs and antipsychotics.

 

[hashforlife]

I know its not wise long-term, but I rely on valium to rid me of my SAD. I just try to take as little as i can, and I am also on remeron which is the only AD-med that worked for me.

I don't have social phobia, but i have asperger syndrome. It was called high-functioning autism before. For me it manifests itself mainly by me not understanding other people and their moods, and as you can probably understand that gives me some serious social anexiety. I can hurt someone and don't understand a thing, but complex math and physics are logical to me.

 

[aquariusraver]

best of luck

i am currently getting over a bad meth addiction which gave me bad depression/anxiety/social-anxiety and i know kinda how you feel, as hard as it is for me to be social or engage in a conversation, i make myself, even when im trembling inside,and im finding it easier and easier to look straight into someones eyes and conversate. the only advice i could give is to try changing whatever problem your having sober (the brain is plastic, it changes) i cant imagine having to be on some drug/supplement to be social...even though im still struggling with it somewhat....it gets easier everyday...and with every social situation im in

 

[blase deviant]

I was on 160 mgs...I cut back to 60. I tried taking 60 every other day, I thought I was going to be ok....Then all of the sudden 5 days later my brain and body started feeling like it was being SHOCKED. My husband came home from work and found me balling my eyes out, pretty much in the middle of an emotional breakdown.

Damn, I'm on 30mg/day for social anxiety, and have to quit because my workplace switched insurance AGAIN (they do this like every 9 months, and it pisses me off), and the new one won't cover Cymbalta.

Last time I switched from Paxil to Cymbalta, and definitely felt some mild W/D symptoms switching over, even though I'm replacing an SSRI with an SSNRI, so I shouldn't have felt anything.

So now I don't know what to replace it with, plus I finally found a good psychiatrist, but I have to switch docs TOO, and my new one won't know anything, and will probably put me on something awful.

What's closest to Cymbalta? Effexor?

And yes, your doc is a dumbass. I would call and complain. My doc had me on 25mg Paxil, down to 12.5mg for 2 weeks, then switch to 12.5mg Paxil + 20mg Cymbalta for two weeks, then up to 30mg Cymbalta for two weeks (forget if I took Paxil these weeks or not), then up to 60mg Cymbalta.

I moved back down to 30, since 60 made me feel... off.

I was on 37.5mg Paxil, but came down after a year to 25.

 

[PhorIndicator]

This is your answer

Hey dude, your post reminded me so much of myself. I also suffer from severe social phoebia as well as agoraphoebia (fear of crowds). I suffer from depression and a moderate case of obssessive compulsive disorder. And, unfortunately, I was born with a moderate stutter. I have stuttered my whole life, and it often intensifies whatever anxiety I am already experiencing anyway.

Just like you, I have been through all the drugs and psychotropic medications. On a recreational level (in other words, one I would NOT reccommend trying as a regular regimen), what works the absolute BEST for rme is Heroin, Xanax (Alprazolam), and a mild to moderate amount of dextroamphetamine sulfate. (5-10-15 mg depending on how much heroin or xanax I have taken. I am prescribed the 10 mg immediate release DextroStat pills, 40 mg a day
But it is really the xanax and heroin that perfect my anxiety. The xanax relieves me of all anxuety/stress/worrydouct/insecurities completely. The heroin provides me with the attitude and confidence, the comfortable feeling that everything is "all good", and helps me to talk more slowly and more confidently.

But, that was a tangent. Don't use all thos drugs daily bc...ernn... its not healthy..... hehe

What has worked best for me from a non-recreational or addictive substance, is the anti-depressant medication Effexor (venlafaxine). I am surprised your docs havent already out you on it). Effexor gave me my zest for life back, and instead of making me drowsy, Effexor almost energizes me in a way, but not a jittery/stimulant kind of way. In a a tramadol kind of way..
Effexor (velafaxine) and tramadol are almost identical in chemical make-up and structure. In fact, tramadol was originally planned to be a new anti-depressant..... but they found that is had opioid properties and the potential to cause physical addiction/dependence and had abuse potential.

Effexor is almost exactly like tramadol, and even has some very mild analgesic effects of its own. Furthermore ( you may already know this or it may have already been mentioned in the thread) but tramadol has anti-depressant qualities as well as its opioid properties (b/c it was originally made to be an anti-dep...... )So that is probably why it works so well for you, more so than most other opiates.

Anyway, get rxed effexor, and quickly. It starts working quickly because it has a very short half life. It is the most powerful anti-anxiety/anti-depressant drug out there excluding the MAOIs. I think the max dose maybe be 375 mg (notice the similarities in doses between effexor and tramacol; tramadol's max doseage is 400). I am on 300 mg a ay of effexor and its perfect.

One more thing, Remeron (mirtazapine) is an anti-depressant that is prescribed at night because it causes severe drowsiness. BUT - in combination with effexor, SPECIFICALLY, it has incredible anti-depressant potential. You will be so happy and pro-social people might tell you to shut up

My own theory is that the combination of effexor and mirtazapine happens to be the perfect balance to basically cover every single neurotransmitter in the brain, making it the perfect combination for what is ailing you - social phoebia.

There is one downside to remeron (mirtazapine) and it is the sole reason I am not rxed it; it causes weight gain and in some cases fairly significant weight gain. If you're already over weight I would not recoomend the mirtazapine, b/c chances are you'll just get fatter, which can cause a whole new depression all of its own.

 

[Oceanboy]

A way of seeing

Dear Mods this belongs in Dark Side.

In reply to bouncer;
Dear bouncer.
I really feel you have misunderstood me, and so it has prompted me to reply;


Peace

Originally posted by Oceanboy
Regular Intensive Cardiovascular exercise of at least 30 mins duration, 4X/week, pure diet with supplements where neccessary, counselling/therapy, yoga, nature treks.
This will sort you out.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




First of all I've tried the "natural" approach long time ago with NO SUCCESS.
Second of all, from what you just wrote (no offence) you have absolutely no idea what social phobia is. Your advice was like saying someone with major depression "get a grip","don't sleep in bed all day and start doing something productive". It just doesn't work.

For your "first of all" premise,
maybe it was your application of methods.To state that you had "NO SUCCESS" does not automatically mean that nature is not an effective healer.

For your "second of all" premise,
for you to assume, that that what I wrote ( i.e. a proven set of methods for healing oneself of social anxiety/phobia /agorophobia); implies that I have as you say:

absolutely no idea what social phobia is.

implies to me, that you may have little or no idea of who or what I am about, and perhaps little awareness about the power of Nature, who created human, who "discovered" psychoactive substances.That is OK.

Like I said B4; "Regular Intensive Cardiovascular exercise of at least 30 mins duration, 4X/week, pure diet with supplements where neccessary, counselling/therapy, yoga, nature treks.
This will sort you out."

There is vast amounts of scientific information/research to back this up.

I believe, that through reading your posts, some people I know may have downed more benzodiazepines E, G, alcohol and amphetamines than you have. Yes G + amphetamines can be awesome. These two preceding statements may be beside the point, however thus said, "drugs"/substances/foodstuffs have been witnessed to have the potential of being powerful and/or complicated in their altering of mood, and other life circumstances, and some of them may be a can of worms, making a living being dig an even deeper hole for themselves than they already may be in. I feel that if imbibed in, that they should only be taken with great awareness and prior education. This is why Bluelight.nu is so good.
Some substances may be similar to quicksand or a whirlpool and can be hell on earth to withdrawal from. Have you ever been to hell on earth?; Well it can be harder than social anxiety or agoraphobia.

I agree with the post of PurrinInOk:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by bouncer
How effective are Hydrocodone (Vicodin) or Oxycontin (Oxycodone) for social phobia + pro-sociability ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



^ I would not recommend any of these. In the short term they might work. However, in the long term these can royally fuck your life up if you are not careful.

Basically....you need to find out the root of your problem, and deal with it on an emotional level.

Drugs are great used recreationally, and in moderation, they can be pretty fun. I am beginning to learn that using drugs as a "crutch" for any sort of emotional problem usually leads to very bad things happening in your life.

So it really is better not to get in deeper but of course it is your choice.
However as the old adage says "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make her/him drink it"

You have my best wishes for your health and wellbeing.

I also agree with who mE;

I also recommend trying taking a B-100 vitamin suppliment each day, high doses of B vitamins can reduce phobias. MDMA is a uniquely valuable tool against phobia as it facilitates "exposure therapy", which is the most successful cure for most phobias other than social phobia. The idea behind exposure therapy is to feed the patient an agent which prevents the fear associated with the phobia, then introducing them to the situation they fear (for example xanax for a patient afraid of flying). I can definately say that MDMA took a part in overcoming my own social phobia, nearly 5 years ago now.

So E's are great yet they are showing you that
"What you are looking for you already are"

To add to my recipe for "curing" agoraphobia is:

GETTING OUT AND ABOUT AND DANCING WITH LOVING PEOPLE TO MEDIA THAT YOU LOVE!

Anyway, there is plenty more that may be communicated and there's plenty more excellent information and healing recommendations to be found upon Bluelight and elsewhere.
Peace and good health be all-ways with you,
As you know it's up to you,
Yours Sincerely,
O

 

[ebola?]

>>Regular Intensive Cardiovascular exercise of at least 30 mins duration, 4X/week, pure diet with supplements where neccessary, counselling/therapy, yoga, nature treks.
This will sort you out."

There is vast amounts of scientific information/research to back this up.>>

There, however, is NOT research showing that this will work for everyone. In fact, this same research shows that exercise is far more effective in the treatment of moderate depression in comparison to severe depression.

---ebola

 

[fastandbulbous]

Maybe you want to try the herb Sceletium tortuosum:

The effect of the plants combined alkaloids is an SSRI type effect, and some of the clinical SSRI drugs are indicated for social phobia (Tramadol also has SSRI effects along with mu agonism). It's due to the increased levels of serotonin in the synapse that MDMA produces its social effects.

 

[gloggawogga]

Basically....you need to find out the root of your problem, and deal with it on an emotional level.

Bingo. Its not what people here want to hear but here it is from two sites on social phobia and anxiety on this matter:

http://www.socialphobia.org/whatis.html

One thing that all socially anxious people share is the knowledge that their thoughts and fears are basically irrational. That is, people with social anxiety know that others are really not critically judging or evaluating them all the time. They understand that people are not trying to embarrass or humiliate them. They realize that their thoughts and feelings are somewhat exaggerated and irrational. Yet, despite this rational knowledge, they still continue to feel differently.

It is these automatic "feelings" and thoughts that occur around social situations that must be met and conquered in therapy. Usually these anxious feelings are tied to thoughts that are entwined in a vicious cycle of negative expectations and negative appraisals. It is a catch-22 situation: there is no way out without the appropriate therapy.

Here comes the good part.

How can social anxiety be treated? Many therapeutic methods have been studied, but cognitive-behavioral therapy is the only modality that has been shown to work effectively. In fact, treatment of social anxiety through cognitive-behavioral methods has the capacity to produce long-lasting, permanent relief from the anxiety-laden world of social anxiety.

Social anxiety responds to relatively short-term therapy, depending on the severity of the condition. I have seen significant progress in just twelve individual sessions, although most people respond better with sixteen to twenty-four meetings. To overcome social anxiety, completion of a behavioral therapy group is also essential (when people feel ready for this and not before).

http://www.anxietynetwork.com/spmed.html

If we recommend medication it is for the purpose of using it as a "tool" or as an "encouragement" while undergoing cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). If medication allows the individual to practice better and clearer at home on CBT material and if the anxiety is cut somewhat in daily functioning, then medication can be powerful and helpful. It is the CBT however that changes your brain pathways (neural pathways) permanently, NOT the medication. Medication generally works faster (if it works), but permanent results (physiological changes) can only occur by learning to think and beginning to feel differently. We use CBT to make these permanent changes.

If you are looking for a band-aid, get the medication and ignore CBT therapy. In a few years, you will not be happy with your decision.

 

[Tryptamine*Dreamer]

Originally posted by bouncer
How effective are Hydrocodone (Vicodin) or Oxycontin (Oxycodone) for social phobia + pro-sociability ? I've never tried those and am just curious. Also buprenorphine if someone has tried it.

Hydrocodone worked good for me. I have not tried Oxycontin or buprenorphine. I am using poppies now and have been for 7 or 8 months. They work great. When I am on opiates it almost completely takes away my social anxiety.

I also use neurontin for social anxiety. It is not quite as effective as opiates but it is still much easier to interact with people when I am on it.

 

[blase deviant]

On a sidenote, why doesn't medical insurance ever cover anything that actually works?

 

[Oceanboy]

Lovingly run for your life!

Medical Insurance Companies do cover Gym memberships.

Good post; gloggawogga,



Dear ebola,
regarding your post above:

Oceanboy:>>Regular Intensive Cardiovascular exercise of at least 30 mins duration, 4X/week, pure diet with supplements where neccessary, counselling/therapy, yoga, nature treks.
This will sort you out."

There is vast amounts of scientific information/research to back this up.>>

ebola:>>There, however, is NOT research showing that this will work for everyone. In fact, this same research shows that exercise is far more effective in the treatment of moderate depression in comparison to severe depression.

---ebola

I will have to gracefully and peacefully disagree that there is

"not research showing that this will work for everyone."

I have personal and observed experience that the methods that I mentioned do eat away at all kinds of depression and anxiety. I may attempt to endeavour to return to this this thread and to post more research data regarding this; however at this moment I am a bit short of time( got to race to the gym! ), so for the moment may we harmoniously "agree to disagree" on how much my "plan for solving all kinds of depression and phobia" is effective upon the person.

I'll leave you dear ones with this;

“What are some of the other benefits of endurance exercise?” I’ve already mentioned weight control and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. Endurance exercise also helps reduce high blood pressure and relieve depression and nervous tension. Moreover, physicians report that physically fit people bounce back faster from injury and disease. Most people who stay on an endurance exercise program simply report, “It makes me feel better.”
Following an endurance program will almost certainly take inches from your waistline. But more importantly, you will discover how physical fitness makes everything in life a little more enjoyable."

Shalom,
,
O.

 

[blase deviant]

Medical Insurance Companies do cover Gym memberships.

Um... either you have really good insurance, or I'm missing something. A lot of my friends go to the gym, and their insurance doesn't cover it?

 

[gloggawogga]

On a sidenote, why doesn't medical insurance ever cover anything that actually works?

I don't know about gym memberships, but most medical insurance covers CBT, which is what does actually work.