I have severe social phobia, and making conversation is extremely difficult and mentally taxing for me. I've tried enough conventional treatments to no avail, and am looking for the best drug available through RX to make me more social and outgoing. I know of dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine), methamphetamine (Desoxyn), lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse), and Adderall. GHB (Xyrem) also sounds like a good one, but I'm even less likely to get a script for that than the aforementioned stimulants.
Which one is the best for what I'm looking for? Any other suggestions or different classes of drugs are welcome (opioids possibly?). Thanks in advance.
the term 'sociabilizer" here is, permit me to be so bold as to say, might be misused. the concept [a frightening one in my opinion] of sociabilizers is more veering towards the New Society [not bj;s]where everyone will take 'sociabilizers' and will back in the synergy of love reflected against love that such a junkie environment will provide. But let's not get into ethics. How about basics. Since you can spell, which is exceptionally rare, we'll assume you're of some intelligence and then some...I understand that social phobia can have different etiology and that oddly enough [to those to whom everything seems odd and illogical and monochrome], CNS stimulants make you 'social social', so they take away that anxiety, which then has to be regarded as not quite 'anxiety' to begin with but some sort of new phenomenon for which a word has not yet been coined [anyone?]. Here's the fun catch - you can feel very socially outward bound when you begin amphetamine or MPD/dMPD, however, tolerance builds very quickly and you will need doses exceeding recommended guidelines. You can eat them by the spoonful, but you understand that with amphetamine, going over 60mg QD is not a good idea especially if your condition is chronic. If you were to use it PRN, then you might keep your tolerance down of course, and it might work. But unless you haven't yet been on amphetamines, be duly informed....it's a nasty thing to get into. Cravings arise even in the least addictive of personalities. Even if the drug won't act as a euphoriant, cravings will come and doses will rise - and if the drug isnt a euphoriant....well then, what kind of sociabilizer is it?
Just some info. Since I've taken everything in the pharmacopoeia of the US and the CIS...
1. Try Lyrica? There's a method I may impart unto you if you're interested, in how to make it work always, indefinitely, and not build tolerance. Since sociabilizers only work by distracting you from anxiety. Sort of like, to put it without eloquence, if you were having really bad social phobia and lets say you wanted to talk to someone you were drawn to...and lets say i tap you on the back, you turn around, i slap you as hard as I possibly could on one cheek and then upon recoil, the other cheek. You would be able to go up to the persona in question and not be worried because you'd be in pain and in fear of some strange man slapping you in a public place. You would be distracted. Thus, the problem with sociabilizers - they stop working very very fast. But with Lyrica and Neurontin, there's a way...to benefit, a small little method i devised as I use them interchangeably with BDPs.
2. Baclofen is Lyrica's deformed little cousin, but some people are cured of anxiety with it, especially the social aspects such as tremor of limbs, voice, sweating, you know the drill.
3. SOMA [carisoprodol], if legal in your country, is not a good medication. But people with anxiety disorders are sometimes not helped by BDPs or require absurd amounts of them along with some tricyclic and most importantly something that prolongs QT interval and puts you at risk further.
4. Meprobamate - the metabolite of SOMA is available everywhere except ..I don't even know. Singapore maybe. It's C-IV, however, docs will be reluctant to prescribe carbamates and such...and its rather hepatoxic, however it's been around for a very long time and in my opinion, is a very potent anxiolytic.
5. Vistaril [Hydroxizine Pamoate, not 'Atarax' Hydroxizine HCl]given up to 400mg in bid-qid, is an anxiolytic which is an antihistamine. Do not underestimate it before you try it. It might not work alone, but if you augment with another anxiolytic, results CAN be spectacular. They were in my case...it's an extremely useful drug, takes the edge off tension and all that. Doesn't feel like Benadryl, ultra-light sedation but no nasty feeling. Great drug.
6. Mebaral [Mephobarbital]. If you live in a big city, in the liberal part of town with the museums and the needle exchange centers/check-cashing joints, look for a psychiatrist thereabouts. Some will slap you and throw you out of their office if they hear 'Mebaral'. But others are not about controversy...but about treatment. It's a schedule IV barbiturate, not as addictive...as addictive as Valium, which is pretty addictive. Using this PRN is also effective. Barbiturates obliterate anxiety so well, you make a loop and become anxious again it seems [just shitting you] But that should be the last resort. Theyre not cool.
NOTES
1. You mentioned Vyvanse. Vyvanse, even though most of the full prescribing info talks about how it's been given a non-fun rating by meth abusers, is a realllly potent thing. It is dextroamphetamine which loops and loops and undergoes metabolism forever...sort of like if you took a loop diuretic, baking soda, and amp. I'd honestly stick to the good old Yellow dextrostats/drines
2. Let me get boring again and play by the rules. You complain of debilitating social phobia. This includes racing heartbeat, sweating, confusing, sense of 'losing it', basically a panic attack every time something is expected of you and youre being stared at and you think you must 'live up' to whatever expectations...even though you understand theyre ridiculous and youre just paranoid and that the ten thousand worries you have in your head about looking foolish will be overlooked by 99% of the population...and yet you can stop worrying so you withdraw or hit the bar to 'calm yourself', and that ain't good.
3. You suggest opiates. They will lead to very rapid development of tolerance and dependence. Plus, they simply act as euphoriants, and short term for that...and you will be clumsy on them, will not be able to drink, and will have a lot of fun in the ER. Not because you're a junkie, but because I know your pain with the social phobia shit, and if something helps, you use it...even if its very bad. Best to never start with opiates though.
4. Your best bet....why not a benzodiazepine? We have Xanax, Serax, Klonopin, Librium, Tranxene, Valium, Ativan, Temazepam if your doc is old skool...temazepam is indicated for anxiety disorders in my countries instead of treatment of insomnia. The best, and safest method for curbing social phobia is by taking benzodiazepines. An even more excellent idea, you can augment with a low dose tricyclic at bedtime, especially if you have trouble sleeping. Tricyclics are very very good for anxiety, notably Imipramine, Elavil, and my beloved Anafranil [25mg qhs give no sexual adv. effects but helps the anxiety a shitload]. Also you can augment with Buspar. Buspar is not very effective, but it helps some, and it might help you very much in combo with other drugs. It's also benign, and typically you feel barely anything from it, no sex. side effects, etc.
5. In the end, the most potent agents for social phobia are PAXIL, EFFEXOR, Zoloft is indicated but is not very effective plus weight gain....and Cymbalta is being used nowadays....interesting drug. Mood lifting.
if you want more info, PM me....i'm brimming with advice on this issue cause i beat my social phobia ..about 80% of it..not through yoga or tai chi or ECT, but through pharmacological intervention and simple methods of thinking about my anxiety differently. With time, I improved drastically. so dont hesitate to pm and vent if anything.
good luck.