ANTI-depressant/anxiety pill that works?? (Think outside the box)

[burn out]

Dude, go to the site I told you to. Register, takes seconds. Get on the forum. THAT will get you on the right path. Get off fucking benzos, you wouldn't believe how much better you will feel. Things will get easier from there.

And I know you don't wanna hear it, but GO to therapy. DON'T make an excuse like you said you do.

Best of luck, man.

Once again I must second this. That feeling of low self worth that you described is exactly the thing being on benzos amplifies. There is so much potential for you in getting off benzos alone that I don't know why you would consider taking another pill before you had done that.

 

[d4rk3]

Once again I must second this. That feeling of low self worth that you described is exactly the thing being on benzos amplifies. There is so much potential for you in getting off benzos alone that I don't know why you would consider taking another pill before you had done that.

Exactly! I could write a novel about the hell they have put me through, and I only took xanax for a little over a year. Before that I abused kpins, valium and xanax but only here and there. Once I had anxiety from other drugs, benzos were godsend...

But fuck those little devils. Pure evil. They're damn good at what they do, but it's insane at what problems they can make!

And if you don't want to register for whatever reason, go here: http://www.benzo.org.uk/index.htm

 

[Romie1092]

Romie, you don't get the horrible nightmeres which mirtazapine is known for? I'd be on it (as I agree it's great for sleep-regulation) if not for the terror I experience each night I sleep on it.

nothing to bad, had some dreams that I thought were real while they were happening but to be honest, I enjoyed them lol. Had afew weird nightmares but nothing to bad and its not common. Only been on it for 3 weeks so far and slowly the side effects are going away. No loss in libido is good although it looks like ive put abit of fat on. On a good note it makes me eat heaps which is good for my weight training as I was struggling to eat before. Now I just need to work on eating healthy food again so I dont become a fatty lol.

Maybe i just lucky, well not really lucky already tried 3 others meds, guess maybe this is the one for me

forgot my dose lastnight, no negetive side effects still feel fine, will do my dose tonight. I learnt last week to only take it before bed, not at the same time every night like the other meds. Last week when I took it at the same time I usually did and went out, I passed out after 6 drinks, it certainly does increase the effects of alcohol. Normally I can drink 20+ drinks easily as I did last night.

only real side effect is I feel abit sleepy in the morning but thats normally gone by early morning/lunctime and I feel abit weaker although im training harder at the gym then ever so I think it might be more mentally of a physcially feeling then actually being truely weak.

 

[skillz~4~thrillz]

Are you seeing a therapist as well as your doctor? People who are in therapy while they are on medication see much better results than people who are just taking the medication alone.

Also, even if you have side-effects when you start a drug, keep with it for a while (unless the side-effects are a serious threat to your health) as many side-effects will fade away the longer you are on a medication. Don't get frustrated if everything doesn't get better immediately, keep with it.

As a person who has struggled with anxiety and depression myself, I feel for you and I wish you the best of luck.

OP..did you ever answer the initial question here?I read through the entire thread pretty fast and I don't remember an answer as to whether you are in therapy and under Dr care or is your Dr a psychiatrist?
I ask bc I think laughterhouse is right on.I have been in therapy and on many different meds for my bipolar disorder.If you do not have a shrink-get one.you need tests run and all kinds of things.You may suffer from something psychological that a non Psychiatrist will not only misdiagnose,but often prescribe the wrong medication-ones that could make certain psychological disorder worsen-disastrously sometimes.If your Dr is a shrink maybe you should think about trying a different one.Not everyone gets the right therapist on the first try.It is a profound and intimate relationship btwn patient and therapist,IMO.It is worth a try...some therapists are not for some people-that is life.
so find a good shrink,NOW.you can feel better.you can be better.I did,I am much better-if I can do it you can too.

peace n love..........skillz

 

[glitterbizkit]

I forgot to add one remedy which has worked pretty well for me when I'm feeling really anxious and have no pharmaceutical options - chamomile tea. It sounds lame, but I'm not talking about one teabag steeped in water - I'll usually get 2-4 teabags and boil them in water for about 10 mins, and drinking that really does help take the edge off. I'll have one of those every hour. I was inspired by a bluelighter who used this to ease GBL withdrawals when he had nothing else available.

 

[zenklm5090]

stablon

research stablon, its an SSRE with no side effects. Its not available for RX here in the states due to its expired patent. Its great for anxiety, and not scheduled, hence quasi legal to import. Its beauty rests in its promotion of neuro-plasticity

http://www.tianeptine.com/

-posted via verizon blackberry

 

[d4rk3]

Well, are you gonna go to that site and get off benzos or what dude?

 

[cato9lives]

benzos are the devil.

a brief (4 month) fling with ativan resulted in the destruction of a 9-year relationship and my losing the beauty of living with my daughter ---

they will disrupt your judgement and you will do things you would *never* otherwise do. like cheating on your better half.

first step is get off them. you're young, your body can take it - dont wait until you're not, it will be much tougher then!!!

 

[cato9lives]

i also have serious issues with social interaction of any type and the

"only seeing myself through the eyes of others" bullshit.

if you don't have a proper support structure in place, like lifelong friends and supportive (and non-insane) family, this can be a serious bitch to deal with.

i've been through SSRIs, 12 YEARS of tricyclics (nightmare to get off, opiates are easy in comparision), and street of every stripe.

what i've found *that really does work and is legal* - phenibut (Beta-phenyl-gamma-aminobutyric acid) - wikipedia it - this stuff also hits the GABA receptors but does not for whatever reason mess with your cognitive abilities - in fact it is also considered a "SMART DRUG" - and by god it really is.

tolerance will develop. so you will need to take periodic time off, and if you don't keep hitting that GABA subsystem you will withdraw - so, take kava kava, which is another GABA baby.

this works. the kava hits GABA-A while phenibut hits GABA-B or something like that, whatever, but the kava will prevent withdrawal from the phenibut while *restoring your original tolerance*!!! and kava itself is not considered to create tolerance to itself.

i cycle - 2 weeks on phen, 2 weeks on kava - and man this does work. the phen is far more effective for social anxiety, and it is genius at this, but we can't be in heaven all the time.

try it. both are legal and if you insufflate the phenibut you will only need a *tiny* amount - as opposed to oral which needs a fuck of a lot. so it's incredibly cost effective as well.

and you could probably use phen and kava to replace the benzos. but i would definately get medical advice - benzos can be dangerous to CT.

my 2 cents.

 

[Prodigycan]

dude you're having girl problems or social issues and this is making you resort to anti depressants??? comeon bro man up get off the benzo's get off any pills, take a deep breath go outside and just enjoy life fuck everyone's view, because u will never be able to satisfy all 6 billion people in the world.

 

[pygmycosmonaut]

i was prescribed to a wide variety of pysch meds in my teenage years due to heavy anxiety/depression, was given many different diagnoses/drugs by many different doctors, eventually resulting in a SERIOUS benzodiazapene habit (mainly Xanax/Klonopin) that led to 1 1/2 yrs. of my life being almost completely evaporated from my memory. Antipsychotics, Lithium (UGLY motherfucking drug - gained about 20 pds. in the space of a month, gushing night sweats, etc.) SSRI's, no real success with any of them. Recently, I have had a recurrance of symptoms, and although I swore of psych meds after all that shit, have scheduled appointment in hope of short term antidepressant treatment due to general unmanageability of my symptoms (loss of job, self-respect, motivation, etc.) In the past I have found best treatment for malaise to be psychedelics, particularly my beloved LSD, but haven't had the mental stability recently to 'go for it' sorry for the ramble, wish me luck

 

[edarrin]

Check out Remeron (aka mirtazapine). It is classed as a SSNRI (selective serotonin norprenephrine reuptake inhibitor).

In the lower dose ranges (15-30mg) it is quite sedating and has antianxiety properties. Good for sleep.

One thing though, I found it drove me nuts with restless leg syndrome I had to stop it. Until I discovered Mirapex, now I can use it and it actually seems to help a bit. I know what you mean by just adding another substance to the list. I have found no w/d from it at all and I've quit cold turkey a few times.

 

[burn out]

i was prescribed to a wide variety of pysch meds in my teenage years due to heavy anxiety/depression, was given many different diagnoses/drugs by many different doctors, eventually resulting in a SERIOUS benzodiazapene habit (mainly Xanax/Klonopin) that led to 1 1/2 yrs. of my life being almost completely evaporated from my memory. Antipsychotics, Lithium (UGLY motherfucking drug - gained about 20 pds. in the space of a month, gushing night sweats, etc.) SSRI's, no real success with any of them. Recently, I have had a recurrance of symptoms, and although I swore of psych meds after all that shit, have scheduled appointment in hope of short term antidepressant treatment due to general unmanageability of my symptoms (loss of job, self-respect, motivation, etc.) In the past I have found best treatment for malaise to be psychedelics, particularly my beloved LSD, but haven't had the mental stability recently to 'go for it' sorry for the ramble, wish me luck

what was your experience getting off benzos? did you recover from them? how long?

 

[andreas]

away from the meds I found a good magnesium/zinc supplement and a little 5-htp helps me the most and watch your caffeine intake,even tea seems to make me worse off....I would say DMT but that made me insane for while as it showed me my problems

 

[rangrz]

d-amphetamine, its great at removing certain types of anxiety and stress. via confidence and ego inflation. the worries go away as you feel able to deal with them with minimal effort.

however, not good for generic paranoia type of fear. more the kind of fear a dumptruck coming at you or being hit with shell fire induces. for that, its gold.

 

[pygmycosmonaut]

what was your experience getting off benzos? did you recover from them? how long?

I stopped using cold turkey when supply finally ran out. first 36 hours was a frantic (and unsuccessful) search for more benzos. Ended up seizing, fun trip to the hospital. After that, I decided to kick completely, and the first couple weeks were REALLY shitty, worse than heroin withdrawals i (later) experienced. ended up relapsing a few times, but for 2-3 days and not yrs./months. didn't pick up the habit again till a couple years later, month-long valium binge resulting in another seizure/withdrawal, but since then no benzo habit. Life is definitely better when I'm not beaned out all the time ;-)

 

[puckboy]

The drugs in italics are ones I've been scripted.

Various SSRIs didn't help me. No longer use them or plan to go back on them ever.

Benzos (diazepam, alprazolam temazepam) help me occasionally (I'm trying really hard to not get physically dependant again) and are not a long-term solution anyway, and can tend to make depression worse. But a good anxiolytic when your tolerance isn't high. Good to have around, although I can't go back to daily use. Benzo w/ds being hell ain't a lie.

Z-Drugs (nonbenzos) can help with night time anxiety related insomnia. Cross-tolerance with benzos I think.

Anti-psychotics helped me sleep but made me feel like a restless zombie, I hated those things, made me gain weight too. Wouldn't want to take these again unless I was actually suffering psychotic symptoms. Really didn't like the side effects that would normally become apparent in the following day or two, possibly longer if its zyprexa... seroquel's half life is much less I believe but I still got the restlessness with that one too.

D-Amphetamine is an excellent anxiolytic for me and gives me motivation and the focus I've always lacked.

I try to take as little heavy-duty pharmaceuitical drugs as possible, preferably none. Most of that shit just makes you feel worse imo.

Outside the box medications you want? I suggest smoking marijuana if your someone it doens't effect negatively. It has amazing therpeutic potential for modulating problems with mood, sleep and stomach (digestive) issues. Regarding the mood aspect, it can be of great benefit to people with some mental illnesses like depression/anxiety/insomnia. More study needs to be done into psychedelics too, who knows if theres certain psychedelics that could be used in low doses for medicinal benefit. I'm sure there is

I'm very interested in trying something like d-amph for my anxiety. I find them very anxiolytic at the right dose, and also make me motivated and energised compared to benzos, which may be anxiolytic also but they make me tired and apathetic too. Benzo w/ds would be faaar worse then d-amp w/ds I'm assuming too, haven't been though d-amp w/ds but have been through benzo w/ds. I plan on discussing this with my psych next time I see him. I have an avoidance nature also, which d-amph seems to help me push through and just do it.

On a final note... there is no magic anti-depressant/anxiety pill that'll cure all... there is temporary relief though. But in the end, you've got to make the change on your own.

 

[Artificial Emotion]

I hate how people demonise psychotropic drugs and say they simply don't work or the side effects of most of them are too severe. Pretty much all of them are relatively efficacious, however, like with any drug, what works with one person may be useless for another. In other words, there is no magic bullet. All antidepressants are more or less equally efficacious in a population on average.

Oh and these drugs don't cause 'brain damage'.

 

[Mariposa]

Check out Remeron (aka mirtazapine). It is classed as a SSNRI (selective serotonin norprenephrine reuptake inhibitor).

In the lower dose ranges (15-30mg) it is quite sedating and has antianxiety properties. Good for sleep.

One thing though, I found it drove me nuts with restless leg syndrome I had to stop it. Until I discovered Mirapex, now I can use it and it actually seems to help a bit. I know what you mean by just adding another substance to the list. I have found no w/d from it at all and I've quit cold turkey a few times.

15 mg of mirtazapine virtually guarantees me an excellent night's sleep and has mild anxiolytic/antidepressant properties as well.

Tramadol works fantastically for me as an antidepressant. Why am I on a taper from it then? Because it also gets me high. I am on a low dose (50 mg) and one day when I missed a dose, I got full-blown "dopesick". I have decided to slowly discontinue for this reason. I am doing fine with a 1/2 dose reduction for over a week now, and will be quartering the pills commencing tomorrow.

Using amphetamines to decrease anxiety? I can see the look on my psychiatrist's face right now. Benzos do not work on you because you are dependent on them. If you are able to get off them, get back on and NOT abuse them, they can, in fact, be suitable for longer-term management of anxiety. The key is not abusing them.

I am interested in these new anxiolytics not available in the US. I have had zero success with SSRIs, Wellbutrin is effective at mood lifting but makes me impulsive and manic, and mirtazapine, while helpful, really isn't as efficacious as I would like (and would likely not be in a higher dose). I will be looking into this route at my next psych appointment. My doctor may be able to find a way to get them prescribed to me, or at least give his blessing to me ordering them online.

Tricyclics are out due to possible cardiotoxicity and variations in my blood pressure (normal to low when on benzos, unhealthily high when under stress).

No, there is no magic bullet. Please do not write off cognitive-behavioral therapy. It combined with low-dose benzodiazepine therapy has made me just about a happy camper. I do very simple exercises, most by myself (a favorite is "thought-stopping" when I have a negative thought) that cost me nothing except the time and effort - well spent, IMO.

Good luck to you in your recovery, however you choose to achieve it.

 

[RedLeader]

Mirtazapine is a good medication for a lot of people. I actually really like it for everything EXCEPT for the nightmares. They are truly horrific, and happen without fail each night I take this medicine. But for those who don't get the dreaming, I would suggest this one. At first, you feel very, very sluggish, but over time it does seem to help regulate sleep and lower anxiety levels.