I've been on and off meds since I was 16, (I'm now 24), so I might forget some...but here it goes. I like this post...I'm interested to see what others took and how it worked for them.
1. PAXIL.
I didn't like this medicine. It made me very "zombie" like. I slept most of the time, didn't care about anything at all really. Wasn't happy or sad, just kind of numb. It was like I wouldn't have cared if my house burnt down, or if I won the lottery.....nothing.
2. EFFEXOR XR. :) I actually liked this medication a lot while I was on it. At one point I believe I was on too much (300mg's), but once I was down to 150mg's, I felt really good. I was on Effexor XR for a couple of years. I don't remember any side effects when I first started it...maybe just the usual sleepiness that most meds cause. The couple years that I was on it, I felt pretty good. I didn't really have any problems with anxiety that were too bad, ...nothing I couldn't handle.
-- I stopped taking Effexor XR in February of this year. I started looking up withdrawl side effects, since if I accidently missed a day, I'd feel HORRIBLE! I found so many people having bad experiences with coming off the drug. I weaned myself off of it slowly, with my doctor, but I had to go back on it. I was okay taking even the lowest dose possible. But as soon as I stopped, OMG, it was terrible. I got chills, night sweats, vertigo, nausea, anxiety, "electrical shocks" through my body and brain, I felt like my brain was slush...just moving around like an ocean in my head, headaches,....I could go on.
But as soon as I took a pill, within an hour, I felt fine. That's why I decided to completey get off Effexor. It scared me how a pill could make you feel that sick, and then completely fine within an hour of taking it again. I didn't like the fact that this little pill could be effective SO quick...didn't seem right. And I was afraid of long term effects, since this drug is so intense. I'm now off it, although now I'm doing a mix of meds to find the right "cocktail" to feel better again. I've had a setback, mostly since going off Effexor, but I refuse to go bad on it.
3. WELLBUTRIN SR. :) My doctor used this medicine to transition me from the Effexor; so I wouldn't get those terrible withdrawl symptoms. It really helped. I felt a little funky,...but within a week I didn't feel any of the Effexor withdrawl symptoms. I was on the Wellbutrin for about 3-4 months and felt okay. But then my anxiety came back full force. The anxiety is so bad that it's a struggle for me to everday things like go to the drugstore, out to a restaurant, or a friend's/family member's house. I was referred to another psychiatrist who said that Wellbutrin can actually aggravate anxiety. So, she is slowly switching me to Zoloft. Right now my doctor is decreasing the Wellbutrin, and slowly increasing the Zoloft. (I"m actually going today for a med check, so I'll check back in later to see how I am feeling on different doses). I feel fine on the Zoloft and Wellbutin together, although I'm weaning off the Wellbutrin. But I don't feel any side effects from taking both together,...I'm just waiting to see how I feel just on Zoloft. Still have bad anxiety, but we'll see what happens when my doctor gets me on the right dosage of Zoloft. Until then, I'm also on anti-anxiety meds which are listed below.
4. ZOLOFT. :) Have been on a low dose (50mg's) of Zoloft for a month now. My doctor didn't up my dose at 2 weeks because I was still having some side effects from starting it. When I fist started it, I had a couple headaches, nausea, GI distress, and indigestion (no matter what I ate), and was just a litte sleepy. By the 2nd week, everything but the GI distress and indigestion were gone...and even those side effects were almost gone. By 2 1/2 weeks on the Zoloft, I had no side effects and am feeling fine. Like I said earlier, I'm still weaing of the Wellbutrin, and will be upping my Zoloft dose today, so we'll see how I feel. (Hopefully better!)
5. KLONOPIN.
I've been on Klonopin for years. I started taking it when I started taking the Effexor, maybe even longer. I think that Klonopin really helps a lot. The past couple years on it, I felt like I was living a normal life. I could do anything and not have to worry about anxiety. Sure, I'd have my moments with anxiety, sometimes even the beginnings of a panic attack. But I could usually always talk myself calm. I really never took the Klonopin on a set schedual, just when I felt I needed it, just as long as I kept it in my system. If I didn't take it for a couple days, I'd start to feel anxious, but I think that's normal. I really like Klonopin, and know a couple other people that took it and had really good responses.
--However, due to this huge setback I have been having with anxiety and panic attacks, I am only taking Klonopin at night, and only 0.5-1.0 mg's. I don't know why the Klonopin doesn't seem to be helping..(we're trying to figure if something set off my anxiety....trying to find the cause of this setback). Hopefully when I'm just on Zoloft, and I get this all under control, I can use the Klonopin like I did before. It made me feel so "normal".
6. XANAX ER. ;-o So, due to this anxiety setback, my doctor has temporarily put me on 2mg's of Xanax ER every morning. It's the extended form and is supposed to last 12 hours. I've been taking that for about 2 weeks now. Still makes me a little sleepy. Not sure how much it's helping with the anxiety...I am more 'chill'/sleepy, but can still feel on edge. I have gone a couple places (stores, friends,etc.) and felt a little better. But I still have to take up to 1mg of Klonopin before bed, or else I wake up shaky. No bad side effects from taking the Xanax, just sleepiness. I'm hoping that I won't be on it too long though, because I know Xanax is more addictive, and I'd rather just be on the Zoloft and Klonopin. But for right now, it's helping a bit.
When I get on a more set routine of taking meds, and I start to feel better,...I'll post how those meds are working.
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Topic: What medications have you tried? (Read 1506 times)
July 24, 2010, 06:40:37 AM
