Hello

[Star]

I'm new to this forum, just found it actually via pysch central. :)

I am a 25 year old and I suffer from GAD, SAD, Clinical Depression, and PTSD.

Just wanted to give you guys a little intro.
I've become very knowledgable about these disorders as I've been suffering with it for over 8 years.
I'm currently on Effexor, but have also been on Zoloft, Mirtazipine, Celexa, Ativan and Klonopin. (Not in any specific order)

I'm here to offer support and also to recieve it when I need some. :)

I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you.

[lifeforce]

Hi Star

Pleased to meet you :). Wow, that's a long time to have to deal with these miserable disorders. I know it is'nt much fun at all. I've got the GAD and depression (sorry, not sure what SAD is) and I have tried Celexa off and on for a few years with some success. Lately, I've been taking benzos (Ativan actually) and it's helping a lot but I try to take the minimum dose so I don't become too dependant on it (or tolerant). Anyway, welcome aboard!. 

[Star]

Thank you Lifeforce.

SAD means Seasonal Affective Disorder.
I was diagosed at 16 with anxiety and depression, later PTSD.
I know however that I have had anxiety at a much younger age.

Nice to meet you. :)

[Kelly_B]

Hello to both of you.

I suffer from panic attacks from agoraphobia.  I've had panic attacks for 9 years and I was recently put on Effexor.  I used to be on Lexapro but I gained weight.  I'm trying to wean myself off of the Effexor due to the side effects of coming off of the AD.  I've read a lot of things on www.webmd.com, in their message center of other people have real bad reactions. 

Star,

How long have you been on Effexor?

[Star]

Kelly I've been on Effexor since...............now I got to think lol. I weened off Remeron (because it made me gain weight as well, and it stopped working for me) in November of this year, started to take the Remeron while weening off the Remeron... So for 6 months roughly?

[lifeforce]

Has anyone here ever tried Buspar?. My doctor prescribed this for me about two years ago for really bad anxiety and it worked good until I went off of it because it caused fuzzy thinking and some mild memory problems. It definately did work though and a close freind even commented that she saw a "big difference" in me. I also experienced no anxiety while I was on it but when I tried a higher dosage my lungs felt "paralyzed" and I was barely able to breath.

I'm seriously entertaining the idea of giving it another try as an alternative to some of these more powerful drugs. Celexa was very good (at least for me) but I had some mild libido problems. Lexapro is supposed to be a purified version of Celexa but I've not heard good things about it .

[Star]

No i've never been on it.
However I was on Celexa and had a horrible time on it... :-\

[twodogs]

To Star

I was reading your post where you mentioned "seasonal effective disorder" and as the name would seem to imply, this is something that occurs during a certain part of the season, am I correct?. If I am, my next question was going to be which part of the year does this effect you because I have certain times each year when I start getting really depressed but I always just attributed it to the "blues" or something in the air.

[lifeforce]

Star - what kinds of side effects did you have from Celexa?.

[Star]

Twodogs

With SAD it usually started to hit me around September, and would go on until about March roughly.

Last year it started early, it started in August which was strange, because the weather was still beautiful then.
But as time went on I wasn't too bad this year. I do have a lightbox that I can or should use during those darker months. As soon as there is lack of sun I feel it. It could be like today, if there is overcast skies for 2 or 3 days it effects me.



Lifeforce

I got it all, I was on the smallest dose possible for Celexa and it was still effecting me. Mostly I got alot of anxiety, agitation, jitteriness, upset stomache... I honestly can't recall more then that as it was a long time ago that I was on Celexa, I remember those though, mainly the agitation, anxiety the not being able to stay still, I may have got little shocks on it as well.... I've been on 2 different meds since then, and that was over a year ago now I believe since I have been on that certain drug.

[twodogs]

Star, This does sounds very much like what I go through every year. Thank you for sharing that with me. I'll talk to my doc about it when I go into the clinic again. On the "brain shocks" thing, I got this while I was taking Paxil and thought I was going mad until I heard other people claiming they had the same side effects from it (I think I even remember seeing a forum for X-Paxil users somewhere out there). I also heard that Paxil is hard to get off of and you have to slowly taper the dose. It would'nt suprize me if Celexa has some of the same side effects including the "head shocks". Have you found anything that works for your SAD?.

[Star]

Twodogs

What helped me with SAD was light therapy- going outside while the sun is out (on winter days) or sitting by a window.
I can really tell the difference when I've been lacking sun, and then when it's out and hits me in the face I feel instantly better.
I suffer from Clinical Depression as well as SAD so I feel this all the time, but again not as bad as the 'dark' months.

Meds help as well, therapy talking with my psychiatrist who i've been with for the past 8 yrs, over that now. She has been a great help.

Trying to think postive, writing down postive thoughts on paper, even if I don't believe them at the time, it still help.

I don't know if I got the shocks coming off of the Celexa, I can't recall to be honest, but I did get them with something, I don't remember if it was 'brain' shock or just a body shock again it was a long time ago.

The only medication that I had an extremely hard time coming off of where I got severe withdrawals and became so sick I thought I might as well be in Detox was Remeron (Mirtazipine).

I'm currently on Effexor now, I'm dreading the day I may have to get off of it, because I hear that the withdrawal is worse then any of the other meds.

Oh well, hopefully that wont occur anytime soon.
Good luck.

[GreyGoose]

Welcome to the forums Star :)

A new "Latest Health-Related News" section has recently been added to our community. Other news categories will be added soon. The main page is located here...

http://www.anxietyzone.com/mnews.html

In the "Latest Mental Health Information" news box (you may have to scroll down a ways), there is an interesting article on SAD. Not sure if this would be of interest to you or not but the article mentions the use of "light therapy" and that got me thinking about your mention of the lightbox in your last post.

- GreyGoose

[Star]

GreyGoose thank you. :) I just got your PM and will read more on that link tomorrow.
I'm sure that I'll find it helpful. :)

Thank you for the welcome...Talk to you later...