2nd March 2007
dear sannah,
wowoo..the woman has definitely neglected her needs. i'm with you on that one!! dang, i'm becoming you, pretty soon, i'll be talking about boundaries, and people will be saying things about me....lol
you're a super-trooper...i knew when you weren't on here yesterday that you were talking to your friend there, and she was not going to escape the "therapy" thing :) :) :) nobody who talks to you would!!! and i do agree! completely. therapy in any case. most of the time it's therapy combined with meds that works the best in moderate to severe cases of depression and anxiety. at least that's what i've read, and that's what i've experienced.
now, if she tried 3 AD's and they didn't work for her--there are lots and lots more left out there....i don't know which ones she tried, but there are specific AD's that also work on the anxiety part. there's buspar (it's mildly sedating) and it works on the anxiety part rather well for some people; there are the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: the ones pple have been talking about that have the least side effects and are supposed to reduce anxietya as well include zoloft, celexa, and lexapro. there're also luvox, paxil, and prozac. then there are the ssnri's (inhibit not only serotonin but norepinephrine too): effexor--good for depression and panic, generalized anxiety disorder, and OCD; trazodone/Desyrel (works on depression, and generalized anxiety); Anafranil (works on panic, OCD, depression); and imipramine/Tofranil (works on panic, depression, generalized anxiety). the last three are the older ones, the trycyclics--but sometimes they work better than the new ones (especially when the new ones don't work at all), although they may have more side effects than the news ones, at least that's what's being said about them. sometimes, i'd rather go with the tried and true.
they also use beta blockers (what musicians and artists use many times to get rid of the symptoms of anxiety when performing on stage--that's what one of my shrinks told me once): propranolol (Inderal), and atenolol (Tenormin). then there are the benzos, as you well know.
from my experience sannah, i've found that for real, genuine anxiety, an AD is not enough (even the effexor wasn't enough for me!!!!!!), i need a benzo in additinon to it. klonopin and ativan have longer half lives (they take longer to leave the body than xanax lets say, although xanax works quicker, but one will have to take more of the drug during the day to have the effects last.
i don't know what else to say. maybe your friend won't need to stay on any meds (if she chooses to be placed on one or two, that is) for a long time. some people may only need it to get over the "stump" in their way. others, unfortunately need it for their whole lives. :(
wowoo..the woman has definitely neglected her needs. i'm with you on that one!! dang, i'm becoming you, pretty soon, i'll be talking about boundaries, and people will be saying things about me....lol
you're a super-trooper...i knew when you weren't on here yesterday that you were talking to your friend there, and she was not going to escape the "therapy" thing :) :) :) nobody who talks to you would!!! and i do agree! completely. therapy in any case. most of the time it's therapy combined with meds that works the best in moderate to severe cases of depression and anxiety. at least that's what i've read, and that's what i've experienced.
now, if she tried 3 AD's and they didn't work for her--there are lots and lots more left out there....i don't know which ones she tried, but there are specific AD's that also work on the anxiety part. there's buspar (it's mildly sedating) and it works on the anxiety part rather well for some people; there are the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: the ones pple have been talking about that have the least side effects and are supposed to reduce anxietya as well include zoloft, celexa, and lexapro. there're also luvox, paxil, and prozac. then there are the ssnri's (inhibit not only serotonin but norepinephrine too): effexor--good for depression and panic, generalized anxiety disorder, and OCD; trazodone/Desyrel (works on depression, and generalized anxiety); Anafranil (works on panic, OCD, depression); and imipramine/Tofranil (works on panic, depression, generalized anxiety). the last three are the older ones, the trycyclics--but sometimes they work better than the new ones (especially when the new ones don't work at all), although they may have more side effects than the news ones, at least that's what's being said about them. sometimes, i'd rather go with the tried and true.
they also use beta blockers (what musicians and artists use many times to get rid of the symptoms of anxiety when performing on stage--that's what one of my shrinks told me once): propranolol (Inderal), and atenolol (Tenormin). then there are the benzos, as you well know.
from my experience sannah, i've found that for real, genuine anxiety, an AD is not enough (even the effexor wasn't enough for me!!!!!!), i need a benzo in additinon to it. klonopin and ativan have longer half lives (they take longer to leave the body than xanax lets say, although xanax works quicker, but one will have to take more of the drug during the day to have the effects last.
i don't know what else to say. maybe your friend won't need to stay on any meds (if she chooses to be placed on one or two, that is) for a long time. some people may only need it to get over the "stump" in their way. others, unfortunately need it for their whole lives. :(