6th May 2004
This is my first post to the message board - which I just found last night. I've suffered from anxiety and anxiety-related problems(depression) all my life.
The recent death of a close family member kicked the high anxiety level I was living with over the last year into a depressed mode too. The combo of stress, anxiety and grief-based depression got to be too much for me to handle so I tried professional help. Many years ago I tried a therapist who in turn sent me to a psy. for meds. I didn't end up liking either doctor but some of the meds helped me through and I've used some off and on since. This time I decided to find one doctor who'd do the talk therapy and the med therapy all in one so I'd only have one person to deal with (and trust). Found a doc thru my insurance and gave her a try. I really wanted to learn how to work out a better thinking pattern for myself so I wouldn't constantly be killing myself with my anxious thoughts - mind racing, worrying about things I can't really change, worrying about things I don't have the nerve to do anything about, etc. Just want to enjoy life and be happy for once without this constant anxiety.
So I tried this doc and we had a great talk (that first visit). She ended up giving me some samples of Effexor to try and told me I'd have to build up to a good dosage slowly. She gave me a prescription for Flexiril (Cyclobenzaprine 10 mg) for my tension headaches. She also gave me Ambien to help me with my sleep problems. We had talked for an hour and I had a fairly good vibe about things, because I'd really wanted good talk therapy. But then at the end of the message I was suddenly loaded down with med samples and prescriptions. I was a little unnerved because I had not wanted to start meds right away but after talking with her, it kinda sounded right.
I built up to 300 mg daily of Effexor and got hooked taking Ambien nightly because I slept so well with it, no matter how my mind raced when I got into bed. I did some websurfing and discovered a discription of GAD - Generalized Anxiety Disorder - and knew that was me. That fit me perfectly. I also read that Effexor was prescribed for GAD and supposedly helped.
I went back to my doc and told her what I'd found on the web and described my anxiety symptoms. She recommended adding Buspar 30 mg daily. This was just after I'd moved up to the full 300 mg of Effexor a day. During the weeks since, I've gone through periods where I've had trouble focusing my thoughts and trouble finishing sentences because of the difficulty focusing. I got really clumsy and was covered with bruises because I was bumping into things. I'm not really comfortable talking to my doctor because every time I go to her I seem to leave with a new type of pill to take. And she assured me every time I asked that it was okay to take all these pills together.
I've since done more websurfing and found on one site that the combo of Buspar and Effexor taken together can "build up to toxic levels in the body or decrease the benefits of Buspar". Also taking Buspar with Effexor can cause "increased risk of dangerous side effects like serotonin syndrome". And taking Ambien with Effexor causes "increased risk of hallucinations. These medications should never be used together."
I cut my Buspar dosage in half and some days skip it completely (since it doesn't seem to be helping anyhow) and I'm worried about the Effexor since I've read more on the internet and this board about the problems with Effexor. But I realize too that if I'm going to get off Effexor, I have to do it gradually. What a mess. I'm not sure what to do, but I'm thinking of making an appointment with a different therapist - one that does not prescribe meds - to talk it out. Even if I should take some meds, which I have no problem with taking something if it will help (although these seem to be making me worse at this point), I still want some good talk therapy. I need someone I can vent to and help me figure out how to change my thought patterns so I don't stress so much.
I apologize for the length of this. I have a tendency to bottle things up but when I let go, watch out! Really just looking for someone who can relate to what I'm going thru and possibily offer suggestions or support.
The recent death of a close family member kicked the high anxiety level I was living with over the last year into a depressed mode too. The combo of stress, anxiety and grief-based depression got to be too much for me to handle so I tried professional help. Many years ago I tried a therapist who in turn sent me to a psy. for meds. I didn't end up liking either doctor but some of the meds helped me through and I've used some off and on since. This time I decided to find one doctor who'd do the talk therapy and the med therapy all in one so I'd only have one person to deal with (and trust). Found a doc thru my insurance and gave her a try. I really wanted to learn how to work out a better thinking pattern for myself so I wouldn't constantly be killing myself with my anxious thoughts - mind racing, worrying about things I can't really change, worrying about things I don't have the nerve to do anything about, etc. Just want to enjoy life and be happy for once without this constant anxiety.
So I tried this doc and we had a great talk (that first visit). She ended up giving me some samples of Effexor to try and told me I'd have to build up to a good dosage slowly. She gave me a prescription for Flexiril (Cyclobenzaprine 10 mg) for my tension headaches. She also gave me Ambien to help me with my sleep problems. We had talked for an hour and I had a fairly good vibe about things, because I'd really wanted good talk therapy. But then at the end of the message I was suddenly loaded down with med samples and prescriptions. I was a little unnerved because I had not wanted to start meds right away but after talking with her, it kinda sounded right.
I built up to 300 mg daily of Effexor and got hooked taking Ambien nightly because I slept so well with it, no matter how my mind raced when I got into bed. I did some websurfing and discovered a discription of GAD - Generalized Anxiety Disorder - and knew that was me. That fit me perfectly. I also read that Effexor was prescribed for GAD and supposedly helped.
I went back to my doc and told her what I'd found on the web and described my anxiety symptoms. She recommended adding Buspar 30 mg daily. This was just after I'd moved up to the full 300 mg of Effexor a day. During the weeks since, I've gone through periods where I've had trouble focusing my thoughts and trouble finishing sentences because of the difficulty focusing. I got really clumsy and was covered with bruises because I was bumping into things. I'm not really comfortable talking to my doctor because every time I go to her I seem to leave with a new type of pill to take. And she assured me every time I asked that it was okay to take all these pills together.
I've since done more websurfing and found on one site that the combo of Buspar and Effexor taken together can "build up to toxic levels in the body or decrease the benefits of Buspar". Also taking Buspar with Effexor can cause "increased risk of dangerous side effects like serotonin syndrome". And taking Ambien with Effexor causes "increased risk of hallucinations. These medications should never be used together."
I cut my Buspar dosage in half and some days skip it completely (since it doesn't seem to be helping anyhow) and I'm worried about the Effexor since I've read more on the internet and this board about the problems with Effexor. But I realize too that if I'm going to get off Effexor, I have to do it gradually. What a mess. I'm not sure what to do, but I'm thinking of making an appointment with a different therapist - one that does not prescribe meds - to talk it out. Even if I should take some meds, which I have no problem with taking something if it will help (although these seem to be making me worse at this point), I still want some good talk therapy. I need someone I can vent to and help me figure out how to change my thought patterns so I don't stress so much.
I apologize for the length of this. I have a tendency to bottle things up but when I let go, watch out! Really just looking for someone who can relate to what I'm going thru and possibily offer suggestions or support.