Cdn_Paul
05-11-11, 17:25
I'm a 33 yr old male and I've been treating my GAD/Depression for the past 10-12 years. I'm not an expert but I thought I'd share my experiences in case it helps others who are starting out or whatever.
EFFEXOR:
I first went to my GP with anxiety troubles years ago and he started me on Effexor XR right away. I wish he gave me a little heads up on what to expect because that is one crappy drug! I nearly crashed my car while driving in the first week. Anyway long story short, I had some pretty intense side effects while taking it. I basically couldn't orgasm and every night I would wake up completely soaked in sweat. I can't remember if it helped too much with the anxiety but i eventually stopped taking it after a couple years. I was on a fairly high dose I think ( 300 mg ? cant remember) and I decided to stop cold turkey. DON'T DO THAT. I felt like hell and after a few days I was running back to the doctor for more pills. Ween yourself off any of these drugs.
CIPRALEX:
A year or so later I went back to a different doctor and wanted to seriously tackle this anxiety problem. He referred me to a psychiatrist. The doc (psychiatrist) started me on 10 mg cipralex, and a small dose of daily clonopin. At first I was pretty tired but he reassured me to keep at it. After a few weeks things got a bit better but still not that great. We phased out the clonopin and upped the dose to 20 mg cipralex. After a few weeks I felt quite a bit better but my energy, particularly mental energy just sucked. Also, it was very difficult to orgasm. Apart from that I don't recall any side effects.
CIPRALEX & WELLBUTRIN
He later started me on Wellbutrin and explained that it would reduce some of the sides as well as increase energy. From that point on we would continually meet every few weeks and re-assess my status. I remember we tweaked the ratio of cipralex to wellbutrin a few times depending on how I was feeling, either too anxious or too tired etc. That system worked for me and I basically stopped going back after things were good. After a year and a half of feeling good I wanted to see if I could stop taking meds and focus on maintaing a healthy lifestyle. I weened myself off, very slowly. I'd recommend halfing dosages every 2 weeks. The last bit was the hardest. I'd take a sliver of if every few days before totally cutting it off. Eventually I was off it and feeling fine.
BACK ON CIPRALEX
Now a year has gone by and a number of circumstances and some pretty stupid decisions on my part have brought back my old friend GAD/Depression. I went to my GP and got a new prescription of Cipralex.
I've been starting on 5 mg for about a week now and I've noticed some NEW SIDE EFFECTS that I never had before. I get this weird lump / swelling in my throat sometimes that is just strange and I never had it before. This morning I woke up with a crazy tight chest, that felt like a vice. They've both subsided, and I think they'll probably return at some point but I'm not concerned. I remember the weird nausea dizzy side effects go away after a while. Oh ya, I'm also suffering from a really sore back. But I bet these will also go away fairly soon.
The only things that I'm doing different this time around is taking Omega 3 pills each night, cutting out caffeine and also alcohol. I think its helping with my mental clarity. I'm also pretty committed to working out and eating right.
Good luck to everyone, keep your chin up things get better.
When things get really bad and depending on the circumstances / severity I like to :
- go for nice long jog, or work out. If you can do a full day of something phsyical like skiing , it works wonders
- take a nap
- eat something sweet or carbohydrates ( potatoes) ... this is a quick fix for serotonin
- talk to someone.... really helps calm you down
- watch a comedy
- take a sedative ( clonopin, ativan )
EFFEXOR:
I first went to my GP with anxiety troubles years ago and he started me on Effexor XR right away. I wish he gave me a little heads up on what to expect because that is one crappy drug! I nearly crashed my car while driving in the first week. Anyway long story short, I had some pretty intense side effects while taking it. I basically couldn't orgasm and every night I would wake up completely soaked in sweat. I can't remember if it helped too much with the anxiety but i eventually stopped taking it after a couple years. I was on a fairly high dose I think ( 300 mg ? cant remember) and I decided to stop cold turkey. DON'T DO THAT. I felt like hell and after a few days I was running back to the doctor for more pills. Ween yourself off any of these drugs.
CIPRALEX:
A year or so later I went back to a different doctor and wanted to seriously tackle this anxiety problem. He referred me to a psychiatrist. The doc (psychiatrist) started me on 10 mg cipralex, and a small dose of daily clonopin. At first I was pretty tired but he reassured me to keep at it. After a few weeks things got a bit better but still not that great. We phased out the clonopin and upped the dose to 20 mg cipralex. After a few weeks I felt quite a bit better but my energy, particularly mental energy just sucked. Also, it was very difficult to orgasm. Apart from that I don't recall any side effects.
CIPRALEX & WELLBUTRIN
He later started me on Wellbutrin and explained that it would reduce some of the sides as well as increase energy. From that point on we would continually meet every few weeks and re-assess my status. I remember we tweaked the ratio of cipralex to wellbutrin a few times depending on how I was feeling, either too anxious or too tired etc. That system worked for me and I basically stopped going back after things were good. After a year and a half of feeling good I wanted to see if I could stop taking meds and focus on maintaing a healthy lifestyle. I weened myself off, very slowly. I'd recommend halfing dosages every 2 weeks. The last bit was the hardest. I'd take a sliver of if every few days before totally cutting it off. Eventually I was off it and feeling fine.
BACK ON CIPRALEX
Now a year has gone by and a number of circumstances and some pretty stupid decisions on my part have brought back my old friend GAD/Depression. I went to my GP and got a new prescription of Cipralex.
I've been starting on 5 mg for about a week now and I've noticed some NEW SIDE EFFECTS that I never had before. I get this weird lump / swelling in my throat sometimes that is just strange and I never had it before. This morning I woke up with a crazy tight chest, that felt like a vice. They've both subsided, and I think they'll probably return at some point but I'm not concerned. I remember the weird nausea dizzy side effects go away after a while. Oh ya, I'm also suffering from a really sore back. But I bet these will also go away fairly soon.
The only things that I'm doing different this time around is taking Omega 3 pills each night, cutting out caffeine and also alcohol. I think its helping with my mental clarity. I'm also pretty committed to working out and eating right.
Good luck to everyone, keep your chin up things get better.
When things get really bad and depending on the circumstances / severity I like to :
- go for nice long jog, or work out. If you can do a full day of something phsyical like skiing , it works wonders
- take a nap
- eat something sweet or carbohydrates ( potatoes) ... this is a quick fix for serotonin
- talk to someone.... really helps calm you down
- watch a comedy
- take a sedative ( clonopin, ativan )