I accidentally cured my anxiety

[searching]

So I have a condition called SUNCT, it's a rare, very severe headache disorder. To control it I take an eye watering amount amount of medication: 600mg Lamotrigine, 120mg Duloxetine and 90mg Baclofen every single day otherwise I can';t function.

A positive side effect is that the lifelong anxiety, paranoia, avoidant personality-type behaviour, etc I've always suffered from is completely gone. I have true self-esteem and confidence for the first time in as long as I can remember. No longer do I obsess about how I am perceived by others, no longer do I automatically assume negative things about myself, it's truly amazing.

The Lamotrigine peps me up and makes me feel a bit more stable & less anxious, the Duloxetine has had a dramatic anti-depressant effect while the Baclofen simply gives me a calm, serene feeling. I abused loads of illicit drugs when I was younger, which looking back was me self-medicating for my undiagnosed anxiety disorder. I feel kinda high on the Baclofen, not a wholly unpleasant feeling, not sure if this is such a good idea since it's similar to when I used to smoke cannabis all the time. But damn do i feel good, haha.

So I have essentially cured all my mental health issues by total chance. I did not actually realise the extent of my anxiety/depression until it all went away. So this is what it's like not to walk around in a perpetual state of worry.

Even if my condition is lessened or cured by some other means (I'm having an operation in a year or two), I will still stay on some meds of this nature. Particularly Duloxetine, once I got to the higher dose it was like flicking a switch in my head, almost life-changing. I guess I just need drugs of some sort to help my badly wired brain.

Anyone else have experience of any of these three drugs?

[sial72]

No, never even heard of them. That is a handy side-effect lol.
What kind of meds are they? Antidepressants?

[SADnomore]

Well, I understand that Duloxetine is very similar to venlaxafine, which is what I take. Duloxetine's 60 mg equals the effects of 150 mg venlaxafine, so the dosing is different for whatever reason. Otherwise, both are SNRIs, both work in the same way, and are considered to be equals in most respects. When pressed, the odd doctor may say he prescribes Duloxetine when diabetic neuropathy is a problem as it is indicated for pain as well. Or that it is possible that their patients may find venlaxafine a little bit more pep-producing, but also that it is noted to create stronger side effects on startup. Most doctors see no difference between the two and say this has been shown in patient studies as well.

Having said all that, I can share that ven has allowed me to become functional once more, breaking free of crippling winter depression. The highest dose I managed to get up to was 300 mg. I personally didn't experience a "light switch" effect to where suddenly everything was completely different for me. I still experienced the range of feelings from sadness to finding humour again. I found this reassuring, because the last SSRI I had been on had me feeling very flat. Who wants to be like that all the time? On the other hand, the sadness is not all-pervasive and I have stopped spending time in tears (unless it was truly warranted). I have been able to do what needs doing, get out socially, and look after myself well. I feel blessedly normal.

I have tapered back down in dose for summer, as per my doctor's instructions, and currently am taking a maintenance dose of 75 mg. Perhaps this coming winter, I will find myself increasing (with my doctor's support) higher than 300 mg, although this is typically the highest dose that I hear of most gps being willing to oversee, before referring the patient to a psychiatrist. In my isolated community however, this is difficult, and it is possible he won't quibble about it. Last winter, functional was a very good place to be, maybe next winter I will be up for trying to raise the dose past 300, to try for this switch effect, in case there is more to be gotten from this drug. At present, I am doing all I can to raise the serotonin in my brain, so that there is more available by the time the reuptake inhibitors kick in more fully as I raise my dose again.

I am unfamiliar with the other two drugs you mention. I would myself choose to stay away from anything that made me feel high, as I feel that any feelings of unreality are dangerous for my mental health. I used to slip unwittingly and unwillingly into déjà vu and derealization all too easily, and I can't take a chance on triggering that kind of misery again. I think if I could easily pull my mind back into my own control, I wouldn't have needed an antidepressant to begin with. I could simply have marshaled my own thoughts into the positive and kept them there. I do need venlaxafine for that. (Along with some effort of my own.). What a relief when I was able to pull them around at last.

Also, it took me coming on here to learn that the symptoms of detachment from reality I had as a teen were in fact extreme manifestations of anxiety that I had suffered without ever being diagnosed. If that started up again, I think I would definitely start having panic attacks, and I sure wouldn't want to risk it.

Anyway, I digress! I hope you are able to continue to find relief for your headache condition, and your future surgery is the ticket for you!
Good luck!
Marie.

[searching]

No, never even heard of them. That is a handy side-effect lol.
What kind of meds are they? Antidepressants?

Lamotrigine is primarily an anti-epilesy drug (anticonvulsant) however is often used in bipolar disorder as a mood stabiliser at the higher doses. Baclofen is a muscle relaxant drug, while Duloxetine, as described in the above post, is an SNRI antidepressant.

All of them for different reasons their mechanism of action significantly calms the overactive nerve signals that cause my extreme facial pain. I'm at the very max dose of all of them though so I do worry about long-term effect on the body. I have a very poor short term memory and some quite concerning sexual side effects as well (just about able to 'do the deed' still but it's very difficult, I take other medication to counteract that side effect sometimes). I certainly have a significant loss of mental sharpness, I struggle with performance in my job (sales manager) but generally function remarkably well day to day considering the stupid amount of pills I take every day.

SADnomore, I'm very glad to hear about your success with the similar antidepressant, very interesting to read. It's funny, I would never have considered taking an antidepressant, but wish I did a long time ago. Hopefully you continue doing better. It is indeed concerning that I'm stoned all the time, but I quite like it, I have an affinity for mind altering substances, better it's pharmaceutical than illegal I guess.