Re: Deep Brain Stimulation
Quote:
Originally Posted by
panic_down_under
So did you take the antidepressants (ADs) daily, or just when anxiety got bad?
Yes, I took them every single day for years.
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Which pretty much ensures venlafaxine won't work. Whatever benefits you're getting from it probably owe more to the placebo effect than the med.
Antidepressants have no direct effect on anxiety, or depression in the way say aspirin has on a headache. They work by stimulating the growth of
new brain cells (neurogenesis) to replace cells killed, or prevented from growing by high brain stress hormone levels. The therapeutic response is produced by these new cells and the stronger interconnections they forge, not the meds directly. For more detailed explanations see:
Depression and the Birth and Death of Brain Cells (
PDF) and
How antidepressant drugs act.
Venlafaxine has a very short half-life, around 15 hours for the XL extended release version. By taking it ever second day you are probably continually switching neurogenesis on and off and essentially training the brain to stop responding to the med. ADs need to be taken daily.
I know it’s strange, but I assure you that this does help for me. Believe me or not. I figured this out only because I forgot to take my effexor one day, and I got double vision and cried a lot. But I noticed I was able to do a bit more than I normally could. I experimented with this until I found the smallest dose I could do it with.
Yeah, I’ve had hydroxyzine. I feel nothing when I take it.
Re: Deep Brain Stimulation
I also get these strange physical sensations in three places: a sort of painful pressure-like feeling behind the eyes and maxillo region, tingling in my forehead, and another weird pressure-like sensation in my cheeks. I once mentioned this on a forum, and someone directed me to trigeminal neuralgia. This makes me think my panic disorder is somehow affecting my brain around where the trigeminal nerve enters the brainstem. I discovered trigeminal nerve stimulation is a thing. There is a device for this for when you sleep. It’s basically for ADHD and I think depression. It has been studied at least a little for PTSD and panic disorder, I think. I kind of want to try it.
Re: Deep Brain Stimulation
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bluewalls
I know it’s strange, but I assure you that this does help for me. Believe me or not. I figured this out only because I forgot to take my effexor one day, and I got double vision and cried a lot. But I noticed I was able to do a bit more than I normally could. I experimented with this until I found the smallest dose I could do it with.
No, nothing strange at all. You're taking a sub therapeutic dose which isn't causing side-effects which has you thinking you're doing better. So why do you want deep-brain stimulation to get your life back?
Quote:
I discovered trigeminal nerve stimulation is a thing. There is a device for this for when you sleep. It’s basically for ADHD and I think depression. It has been studied at least a little for PTSD and panic disorder, I think. I kind of want to try it.
I covered this in my original reply. It doesn't seem to work for anxiety disorders, but a team at the University of California LA is currently running a phase 1 trial for PTSD. Phase 1 trials are run to determine safety, not efficacy.
Re: Deep Brain Stimulation
Quote:
Originally Posted by
panic_down_under
No, nothing strange at all. You're taking a sub therapeutic dose which isn't causing side-effects which has you thinking you're doing better. So why do you want deep-brain stimulation to get your life back?
I covered this in my original reply. It doesn't seem to work for anxiety disorders, but a team at the University of California LA is currently running a phase 1 trial for PTSD. Phase 1 trials are run to determine safety, not efficacy.
I’ll be trying imipramine soon. Woopy.
And yes, I know. A full therapeutic dose every single day for at least 6 to 8 weeks before any determination can be made about its efficacy.
Re: Deep Brain Stimulation
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bluewalls
I’ll be trying imipramine soon. Woopy.
Taking imipramine may not be as exciting as the electronic wizardry, but is more likely to work.