Anxiety back

[shiznit76]

That's good to hear hanshan, I am now on 30mg mirtazaoine and 450mg pregabalin, so catching you up! Is the mirtazapine for depression?

---------- Post added at 10:52 ---------- Previous post was at 09:31 ----------

Have you had any 'talking therapies' offered too?

Hi, yes, did counselling, CBT even hypnotherapy, no joy. It is a genetic issue with me, obviously a chemical inbalance. No fun

[hanshan]

Hi Shiznit,

The mirtazapine was originally for anxiety and particularly disturbed sleep and anxious awakening throughout the night, culminating in waking up about 4:00 am and not being able to get back to sleep. The mirtazapine had a great effect on my sleep, but I was still getting anxiety, severe at times, during the day. When pregabalin was added in, it pretty much fixed things. I also think that some people just have their anxiety thermostat set at the wrong level. Whether it's genes or upbringing or a combination of both I don't know, but in my case, at least, years of various talk therapies only had a modest effect. Pregabalin kicked in in a couple of hours, and hasn't stopped working since.

[shiznit76]

Hi Shiznit,

The mirtazapine was originally for anxiety and particularly disturbed sleep and anxious awakening throughout the night, culminating in waking up about 4:00 am and not being able to get back to sleep. The mirtazapine had a great effect on my sleep, but I was still getting anxiety, severe at times, during the day. When pregabalin was added in, it pretty much fixed things. I also think that some people just have their anxiety thermostat set at the wrong level. Whether it's genes or upbringing or a combination of both I don't know, but in my case, at least, years of various talk therapies only had a modest effect. Pregabalin kicked in in a couple of hours, and hasn't stopped working since.

sounds very similar to me, kinda of wired wrong on the anxiety stakes.
Did you go right up to 600mg aor start at lower levels and worked up as anxiety came back or didnt ease?

Also, my doc said higher doses are normally only prescribed for pain relief, what is the normal max dose for anxiety and is it prescribed along with other meds for pain relief or is it acting as a pian reliever alongside reducing anxiety for you?

[hanshan]

Hi Shiznit - I started taking pregabalin back in the early days when doctors just looked at the range and picked a figure, so I think I started on 400 mg per day and then was switched up to 600 mg fairly soon. Most of the published studies of the time had doses in the range 200 - 600 mg daily. I've never used it for pain relief. I checked out the NHS site for pregabalin - it just gives 200 - 600 mg daily regardless of use (anxiety, nerve pain or epilepsy).

I think doctors have had the fear of god put into them by the opioid epidemic which may be why they have become cautious, but although pregabalin is used for some very specific kinds of pain (neuropathic nerve pain, shingles), it has no direct effect on opioid, GABA, or dopamine receptors, ie, doesn't press any of the usual addiction buttons. It is possible to become dependent on pregabalin, which means withdrawal symptoms will appear if it is stopped, but this is true for most psychoactive drugs that are commonly prescribed, including SSRIs and SNRIs. Basically, it's important to have a doctor that you can talk freely with, with mutual trust and respect, to discuss these issues - a bit hard these days!