Question:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I’ve been taking Serevent 2 puffs twice a day and Flovent two puffs twice a day for about 6 months with amazing results.  I’ve gotten to the point that I rarely use my Proventil which is almost a miracle to me. In the last week or so I’ve started having anxiety-like attacks in the evening. I don’t have racing hearbeat but I feel extremely anxious and weird.  Kinda like I took too much Theo-Dur, if any of you know that feeling.  It is very intense.  The only thing I can link it to is the evening dose of Serevent. Has anyone else had this? Maybe I only need to take the Serevent in the a.m.?  I’m going to see my doc but thought I would ask here just in case he tries to tell me I’m nuts (G). Thanks for your help. CarolR

Saw my doctor today and he said the Serevent can cause the anxiety problems. He suggested I try 1 puff twice a day, or 2 puffs in the a.m. and 1 at night to see if that would work.  Also told me to use my peak flow meter to see if I even needed to the Serevent to open the airways.  I had been using to open it up so the Flovent would work.  So…we shall see how it goes. Thanks for all your notes. CarolR

Response:

I’ve been taking Serevent 2 puffs twice a day and Flovent two puffs twice a day for about 6 months with amazing results.  I’ve gotten to the point that I rarely use my Proventil which is almost a miracle to me. In the last week or so I’ve started having anxiety-like attacks in the evening.  I don’t have racing hearbeat but I feel extremely anxious and weird.  Kinda like I took too much Theo-Dur, if any of you know that feeling.  It is very intense.  The only thing I can link it to is the evening dose of Serevent.  Has anyone else had this? Maybe I only need to take the Serevent in the a.m.?  I’m going to see my doc but thought I would ask here just in case he tries to tell me I’m nuts (G). Thanks for your help. CarolR

Response:

You are not nuts. I had the same experience and had to eventually cut out the Serevent due to the anxiety attacks. I know I am very sensitive to medications, and even one puff once a day was too much for me. I am feeling alot better as far as the anxiety goes since stopping Serevent. Hope this helps.

Response:

You are not nuts. I had the same experience and had to eventually cut out the Serevent due to the anxiety attacks. I know I am very sensitive to medications, and even one puff once a day was too much for me. I am feeling alot better as far as the anxiety goes since stopping Serevent. Hope this helps.

It helps a lot.  At least I know I’m not the only one this has happened to! What’s weird is that it doesn’t happen witht he morning dose but just the evening dose.  Maybe I can only take 1 dose a day now? I didn’t take it this morning and I found I really needed it.   Is nothing simple anymore?? (G) CarolR

Response:

Hello: This is EXACTLY why I stopped taking serevent. The exact same symptoms you have. You know, I don’t know why there is so much emphasis on using serevent to get off of a shorter acting type of albuterol. In my opinion, serevent has more severe side effects. I’d talk to your doctor about stopping the serevent. The flovent for me made a HUGE difference. Mabye up that if it gets worse when you go off the serevent. On 12 Aug 1999, – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve been taking Serevent 2 puffs twice a day and Flovent two puffs twice a day for about 6 months with amazing results.  I’ve gotten to the point that I rarely use my Proventil which is almost a miracle to me. In the last week or so I’ve started having anxiety-like attacks in the evening.  I don’t have racing hearbeat but I feel extremely anxious and weird.  Kinda like I took too much Theo-Dur, if any of you know that feeling.  It is very intense.  The only thing I can link it to is the evening dose of Serevent.  Has anyone else had this? Maybe I only need to take the Serevent in the a.m.?  I’m going to see my doc but thought I would ask here just in case he tries to tell me I’m nuts (G). Thanks for your help. CarolR

Jennifer Gerbi                          http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~gerbi Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign   1-113 ESB             (217)244-0332

Response:

Question:

I remember day 5 thru 10 to be the worst. day 15 (sweating profusely, brain shocks,couldn’t eat, or drink coffee, drank huge amounts of water) , it was had  already tapered down. Day 30 I had brain shocks maybe once every 2-3 days, but other than that I was pretty normal Week 8 I was completely back to normal. BTW, if you sample a fair amount of posts, you’ll find that they are all in their first 2 weeks of withdrawal. After that not many people post anymore. That is an encouraging sign.

Response:

Uther, I hate to be harsh, but ultimately, it just doesn’t matter.

amen.  sux, tha truth. Take your new medicine and continue the taper.  It will end when it ends.  Sorry, but that’s it.

i hate bottom lines !  and unfortunately , Gary’s right.. you can’t rush a detox from that crap.

Response:

I’ll keep telling my brain shocks they don’t matter and maybe they’ll get bored and go bother someone else

thanks a HEAP !  i gottem now.. oh holy.. i just read the rest of yer post, Uther.. i don’t think there’s any addictive pharmacological properties in Effexor, unless it’s that red dye. probly more mental. want some REAL withdrawals?  eat xanax for a few and cold turkey THAT… you will commune with your life, as flashed before your eyes…. 24/7, i promise you.   ~tanya

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ll keep telling my brain shocks they don’t matter and maybe they’ll get bored and go bother someone else thanks a HEAP !  i gottem now.. oh holy.. i just read the rest of yer post, Uther.. i don’t think there’s any addictive pharmacological properties in Effexor, unless it’s that red dye. probly more mental. want some REAL withdrawals?  eat xanax for a few and cold turkey THAT… you will commune with your life, as flashed before your eyes…. 24/7, i promise you.   ~tanya

Unfortunately Effexor is associated with withdrawal problems that can be just as bad as Xanax withdrawal. A way to get around it is switch to Prozac and then taper off of Prozac which is much easier to stop. Philip

Response:

The worst withdrawal I ever had was from quitting good old fashioned coffee cold turkey. I was in my 20’s and lived in a very rural area, was doing a pot of coffee a day. Big snowstorm showed up, out of coffee, no way to get to town to get my fix. Horrible headaches for 3 days, stomach cramps etc. I gave up coffee for awhile after that, went back to it, later decided to cut down, tapered slowly, no withdrawal. Now I do 1 mug of black coffee each morning, forgot it one morning and didn’t notice. I tapered xanax last summer, cut down by .25 mg every 3 days, no withdrawal, stopped it for nearly a month, then some serious shit happened in my life, a family member phoned screaming at me at 2 am  and I ran for the xanax bottle. Xanax not only keeps me sane, it keeps some people who have to be around me sane too. I don’t recommend quitting cold turkey for any substance. Withdrawals are hell. —-’Course – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – want some REAL withdrawals? eat xanax for a few and cold turkey THAT… you will commune with your life, as flashed before your eyes…. 24/7, i promise you. ~tanya —

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ll keep telling my brain shocks they don’t matter and maybe they’ll get bored and go bother someone else thanks a HEAP !  i gottem now.. oh holy.. i just read the rest of yer post, Uther.. i don’t think there’s any addictive pharmacological properties in Effexor, unless it’s that red dye. probly more mental. want some REAL withdrawals?  eat xanax for a few and cold turkey THAT… you will commune with your life, as flashed before your eyes…. 24/7, i promise you.   ~tanya Unfortunately Effexor is associated with withdrawal problems that can be just as bad as Xanax withdrawal. A way to get around it is switch to Prozac and then taper off of Prozac which is much easier to stop. Philip

I found withdrawing from Effexor extraordinarily difficult but necessary. Fortunately I had Xanax to help and the knowledge that I was starting a new AD. Despite the problems withdrawing, Effexor worked well for me for 5 years. Meryl

Response:

I found withdrawing from Effexor extraordinarily difficult but necessary. Fortunately I had Xanax to help and the knowledge that I was starting a new AD. Despite the problems withdrawing, Effexor worked well for me for 5 years. Meryl

Hi Meryl, how come you had to quit after 5 years?  I found it tough enough after 4 weeks Uthur

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I found withdrawing from Effexor extraordinarily difficult but necessary. Fortunately I had Xanax to help and the knowledge that I was starting a new AD. Despite the problems withdrawing, Effexor worked well for me for 5 years. Meryl Hi Meryl, how come you had to quit after 5 years?  I found it tough enough after 4 weeks Uthur

I developed adverse side effects. The worrying one was high blood pressure so I had to switch ADs. It was also pooping out as an antidepressant. I had climbed to 300 mg over the years but my depression was not controlled by the end. Meryl

Response:

Uther, I hate to be harsh, but ultimately, it just doesn’t matter.  Take your new medicine and continue the taper.  It will end when it ends.  Sorry, but that’s it. Gary

Thanks Gary, your philosophical approach is refreshing.  I’ll keep telling my brain shocks they don’t matter and maybe they’ll get bored and go bother someone else Uthur – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Howdy friends, I’m currently going through the less than enjoyable process of coming off this strange old drug.  Here’s my situation: I was on 75mg Effexor XL a day for 4 weeks in total. I went from that to 37.5mg for 14 days. Then I went to 37.5mg every second day for about 10 days. 3 days ago I took my last dose. I felt pretty bad last night and again today.  My questions are these – when do you think the withdrawal will peak, and how long before it is completely gone?  I came off Celexa a year ago a bit too abruptly and had withdrawal for 10 weeks – I hope I won’t go through that again! All opinions are welcome.  Thanks. Uthur

Response:

Uther, I hate to be harsh, but ultimately, it just doesn’t matter.  Take your new medicine and continue the taper.  It will end when it ends.  Sorry, but that’s it. Gary

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Howdy friends, I’m currently going through the less than enjoyable process of coming off this strange old drug.  Here’s my situation: I was on 75mg Effexor XL a day for 4 weeks in total. I went from that to 37.5mg for 14 days. Then I went to 37.5mg every second day for about 10 days. 3 days ago I took my last dose. I felt pretty bad last night and again today.  My questions are these – when do you think the withdrawal will peak, and how long before it is completely gone?  I came off Celexa a year ago a bit too abruptly and had withdrawal for 10 weeks – I hope I won’t go through that again! All opinions are welcome.  Thanks. Uthur

Response:

Howdy friends, I’m currently going through the less than enjoyable process of coming off this strange old drug.  Here’s my situation: I was on 75mg Effexor XL a day for 4 weeks in total. I went from that to 37.5mg for 14 days. Then I went to 37.5mg every second day for about 10 days. 3 days ago I took my last dose. I felt pretty bad last night and again today.  My questions are these – when do you think the withdrawal will peak, and how long before it is completely gone?  I came off Celexa a year ago a bit too abruptly and had withdrawal for 10 weeks – I hope I won’t go through that again! All opinions are welcome.  Thanks. Uthur

Response:

Question:

Yah, yooh betcha, I read most of and skimmed all of "Your Drug May Be Your Problem: How and Why to Stop Taking Psychiatric Medications."  He is at www.breggin.com  I highly recommend it to everybody here, even though I disagree with large pieces of his arguments. In particular, I found his suggestions about how to come off drugs invaluable. We ALL have to come off drugs, even if only to switch to yet other drugs. He is 110% behind the very-gradually approach. I used his ideas in getting off of Effexor, which was a bastard (I hate saying "it was a bitch"). Anyone who wants to can read elsewhere about the withdrawal I experienced getting off Effexor — I still get email from folks who find my posts when desperately looking on the net for info about Effexor withdrawal. I tapered SUPER ULTRA gradually and still had withdrawal, in retrospect partly because I was taking it only once a day. But reading his advice about coming off of a drug you have become dependent upon was very good for me. The part where I depart from the Dr. is in saying that all drugs everywhere are evil and stew the brains. Methinks this fellow never emptied his checking account and maxed out his credit card in a manic binge, or found out that lithium kept that devil at bay. I have never (to my knowledge) been censored at asdmm. Mostly I think their purpose is to sieve out the trolls and hurtful flames. -Tin who used to be Gan Tinuviel Cuivienen Elbethil "Nightingale, daughter of twilight, singing at the shadowed pool, beholds the divine radiance of the stars."

|Gan, | |Have you spent any time looking at Breggin or the other docs who have |written about the downside of thest meds? I can see that some of my |questions and  comments about them have been eliminated from appearing |on this thread. That seems like someone has a terribly toxic point of |view that doesn’t allow freedom to ask questions and to mention |alternative viewpoints. If that’s the case, then this really isn’t a |place for a bipolar person to be. | |What rare your thoughts? | |Anatman |

| |I’ve done both of those. I think that the obsessing goes along with |the hyperfocusing ADD that I have been noticing — getting stuck and |not being able to shift gears. According to Sears, the ADD doc who |says more than 1/2 of bipolars are ADD, the hyperfocusing ADDers hold |grudges, and I confess to doing that sometimes. The constantly getting |irritated totally sucks — when it is bad it is like running around |with blackboards screeching everywhere. | |- The-Gal-who-was-Gandalf-but-is-thinking-about-Tinuvial | | |   |

| |     | |(2) As I THINK I posted here my half-brother was hospitalized for a |manic episode last fall (Now recognizing the ADD I’m also seeing the |extent of my forgetfulness. | |As I predicted to his folks the month after he got out of the |hospital, and as I have seen in almost every bipolar I’ve ever met, he |has decided to stop taking his medications. |       | |Another trait is obsessing about a person, like an SO or someone you |like and just obsessively calling that person when upset or needing |constant validation from everybody. Or constantly getting irritated. | | | |MorphGrrl | |     | | | | |   | |

Response:

etched permanently into the ether: Antaman, lost posts happen from time to time.  Tonight, there was a little difficulty for us to moderate, and finally I was the only one who was able to do so.  I have allowed all the posts to go through.

That’s kind of an understatement!  We are having moderation problems, that are intermittent.  That can cause a few messages to get lost.  Messages also get lost between your provider and our provider–they never get to us at all.  Long messages (longer than about 200 lines) are most difficult to process.  The longer the message, the more likely something can happen to it.  This is why people need to snip messages and only quote what they are responding to.  And kill those blank lines. Just some hints about how you can help your own messages show up more readily. Another thing has been happening to some providers recently.  For some reason, they just don’t post everything.  Supernews is one of them, I haven’t tracked all of them.  So, check in google about 2-4 hours after you send your message–hopefully it will show up there–that is how you know your provider is dropping messages–they eventually show up in google, but never on your provider’s server. HTH, Nancy Just knockin’ around the zoo. (James Taylor)

Response:

That seems like someone has a terribly toxic point of view that doesn’t allow freedom to ask questions and to mention alternative viewpoints. If that’s the case, then this really isn’t a place for a bipolar person to be.

Antaman, lost posts happen from time to time.  Tonight, there was a little difficulty for us to moderate, and finally I was the only one who was able to do so.  I have allowed all the posts to go through. If your posts are a violation, then we would email you and let you know why we were rejecting your post and then give you the opportunity to resubmit if you make the suggested corrections.  We the moderation team do not just delete and allow your posts not to go through.  I’ve gone round and round with Harry over his not showing up on his server and everyone else saw them.   Just resubmit the missing ones again and I’ll be able to take a look at them.  If they don’t fit the guidelines, then I’ll email you a polite note with what you need to fix. We don’t have a problem with alternative view points.  What we DO have a problem with is people who provide misinformation and people who have a "cure" when there really isn’t one for bipolar disorder.  We also have a problem with people who say to stop taking your meds, that it’s all a crock of hooey and there is no such thing as bipolar disorder.  I’m not going to list everyone you need to go back and Google, but there is plenty of examples in ASDM as to why we can’t and don’t advocate going off all your meds.

Response:

Gan, Have you spent any time looking at Breggin or the other docs who have written about the downside of thest meds? I can see that some of my questions and  comments about them have been eliminated from appearing on this thread. That seems like someone has a terribly toxic point of view that doesn’t allow freedom to ask questions and to mention alternative viewpoints. If that’s the case, then this really isn’t a place for a bipolar person to be. What rare your thoughts? Anatman – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve done both of those. I think that the obsessing goes along with the hyperfocusing ADD that I have been noticing — getting stuck and not being able to shift gears. According to Sears, the ADD doc who says more than 1/2 of bipolars are ADD, the hyperfocusing ADDers hold grudges, and I confess to doing that sometimes. The constantly getting irritated totally sucks — when it is bad it is like running around with blackboards screeching everywhere. – The-Gal-who-was-Gandalf-but-is-thinking-about-Tinuvial (2) As I THINK I posted here my half-brother was hospitalized for a manic episode last fall (Now recognizing the ADD I’m also seeing the extent of my forgetfulness. As I predicted to his folks the month after he got out of the hospital, and as I have seen in almost every bipolar I’ve ever met, he has decided to stop taking his medications. Another trait is obsessing about a person, like an SO or someone you like and just obsessively calling that person when upset or needing constant validation from everybody. Or constantly getting irritated. MorphGrrl

Response:

Here’s Ten for you, hot off the press; You’ll be fine (for the rest of the day). You won’t need to take a holiday from hell, you can imagine you’re there. You won’t need a bank account, it will be empty. You’ll save money on pills, but in any case you would not be able to buy them (see above) You won’t need to pay rent for a property, you’ll feel quite comfortable on the street. You won’t have to buy your friends birthday cards, you won’t have any. You won’t need to decide if you are a Christian, Buddhist or Jew, you can be all three at once. People can make decisions for you in accordance with the instructions you left. Oh sugar, you forgot to leave any. Your family will be really worried and concerned, but that won’t be a problem as you will think everything’s hunky dory. You won’t be able to read this as you will have forgotten to pay your utilities bills. That’s Ten, and you won’t even wonder who this crazy person called Geoff is. Geoff

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Geoff, Sorry to hear about your brother. Mine is thinking about heading down a similar path. He is such a great guy too, so funny! But he doesn’t really care about or for himself, and if he doesn’t watch out pretty soon he is going to lose his current job, which just fits him to a tee at the moment. So let me see if I can squeeze any creativity out of this soggy brain. First the title. PLEASE folks we are bipolars here, and that means we are Creative!!! Help me out with some more reasons and with making these funnier. Heavy is fine — it IS heavy — but a little sugar will help the medicine go down. TOP TEN REASONS TO NOT STOP TAKING YOUR MEDICATION #1) Spending every cent you have and then maxing out all of your credit cards to start a collection of ceramic oriental dragons because they have a deeply mystical significance for you no longer seems like such a great idea.      Especially since you discovered from your last episode when you bought an entire library of Zen Buddhism books that these purchases are non-refundable once you return to sanity. "I was manic at the time," was not a valid defense for those hard-nosed shopkeepers. You could have returned them within that 10 day period, but you were still in the hospital at the time and had totally forgotten about them anyway because you had moved on to the next wonder. #2) You are thinking that you might like to keep a girlfriend/wife for longer than 5 years without scaring her away by telling her stories all night and calling her in the middle of the night from the hospital to tell her she is a whore and you never loved her anyway but then when she confronted you you  didn’t even remember calling her because you were bonkers psychotic at the time. #3) Because the drugs actually work. You have read stories about what happened to manic-depressives before there were drugs that work, and you really don’t need to go there — their lives were a nightmare. You’ve also heard that if bipolars don’t take their drugs their illness gets worse, and you’re not big into suffering. #4) You know that every time you have an episode you damage your brain AND increase the likelihood of another episode. You need to hold on to what little brains you have. With what little brains you have now you are thinking about doing stupid things like stopping your medication — what kind of brilliant life decisions will you make with less of a brain? #5) Suicide no longer has the attraction that it once did, and you know that chances are that bipolars will try and they unfortunately mean it and succeed at it. Life looks a little better to you at the moment and you’d to hang on to it for a bit longer. #6) You realize that although the depressions totally suck and are actually in fact valid reasons for contemplating suicide, that the depressions basically hurt you the most. Those manias on the other hand are a living hell on the people around you and you have decided sadism is not going to be your legacy to the world around you. This is always going to be a difficult one. Every visit for 10 years I ask is there a chance that I can stop or reduce my medication. Last December, my younger brother was also diagnosed b/p. (I’m 52, down in E England he is 47 up in Scotland). In my opinion he has always been ‘crazier’ than me….no, amend that….in everyone’s opinion! However, I do sometimes struggle against the effects of medication to maintain some sort of well being, and keep my eyelids propped open, whilst he seems to be carrying on on his own little planet, quite oblivious, unmedicated….well that’s how it seems……. But, I am not the one that’s had an acrimonious divorce; the one that’s fallen behind with house payments; the one that’s 40,000 UKP in debt; the one that drove down from Scotland on bald illegal and dangerous tyres; the one that forgets to keep in touch with his children;  and that bought a rubbish timeshare holiday apartment. Oops, not exactly playful as you had wanted, but a comparison between two people sharing the same nature, but not all of the same nurture in our case, due to the long time and distance separation. Hope you come up with the right form of words for your brother Geoff (2) As I THINK I posted here my half-brother was hospitalized for a manic episode last fall (Now recognizing the ADD I’m also seeing the extent of my forgetfulness. As I predicted to his folks the month after he got out of the hospital, and as I have seen in almost every bipolar I’ve ever met, he has decided to stop taking his medications. Since I am the older wiser? big Sis who has already been there and done that, he does think highly of me and defer to me in many ways about this. i.e. I have some clout. I’ve tried to keep a low profile and not give too many "thou shalts" — this is hard enough without people telling you what to do. But I feel called to say something, with my training and expertise I have some responsibility. I’m thinking about making this playful, and sending him an email with a "Top 10 reasons not to stop taking your medication." Any ideas? Many thanks, -The-ASDM/M-poster-previously-known-as-Gandalf-who-is-currently-in-transi t ion-to-a-new-moniker

Response:

I’ve done both of those. I think that the obsessing goes along with the hyperfocusing ADD that I have been noticing — getting stuck and not being able to shift gears. According to Sears, the ADD doc who says more than 1/2 of bipolars are ADD, the hyperfocusing ADDers hold grudges, and I confess to doing that sometimes. The constantly getting irritated totally sucks — when it is bad it is like running around with blackboards screeching everywhere. – The-Gal-who-was-Gandalf-but-is-thinking-about-Tinuvial – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – (2) As I THINK I posted here my half-brother was hospitalized for a manic episode last fall (Now recognizing the ADD I’m also seeing the extent of my forgetfulness. As I predicted to his folks the month after he got out of the hospital, and as I have seen in almost every bipolar I’ve ever met, he has decided to stop taking his medications. Another trait is obsessing about a person, like an SO or someone you like and just obsessively calling that person when upset or needing constant validation from everybody. Or constantly getting irritated. MorphGrrl

Response:

Geoff, Sorry to hear about your brother. Mine is thinking about heading down a similar path. He is such a great guy too, so funny! But he doesn’t really care about or for himself, and if he doesn’t watch out pretty soon he is going to lose his current job, which just fits him to a tee at the moment. So let me see if I can squeeze any creativity out of this soggy brain. First the title. PLEASE folks we are bipolars here, and that means we are Creative!!! Help me out with some more reasons and with making these funnier. Heavy is fine — it IS heavy — but a little sugar will help the medicine go down. TOP TEN REASONS TO NOT STOP TAKING YOUR MEDICATION #1) Spending every cent you have and then maxing out all of your credit cards to start a collection of ceramic oriental dragons because they have a deeply mystical significance for you no longer seems like such a great idea.      Especially since you discovered from your last episode when you bought an entire library of Zen Buddhism books that these purchases are non-refundable once you return to sanity. "I was manic at the time," was not a valid defense for those hard-nosed shopkeepers. You could have returned them within that 10 day period, but you were still in the hospital at the time and had totally forgotten about them anyway because you had moved on to the next wonder. #2) You are thinking that you might like to keep a girlfriend/wife for longer than 5 years without scaring her away by telling her stories all night and calling her in the middle of the night from the hospital to tell her she is a whore and you never loved her anyway but then when she confronted you you  didn’t even remember calling her because you were bonkers psychotic at the time. #3) Because the drugs actually work. You have read stories about what happened to manic-depressives before there were drugs that work, and you really don’t need to go there — their lives were a nightmare. You’ve also heard that if bipolars don’t take their drugs their illness gets worse, and you’re not big into suffering. #4) You know that every time you have an episode you damage your brain AND increase the likelihood of another episode. You need to hold on to what little brains you have. With what little brains you have now you are thinking about doing stupid things like stopping your medication — what kind of brilliant life decisions will you make with less of a brain? #5) Suicide no longer has the attraction that it once did, and you know that chances are that bipolars will try and they unfortunately mean it and succeed at it. Life looks a little better to you at the moment and you’d to hang on to it for a bit longer. #6) You realize that although the depressions totally suck and are actually in fact valid reasons for contemplating suicide, that the depressions basically hurt you the most. Those manias on the other hand are a living hell on the people around you and you have decided sadism is not going to be your legacy to the world around you. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -This is always going to be a difficult one. Every visit for 10 years I ask is there a chance that I can stop or reduce my medication. Last December, my younger brother was also diagnosed b/p. (I’m 52, down in E England he is 47 up in Scotland). In my opinion he has always been ‘crazier’ than me….no, amend that….in everyone’s opinion! However, I do sometimes struggle against the effects of medication to maintain some sort of well being, and keep my eyelids propped open, whilst he seems to be carrying on on his own little planet, quite oblivious, unmedicated….well that’s how it seems……. But, I am not the one that’s had an acrimonious divorce; the one that’s fallen behind with house payments; the one that’s 40,000 UKP in debt; the one that drove down from Scotland on bald illegal and dangerous tyres; the one that forgets to keep in touch with his children;  and that bought a rubbish timeshare holiday apartment. Oops, not exactly playful as you had wanted, but a comparison between two people sharing the same nature, but not all of the same nurture in our case, due to the long time and distance separation. Hope you come up with the right form of words for your brother Geoff (2) As I THINK I posted here my half-brother was hospitalized for a manic episode last fall (Now recognizing the ADD I’m also seeing the extent of my forgetfulness. As I predicted to his folks the month after he got out of the hospital, and as I have seen in almost every bipolar I’ve ever met, he has decided to stop taking his medications. Since I am the older wiser? big Sis who has already been there and done that, he does think highly of me and defer to me in many ways about this. i.e. I have some clout. I’ve tried to keep a low profile and not give too many "thou shalts" — this is hard enough without people telling you what to do. But I feel called to say something, with my training and expertise I have some responsibility. I’m thinking about making this playful, and sending him an email with a "Top 10 reasons not to stop taking your medication." Any ideas? Many thanks, -The-ASDM/M-poster-previously-known-as-Gandalf-who-is-currently-in-transit ion-to-a-new-moniker

Response:

(2) As I THINK I posted here my half-brother was hospitalized for a manic episode last fall (Now recognizing the ADD I’m also seeing the extent of my forgetfulness. As I predicted to his folks the month after he got out of the hospital, and as I have seen in almost every bipolar I’ve ever met, he has decided to stop taking his medications.

Another trait is obsessing about a person, like an SO or someone you like and just obsessively calling that person when upset or needing constant validation from everybody. Or constantly getting irritated. MorphGrrl

Response:

This is always going to be a difficult one. Every visit for 10 years I ask is there a chance that I can stop or reduce my medication. Last December, my younger brother was also diagnosed b/p. (I’m 52, down in E England he is 47 up in Scotland). In my opinion he has always been ‘crazier’ than me….no, amend that….in everyone’s opinion! However, I do sometimes struggle against the effects of medication to maintain some sort of well being, and keep my eyelids propped open, whilst he seems to be carrying on on his own little planet, quite oblivious, unmedicated….well that’s how it seems……. But, I am not the one that’s had an acrimonious divorce; the one that’s fallen behind with house payments; the one that’s 40,000 UKP in debt; the one that drove down from Scotland on bald illegal and dangerous tyres; the one that forgets to keep in touch with his children;  and that bought a rubbish timeshare holiday apartment. Oops, not exactly playful as you had wanted, but a comparison between two people sharing the same nature, but not all of the same nurture in our case, due to the long time and distance separation. Hope you come up with the right form of words for your brother Geoff

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – (2) As I THINK I posted here my half-brother was hospitalized for a manic episode last fall (Now recognizing the ADD I’m also seeing the extent of my forgetfulness. As I predicted to his folks the month after he got out of the hospital, and as I have seen in almost every bipolar I’ve ever met, he has decided to stop taking his medications. Since I am the older wiser? big Sis who has already been there and done that, he does think highly of me and defer to me in many ways about this. i.e. I have some clout. I’ve tried to keep a low profile and not give too many "thou shalts" — this is hard enough without people telling you what to do. But I feel called to say something, with my training and expertise I have some responsibility. I’m thinking about making this playful, and sending him an email with a "Top 10 reasons not to stop taking your medication." Any ideas? Many thanks, -The-ASDM/M-poster-previously-known-as-Gandalf-who-is-currently-in-transit

ion-to-a-new-moniker – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –

Response:

(2) As I THINK I posted here my half-brother was hospitalized for a manic episode last fall (Now recognizing the ADD I’m also seeing the extent of my forgetfulness. As I predicted to his folks the month after he got out of the hospital, and as I have seen in almost every bipolar I’ve ever met, he has decided to stop taking his medications. Since I am the older wiser? big Sis who has already been there and done that, he does think highly of me and defer to me in many ways about this. i.e. I have some clout. I’ve tried to keep a low profile and not give too many "thou shalts" — this is hard enough without people telling you what to do. But I feel called to say something, with my training and expertise I have some responsibility. I’m thinking about making this playful, and sending him an email with a "Top 10 reasons not to stop taking your medication." Any ideas? Many thanks, -The-ASDM/M-poster-previously-known-as-Gandalf-who-is-currently-in-transiti on-to-a-new-moniker

Response:

Question:

I am on a clinical study and just found out that I have been taking exemestane for the last year instead of tamoxfin. I was sure I was taking Tamoxfin. I had hot flashes so bad I thought that you could time them like labor pains. They told me that the pills are really expensive and that they will pay for them for the next 4 years. The Dr.s upped the effexor to 150 mg and now I only have 5-8 hot flashes a day. I do have 2 bone density test a year. dx 8/02  lumpectomy 9/03 chemo and rads. Nancy

Response:

I am on a clinical study and just found out that I have been taking exemestane for the last year instead of tamoxfin. I was sure I was taking Tamoxfin. I had hot flashes so bad I thought that you could time them like labor pains. They told me that the pills are really expensive and that they will pay for them for the next 4 years. The Dr.s upped the effexor to 150 mg and now I only have 5-8 hot flashes a day. I do have 2 bone density test a year. dx 8/02  lumpectomy 9/03 chemo and rads. Nancy

Are you getting Zometa?  If not you should probably ask about it.  Helps keep your bones strong. – Tony — Tony Lima                        /"   ASCII ribbon campaign                                   /   against HTML mail                                   X    and postings                                  /

Response:

At my Dec blood work it came back where I had to much calcium, then came more test. so far everthing is ok. My Blood work from Monday 3/9/04 the liver test had some concern so I need to have that redone next week. I will ask at that time about Zometa. Thanks Nancy

Response:

Question:

My doc put me on a beta blocker she seems to think it will help. Bringing my heart rate down some. Has anyone been on this and has it helped at all?

Response:

Julie– I have mitral valve prolapse, and the first drug I was put on to control my symptoms (the most irritating being heart palipations and a racing heart) was a beta-blocker.   It did help but, since I have blood pressure in the normal to a-little-bit-low range, it ended up lowering my blood pressure to the point where I was feeling light-headed a lot.  For a while I counteracted that by eating salty foods, but eventually I went onto anti-anxiety meds (Xanax and Zoloft), which, for me, are actually more effective and have caused me far fewer side effects.  But, except for the blood pressure issue (mine went down to like 90/60 at one point, which will make you feel really, really faint), it wasn’t bad. Lori

Response:

Hi, I took a beta blocker for several years for my anxiety – however it was started at the same time I officially started the anti-depressant I currently take.  It is difficult for me to determine how much each helped to control my symptoms.  I do know that  prior to the beta blocker I did experience a hard pounding heart beat when I would lay down at night, which was very anxiety provoking.  The beta blocker did ease that for me.  For myself, the beta blocker  was a part of a combination of meds to help manage my PD, not the only thing I was taking for it. Debbie

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My doc put me on a beta blocker she seems to think it will help. Bringing my heart rate down some. Has anyone been on this and has it helped at all?

Response:

My doc put me on a beta blocker she seems to think it will help. Bringing my heart rate down some. Has anyone been on this and has it helped at all?

I don

Question:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I recently went off my Zoloft which I have been taking on/off (mostly on) for a couple of years.  I have been at 100 mg for the past six or so months.  I only had side effects in the beginning but they all went away except the lack of libido which I can deal with.  The primary reason I am going off it is that I jsut can’t afford it anymore and am hoping that my depression will not return as bad as before.  Right now I seem emotionally stable   (Not to worry, if it appears that I really *need* to go back on it I will).  I have been off about 4-5 days and am having dizzy spells like crazy.  When I stand up to fast or turn my head too fast.  I know I shouldn’t have gone off cold turkey but hell, the money ran out at the same time the script did.  I am also in one of those situations where I make too much to qualify for any type of medication assistance yet not enough to pay for them.  Yeah, the middle class often gets the shaft too. Anyhow…I digress.  Is this dizziness just possibly a withdrawal thing from the Zoloft and if so, how long can I expect it to go on?  It is quite

annoying. Probably is from withdrawal. When I went off 100 mg of Zoloft cold turkey, I was dizzy 24 hours a day for about 4 weeks. It was then I finally gave in and started taking a very low dose with the goal of weaning myself off gradually. Maybe you can get one more scrip of a low dose from your doc, and wean yourself off? Good luck. Cate

Response:

I recently went off my Zoloft which I have been taking on/off (mostly on) for a couple of years.  I have been at 100 mg for the past six or so months.  I only had side effects in the beginning but they all went away except the lack of libido which I can deal with.  The primary reason I am going off it is that I jsut can’t afford it anymore and am hoping that my depression will not return as bad as before.  Right now I seem emotionally stable   (Not to worry, if it appears that I really *need* to go back on it I will).  I have been off about 4-5 days and am having dizzy spells like crazy.  When I stand up to fast or turn my head too fast.  I know I shouldn’t have gone off cold turkey but hell, the money ran out at the same time the script did.  I am also in one of those situations where I make too much to qualify for any type of medication assistance yet not enough to pay for them.  Yeah, the middle class often gets the shaft too. Anyhow…I digress.  Is this dizziness just possibly a withdrawal thing from the Zoloft and if so, how long can I expect it to go on?  It is quite annoying. SWC

Response:

Question:

I have a few questions about Prozac.  My doc is considering switching me from Paxil to Prozac because the Paxil doesn’t seem to be working that well (I’m still panicking, nervous, and now depressed).  But I’m not sure I want to take Prozac.  I’ve heard some bad things about it like it’s harder to stop taking than other SSRI’s.  That if you take it, you basically can never come off of it.  He gave me some information to read about Prozac, but of course it’s published by the makers of Prozac. A biased source if I ever heard one. I guess what I’m asking for is your experiences with Prozac…good ones and bad ones.  Paxil is the first SSRI I’ve been on and I know it’s rare that the first one works right, but I’m scared of the Prozac.  Any help or advice you can lend would be appreciated! Cathi

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have a few questions about Prozac.  My doc is considering switching me from Paxil to Prozac because the Paxil doesn’t seem to be working that well (I’m still panicking, nervous, and now depressed).  But I’m not sure I want to take Prozac.  I’ve heard some bad things about it like it’s harder to stop taking than other SSRI’s.  That if you take it, you basically can never come off of it.  He gave me some information to read about Prozac, but of course it’s published by the makers of Prozac. A biased source if I ever heard one. I guess what I’m asking for is your experiences with Prozac…good ones and bad ones.  Paxil is the first SSRI I’ve been on and I know it’s rare that the first one works right, but I’m scared of the Prozac.  Any help or advice you can lend would be appreciated! Cathi

Hi Cathi, I’ve never taken prozac before, but I can tell you if you make the switch, you shouldn’t have any problems switching immediately to prozac from the paxil.  It might help you to avoid any "withdrawl" effects.  I switched one day from paxil to celexa and never had the withdrawl from paxil that people have talked about. Bye, Maria

Response:

This is just a personal opinion, I think anti-depressents are useless for panic attacks, my daughter took Seroxat ( paxil) for six weeks and it made not a jot of difference. The only med that really works for panic/anxiety are benzodiazaphines. In my own experience, Xanax is excellent and valium has a great value also. for my constant insomnia, i use Zopiclone which is an hypnotic and works like a benzo. Regards, Ian – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have a few questions about Prozac.  My doc is considering switching me from Paxil to Prozac because the Paxil doesn’t seem to be working that well (I’m still panicking, nervous, and now depressed).  But I’m not sure I want to take Prozac.  I’ve heard some bad things about it like it’s harder to stop taking than other SSRI’s.  That if you take it, you basically can never come off of it.  He gave me some information to read about Prozac, but of course it’s published by the makers of Prozac. A biased source if I ever heard one. I guess what I’m asking for is your experiences with Prozac…good ones and bad ones.  Paxil is the first SSRI I’ve been on and I know it’s rare that the first one works right, but I’m scared of the Prozac.  Any help or advice you can lend would be appreciated! Cathi

Response:

Hey Cathi: I am taking Prozac, for anxiety, and depression. I have been taking it for 3 weeks now, and I seem to be doing pretty well. I also take buspar. I have not heard that it is hard to come off of, or that I will never be able to not take it. I have tried Zoloft, but I couldn’t take it long enough to see if it works. How long did you take the Paxil? Are you taking anything else? You might want to see if your Dr. will give you buspar for the anxiety, or Xanax. Write me if you have anymore questions. Chawk – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have a few questions about Prozac.  My doc is considering switching me from Paxil to Prozac because the Paxil doesn’t seem to be working that well (I’m still panicking, nervous, and now depressed).  But I’m not sure I want to take Prozac.  I’ve heard some bad things about it like it’s harder to stop taking than other SSRI’s.  That if you take it, you basically can never come off of it.  He gave me some information to read about Prozac, but of course it’s published by the makers of Prozac. A biased source if I ever heard one. I guess what I’m asking for is your experiences with Prozac…good ones and bad ones.  Paxil is the first SSRI I’ve been on and I know it’s rare that the first one works right, but I’m scared of the Prozac.  Any help or advice you can lend would be appreciated! Cathi

Response:

hi cathi…i am on 20 mg of prozac a day with 1 mg of klonopin in the am and 1mg of k in the pm…i have tried paxil (bad side effects for me) buspar didn’t do a thing either…i also tried imipramine and that was not for me as well…i have been on the prozac for 4 weeks now and am doing well…don’t be afraid everyone is so different….i heard horror stories about prozac too,but i need help and i needed to find out for myself and i think that is what u should do too…good luck….colleen…..remember everyone is different

Response:

Hi Cathi, My doc switched me after the weaning on period from Paxil 30 to Zoloft 50mg and then later to Zoloft 100mg (we may be going higher a I am in the therapeutic dose range. The switch was easy. As Maria said, the side effects must have been done away with when I started the Paxil and felt tired for awhile. Paxil works very well IMO for anxiety and OCD, but I needed a bit more of a kick in the behind, so we’re doing Zoloft now. I have had 0 side effects and all this (the above has been done in 6 weeks). Paxil did not give me the motivation I’ve been lacking for quite some time but the doc feels the Zoloft might. When he said it would "give you a lift in your spirits" I thought "Oh God, I’m gonna become a Prozac user that went berserk" like I had heard in the media but that is far from the case. I’m happy.. My focus is on one thing now, my brain does not feel so scattered and the ruminating has left. goodbye to that!! I hope what you’re trying works for you. Miriam

Response:

my understanding is that prozac has a longer half life and therefore is easier to wean off than paxil

Response:

I have a few questions about Prozac.  My doc is considering switching me from Paxil to Prozac because the Paxil doesn’t seem to be working that well (I’m still panicking, nervous, and now depressed).  But I’m not sure I want to take Prozac.  I’ve heard some bad things about it like it’s harder to stop taking than other SSRI’s.  That if you take it, you basically can never come off of it.  He gave me some information to read about Prozac, but of course it’s published by the makers of Prozac. A biased source if I ever heard one.

Actually it’s the other way around. Paxil is associated with a withdrawal problem (not with everybody) while Prozac is actually used to avoid Paxil withdrawal by gradually substituting Prozac for Paxil until Prozac has taken over which then can stopped within days. It’s *impossible* to tell how Prozac will affect you as our reactions are so personal. As a rule Paxil is more sedating and Prozac is more stimulating. Paxil is many times more potent than Prozac but Prozac has shown effective for many PD-ers, even at very low doses (like 10 mgs). I personally had great experiences with Prozac. After the initial period with all the side effects etc.etc. (which you won’t have because you will be switching SSRI’s and not just strating one) I had three blissful weeks of *no anxiety at all*. This may have been a placebo effect as PA’s came back but I still could live almost normally on a Prozac/Tranxene combo. After a few months I started to get irritable and had problems keeping my anger from other participants in serious meetings <g. I thought this wasn’t me and so I stopped Prozac. But this is eccentric as Prozac is actually sometimes used for anger management! I guess what I’m asking for is your experiences with Prozac…good ones and bad ones.  Paxil is the first SSRI I’ve been on and I know it’s rare that the first one works right, but I’m scared of the Prozac.  Any help or advice you can lend would be appreciated!

There is *no* reason to be more scared of Prozac than of Paxil. In fact, the success stories about Paxil notwithstanding, I wouldn’t touch the stuff. YMMV as they say. Cathi

Philip

Response:

This is just a personal opinion, I think anti-depressents are useless for panic attacks, my daughter took Seroxat ( paxil) for six weeks and it made not a jot of difference. The only med that really works for panic/anxiety are benzodiazaphines. In my own experience, Xanax is excellent and valium has a great value also. for my constant insomnia, i use Zopiclone which is an hypnotic and works like a benzo. Regards, Ian

Your personal opinion is not sustained by the facts. While benzos are first choice meds for PAD, so are AD’s. I use both in a combo. It may have to do with the question which neurotransmitters are dominant in your PD, serotonin (and/or norepinephrine) or GABA. If the former, an AD should do the job, if the latter a benzo would be preferable. I know I’m simplifying: many neurotransmitters are active in the human body and when you interfere with one, you’re interfering with the whole system. So it’s, roughly speaking, a matter of trial and error which med (or which combo) at which dose works best. It is to be expected that research in the near future will lead to a more refined diagnosis and consequently to the development of more effective meds. Philip – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have a few questions about Prozac.  My doc is considering switching me from Paxil to Prozac because the Paxil doesn’t seem to be working that well (I’m still panicking, nervous, and now depressed).  But I’m not sure I want to take Prozac.  I’ve heard some bad things about it like it’s harder to stop taking than other SSRI’s.  That if you take it, you basically can never come off of it.  He gave me some information to read about Prozac, but of course it’s published by the makers of Prozac. A biased source if I ever heard one. I guess what I’m asking for is your experiences with Prozac…good ones and bad ones.  Paxil is the first SSRI I’ve been on and I know it’s rare that the first one works right, but I’m scared of the Prozac.  Any help or advice you can lend would be appreciated! Cathi

Response:

Hi, Cathi, I took Prozac for four years. I just switched from Prozac to Effexor XR. No problem switching over. I just worried about making the switch & I could have saved myself the worry.  Best Wishes   Linda

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have a few questions about Prozac.  My doc is considering switching me from Paxil to Prozac because the Paxil doesn’t seem to be working that well (I’m still panicking, nervous, and now depressed).  But I’m not sure I want to take Prozac.  I’ve heard some bad things about it like it’s harder to stop taking than other SSRI’s.  That if you take it, you basically can never come off of it.  He gave me some information to read about Prozac, but of course it’s published by the makers of Prozac. A biased source if I ever heard one. I guess what I’m asking for is your experiences with Prozac…good ones and bad ones.  Paxil is the first SSRI I’ve been on and I know it’s rare that the first one works right, but I’m scared of the Prozac.  Any help or advice you can lend would be appreciated! Cathi

Response:

    I agree Philip! Prozac helped me immensely with panic and anxiety. Now I’m on Effexor and it too helps!    Linda  :))

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – This is just a personal opinion, I think anti-depressents are useless for panic attacks, my daughter took Seroxat ( paxil) for six weeks and it made not a jot of difference. The only med that really works for panic/anxiety are benzodiazaphines. In my own experience, Xanax is excellent and valium has a great value also. for my constant insomnia, i use Zopiclone which is an hypnotic and works like a benzo. Regards, Ian Your personal opinion is not sustained by the facts. While benzos are first choice meds for PAD, so are AD’s. I use both in a combo. It may have to do with the question which neurotransmitters are dominant in your PD, serotonin (and/or norepinephrine) or GABA. If the former, an AD should do the job, if the latter a benzo would be preferable. I know I’m simplifying: many neurotransmitters are active in the human body and when you interfere with one, you’re interfering with the whole system. So it’s, roughly speaking, a matter of trial and error which med (or which combo) at which dose works best. It is to be expected that research in the near future will lead to a more refined diagnosis and consequently to the development of more effective meds. Philip I have a few questions about Prozac.  My doc is considering switching me from Paxil to Prozac because the Paxil doesn’t seem to be working that well (I’m still panicking, nervous, and now depressed).  But I’m not sure I want to take Prozac.  I’ve heard some bad things about it like it’s harder to stop taking than other SSRI’s.  That if you take it, you basically can never come off of it.  He gave me some information to read about Prozac, but of course it’s published by the makers of Prozac. A biased source if I ever heard one. I guess what I’m asking for is your experiences with Prozac…good ones and bad ones.  Paxil is the first SSRI I’ve been on and I know it’s rare that the first one works right, but I’m scared of the Prozac.  Any help or advice you can lend would be appreciated! Cathi

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi all. Two days ago I went back to my gp for a checkup. He’s the one who dignosed my anxiety, panic and depression problems. Well when I last saw him a month ago he had upped my Zoloft to 100 mgs a day from 75. Well on Wednesday he re-evaluted me and found my depression back in the severe range and my anxiety level up yet again. So he upped my Zoloft to 150 mgs. All I can say now is, boy do I feel jumpy. But back to the original reason for my post ( I did say question not history lesson ). Should I be taking all 150 mgs of Zoloft at once? Or should I split it up somehow? I now take it all in the morning when I get up, because when I first started on it 18 months ago, it kept me awake if I took it at night but it was a much lower dose at the time, 25 mgs.  And my gp didn’t tell me. Actually it didn’t occur to me while I was there. And I don’t like calling back with what is probably a really stupid question. Is there anyone else out there who takes that much Zoloft? And if so could you help me?

Dear Mary, I think the reason for your jumpiness is the Zoloft increase. If you can tolerate it, stick with it,  it will dissipate with time. If you are finding this feeling too uncomfortable, you can decrease the dose to 125mgs, or even 112.5mgs. Most people increase their Zoloft dose in 12.5mg or 25mg increments. Increasing the dose by 50mgs might have been to much for you,but only you can make that call. If you decide to decrease your dose, please notify your doctor. Also, a benzo such as Xanax or Klonopin would help with this jumpy feeling. Most people take their Zoloft in one dose. I have heard of people splitting their dose though. SSRI`s can interfere with sleep,  again most people take them in the AM. There are always exceptions to the rules, some people take their AD`s at night and sleep well. If you had problems in the past with taking 200mgs of Zoloft, so don`t worry about the dose you are on. Good luck with the increase Jackie "Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired."

Response:

I take Zoloft 150 mg every AM. No need to split the dose. If something makes you sleepy, take it at bedtime. If it makes you jumpy or nervous, take it in the AM. I’m talking about meds here, not food. Chip I wish i could take a nap after lunch

Response:

Hi Mary! Zoloft. After many months, she is right on track with her dosage. I am sure if you E mailed her, she would have a good answer for you! Her name is Brenda. Good Luck! Steph

Mary Writes: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Hi all. Two days ago I went back to my gp for a checkup. He’s the one who dignosed my anxiety, panic and depression problems. Well when I last saw him a month ago he had upped my Zoloft to 100 mgs a day from 75. Well on Wednesday he re-evaluted me and found my depression back in the severe range and my anxiety level up yet again. So he upped my Zoloft to 150 mgs. All I can say now is, boy do I feel jumpy. But back to the original reason for my post ( I did say question not history lesson ). Should I be taking all 150 mgs of Zoloft at once? Or should I split it up somehow? I now take it all in the morning when I get up, because when I first started on it 18 months ago, it kept me awake if I took it at night but it was a much lower dose at the time, 25 mgs.  And my gp didn’t tell me. Actually it didn’t occur to me while I was there. And I don’t like calling back with what is probably a really stupid question. Is there anyone else out there who takes that much Zoloft? And if so could you help me? Blessed be, Mary — Today is a gift, that’s why we call it the present.

Response:

Hi all. Two days ago I went back to my gp for a checkup. He’s the one who dignosed my anxiety, panic and depression problems. Well when I last saw him a month ago he had upped my Zoloft to 100 mgs a day from 75. Well on Wednesday he re-evaluted me and found my depression back in the severe range and my anxiety level up yet again. So he upped my Zoloft to 150 mgs. All I can say now is, boy do I feel jumpy. But back to the original reason for my post ( I did say question not history lesson ). Should I be taking all 150 mgs of Zoloft at once? Or should I split it up somehow? I now take it all in the morning when I get up, because when I first started on it 18 months ago, it kept me awake if I took it at night but it was a much lower dose at the time, 25 mgs.  And my gp didn’t tell me. Actually it didn’t occur to me while I was there. And I don’t like calling back with what is probably a really stupid question. Is there anyone else out there who takes that much Zoloft? And if so could you help me? Blessed be, Mary — Today is a gift, that’s why we call it the present.

Response:

(JacandGil) writes: I suffer from dry mouth too, and the Paxil is causing it. I know that you are further North than me, but here on LI, the pollen is horrendous. Everything has green dust on it, and I feel it in my mouth and throat, and I think it is aggravating my already dry mouth. I find I am drinking so much lately. I  try to drink alot of water, any other kind of fluid doesn`t seem to relieve the dryness. Take care.

I think that Jackie is right: allergies can make dry mouth much worse. (Green dust? That sounds *yucko!*) I’ve gotten hooked on those bottled waters. I’m sure that in a blind taste test I couldn’t distinguish them from nasty Cambridge tap water, but they make me feel good anyway. :-} -elizabeth

Response:

Hi All, As you may recall, I increased my imipramine dosage from 75mg/day to 100 mg/day about six weeks ago. I experienced an increase of having a dry mouth but that faded to my "usual" dry mouth feeling after a week or so. Now it is back in full force this past week and worse than ever. This makes me extremely anxious because I feel as if my throat is blocked.  I know it is not because of hot days because it has been fairly cool here so I’m not losing moisture through perspiration (or "glowing" as my mom would say). Anyone have any ideas why this might flare up again? Truthfully, I’m at the point of maybe switching meds if it doesn’t ease up soon. Charley (still fighting the battle but feeling battle-weary these days)

Response:

Hi All, As you may recall, I increased my imipramine dosage from 75mg/day to 100 mg/day about six weeks ago. I experienced an increase of having a dry mouth but that faded to my "usual" dry mouth feeling after a week or so. Now it is back in full force this past week and worse than ever. This makes me extremely anxious because I feel as if my throat is blocked.  I know it is not because of hot days because it has been fairly cool here so I’m not losing moisture through perspiration (or "glowing" as my mom would say). Anyone have any ideas why this might flare up again? Truthfully, I’m at the point of maybe switching meds if it doesn’t ease up soon. Charley (still fighting the battle but feeling battle-weary these days)

Hi Charley, I suffer from dry mouth too, and the Paxil is causing it. I know that you are further North than me, but here on LI, the pollen is horrendous. Everything has  green dust on it, and I feel it in my mouth and throat, and I think it is aggravating my already dry mouth. I find I am drinking so much lately. I  try to drink alot of water, any other kind of fluid doesn`t seem to relieve the dryness. Take care. Jackie "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, not touched. but are felt in the heart."

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Question:

I’ve been taking B-multi vitamin for years, and it does help. i recently started drinking st. johns wort tea, which also helps. but i find that none of that helps enough anymore.

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Hello gang, This is my first post here. I started taking St. Johns Wort about two weeks ago for Anxiety/Panic and Depression. Over the past few days my symptoms have almost completely vanished!! I did the Paxil/Zoloft/Xanax/Buspar crap, and all they did was make me worse! Thank God for St. Johns Wort! I also started taking a multivitamin twice a day, and b-complex 3 times a day. I read that most people who suffer from Anxiety/Panic and Depression are usually very deficient in B vitamins. Have a great day!! Bryan Z.

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Hi Bryan, It’s great that you’re feeling better. I just wanted to echo your support for St John’s Wort.  I’m in a similar situation.  I’ve been taking it only about a week and a half, and feel so much better too.  I’m also taking b vitamins and multivitamins… so maybe there is a connection here. Take Care, – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello gang, This is my first post here. I started taking St. Johns Wort about two weeks ago for Anxiety/Panic and Depression. Over the past few days my symptoms have almost completely vanished!! I did the Paxil/Zoloft/Xanax/Buspar crap, and all they did was make me worse! Thank God for St. Johns Wort! I also started taking a multivitamin twice a day, and b-complex 3 times a day. I read that most people who suffer from Anxiety/Panic and Depression are usually very deficient in B vitamins. Have a great day!! Bryan Z.

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello gang, This is my first post here. I started taking St. Johns Wort about two weeks ago for Anxiety/Panic and Depression. Over the past few days my symptoms have almost completely vanished!! I did the Paxil/Zoloft/Xanax/Buspar crap, and all they did was make me worse! Thank God for St. Johns Wort! I also started taking a multivitamin twice a day, and b-complex 3 times a day. I read that most people who suffer from Anxiety/Panic and Depression are usually very deficient in B vitamins. Have a great day!! Bryan Z.

Wow… I know what I’m switching to when my prozac runs out. — ICQ me at 29104200

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Wanted to let you know what Debra thought of the NSTA symposium.  She sent this to me and I wanted to share it with all of you, since I posted her first call for help, on asd, asking if anyone else was going, since she was going alone.  She enjoyed meeting Elf, Katie and Sondra.  I thank all of you, too, for looking her up. Deb’s message: First of all, thanks to all of you who responded to my inquiry regarding who was attending.  Since it was my first symposium and my spouse could not attend, it was a little intimidating going alone.  However, as suggested through your e-mails, everyone was very kind and helpful. The symposium was great!  If you have never been to one, I would highly recommend it – next year is in San Diego – also a great vacation spot! I found one of the major benefits in attending is sharing the stories, symptoms, concerns with other ST’rs and having someone finally relate to the same set of feelings.  An extra special thanks and "hello" to three wonderful women found through the net, Romona (Elf) from Tennessee, Katie Stehr from Georgia, and Sondra from Ohio.  I also found many members of the NSTA team to be great including Jan Richter, Patricia Murray, Carol Frank, David Stein, and Don Roblee.  Time just flew and attendance was excellent making the sad part the inability to meet and spend time talking with everyone. Carol Frank, President of NSTA, shared that in 1980, there were 22 members of NSTA – today, there are over 3,000.  I’m certain most of you now know about the Botox A shortage.  Allergan is completely out of the product awaiting FDA approval hopefully by the end of November.  You can reach a local sales rep for updates at 1-800-639-7914. After the "Taco Neck" syndrome, Jerry West of the L.A. Lakers has cut two public service announcements.  It was also announced that Dixie Carter and Hal Holbrook will help to sponsor a Casino Night in L.A. next year.  We are still looking for our "famous affected spokesperson". The educational piece of the session began with Dr. Paul Cullis and Dr. Christopher O’Brien discussing Botox.   Most of you know that the body uses acetylcholine from the nerve transmission to the muscle causing it to contract.  Botox stops the release of this action.  There are three proteins that release acetylcholine and Botox A works on one protein (SNAP-25) while Botox B works on Synaptobrevin or VAMP.  One good idea to help counter the antibody situation many have experienced, is to alternate Botox A and Botox B once it has been approved.  It is estimated that the timeframe for Botox B approval is about 12 months.  Another key point from O’Brien is that administration of Botox is an art form and the success on a patient is very technique dependent.   This takes time and experience.  There are 56 muscles in the neck and proper administration of Botox is not in any textbook.   The stats from Cullis and O’Brien were an 80-85% good response rate for Botox for cervical dystonia.  Although to some of us, it has seemed like a miracle, it is not.  Botox typically responds in 1-10 days and peaks between 2-6 weeks. Average time between treatment is 3-4 months; Botox itself actually lasts 12 months but the brain makes new connections to new muscles causing the dystonia symptoms to reoccur.  Botox has been used on some patients for 15 years still receiving good results.  Dystonia does get worse with time and it does get harder to treat.  Antibodies tend to develop faster in younger people, higher doses (300 units+) and more frequent use.  Botox B is supposed to be a cleaner toxin.  Although there is a lot of research going on in many areas for dystonia – genetics, surgeries etc., O’Brien felt Botox will probably be the dystonia treatment of choice for the next five years. The next presentation was by Deborah DeLeon M.S. on the study of genetics of dystonia.  The first issue here is resources.  It is only herself and one other person (now on maternity leave) doing the research so it is taking much longer.  Genetics are showing that dystonia does carry on chromosomes but different ones for different family groups.  There are 2-3 times as many women with cervical dystonia compared to men.  It is showing up a lot in individuals with German backgrounds. Dr. Drake Duane spoke next on "Is ST an autoimmune disease?  He has studied about 300 patients between 1987-1997.  He has discovered the average age of onset is 43.5 yrs and the ratio is 65% female/35%male.  About 90% of ST’rs get relief when laying down.  One key point new to me was the number of patients that develop scoliosis.  Physical therapy can be helpful here as arthritis sets into the neck and back.  Dr. Duane reiterated that the ST brain does not degenerate, it simply has a quirk.   It was never really answered if ST is an autoimmune disease, cause is still unknown. Dr. Mitchell Brin spoke next on Deep Brain Stimulation for ST.  Surgical options are normally left for those that do not respond to medications or Botox.  However, different surgical options are being investigated since there are still limited solutions.  Deep brain stimulation is where electrodes are implanted into one of two areas of the brain and "wires" run down the inside of the neck to the chest with an implant of a pacemaker device.  Videos were shown with Parkinson’s patients where they had virtually no control and when the electrical stimulation was supplied they could move almost normally.  The FDA has approved this process for Parkinson’s and essential tremor.  Dr. Brin will be trialing it on two dystonia patients in December. The next presentation was by Dr. Dennis Dykstra on Doxorubicin Chemomyectomy for the treatment of ST.  Doxorubicin is an anti-cancer drug.  It has been experimented on 18 blepharospasm patients with 9 patients "cured" for one year and 60% of those not receiving any other treatment.  Doxorubicin actually destroys muscle cells which then fills in with connective tissue.   Doxorubicin does not diffuse throughout the muscle like Botox and it can destroy other cells.  It can injure your heart, liver and is toxic to the skin.  It is irreversible.  There are three ST patients trialing this right now.   Since it is in such early stages, very conservative doses are being used and going after only one or two muscles at a time.  Results have thus shown minor improvement.  The benefits are it is much cheaper than Botox ($15 for 10 mg, using 60 mg doses) and it would be permanent.  Overall opinion on this is possible potential but too early to tell.  Next came the presentation from Paul Cullis on ITX (Immunotoxin).  Dr. Cullis pointed out the limitations of Botox are: 1)Duration 3-4 mos. 2) Very expensive 3) certain % of non-responders 4) not specific to the exact area. The goal of ITX is to develop an immunotoxin for treatment of focal muscle spasms utilizing an immunoglobulin that attacks a problem in the body and a toxin with a type of "cruise Missile" that destroys the affected muscle on contact  permanently.  The toxin being used for this study is Ricin (plant based) and it zeroes in on just the affected muscle cells. Unfortunately, I had to make some calls for work at this point so I missed the majority of the denervation surgery presentation.   After a long day filled with information we broke for socializing and sharing of more experiences. The next morning, we had two interesting gentlemen from England share an epidemiology study from the northeast of England and a new program where a Nurse Practitioner is providing Botox treatments in people’s homes.  Out of about 766 patients, 566 have focal dystonia and of those 351 are cervical. They are doing extensive education in England on dystonia and show about 1 in every 10,450 people has cervical dystonia.  The nurse practitioner program has been very successful as patients feel the nurse spends more time with them, really listens to where the pain is and frees the doctor up for more consultation time.  They also expressed that ST is not only a physical movement disorder but it moves people socially and economically as well.  In England, average onset was at 39.4 years and diagnosis at 47 years thus the push for education.  From an employment standpoint for ST, 30.8% were available for work of  which 13.5% were in full-time employment, 8.2% in part-time employment, 7.7% unemployed and 1.4% self-employed.  However, an additional 25.6% were on long-term sick leave or retired early.  Similar employment results were found in a study in Germany.  The treatment of choice in England is Botox rather than drugs that also affect other areas of the body.  Although they also stated that 25% of all patients are dopa responsive so they try Sinebid prior to Botox. From a social perspective, 59.8% of ST’rs had moderate anxiety or depression compared to 19.1% of the general population.  8.8% of ST’rs had severe anxiety or depression compared to 1% of the general population.  60.4% experienced pain or discomfort compared to 29% of the general population and 21.8% had severe pain compared to 3.8% of the general population.  Social functioning for ST’rs was also 23.7 points below the general population. Next came Lee Dreyfus, former Governor of Wisconsin to discuss "Coping as a Family Member".  His wife, Joyce, developed ST seven years ago after a fall at their cottage.   Mr. Dreyfus was quite humorous and while I did not personally agree with everything he said or the comments he made about  and to his wife, he had a few key points from my perspective.  ST is not an individual affliction, it affects all family members.  He felt the key to a successful marriage was a male vs. a shared leadership and that each partner’s #1 concern should be the other person.  He encouraged ST’rs not to "use" the ST as an excuse and not to play wolf with "can’t" vs. "won’t".  He said family members must … read more »

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Thank You Tommye, I thought Deb did a superb job and posted this information, since she sent it to me.  I have received mail from England asking for more info, which I forwarded to him, after I emailed to Deb to get it.    Love Ya too, ….Anna – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Thanks Anna and Deb!!!  This is so very interesting-thank you so very much for posting it!! Love Ya, Tommye

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, I’m a new poster to this list and I am hoping that someone out there can give me some advice on Effexor. I take anti-depressants for chronic pain.  I just recently switched from Serzone to Effexor.  The Serzone was working well, but I was having trouble concentrating. I have been taking the Effexor for two weeks.  When I first started taking it, I was taking 75 mg. per day, but I had terrible side effects.  I had panic attacks, blurred vision so bad I couldn’t drive, twitching/shaking, and more. I’ve cut the dosage down to 37.5 but I’m still having some sleep disturbances and difficulty achieving orgasm.  Other than that, I’m actually feeling pretty good on it?  Does anybody have any input on this? Or had any experiences with side effects?

Been on it about 9-10 months.  Have had mostly good to say about it (but the first couple of days were tough).  The side effects have waned considerably without excessive loss of efficacy.  I still don’t sleep well though unless I take my nighly Ambien.  I don’t know if that particularly side effect will ever go away.  Given that I already had problems with insomnia… But by and large it’s been great for me.  The only times that it seems to not keep me from slipping are hormone upheaval times and I’d have to guess by your address name that this won’t be a problem for you.  (too much anyway). Take care and good luck, KCat — For more information about this service, send e-mail to:

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I take anti-depressants for chronic pain.  I just recently switched from Serzone to Effexor.  The Serzone was working well, but I was having trouble concentrating. I have been taking the Effexor for two weeks.  When I first started taking it, I was taking 75 mg. per day, but I had terrible side effects.  I had panic attacks, blurred vision so bad I couldn’t drive, twitching/shaking, and more.

I am currently taking Effexor myself at 150mg a day with no severe problems. It took me over two weeks to adjust to it though.  The very first day I took the medication was not very pleasant, as I recall.  I had all kinds of side effects for the first two weeks.  These side effects grew less with time. I’ve cut the dosage down to 37.5 but I’m still having some sleep disturbances and difficulty achieving orgasm.  Other than that, I’m actually feeling pretty good on it?  Does anybody have any input on this? Or had any experiences with side effects?

Effexor can cause both of the problems you describe.  In my case, my last dosage is at 4 PM so I do not have problems sleeping.  Maybe you should consult your doctor over the times you take the medication.  Effexor can cause anorgasmia and other anomalies of that kind (I know!), but except in severe cases this should not be a severe problem (in some ways it can be viewed as an advantage!). If you need more details feel free to mail me at (remove the —-)

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I have been taking the Effexor for two weeks.  When I first started taking it, I was taking 75 mg. per day, but I had terrible side effects.  

My doctor started me out at 37.5 per day for a few days, then I went up to 75. Now, I’m at 150. Of the four ADs I’ve been on, Effexor has probably been the least annoying. I’ve cut the dosage down to 37.5 but I’m still having some sleep disturbances and difficulty achieving orgasm.  

Effexor tends to be stimulating. My pdoc had me go with the last dose about 4 PM and that helped. (Actually, as long as I don’t take it immediately before going to bed.) Other than that, I’m actually feeling pretty good on it

Charlie’s Sneaker Pages: http://sneakers.pair.com/ Best Value in Airplanes: http://www.boeing.com/

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Hi, I’m a new poster to this list and I am hoping that someone out there can give me some advice on Effexor. I take anti-depressants for chronic pain.  I just recently switched from Serzone to Effexor.  The Serzone was working well, but I was having trouble concentrating. I have been taking the Effexor for two weeks.  When I first started taking it, I was taking 75 mg. per day, but I had terrible side effects.  I had panic attacks, blurred vision so bad I couldn’t drive, twitching/shaking, and more.   I’ve cut the dosage down to 37.5 but I’m still having some sleep disturbances and difficulty achieving orgasm.  Other than that, I’m actually feeling pretty good on it?  Does anybody have any input on this? Or had any experiences with side effects?

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