Jim: Have you ever had a cardiac workup? Bob
I’ve told her. She didn’t seem highly concerned. In fact, she began tapering my other meds. (My peak flow was up.) So now what? Aleta – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi! If your albuterol (which is the same thing as salbuterol) isn’t working – tell your doctor NOW! When you have a severe attack albuterol and drugs related are the first line of treatment used to get you breathing again. It is very serious if these types of drugs do not work for you as it gives the emergeny treatment team few options to use to improve your breathing quickly. Please don’t panic when you read this – there can be many reasons why it doesn’t seem to be working for you such as inhalation techniques, expiration dates, over reliance on rescue medication, etc. but do look into this now. Marion B.Sc.Pharmacy And I use Albuterol, and it’s never let me down, either. Good thing there are medications that always work! So what does it mean when your albuterol inhaler doesn’t do anything? My asthma is fairly mild, but when I get an attack, I cough and cough. Sometimes the albuterol stopes it right away, but other times it doesn’t seem to have any effect. I don’t notice any difference in the coughing between the times that it does work and when it doesn’t (which I would expect if something other than asthma caused the non-responsive cough). Aleta
Hi! If your albuterol (which is the same thing as salbuterol)
snip Marion B.Sc.Pharmacy
Hi, "Salbutamol" [not salbuterol] is the WHO recommended name generally in use outside of the USA for "Albuterol". See Asthma FAQ medications: ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/medicine/asthma/medications Colleen
Hi Colleen! I see I made a spelling error. Thanks for pointing it out, Marion – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi! If your albuterol (which is the same thing as salbuterol) snip Marion B.Sc.Pharmacy Hi, "Salbutamol" [not salbuterol] is the WHO recommended name generally in use outside of the USA for "Albuterol". See Asthma FAQ medications: ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/medicine/asthma/medications Colleen
And I use Albuterol, and it’s never let me down, either. Good thing there are medications that always work!
So what does it mean when your albuterol inhaler doesn’t do anything? My asthma is fairly mild, but when I get an attack, I cough and cough. Sometimes the albuterol stopes it right away, but other times it doesn’t seem to have any effect. I don’t notice any difference in the coughing between the times that it does work and when it doesn’t (which I would expect if something other than asthma caused the non-responsive cough). Aleta
And I use Albuterol, and it’s never let me down, either. Good thing there are medications that always work! So what does it mean when your albuterol inhaler doesn’t do anything? My asthma is fairly mild, but when I get an attack, I cough and cough. Sometimes the albuterol stopes it right away, but other times it doesn’t seem to have any effect. I don’t notice any difference in the coughing between the times that it does work and when it doesn’t (which I would expect if something other than asthma caused the non-responsive cough). Aleta
Not all cough is caused by asthma; you could have a co-existing condition contributing to the cough. See: http://www.ummed.edu/dept/pulmonary/irwin/pitfalls.htm Common Pitfalls in Managing Patients with Chronic Cough "If patients continue to complain of persistently troublesome cough even after an extensive evaluation, reconsider the following pitfalls in management as possible contributing factors: 4.not considering that more than one condition is simultaneously contributing to the cough;
Hi! If your albuterol (which is the same thing as salbuterol) isn’t working – tell your doctor NOW! When you have a severe attack albuterol and drugs related are the first line of treatment used to get you breathing again. It is very serious if these types of drugs do not work for you as it gives the emergeny treatment team few options to use to improve your breathing quickly. Please don’t panic when you read this – there can be many reasons why it doesn’t seem to be working for you such as inhalation techniques, expiration dates, over reliance on rescue medication, etc. but do look into this now. Marion B.Sc.Pharmacy – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – And I use Albuterol, and it’s never let me down, either. Good thing there are medications that always work! So what does it mean when your albuterol inhaler doesn’t do anything? My asthma is fairly mild, but when I get an attack, I cough and cough. Sometimes the albuterol stopes it right away, but other times it doesn’t seem to have any effect. I don’t notice any difference in the coughing between the times that it does work and when it doesn’t (which I would expect if something other than asthma caused the non-responsive cough). Aleta
I seem to get a violent chest compressing asthma attack in the last few years once a day or so, that feels like somoene is sitting on my chest and I am about to strangulate. I have life long asthma and it is much worse in the spring and fall, I am on Flovent, and here is my point: Ventolin is amazing! I have used it for 20 years, but it is still amazing the little off blue inhaler buddy has saved my life hundreds of times.
I know it’s way too early to tell, but I swear I’m getting relief from Sinulair… I’m a mild asthmatic and finally wenr to the doctors after a cold kept me weezing for an entire week (prior episodes were confined to 1-2x month)… after an in-office test he prescribed everything – Flo-Vent + Singulair + Albuterol for weezing… I am a borderline health "nut" and avoid drugs if at all possible… I told him I would not take the full regiment to start, but instead would try just the singulair and see how it goes… well it’s been a week and my night’s have been wonderful! Clear, full breaths with no effort! Keep in mind, I wasn’t moderate or severe prior to taking the Singulair… but my relief is self-evident nonetheless… We’ll see if it keeps up. Brad
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I know it’s way too early to tell, but I swear I’m getting relief from Sinulair… I’m a mild asthmatic and finally wenr to the doctors after a cold kept me weezing for an entire week (prior episodes were confined to 1-2x month)… after an in-office test he prescribed everything – Flo-Vent + Singulair + Albuterol for weezing… I am a borderline health "nut" and avoid drugs if at all possible… I told him I would not take the full regiment to start, but instead would try just the singulair and see how it goes… well it’s been a week and my night’s have been wonderful! Clear, full breaths with no effort! Keep in mind, I wasn’t moderate or severe prior to taking the Singulair… but my relief is self-evident nonetheless… We’ll see if it keeps up. Brad
Glad to see the singulair works for you but as with any drug, keep an Eye on other side effects it may bring. It is a new drug and I have had some things happen that greatly concern me, since starting the singulair. I will not mention what, as i don’t want to influence your judgement. If you have been reading other peoples posting about singullair you probably know what might happen. The drug helped bring up my peak flow readings as well, but I think the other side effects far outway the 20 points higher on my readings. So i am not on the drug any more. Dont forget to look at possible food/allergies etc. that might be causing problems during sleep, also have you had reflux ruled out. No eating after 8pm!!! Take care,, Mountain Mama
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have a few questions on the US asthma market – can anyone point me in the right direction for unbiased info ? 4. Is it true that generic versions of proventil and ventolin have been used more and more frequently over the past few years ? Grateful for your thoughts. . Copley Labs set back the generic market on Albuterol for nebulizers by distributing their contaminated generic a couple years ago! I avoid generics for albuterol like the plague until there is a trackrecord. Does anyone have a good track record? I can’t take the generic albuterol inhaler. It definitely does not work as well for me. I had to repeat the dosage every 1 1/2. It was terrible.
I have used Ventolin practically every day since it first came on the market about 30 years ago without any obvious ill effects. In now use it in conjunction with Pulmicort and together they very effectively control my asthma. Best of luck. — Michael Thornton LLM Registered Migration Agent 57348 Vice president Migration Institute of Australia Postal address: C/- Macpherson & Kelley Solicitors, PO Box 343 DANDENONG, Australia Phone: 613 97916444 Fax: 613 97934462 Email: Web site: http://www.ozemail.com.au/~mthornto/
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have a few questions on the US asthma market – can anyone point me in the right direction for unbiased info ? 4. Is it true that generic versions of proventil and ventolin have been used more and more frequently over the past few years ? Grateful for your thoughts. . Copley Labs set back the generic market on Albuterol for nebulizers by distributing their contaminated generic a couple years ago! I avoid generics for albuterol like the plague until there is a trackrecord. Does anyone have a good track record?
I can’t take the generic albuterol inhaler. It definitely does not work as well for me. I had to repeat the dosage every 1 1/2. It was terrible.
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have a few questions on the US asthma market – can anyone point me in the right direction for unbiased info ? 4. Is it true that generic versions of proventil and ventolin have been used more and more frequently over the past few years ? Grateful for your thoughts. . Copley Labs set back the generic market on Albuterol for nebulizers by distributing their contaminated generic a couple years ago! I avoid generics for albuterol like the plague until there is a trackrecord. Does anyone have a good track record?
We’ve been using the Astra generic for a while with no difficulties. (Astra the company, with US headquarters in the New England area has been in the press recently for other problems unrelated to quality – personal scandals with the now-former president). — Mark Feblowitz, GTE Laboratories Inc., 40 Sylvan Rd. Waltham, MA 02254
I have a few questions on the US asthma market – can anyone point me in the right direction for unbiased info ? 4. Is it true that generic versions of proventil and ventolin have been used more and more frequently over the past few years ? Grateful for your thoughts. .
Copley Labs set back the generic market on Albuterol for nebulizers by distributing their contaminated generic a couple years ago! I avoid generics for albuterol like the plague until there is a trackrecord. Does anyone have a good track record?
I have a few questions on the US asthma market – can anyone point me in the right direction for unbiased info ? 1. What is the annual albuterol market worth ? 2. How many prescriptions for albuterol (brand or generic) are written each year by physicians and pulmonologists ? 3.What share of this do the various brand names have ? 4. Is it true that generic versions of proventil and ventolin have been used more and more frequently over the past few years ? Grateful for your thoughts. .
the previous were aluminum based. This information was new to me and I questioned the use of aluminum, to which she replied that I should not worry. I associated this with cancer.
Um, has more to do with the fact that high levels of aluminum have been linked to alzhymers. Mostly just a worry if theres a famly histery. Elf-Kin
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone take allergy shots for asthma? I did for years-once a month. The injection (1) was for dust, molds, trees, cats, dogs, etc. and it was delivered in an oil based substance. Recently my allergist retired and said that the oil based substance from Bayer was no longer available. Now I have started with a new allergist and have been going for weekly shots and this schedule may last 8 months. Her nurse, who now gives the injections, 5 separate ones, told me that I had to start at a low dose to build up my resistance to the allergens and that this(water based) works faster than those I was used to. She added that the previous were aluminum based. This information was new to me and I questioned the use of aluminum, to which she replied that I should not worry. I associated this with cancer. My questions are: 1. Why weekly shots for 8 months when I had one monthly for years containing all allergens? 2. With all the new meds. today is this really worth my time and money to go 60 miles r/t for these shots ? I currently take serevent, azmacort, nasacort, choledyl and allegra. The trip is taken because my allergist recommended her and I don’t have good one’s nearby.
I had allergy shots for 5 years, then stopped. I didn’t notice any difference in my symptoms after stopping. Now might be a good time to stop the shots and see if you notice any difference. Shots are a hassle, and there’s always the possibility of an anaphylactic reaction. It happened to me once; My peak flow dropped to 20% of normal 90 minutes after the shots; fortunately I was still at the clinic and went back to the allergist for a couple shots of epi; it left me shaking the rest of the day. Many cases of adult asthma are largely nonallergic asthma. The new inhalers like Pulmicort and Serevent seem to adequately control most asthma; plus Nasalcrom, Rhinocort, etc for rhinitis. If your symptoms worsen, you can always start up the shots again later. Ellis 3. Does having 5 separate shots mean more money for Allergist? 4. The same question for starting me on a low dose-$ for Allergist. Thanks for any info. Jo
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone take allergy shots for asthma? I did for years-once a month. The injection (1) was for dust, molds, trees, cats, dogs, etc. and it was delivered in an oil based substance. Recently my allergist retired and said that the oil based substance from Bayer was no longer available. Now I have started with a new allergist and have been going for weekly shots and this schedule may last 8 months. Her nurse, who now gives the injections, 5 separate ones, told me that I had to start at a low dose to build up my resistance to the allergens and that this(water based) works faster than those I was used to. She added that the previous were aluminum based. This information was new to me and I questioned the use of aluminum, to which she replied that I should not worry. I associated this with cancer. My questions are: 1. Why weekly shots for 8 months when I had one monthly for years containing all allergens?
======= It’s the standard regiem. I would be guessing but here goes: Oil based shots are absorbed more slowly than water based ones and frequently are used in "depo" preparations that last longer. I would assume that all the allergens were combined due to solubility factors. 2. With all the new meds. today is this really worth my time and money to go 60 miles r/t for these shots ? I currently take serevent, azmacort, nasacort, choledyl and allegra. The trip is taken because my allergist recommended her and I don’t have good one’s nearby.
======= Any clinic will give you the shots. When I took them I gave them to myself. Any time you change formulation or have even a slight reaction you should go to a clinic for the next few shots. I have given them to my wife on and off for 34 years. Personally, I don’t put a lot of faith in allergy shots for long term management but reasonable people do disagree. I see no reason why the solutions can’t be sent to your local doctor to give the injections and then just go for a periodic checkup with the allergist. We give them in my office and I was under the impression that most others did the same.
I have taken them, my father has taken them and my wife takes them. My wife thinks they help her but not a lot. I didn’t think they did much at all. They cured my dad’s problems. — Gordon W5RED www.couger.com/gcouger "You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take." – Wayne Gretzky
I live in the UK and we had some programs on TV last year showing work on allergies at well-known British hospitals. They had three cases I can remember, a chap who had just become allergic to some kinds of seafood (advice: avoid them), an asthmatic girl allergic to dust mites (advice: get rid of the carpet etc. in her bedroom and put proper covers on the mattress, pillow, duvet and sofa), and another allergic to cats (can’t remember if she also was asthmatics – advice: get allergy shots). For the seafood guy he was comforted to know what causes his near fatal reaction, though miffed as he loved seafood! The girl with dust mite problems was much improved and needed less drugs, and the girl allergic to cats could visit a relative’s house where there was a cat, and even stroke and pet the cat with no (or very few) ill effects. This suggests that for the right case they can be very effective. PS the overseeing doctor was (in my eyes) very young, and a most attractive female blond. I bet her patients were always looking forward to the next visit! She had a lovely manner with her patients and seemed highly competent. I can’t remember the name of the hospital (or the channel or the program) but it was a leader in the UK on this kind of problem. Maybe that’s the message! Go see an expert! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Does anyone take allergy shots for asthma? I did for years-once a month. The injection (1) was for dust, molds, trees, cats, dogs, etc. and it was delivered in an oil based substance. Recently my allergist retired and said that the oil based substance from Bayer was no longer available. Now I have started with a new allergist and have been going for weekly shots and this schedule may last 8 months. Her nurse, who now gives the injections, 5 separate ones, told me that I had to start at a low dose to build up my resistance to the allergens and that this(water based) works faster than those I was used to. She added that the previous were aluminum based. This information was new to me and I questioned the use of aluminum, to which she replied that I should not worry. I associated this with cancer. My questions are: 1. Why weekly shots for 8 months when I had one monthly for years containing all allergens? 2. With all the new meds. today is this really worth my time and money to go 60 miles r/t for these shots ? I currently take serevent, azmacort, nasacort, choledyl and allegra. The trip is taken because my allergist recommended her and I don’t have good one’s nearby. 3. Does having 5 separate shots mean more money for Allergist? 4. The same question for starting me on a low dose-$ for Allergist. Thanks for any info. Jo
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I just started allergy shots. I only get 3 separate ones. I seem to be allergic to the same things as you, maybe even more. My allergist combined some of the allergens into the same shots. The reason for separate injections is so that if you have a reaction, that specific bottle can be adjusted without affecting the other bottles. As for the money, my insurance statements are only saying one injection.I’ve received shots in the past, I feel that they did alot of good. This past year has been terrible for me and I think that part of the reason is because I had stopped the shots 2 years ago. Good Luck. Jody
Hi Jo I have brittle asthma and take a great deal of medication for this. I have not had the shots that you enquire about, but I have know people who do. I am not sure if you are from the states or not. I live in England and although the shots are given here, they are mostly frowned upon, due to the fact that giving these shots has not proven any more effective than treating the allergies as they occur and also because they are extremely dangerous! I am severely allergic to penicillin, bee and wasp stings, garlic and almonds. I also have severe allergies to grass and tree pollen and the house dust mite. I did ask about these shots once and was told by Dr Ayres of Birmingham Heartlands Hospital (one of two hospitals in the UK which deal with brittle asthma), that they were far too dangerous to be given to somebody with my condition and he seemed to not favour them at all. Obviously, you will do as you will and how you feel comfortable, but it may be worth giving these shots a miss and taking antihistamines and other therapies for your condition, instead of these injections. I, also, have no idea why they would use aluminium in the shots. To the best of my (limited) knowledge on this, aluminium is not a substance used to help another substance dissolve, so why it is in it I have no idea! Sorry I could not help more!
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone take allergy shots for asthma? I did for years-once a month. The injection (1) was for dust, molds, trees, cats, dogs, etc. and it was delivered in an oil based substance. Recently my allergist retired and said that the oil based substance from Bayer was no longer available. Now I have started with a new allergist and have been going for weekly shots and this schedule may last 8 months. Her nurse, who now gives the injections, 5 separate ones, told me that I had to start at a low dose to build up my resistance to the allergens and that this(water based) works faster than those I was used to. She added that the previous were aluminum based. This information was new to me and I questioned the use of aluminum, to which she replied that I should not worry. I associated this with cancer. My questions are: 1. Why weekly shots for 8 months when I had one monthly for years containing all allergens? 2. With all the new meds. today is this really worth my time and money to go 60 miles r/t for these shots ? I currently take serevent, azmacort, nasacort, choledyl and allegra. The trip is taken because my allergist recommended her and I don’t have good one’s nearby. 3. Does having 5 separate shots mean more money for Allergist? 4. The same question for starting me on a low dose-$ for Allergist. Thanks for any info. Jo
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone take allergy shots for asthma? I did for years-once a month. The injection (1) was for dust, molds, trees, cats, dogs, etc. and it was delivered in an oil based substance. Recently my allergist retired and said that the oil based substance from Bayer was no longer available. Now I have started with a new allergist and have been going for weekly shots and this schedule may last 8 months. Her nurse, who now gives the injections, 5 separate ones, told me that I had to start at a low dose to build up my resistance to the allergens and that this(water based) works faster than those I was used to. She added that the previous were aluminum based. This information was new to me and I questioned the use of aluminum, to which she replied that I should not worry. I associated this with cancer. My questions are: 1. Why weekly shots for 8 months when I had one monthly for years containing all allergens?
I would be guessing but here goes: Oil based shots are absorbed more slowly than water based ones and frequently are used in "depo" preparations that last longer. I would assume that all the allergens were combined due to solubility factors. 2. With all the new meds. today is this really worth my time and money to go 60 miles r/t for these shots ? I currently take serevent, azmacort, nasacort, choledyl and allegra. The trip is taken because my allergist recommended her and I don’t have good one’s nearby.
Personally, I don’t put a lot of faith in allergy shots for long term management but reasonable people do disagree. I see no reason why the solutions can’t be sent to your local doctor to give the injections and then just go for a periodic checkup with the allergist. We give them in my office and I was under the impression that most others did the same. 3. Does having 5 separate shots mean more money for Allergist?
Probably, but I doubt this is the reason. 4. The same question for starting me on a low dose-$ for Allergist.
No, this is the common protocol. Thanks for any info. Jo
– CBI, M.D. Please note: It is impossible to accurately diagnose medical problems without seeing the patient and reviewing the entire history. These posts are intended to be helpful and informative. Always check with your doctor before following any advice given.
Does anyone take allergy shots for asthma? I did for years-once a month. The injection (1) was for dust, molds, trees, cats, dogs, etc. and it was delivered in an oil based substance. Recently my allergist retired and said that the oil based substance from Bayer was no longer available. Now I have started with a new allergist and have been going for weekly shots and this schedule may last 8 months. Her nurse, who now gives the injections, 5 separate ones, told me that I had to start at a low dose to build up my resistance to the allergens and that this(water based) works faster than those I was used to. She added that the previous were aluminum based. This information was new to me and I questioned the use of aluminum, to which she replied that I should not worry. I associated this with cancer. My questions are: 1. Why weekly shots for 8 months when I had one monthly for years containing all allergens? 2. With all the new meds. today is this really worth my time and money to go 60 miles r/t for these shots ? I currently take serevent, azmacort, nasacort, choledyl and allegra. The trip is taken because my allergist recommended her and I don’t have good one’s nearby. 3. Does having 5 separate shots mean more money for Allergist? 4. The same question for starting me on a low dose-$ for Allergist. Thanks for any info. Jo
Does anyone take allergy shots for asthma? I did for years-once a month. The injection (1) was for dust, molds, trees, cats, dogs, etc. and it was delivered in an oil based substance. Recently my allergist retired and said that the oil based substance from Bayer was no longer available. Now I have started with a new allergist and have been going for weekly shots and this schedule may last 8 months. Her nurse, who now gives the injections, 5 separate ones, told me that I had to start at a low dose to build up my resistance to the allergens and that this(water based) works faster than those I was used to. She added that the previous were aluminum based. This information was new to me and I questioned the use of aluminum, to which she replied that I should not worry. I associated this with cancer.
Don’t. My questions are: 1. Why weekly shots for 8 months when I had one monthly for years containing all allergens?
Hopefully you were retested — this should be done at least once during the course of shots. Then a new formulation is made up and you need to "ramp up" on that. When I took the shots the started out 3 times a week, then twice a week, then once a week, then every two weeks. Never got to once a month. (This was 30 years ago.) 2. With all the new meds. today is this really worth my time and money to go 60 miles r/t for these shots ? I currently take serevent, azmacort, nasacort, choledyl and allegra. The trip is taken because my allergist recommended her and I don’t have good one’s nearby.
That’s for you to judge, based on how bad your symptoms are and how well you tolerate your meds. In my opinion the fewer meds the better. You should be able to arrange to have your shots administered by a clinic, doctor, or nurse closer to home. Once the mixture is made up and the dosage established then it’s something that just about any medical person can do. I believe that sometimes the shots are even given by a family member. 3. Does having 5 separate shots mean more money for Allergist?
I don’t know why you would be having 5 separate shots vs one mixture. But I haven’t dealt with this for nearly 30 years. 4. The same question for starting me on a low dose-$ for Allergist.
Starting with a low dose is prudent, even if not absolutely necessary.
Hithere… for anyone who cares to know. I am doing remarkably well on day 2 at 25% of my regular 50 mg Zoloft dosage. I will remain at this dosage until after my menses have passed as PMS can be hellish. Happy as a Clam… PW
Hello. I have dealt with anxiety and secondary depression for about 15 years. I have been misdiagnosed more times than I have fingers. I am under the impression that diagnoses are merely a way for the
psychology/psychiatry – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – industry to allocate medication. It has nothing to do with management. I have been on Prozac, Melaril, Paxil, Zoloft, Depakote, Risperdal and Xanax. Of all of them I found Zoloft to be the most helpful. Unfortunately, one of the side effects is weight gain. I have been on it, 2nd time around, for about a year and a half. I have learned of a new pseudo-natural supplement called L5 Hydroxytryptophan (5HTP). It’s a lot like Tryptophan in that it helps the body produce serotonin and melatonin. I lost my job about 6 months ago, as I go through them like kleenex tissues, and, subsequently lost my health insurance. I cannot afford to see my psychiatrist anymore. I have always been inclined toward natural healing techniques and really wanted to come off the Zoloft. I also wanted to lose the 30 pounds I gained in the last 9 months. I tried to come off it and I started feeling edgy on day 3. On day 4 I was as maniacal as I was at my absolute worst. I did some research to learn that there are indeed significant withdrawal symptoms associated with SSRIs not excluding permanent neurological damage and death. Of all 20 or so doctors I have seen in the last 15 years nobody ever mentioned this! I was appalled. Had I known this I may have looked deeper into alternatives. It’s like coming off heroin! I am on my 6th week of tapering off. I have had to cut my 40 hour week (at my new job w/o insurance) to 20. Fortunately I have a job where this is possible. I am consulting with a nutritionist on my diet and 5HTP. She has personal experience with the same type of disorder manifestation as myself except she was on Prozac prior to using 5HTP. What I would like to know is if anyone reading this has any experience coming off SSRIs and/or using 5HTP. I am using kava kava to help keep me calm during the day while lowering my dosage. I use a subligual form of melatonin at night to help me stay asleep, as I have a tendancy to wake up every hour. It’s working so far. I am down by 50% of my 50 mg dosage. To women out there: I do not recommend adjusting your dosage during PMS. Most of us have it worst during this time. I adjust my dosage about a week into my cycle – when I am at my best. I have had the best results this way. Also, it takes me about a week to adjust to the lowered dosage. I have been working with this for nearly 2 months now. I found that using 5HTP with the SSRI is not good. I was flooded with serotonin and nuts as ever. I’d love to hear other ppls’ experience coming off SSRIs and the use of natural "supplements". Thanks! Ms. PW
I suppose you know that kava is not recommended for use with any other psychoactive drug. Kava is known to potentiate (increase) the effects of other drugs e,g,, benzodiazepenes, alcohol and barbituates. I haven’t seen anything specific to SSRIs or other drugs that affect serotonin, just educated speculation that kava could have a negative impact on serotonin utilization. Another poster related a problem with anxiety rebound when taking kava, a report I’ve never seen before; I wonder if he/she was taking another drug at the time. From your last post, though, the combination seems to be working for you. I’d suggest, though, that you keep a close watch on your reactions and discontinue the kava as appropriate. I’d be interested in hearing how it goes for you. I gather that your intent is to withdraw from Zoloft and start on 5-HTP. May I suggest that you hold off on the 5-HTP and just stay on kava for awhile? If you have anxiety-driven depression, you may not need anything else, or perhaps something milder like an omega-3 supplement (skip St. John’s Wort – it eats kava as well as birth control pills, HIV medication, etc.) Anyway, take the time to evaluate yourself before you take on the possible risks associated with 5-HTP. (Actually, I’m considering taking 5-HTP in lieu of melatonin – still researching the issue of combining it with kava) One other note about kava: researchers may have found the reason why some users have suffered liver damage. It seems that some herbal manufacturers have been making their kava extracts from "peelings", the bark of the aboveground stems of the plant; which contain pipemethystine, a substance proved to be toxic to liver cultures. Peelings are a by-product of kava use in the South Pacific and are normally discarded as waste material; in 1998, though, 82% of the kava imported into the U.S. consisted of dried peelings. It would be reasonable for all kava users to research the product they use and determine whether any of the above ground portions of the plant (peelings, stem or leaves) are used; if so, change to another brand that only uses the underground portions (lateral roots and rootstalk). You don’t need hepititis or cirrohsis on top of your other problems. You may also end up with a more effective kava :}. Cheers, Figaro
I am reevaluating my need for 5-htp at all. Kava does seem to be working for me. I actually only need it on days 1-3 (about) after downgrading my Zoloft dose. After that, I seem to level out naturally, except for the use of sublingual melatonin. I think that working only 20 hours a week really halps too, though I can’t do this forever. I have forwarded your message to my nutritionist. I am particularly interested in what she has to say about the peelings. The brand of kava I use is Gaia Herbs. I’ve used other supplements they manufacture with positive results. I have heard of the anxiety rebound effect of kava though, as of yet, it’s not happened to me. It may be because I don’t use it all the time, only while transitioning to a lower dose ssri. My most annoying withdrawal symptoms now is nausea. It only lasts for a couple of days and it’s mild, but it makes eating difficult. The other side of that is that I eat less. Since I gained 30 pounds on Zoloft, I’m not complaining too loudly. I anticipate it stopping after I come off the ssri completely. I have lost 10 of the 30 pounds in the last 6 weeks. Every time I downgrade my dose I lose 3 pounds in the first 36 hours! Woo-Hoo! PW
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I suppose you know that kava is not recommended for use with any other psychoactive drug. Kava is known to potentiate (increase) the effects of other drugs e,g,, benzodiazepenes, alcohol and barbituates. I haven’t seen anything specific to SSRIs or other drugs that affect serotonin, just educated speculation that kava could have a negative impact on serotonin utilization. Another poster related a problem with anxiety rebound when taking kava, a report I’ve never seen before; I wonder if he/she was taking another drug at the time. From your last post, though, the combination seems to be working for you. I’d suggest, though, that you keep a close watch on your reactions and discontinue the kava as appropriate. I’d be interested in hearing how it goes for you. I gather that your intent is to withdraw from Zoloft and start on 5-HTP. May I suggest that you hold off on the 5-HTP and just stay on kava for awhile? If you have anxiety-driven depression, you may not need anything else, or perhaps something milder like an omega-3 supplement (skip St. John’s Wort – it eats kava as well as birth control pills, HIV medication, etc.) Anyway, take the time to evaluate yourself before you take on the possible risks associated with 5-HTP. (Actually, I’m considering taking 5-HTP in lieu of melatonin – still researching the issue of combining it with kava) One other note about kava: researchers may have found the reason why some users have suffered liver damage. It seems that some herbal manufacturers have been making their kava extracts from "peelings", the bark of the aboveground stems of the plant; which contain pipemethystine, a substance proved to be toxic to liver cultures. Peelings are a by-product of kava use in the South Pacific and are normally discarded as waste material; in 1998, though, 82% of the kava imported into the U.S. consisted of dried peelings. It would be reasonable for all kava users to research the product they use and determine whether any of the above ground portions of the plant (peelings, stem or leaves) are used; if so, change to another brand that only uses the underground portions (lateral roots and rootstalk). You don’t need hepititis or cirrohsis on top of your other problems. You may also end up with a more effective kava :}. Cheers, Figaro
Another poster related a problem with anxiety rebound when taking kava, a report I’ve never seen before; I wonder if he/she was taking another drug at the time.
That was me. The only other drug I was on was alcohol… and lot’s of it. I was self medicating for about 25 years. Over 15 months sober, one day at a time. Tono
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Another poster related a problem with anxiety rebound when taking kava, a report I’ve never seen before; I wonder if he/she was taking another drug at the time. That was me. The only other drug I was on was alcohol… and lot’s of it. I was self medicating for about 25 years. Over 15 months sober, one day at a time. Tono
Thanks for posting the info, Tono. I just try to collect info on kava whereever it may be!
LM, Thank you for your information. I am working with a nutritionist who has an MS. She has informaed me that the blood levels of 5HTP are a concern only for those very few with serious metabolic issues. I am quite healthy in that regard. She assures me that in her years of working with the CDC she participated in clinical studies on the use of 5htp and tryptophan and found that both amino acids are quite safe in healthy individuals. She has several patients who are taking up to 250 mg of 5htp daily and have for a year or better with no problems at all. In my opinion, the ssris are a much greater risk for me personally since there are no clinical studies on the effect ssris in ppl taking them over one year. The side effects of ssris have been devastating for me. For those with metabolic issues it should not be taken lightly though. Thank you. I will keep the group informed on my progress. PW
Hello. I have dealt with anxiety and secondary depression for about 15 years. I have been misdiagnosed more times than I have fingers. I am under the impression that diagnoses are merely a way for the
psychology/psychiatry – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – industry to allocate medication. It has nothing to do with management. I have been on Prozac, Melaril, Paxil, Zoloft, Depakote, Risperdal and Xanax. Of all of them I found Zoloft to be the most helpful. Unfortunately, one of the side effects is weight gain. I have been on it, 2nd time around, for about a year and a half. I have learned of a new pseudo-natural supplement called L5 Hydroxytryptophan (5HTP). It’s a lot like Tryptophan in that it helps the body produce serotonin and melatonin. I lost my job about 6 months ago, as I go through them like kleenex tissues, and, subsequently lost my health insurance. I cannot afford to see my psychiatrist anymore. I have always been inclined toward natural healing techniques and really wanted to come off the Zoloft. I also wanted to lose the 30 pounds I gained in the last 9 months. I tried to come off it and I started feeling edgy on day 3. On day 4 I was as maniacal as I was at my absolute worst. I did some research to learn that there are indeed significant withdrawal symptoms associated with SSRIs not excluding permanent neurological damage and death. Of all 20 or so doctors I have seen in the last 15 years nobody ever mentioned this! I was appalled. Had I known this I may have looked deeper into alternatives. It’s like coming off heroin! I am on my 6th week of tapering off. I have had to cut my 40 hour week (at my new job w/o insurance) to 20. Fortunately I have a job where this is possible. I am consulting with a nutritionist on my diet and 5HTP. She has personal experience with the same type of disorder manifestation as myself except she was on Prozac prior to using 5HTP. What I would like to know is if anyone reading this has any experience coming off SSRIs and/or using 5HTP. I am using kava kava to help keep me calm during the day while lowering my dosage. I use a subligual form of melatonin at night to help me stay asleep, as I have a tendancy to wake up every hour. It’s working so far. I am down by 50% of my 50 mg dosage. To women out there: I do not recommend adjusting your dosage during PMS. Most of us have it worst during this time. I adjust my dosage about a week into my cycle – when I am at my best. I have had the best results this way. Also, it takes me about a week to adjust to the lowered dosage. I have been working with this for nearly 2 months now. I found that using 5HTP with the SSRI is not good. I was flooded with serotonin and nuts as ever. I’d love to hear other ppls’ experience coming off SSRIs and the use of natural "supplements". Thanks! Ms. PW please do not take 5ht without discussing it thoroughly with a doctor-it can cause elevated serum levels of serotonin which does not pass the blood brain barrier but can destroy the valves of your heart-tryptophan as a supplement will not do this because the metabolic process of converting tryptophan buffers the larger flooding of blood levels if you truly believe this supplement is working for you a urinary 5HIAA test should be done every month or so to see if your blood level of serotonin isn’t too high-if you have any coronary artery disease using this supplement is dangerous there is a whole complex interplay between B vitamins and serotonin as well as its percursors like 5ht -natural supplements are often drugs or co-drugs in a sense so please don’t be over-comfortable by their "natural" label-there are cancerous tumors that secrete gobs of 5ht and that is natural too-for the tumors. Just be careful please LM
Thanks, Tono. Actually the kava kava really does help me. The thing I like to keep in mind is that everyone is different. That’s why I have a hard time beleiving in diagnoses – there are too many variations. I’ll keep your suggestion in mind. But for now it’s the only thing that DOES help.
Well, I’m glad it’s helping. Just be sure not to over do it. As far as the diagnosis, I know what you mean. My Dr. never gave me an actual diagnosis, or I would have 10 or 20 of them! He only tries to work with all my various symptoms. And like Margrove said, BE CAREFULL! Tono – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – PW What I would like to know is if anyone reading this has any experience coming off SSRIs and/or using 5HTP. I am using kava kava to help keep me calm during the day while lowering my dosage. Kava always gave me an awful rebound effect of anxiety. It worsened each day and I needed more and more of it. It’s one of the worst "natural" remedies I’ve tried. Remember, natural doesn’t mean it’s good or safe. I’d never drink crude oil. 
Tono
Hello. I have dealt with anxiety and secondary depression for about 15 years. I have been misdiagnosed more times than I have fingers. I am under the impression that diagnoses are merely a way for the psychology/psychiatry industry to allocate medication. It has nothing to do with management. I have been on Prozac, Melaril, Paxil, Zoloft, Depakote, Risperdal and Xanax. Of all of them I found Zoloft to be the most helpful. Unfortunately, one of the side effects is weight gain. I have been on it, 2nd time around, for about a year and a half. I have learned of a new pseudo-natural supplement called L5 Hydroxytryptophan (5HTP). It’s a lot like Tryptophan in that it helps the body produce serotonin and melatonin. I lost my job about 6 months ago, as I go through them like kleenex tissues, and, subsequently lost my health insurance. I cannot afford to see my psychiatrist anymore. I have always been inclined toward natural healing techniques and really wanted to come off the Zoloft. I also wanted to lose the 30 pounds I gained in the last 9 months. I tried to come off it and I started feeling edgy on day 3. On day 4 I was as maniacal as I was at my absolute worst. I did some research to learn that there are indeed significant withdrawal symptoms associated with SSRIs not excluding permanent neurological damage and death. Of all 20 or so doctors I have seen in the last 15 years nobody ever mentioned this! I was appalled. Had I known this I may have looked deeper into alternatives. It’s like coming off heroin! I am on my 6th week of tapering off. I have had to cut my 40 hour week (at my new job w/o insurance) to 20. Fortunately I have a job where this is possible. I am consulting with a nutritionist on my diet and 5HTP. She has personal experience with the same type of disorder manifestation as myself except she was on Prozac prior to using 5HTP. What I would like to know is if anyone reading this has any experience coming off SSRIs and/or using 5HTP. I am using kava kava to help keep me calm during the day while lowering my dosage. I use a subligual form of melatonin at night to help me stay asleep, as I have a tendancy to wake up every hour. It’s working so far. I am down by 50% of my 50 mg dosage. To women out there: I do not recommend adjusting your dosage during PMS. Most of us have it worst during this time. I adjust my dosage about a week into my cycle – when I am at my best. I have had the best results this way. Also, it takes me about a week to adjust to the lowered dosage. I have been working with this for nearly 2 months now. I found that using 5HTP with the SSRI is not good. I was flooded with serotonin and nuts as ever. I’d love to hear other ppls’ experience coming off SSRIs and the use of natural "supplements". Thanks! Ms. PW
What I would like to know is if anyone reading this has any experience coming off SSRIs and/or using 5HTP. I am using kava kava to help keep me calm during the day while lowering my dosage.
Kava always gave me an awful rebound effect of anxiety. It worsened each day and I needed more and more of it. It’s one of the worst "natural" remedies I’ve tried. Remember, natural doesn’t mean it’s good or safe. I’d never drink crude oil. Tono
Thanks, Tono. Actually the kava kava really does help me. The thing I like to keep in mind is that everyone is different. That’s why I have a hard time beleiving in diagnoses – there are too many variations. I’ll keep your suggestion in mind. But for now it’s the only thing that DOES help. PW
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – What I would like to know is if anyone reading this has any experience coming off SSRIs and/or using 5HTP. I am using kava kava to help keep me calm during the day while lowering my dosage. Kava always gave me an awful rebound effect of anxiety. It worsened each day and I needed more and more of it. It’s one of the worst "natural" remedies I’ve tried. Remember, natural doesn’t mean it’s good or safe. I’d never drink crude oil. Tono
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello. I have dealt with anxiety and secondary depression for about 15 years. I have been misdiagnosed more times than I have fingers. I am under the impression that diagnoses are merely a way for the psychology/psychiatry industry to allocate medication. It has nothing to do with management. I have been on Prozac, Melaril, Paxil, Zoloft, Depakote, Risperdal and Xanax. Of all of them I found Zoloft to be the most helpful. Unfortunately, one of the side effects is weight gain. I have been on it, 2nd time around, for about a year and a half. I have learned of a new pseudo-natural supplement called L5 Hydroxytryptophan (5HTP). It’s a lot like Tryptophan in that it helps the body produce serotonin and melatonin. I lost my job about 6 months ago, as I go through them like kleenex tissues, and, subsequently lost my health insurance. I cannot afford to see my psychiatrist anymore. I have always been inclined toward natural healing techniques and really wanted to come off the Zoloft. I also wanted to lose the 30 pounds I gained in the last 9 months. I tried to come off it and I started feeling edgy on day 3. On day 4 I was as maniacal as I was at my absolute worst. I did some research to learn that there are indeed significant withdrawal symptoms associated with SSRIs not excluding permanent neurological damage and death. Of all 20 or so doctors I have seen in the last 15 years nobody ever mentioned this! I was appalled. Had I known this I may have looked deeper into alternatives. It’s like coming off heroin! I am on my 6th week of tapering off. I have had to cut my 40 hour week (at my new job w/o insurance) to 20. Fortunately I have a job where this is possible. I am consulting with a nutritionist on my diet and 5HTP. She has personal experience with the same type of disorder manifestation as myself except she was on Prozac prior to using 5HTP. What I would like to know is if anyone reading this has any experience coming off SSRIs and/or using 5HTP. I am using kava kava to help keep me calm during the day while lowering my dosage. I use a subligual form of melatonin at night to help me stay asleep, as I have a tendancy to wake up every hour. It’s working so far. I am down by 50% of my 50 mg dosage. To women out there: I do not recommend adjusting your dosage during PMS. Most of us have it worst during this time. I adjust my dosage about a week into my cycle – when I am at my best. I have had the best results this way. Also, it takes me about a week to adjust to the lowered dosage. I have been working with this for nearly 2 months now. I found that using 5HTP with the SSRI is not good. I was flooded with serotonin and nuts as ever. I’d love to hear other ppls’ experience coming off SSRIs and the use of natural "supplements". Thanks! Ms. PW
please do not take 5ht without discussing it thoroughly with a doctor-it can cause elevated serum levels of serotonin which does not pass the blood brain barrier but can destroy the valves of your heart-tryptophan as a supplement will not do this because the metabolic process of converting tryptophan buffers the larger flooding of blood levels if you truly believe this supplement is working for you a urinary 5HIAA test should be done every month or so to see if your blood level of serotonin isn’t too high-if you have any coronary artery disease using this supplement is dangerous there is a whole complex interplay between B vitamins and serotonin as well as its percursors like 5ht -natural supplements are often drugs or co-drugs in a sense so please don’t be over-comfortable by their "natural" label-there are cancerous tumors that secrete gobs of 5ht and that is natural too-for the tumors. Just be careful please LM
funny you should ask i’m seriously considering asking my doctor if he’d let me experiment with it. as a supplement to paxil that is. my concern is if there are any possible adverse reactions from cocktailing the two. i’ve been diagnosed with two types of ptsd. ptsd with generalized anxiety disorder and ptsd with clinical depression. so far paxil is all i’m taking. i’ve tried prozac but it didn’t work for the anxiety, only the depression. now i’m very much curious about trying Zoloft. feedback, anyone?
mbl…@aol.com (mbl581) wrote in message <news:20020511173739.20477.00009196@mb-ma.aol.com
… funny you should ask i’m seriously considering asking my doctor if he’d let me experiment with it. as a supplement to paxil that is. my concern is if there are any possible adverse reactions from cocktailing the two. i’ve been diagnosed with two types of ptsd. ptsd with generalized anxiety disorder and ptsd with clinical depression.
That’s a new one. PTSD *is* an anxiety disorder. The symptoms of GAD are encompassed in PTSD so that someone with PTSD shouldn’t be co-morbidly diagnosised with GAD. However, depression is a common, seperate, co-morbid diagnosis (90%).
so far paxil is all i’m taking. i’ve tried prozac but it didn’t work for the anxiety, only the depression. now i’m very much curious about trying Zoloft.
Prozac shouldn’t be taken for any anxiety related problems. Few people who take it find that it decreases anxiety. For the rest it worsens anxiety considerably. Mixing the SSRIs may not be the solution. You might want to consider adding a benzo to your SSRI to be taken only when you need it for high anxiety activities. Paxil is also well known to have a limited tolerance lifespan. Many people say it loses effectiveness after 1 – 2 years. Zoloft doesn’t. All the SSRIs are basicly similiar meds – similar side effects and benefits. Some will help more than others. It’s just a matter of finding which SSRI works with your brain. As always YMMV .. View the ASTP-FAQ @ http://www.astpfaq.bravepages.com/index.html
Anyone had any experience w/this drug? Have any advice about taking it? side effects? Pros? Cons? Thanks.
Hi Angry!
Anyone had any experience w/this drug? Have any advice about taking it? side effects? Pros? Cons? Thanks.
How about doing a search of Deja News on zoloft. We have posted innumerable times about Zoloft because it is one of the drugs of choice for PTSD. My advice is to take it only under a psychiatrist’s supervision. Smile and there will be something to smile about! Nancy (in a bad mood and trying to not share too much)
Thanks very much for your help. Thanks also for saying hi to me before. My names Kristiana and I posted with that name at first ’cause I forgot to change it. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -kipco wrote:
Hi Angry! Anyone had any experience w/this drug? Have any advice about taking it? side effects? Pros? Cons? Thanks. How about doing a search of Deja News on zoloft. We have posted innumerable times about Zoloft because it is one of the drugs of choice for PTSD. My advice is to take it only under a psychiatrist’s supervision. Smile and there will be something to smile about! Nancy (in a bad mood and trying to not share too much)
Hi everyone, I finally went to another Dr and I have been put on Zoloft. Any one use this drug. Does it really help or just take the edge off the ptsd? My therpist is glad I’m back on the meds. The past month has been hell for me. With the 9/11 events. Then a week later my grandfather passed away. Then on the weekend my daughter broke out with what looked like chicken pox (It wasnt though). Had to cancel her birthday party cause she was sick. Then there was the funeral. i didn’t go cause of all the problems with flying. Needless to say it was like Hell on earth. i ended up cutting again. And after going for 8 months I was so ashamed of what i had done. i thought i had gotten beyond that, but i guess not. Oh well thats been my past month. Joanne
Hi Joanne!
I finally went to another Dr and I have been put on Zoloft. Any one use this drug.
Yes … remember that your dentist will probably want you to be on Buspar also. The two together make a huge difference, and you don’t want to end up with a mouth full of problems due to side effects of Zoloft.
Does it really help or just take the edge off the ptsd? My therpist is glad I’m back on the meds.
I don’t understand the question. It changed my brain chemistry so that I could ‘get’ the therapeutic help I was being given.
The past month has been hell for me.
Sorry for your pain, but … there was a point to it IME. I wouldn’t go ‘on drugs’ until one of my symptoms became so overwhelming that was losing my ability to control myself … for about 6 months I was seriously considering stalking a person I know and fighting the urge every day. I guess that each one of us has some kind of mental wake-up call that we need psychiatric-supervised chemical help, rather than trying to white-knuckle it over and over. Sounds to me like this last month may have been yours. Smile and there will be something to smile about! Nancy
Hi Joanne! I’ve been on Zoloft fora year or two, and I’m impressed with it. It actually makes me want to sleep before midnight (!), wake up when others have their breakfast, keeps me generally sleeping with only a *normal*amount of nightmares, and has me feeling… well, like a *normal* person, whatever that is.I’m deeply grateful to life and the pdoc who gave me this: My life isn’t a bowl of roses, but it sure isn’t hell on earth either. I’ve been on a series of other meds before, though I don’t know if the names tell you anything: Nefadar, Tymelyt etc.But this is better,less side-effects, and enourmously more expensive than anything else I’ve ever tried. Good Luck! Lotte "Nancy" <ki…@cris.com
skrev i meddelandet
news:9pv377$la0@dispatch.concentric.net… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
Hi Joanne! I finally went to another Dr and I have been put on Zoloft. Any one use this drug. Yes … remember that your dentist will probably want you to be on Buspar also. The two together make a huge difference, and you don’t want to end
up
with a mouth full of problems due to side effects of Zoloft. Does it really help or just take the edge off the ptsd? My therpist is glad I’m back on the meds. I don’t understand the question. It changed my brain chemistry so that I could ‘get’ the therapeutic help I was being given. The past month has been hell for me. Sorry for your pain, but … there was a point to it IME. I wouldn’t go
‘on
drugs’ until one of my symptoms became so overwhelming that was losing my ability to control myself … for about 6 months I was seriously
considering
stalking a person I know and fighting the urge every day. I guess that each one of us has some kind of mental wake-up call that we need psychiatric-supervised chemical help, rather than trying to white-knuckle it over and over. Sounds to me like this last month may
have
been yours. Smile and there will be something to smile about! Nancy
why would the dentist want buspar also? thanks "Nancy" <ki…@cris.com
wrote in message
news:9pv377$la0@dispatch.concentric.net… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
Hi Joanne! I finally went to another Dr and I have been put on Zoloft. Any one use this drug. Yes … remember that your dentist will probably want you to be on Buspar also. The two together make a huge difference, and you don’t want to end
up
with a mouth full of problems due to side effects of Zoloft. Does it really help or just take the edge off the ptsd? My therpist is glad I’m back on the meds. I don’t understand the question. It changed my brain chemistry so that I could ‘get’ the therapeutic help I was being given. The past month has been hell for me. Sorry for your pain, but … there was a point to it IME. I wouldn’t go
‘on
drugs’ until one of my symptoms became so overwhelming that was losing my ability to control myself … for about 6 months I was seriously
considering
stalking a person I know and fighting the urge every day. I guess that each one of us has some kind of mental wake-up call that we need psychiatric-supervised chemical help, rather than trying to white-knuckle it over and over. Sounds to me like this last month may
have
been yours. Smile and there will be something to smile about! Nancy
Hi!
why would the dentist want buspar also?
Because there have been tests showing that bruxism (teeth grinding, jaw pain etc) increases with Zoloft and PTSD. The Dentistry Guide at About.com can direct you to the research. The buspar somehow controls these involuntary reactions, mostly when we are sleeping. Smile and there will be something to smile about! Nancy p.s. Well, group, I ran out of percosets but have a stash of something less strong than the Vicodin. Only needed 2 pain pills today and did get another variety (and its name) harvested, but not replanted … yet.
"Nancy" <ki…@cris.com
wrote in message
news:9q0h86$d8@dispatch.concentric.net…
Because there have been tests showing that bruxism (teeth grinding, jaw
pain
etc) increases with Zoloft and PTSD. The Dentistry Guide at About.com can direct you to the research.
Thank you so much for posting this Nancy. I stumbled on the message and finally it has verified what I experienced. My doctor wouldn’t believe me and kept me on Zoloft and a further two SSRI’s, and while I control the problem with the herb kava kava ( a muscle relaxant ) I have to say that it is a pain to have something else on top of the PTSD. Anyway, thanks for the info! BFN, Cary Charles 
)
Hi Cary!
Because there have been tests showing that bruxism (teeth grinding, jaw pain etc) increases with Zoloft and PTSD. The Dentistry Guide at About.com
can
direct you to the research. Thank you so much for posting this Nancy. I stumbled on the message and finally it has verified what I experienced. My doctor wouldn’t believe me and kept me on Zoloft and a further two SSRI’s, and while I control the problem with the herb kava kava ( a muscle relaxant ) I have to say that
it
is a pain to have something else on top of the PTSD.
Well, I was looking at an herbalist recommendation page earlier this week and there was a discussion of kavakava. If one is taking kava kava, apparently one is not to take buspar also. ???? Anyway, you might want to send some info to your psych … it seems he/she needs an update or two. Or, perish the thought, you might want to ask your dentist to talk to your psych. I had another woman (the receptionist at my CPA’s office) who was having the same symptoms on zoloft and everyone was working on a TMJ diagnosis. She talked to her psych (who then looked it up) and got immediate relief with buspar. And, no, I don’t mind taking the Buspar also. Not only does it give me a ‘hit’ and let me know when I am really in anxiety, but also its dosage can be changed (and has been changed) irrespective of the zoloft dosage to give me relief from different symptoms. YMMV Smile and there will be something to smile about! Nancy
Hi Shannon!
hmmm, I do have TMJ flareups and the doc’s are wondering if the fluid in
my
ears is part of it. Zoloft has never been recomended for me. Have had enough of my current pdoc. Told my therapist I needed to move on, medications and treatments are
essential
and I’m getting no where with this guy.
Well, I don’t know the story with other SRIs, only with Zoloft. If they all have the same mechanism of working in the brain, I wouldn’t be surprised if an anti-anxiety medication wouldn’t help with mouth-clenching. I think that you’d better talk to a professional about this, or go visit the dentist at About.com. He has a lot of experience (from my mouth among others) with the stuff that goes wrong in a mouth due to PTSD. Smile and there will be something to smile about! Nancy
"Nancy" <ki…@cris.com
wrote in message
news:9u5dol$clt@dispatch.concentric.net…
Well, I was looking at an herbalist recommendation page earlier this week and there was a discussion of kavakava. If one is taking kava kava, apparently one is not to take buspar also. ????
Yes. They are only just getting up to date on kava, so they are naturally hesitant. It seems sensible to be cautious as it does have an antidepressant & antianxiety effect, perhaps indicating that it works on the same pathways. Certainly kava intensifies the effects of booze and makes you much sleepier. Also, while kava has been used safely for a long time, it has no track record of being used alongside antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs to speak of. To the best of my knowledge, there is little research in this area, yet it could be of huge importance.
Anyway, you might want to send some info to your psych … it seems he/she needs an update or two. Or, perish the thought, you might want to ask
your
dentist to talk to your psych.
At the moment I am a bit in shock really as I am still absorbing the fact that I was shamed into staying on drugs that were so bad for me, and which seem to have done permanent damage. Now though, it seems I will be getting help soon from someone a bit more informed, purely to process the trauma and work cognitively, alongside some art therapy to process it all on a psychodynamic level also. And yes, I think I will be presenting that study to my doctor on my next visit.
I had another woman (the receptionist at my CPA’s office) who was having
the
same symptoms on zoloft and everyone was working on a TMJ diagnosis. She talked to her psych (who then looked it up) and got immediate relief with buspar.
Yes. I will pursue Buspar if things do not even out and kava gets too expensive when the chemical guys jump on board. In the last year, the price has doubled for one brand, in line with increasing popularity! I hear some big names have started plantations of kava with their eyes on big profits. A slightly ominous prospect indeed.
And, no, I don’t mind taking the Buspar also. Not only does it give me a ‘hit’ and let me know when I am really in anxiety, but also its dosage
can
be changed (and has been changed) irrespective of the zoloft dosage to
give
me relief from different symptoms. YMMV
Sounds really good. Glad you are getting the help! BFN, Cary )
"Nancy" <ki…@cris.com
wrote in message
news:9u692p$9co@dispatch.concentric.net…
Well, I don’t know the story with other SRIs, only with Zoloft. If they
all
have the same mechanism of working in the brain, I wouldn’t be surprised
if
an anti-anxiety medication wouldn’t help with mouth-clenching.
I checked out the study linked from the about.com site and yes, it cites prozac, seroxat and zoloft (lustral) as having caused this problem. I wouldn’t be surprised if others in the SSRI family do too. BFN, Cary
Hi, need some quick advise, i took effexor last night, 37.5 mg. I woke up today, in a state of panic, and my pupils were BIG as a watermealon. Is this a normal side effect,and what could i take to counteract this? need advise geno
Hi, need some quick advise, i took effexor last night, 37.5 mg. I woke up today, in a state of panic, and my pupils were BIG as a watermealon. Is this a normal side effect,and what could i take to counteract this? need advise geno
If I were you, I would, for starters, abstain from anything that contains caffeine or even aspartame.
geno, big pupils is a normal side effect. no worries ) there’s not much you can do about it. ~*~nwysca~*~ – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, need some quick advise, i took effexor last night, 37.5 mg. I woke up today, in a state of panic, and my pupils were BIG as a watermealon. Is this a normal side effect,and what could i take to counteract this? need advise geno If I were you, I would, for starters, abstain from anything that contains caffeine or even aspartame.
Uh, just a thought. How high a dose of thyroid hormones are you on? T3 ? T4? Both maybe? The reason I ask is that if you are on too high a dose you can get shaky BUT when I was extremely hypo I shook pretty bad too. I never took Xanax, I take Valium. I think it is gentler on the system than Xanax. Do you take in much caffeine in the course of a day? Caffeine will make your hands tremble too. The adrenals can cause problems and often go hand in hand with thyroid problems, just another thing to consider. Being a guy, I can’t vouch for if menopause would cause this but I can tell you I’ve never heard of it, even though it can do some strange things so I don’t discount that either ( I told you I might not have a good answer for you ). Did you by chance have a recent copy of any tests you had done? Posting them here will get you replies that might be a bit more revealing or at least tell you a bit more about what is going on. "PowerPoster" <powerpos…@nospam.com
wrote in message
news:tNOu6.104188$tP3.1638117@news1.rdc1.bc.home.com… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
Hi, my main questions were: – is constant tremor ever experienced by any of you on thyroid
replacement,
or who took xanax – do any of the women reading this have menopausal symptoms at the same
time > and have any of your doctors figured out which is menopause and which is > thyroid related. If so, has estrogen helped? > John Riggs <johnri32…@yahoo.com
wrote in message
> news:99ebgv$qa94$1@ID-41632.news.dfncis.de… > > You don’t want junk mail? Gosh, and I was so looking forward to > sending > > mine off to some underprivileged soul 
> > I’m sorry, I read your post but I lost track of what it was you were > > asking. Could you post a short, eentsy, version just for me? Pretty > please? > > I promise to give an answer, even if it’s wrong. > > Thanks > > John > > "PowerPoster" <powerpos…@nospam.com
wrote in message
> > news:Aoxu6.96934$tP3.1557994@news1.rdc1.bc.home.com… > > > Sorry, i forgot to give my address for those who can reply, it is > > > suz…@yahoo.com. Although I also will read the newsgroup. Thanks. I > > didn’t > > > have it in my preferences to avoid masses of unwanted junk mail.
You don’t want junk mail? Gosh, and I was so looking forward to sending mine off to some underprivileged soul I’m sorry, I read your post but I lost track of what it was you were asking. Could you post a short, eentsy, version just for me? Pretty please? I promise to give an answer, even if it’s wrong. Thanks John "PowerPoster" <powerpos…@nospam.com
wrote in message
news:Aoxu6.96934$tP3.1557994@news1.rdc1.bc.home.com… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
Sorry, i forgot to give my address for those who can reply, it is suz…@yahoo.com. Although I also will read the newsgroup. Thanks. I
didn’t
have it in my preferences to avoid masses of unwanted junk mail.
Hi, my main questions were: – is constant tremor ever experienced by any of you on thyroid replacement, or who took xanax – do any of the women reading this have menopausal symptoms at the same time and have any of your doctors figured out which is menopause and which is thyroid related. If so, has estrogen helped? John Riggs <johnri32…@yahoo.com
wrote in message
news:99ebgv$qa94$1@ID-41632.news.dfncis.de… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
You don’t want junk mail? Gosh, and I was so looking forward to
sending
mine off to some underprivileged soul
please? > I promise to give an answer, even if it’s wrong. > Thanks > John > "PowerPoster" <powerpos…@nospam.com
wrote in message
> news:Aoxu6.96934$tP3.1557994@news1.rdc1.bc.home.com… > > Sorry, i forgot to give my address for those who can reply, it is > > suz…@yahoo.com. Although I also will read the newsgroup. Thanks. I > didn’t > > have it in my preferences to avoid masses of unwanted junk mail.
Sorry, i forgot to give my address for those who can reply, it is suz…@yahoo.com. Although I also will read the newsgroup. Thanks. I didn’t have it in my preferences to avoid masses of unwanted junk mail.
HI Suze, I better leave someone who knows more about thyroid to answer your post but I thought I would let the US readers know that the CES you mention is a plant based conjugated estrogen similiar to Cenestin sold in the US. I’ve also removed the other newsgroup for this reply. Kathryn kathr…@telus.net On Thu, 22 Mar 2001 22:07:46 GMT, "PowerPoster" – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -<powerpos…@nospam.com
wrote: I went to my dr. today to get the results of my blood test last week. He won’t give them on the phone. It was very hard driving there, I have constant tremors and they are worsening. However, he dismissed them as well as my shivering and arm and leg weakness, these all have been with me only since early Feb, for no known reason. For the first time he chose not to order a TSH – only a free T4. So, it was 20.8. Normal range is 10.5 to 20.0, so it is just slightly high, but that then might explain why I have felt attacks of hyper adrenaline? And yet, I have felt ill and almost comatose on a lower dose, previously, and was attempting not to be hypothyroid. But he says that 100 mcg is too high and 75 would be too low, so I must now take .88. My last test a few months ago, the free t4 was 18 or high normal, and I was taking 100 then too, and told to stay on 100. Then I was switched by my endocrinologist to a combo of T4 and T3, which was excessive and made me have more heart pounding than usual, and I stopped the T3. I also felt hypo on the divided dose .50-T4, .12-T3 regimen, but more T3 seemed to make me have more sudden bursts of heart pounding. Even with the combined dose, the equivalent I tried to get was 100 mcg a day as it seemed to make me feel less ill and less hypo than other doses. I have years of journals to analyze for symptoms and doses; it has not helped me find an answer. It is always either too high or too low, with a euthyroid feeling appearing so rarely that maybe 2 or 3 times in ten years I have felt it and diarized it as a massively red letter day, virtually a feeling of euphoria. This euthyroid is the way I felt for the rest of my life the first 45 years until the diseases started. Just able to function and feeling well. So my T4 is slightly high, and I should therefore not have hypo symptoms, which I do still have – feeling suddenly sleepy at any time and falling asleep for an hour or two. (Yet I have insomnia late at night, and spells of hyper, surging, too much unuseable adrenaline coursing through me). Swelling feet and legs, no appetite, hair falling out in my brush and when I wash it in huge clumps, trouble with digestion when I do eat, but the number one hypo symptom I have day and night is freezing cold, shivering, every day, unrelated to the temperature, that nothing will warm up until it passes. It’s an internal thing. The constant tremors are not always shivering from cold…sometimes I have them together. These are NOT hyper symptoms so why would I think the dose was too high? My basal temperataure, when I get up, has ranged from 97.3 to 98.2, which I believe is normal according to Dr. Broda Barnes. One would think my dose was good. In the past the temperature was in the 96 range, and yet I felt better then, at a lower dose, though I had the hypo symptoms. Someone posted the query, which would you rather be – hypo or hyper? Choosing between them is something I have always had to do, and each one becomes horrific, causing me to go the other way for a time. Can this constant seesawing be causing the new problems? If one has to choose, hypo is less debilitating and life-destroying. One gets fat with painful joints, and slow, and placid, and confused, but there is a calm. And yet, then one is wistful for the energetic bursts, relative fit body and occasional clear thinking one did have even with the accompanying high anxiety, nervous state. As I am trying to explain, now I seem to be both hyper and hypo, but the test says slightly hyper. Besides the T4 test I had an FSH test. A year or so ago it was still normal, 22, now it is 47, which is out of range. Though I have had perimenopausal symptoms – severe ones, and all of them, for 6 years now, my tests were always in the normal range until now. So he gave me estrogen – CES, a ‘natural’ plant based one. He said more women were against Premarin now (which I used to be, but now I don’t care – I just want relief). I will take them, what else can I do? Hoping it will help. I studied this 3 or 4 years ago and was even given both Premarin and CES by doctors at the time of my hot flashes but I did not have good results and stopped them. Now that the hormone levels have changed maybe this is the answer. Does anyone have experience with CES? I have become a querulous, middle aged woman whom no one wants to know about, I suddenly realized in his office when facing his contempt and his lack of sympathy for me as a person, and his dismissing my complete worsening in the last 2 months…..his restating what he always states: "We’ll have to see if this gets the thyroid in range…" In ten years nothing has worked, and currently I am worse than ever before. My health has deteriorated drastically since around last October. The pains, weakness, unsteadiness, tremor are considered ‘essential tremor’ by a neurologist, and fibromyalgia by a rheumatologist, but there is NO treatment for these…until I take the .88 T4 for a while and if I don’t improve then my g.p. will give me a form of propanolol. This is the same thing I took when I first got Graves’ disease in 1989 and before the radiation. Why is this happening? If the T4 level is so high then why not just stop the thyroid and become completely hypothyroid, that will calm me and make me placid like a cow, and overweight….which is what happened last year, i basically had ONLY intense muscle pain and hot flashes most of the time. No anxiety or heart pounding attacks, tremors or shivering. I don’t MIND hot flashes. I wish that was all I did have again. I learned to accept and deal with them. I cannot deal with a head tremor and weak muscles. Even my jaw feels sprained after chewing; I cannot hold a cup with one hand. If 100 was such a massive dose that it makes me hyper, then why the combined symptoms which include hypo items like hair loss, cold, confusion, cognitive problems with words and memory, and the rest? My God, I am at the end of my rope, and other than an expensive holistic doctor or naturopath, who might have an insight and might just be a quack, there is nowhere else to turn. It is not a simple matter to change doctors. I can barely stand to go to the ones I do have, that already know my complicated case. It is an ordeal, as everything is such an effort now. But my mind objects, wanting a way out of this nightmare. There surely is a first cause somewhere….the only one I know of is the Graves’ disease, the hyperthyroid suddenly in 1989. Everything else followed. I’ve said this before, I was an energetic, smart, normal looking and successful working mother with many friends and a full life and unbounded energy. And after the treatment I still functioned until 1996 when my body just began to be unable to function. The menopausal stuff began in 1994 and yes I did get worse after that, but nothing helped, and by 1996 I was too disabled to work. Four years now have been lost from my life because of iatrogenic disease. My psychiatrist says it is iatrogenic – doctor-caused. Wrong treatment, wrong pills. I no longer have a thyroid, and nothing replaces it correctly. He just listens to me – he cannot help the physical things and the doctors will not. He gives me Xanax, but i worry that it only makes it worse in the long run, causing rebound anxiety when not taken, as it messes up the GABA receptors in the brain. Yet, I guess I will still rely on it for the worst of the spells I have. Without any thyroid of course I cannot survive, but no combination or amount has worked for long, and these other worse conditions have happened one after another including 3 root canals needed for abcesses in the last year, and continued tooth pain. Despite no sugar in my diet for a year. I read in a doctor’s waiting room once that estrogen is used for every part of the body including the teeth. If that is the case could my tooth problems, nerve problems and the rest all be part of the menopause? I was once an expert on this, I wrote a paper on it that was published to high praise, and now I am too confused to figure it out, as nothing makes sense anymore, and my case does not fit any I read about. I don’t even have hot flashes most of the time and they were not a serious problem for me, in retrospect. I do periodically for a few months and then none. The cold spells and shivering are the thing now. And that totally indicates more thyroid needed, and yet the test shows no, I have even excess T4 in the blood. Any ideas, please, would be welcome. I also have fibromyalgia, and iGa nephropathy, both considered nothing by the medical profession, but those were the diagnoses. I live with constant back pain, but that does not affect my life the way the lack of stable hormones does. I lost 35 pounds since last May, when I deliberately lowered my food intake and did yoga. I continue at the lower weight, but do not lose more as I eat everything I feel like now since I so seldom have any appetite and since food causes indigestion. I felt better when I was obese, but I didn’t like the way I looked. Was it a mistake to diet? I no longer have knee problems, as my doctor promised when the weight came off, and my heel spur also went away. If being obese would restore my stable constitution though I’d do it again, except I am now unable to overeat to the required extent, my digestion won’t allow it. I was told to take Xanax, in November, for the attacks of heart pounding and surging which started
… read more »
I went to my dr. today to get the results of my blood test last week. He won’t give them on the phone. It was very hard driving there, I have constant tremors and they are worsening. However, he dismissed them as well as my shivering and arm and leg weakness, these all have been with me only since early Feb, for no known reason. For the first time he chose not to order a TSH – only a free T4. So, it was 20.8. Normal range is 10.5 to 20.0, so it is just slightly high, but that then might explain why I have felt attacks of hyper adrenaline? And yet, I have felt ill and almost comatose on a lower dose, previously, and was attempting not to be hypothyroid. But he says that 100 mcg is too high and 75 would be too low, so I must now take .88. My last test a few months ago, the free t4 was 18 or high normal, and I was taking 100 then too, and told to stay on 100. Then I was switched by my endocrinologist to a combo of T4 and T3, which was excessive and made me have more heart pounding than usual, and I stopped the T3. I also felt hypo on the divided dose .50-T4, .12-T3 regimen, but more T3 seemed to make me have more sudden bursts of heart pounding. Even with the combined dose, the equivalent I tried to get was 100 mcg a day as it seemed to make me feel less ill and less hypo than other doses. I have years of journals to analyze for symptoms and doses; it has not helped me find an answer. It is always either too high or too low, with a euthyroid feeling appearing so rarely that maybe 2 or 3 times in ten years I have felt it and diarized it as a massively red letter day, virtually a feeling of euphoria. This euthyroid is the way I felt for the rest of my life the first 45 years until the diseases started. Just able to function and feeling well. So my T4 is slightly high, and I should therefore not have hypo symptoms, which I do still have – feeling suddenly sleepy at any time and falling asleep for an hour or two. (Yet I have insomnia late at night, and spells of hyper, surging, too much unuseable adrenaline coursing through me). Swelling feet and legs, no appetite, hair falling out in my brush and when I wash it in huge clumps, trouble with digestion when I do eat, but the number one hypo symptom I have day and night is freezing cold, shivering, every day, unrelated to the temperature, that nothing will warm up until it passes. It’s an internal thing. The constant tremors are not always shivering from cold…sometimes I have them together. These are NOT hyper symptoms so why would I think the dose was too high? My basal temperataure, when I get up, has ranged from 97.3 to 98.2, which I believe is normal according to Dr. Broda Barnes. One would think my dose was good. In the past the temperature was in the 96 range, and yet I felt better then, at a lower dose, though I had the hypo symptoms. Someone posted the query, which would you rather be – hypo or hyper? Choosing between them is something I have always had to do, and each one becomes horrific, causing me to go the other way for a time. Can this constant seesawing be causing the new problems? If one has to choose, hypo is less debilitating and life-destroying. One gets fat with painful joints, and slow, and placid, and confused, but there is a calm. And yet, then one is wistful for the energetic bursts, relative fit body and occasional clear thinking one did have even with the accompanying high anxiety, nervous state. As I am trying to explain, now I seem to be both hyper and hypo, but the test says slightly hyper. Besides the T4 test I had an FSH test. A year or so ago it was still normal, 22, now it is 47, which is out of range. Though I have had perimenopausal symptoms – severe ones, and all of them, for 6 years now, my tests were always in the normal range until now. So he gave me estrogen – CES, a ‘natural’ plant based one. He said more women were against Premarin now (which I used to be, but now I don’t care – I just want relief). I will take them, what else can I do? Hoping it will help. I studied this 3 or 4 years ago and was even given both Premarin and CES by doctors at the time of my hot flashes but I did not have good results and stopped them. Now that the hormone levels have changed maybe this is the answer. Does anyone have experience with CES? I have become a querulous, middle aged woman whom no one wants to know about, I suddenly realized in his office when facing his contempt and his lack of sympathy for me as a person, and his dismissing my complete worsening in the last 2 months…..his restating what he always states: "We’ll have to see if this gets the thyroid in range…" In ten years nothing has worked, and currently I am worse than ever before. My health has deteriorated drastically since around last October. The pains, weakness, unsteadiness, tremor are considered ‘essential tremor’ by a neurologist, and fibromyalgia by a rheumatologist, but there is NO treatment for these…until I take the .88 T4 for a while and if I don’t improve then my g.p. will give me a form of propanolol. This is the same thing I took when I first got Graves’ disease in 1989 and before the radiation. Why is this happening? If the T4 level is so high then why not just stop the thyroid and become completely hypothyroid, that will calm me and make me placid like a cow, and overweight….which is what happened last year, i basically had ONLY intense muscle pain and hot flashes most of the time. No anxiety or heart pounding attacks, tremors or shivering. I don’t MIND hot flashes. I wish that was all I did have again. I learned to accept and deal with them. I cannot deal with a head tremor and weak muscles. Even my jaw feels sprained after chewing; I cannot hold a cup with one hand. If 100 was such a massive dose that it makes me hyper, then why the combined symptoms which include hypo items like hair loss, cold, confusion, cognitive problems with words and memory, and the rest? My God, I am at the end of my rope, and other than an expensive holistic doctor or naturopath, who might have an insight and might just be a quack, there is nowhere else to turn. It is not a simple matter to change doctors. I can barely stand to go to the ones I do have, that already know my complicated case. It is an ordeal, as everything is such an effort now. But my mind objects, wanting a way out of this nightmare. There surely is a first cause somewhere….the only one I know of is the Graves’ disease, the hyperthyroid suddenly in 1989. Everything else followed. I’ve said this before, I was an energetic, smart, normal looking and successful working mother with many friends and a full life and unbounded energy. And after the treatment I still functioned until 1996 when my body just began to be unable to function. The menopausal stuff began in 1994 and yes I did get worse after that, but nothing helped, and by 1996 I was too disabled to work. Four years now have been lost from my life because of iatrogenic disease. My psychiatrist says it is iatrogenic – doctor-caused. Wrong treatment, wrong pills. I no longer have a thyroid, and nothing replaces it correctly. He just listens to me – he cannot help the physical things and the doctors will not. He gives me Xanax, but i worry that it only makes it worse in the long run, causing rebound anxiety when not taken, as it messes up the GABA receptors in the brain. Yet, I guess I will still rely on it for the worst of the spells I have. Without any thyroid of course I cannot survive, but no combination or amount has worked for long, and these other worse conditions have happened one after another including 3 root canals needed for abcesses in the last year, and continued tooth pain. Despite no sugar in my diet for a year. I read in a doctor’s waiting room once that estrogen is used for every part of the body including the teeth. If that is the case could my tooth problems, nerve problems and the rest all be part of the menopause? I was once an expert on this, I wrote a paper on it that was published to high praise, and now I am too confused to figure it out, as nothing makes sense anymore, and my case does not fit any I read about. I don’t even have hot flashes most of the time and they were not a serious problem for me, in retrospect. I do periodically for a few months and then none. The cold spells and shivering are the thing now. And that totally indicates more thyroid needed, and yet the test shows no, I have even excess T4 in the blood. Any ideas, please, would be welcome. I also have fibromyalgia, and iGa nephropathy, both considered nothing by the medical profession, but those were the diagnoses. I live with constant back pain, but that does not affect my life the way the lack of stable hormones does. I lost 35 pounds since last May, when I deliberately lowered my food intake and did yoga. I continue at the lower weight, but do not lose more as I eat everything I feel like now since I so seldom have any appetite and since food causes indigestion. I felt better when I was obese, but I didn’t like the way I looked. Was it a mistake to diet? I no longer have knee problems, as my doctor promised when the weight came off, and my heel spur also went away. If being obese would restore my stable constitution though I’d do it again, except I am now unable to overeat to the required extent, my digestion won’t allow it. I was told to take Xanax, in November, for the attacks of heart pounding and surging which started in October out of the blue. I took it only sporadically as needed for the worst, then was told to take it every day once the tremors became a daily problem, no matter how I felt, but that did not eliminate the tremors. It just makes me apathetic and totally cut off from the world, mentally it shuts down the brain, which no longer cares. As I don’t like that feeling, I don’t take it in big doses as recommended. I wondered if any of this new stuff was really xanax withdrawal or reaction, as it is known to be highly addictive even … read more »
I was wondering if anyone is living with person who has Attention Deficit, my husband was diagnosed 2 years ago, he is currently taken ritailin sr 20 mg twice a day. He still has mood swings and alot of other symptoms, I am trying to be real strong but sometimes he can be real harsh with his words. I just want someone who can understand and give adivce to me. Shannon
Tell his MD to recommend an SSRI like Prozac, Effexor, Paxil or Zoloft. These are mood stablizers and can balance out the mood swings.
I agree: I have found that I was much less irritable when I was on Prozac, and then Effexor; I didn’t feel it neccessary to express anger towards people by snapping at them. Being on SSRI’s made me a lot more laid back in general, so that things that I would normally fume about just didn’t get to me. From this post and your previous one, it sounds like your husband could really benifit. I think I remember you saying that he had been on an antidepressant at one point. Since stimulants often result in irritability as a side effect (particularly a reboud effect), the combonation may really suit your husband.
Tell his MD to recommend an SSRI like Prozac, Effexor, Paxil or Zoloft. These are mood stablizers and can balance out the mood swings.
kevin wrote… Tell his MD to recommend an SSRI like Prozac, Effexor, Paxil or Zoloft.
If his MD is anything like me, you won’t be able to tell him anything. Sincerely, Dr. Jackass, M.D.
Some of the meds that have been recommended so far are worth checking out. My advice when it comes to your husband’s mood swings is to let him be by himself, if possible. I wouldn’t advise trying to "talk sense" into him. When someone is in a mood swing they do not think rationally and they will only say things that are mean and hurtful, things that they (most of the time) will later regret. So try to get out of the house by taking a long walk, visiting a friend, or seeing a movie, etc. When I lived at home, my dad would have mood swings (which he still does). I would just make up any excuse to get out of the house so that he wouldn’t turn around and focus his anger on me. By the time I got back he, usually, was in a good mood. – Mike – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I was wondering if anyone is living with person who has Attention Deficit, my husband was diagnosed 2 years ago, he is currently taken ritailin sr 20 mg twice a day. He still has mood swings and alot of other symptoms, I am trying to be real strong but sometimes he can be real harsh with his words. I just want someone who can understand and give adivce to me. Shannon
Yes but if he/she is like MINE he will ASK what the patient thinks is a good idea. kevin wrote… Tell his MD to recommend an SSRI like Prozac, Effexor, Paxil or Zoloft. If his MD is anything like me, you won’t be able to tell him anything. Sincerely, Dr. Jackass, M.D.
Nessa — everyone has a photographic mind, some of us just don’t have any film.
I used to try to get my hubby into "a better mood". Guess what? : ) I think Mike has some real good ideas. And it does help to remember that he doesn’t get into these moods on purpose, or just to annoy you, he can’t help it. Try not to take things too personally. Lisa- wife to ADD hubby and two ADHD sons – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Some of the meds that have been recommended so far are worth checking out. My advice when it comes to your husband’s mood swings is to let him be by himself, if possible. I wouldn’t advise trying to "talk sense" into him. When someone is in a mood swing they do not think rationally and they will only say things that are mean and hurtful, things that they (most of the time) will later regret. So try to get out of the house by taking a long walk, visiting a friend, or seeing a movie, etc.
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Some short-term memory impairment is a well known and common Xanax side effect. This has caused the term *benzo brain* to come into being. Most of the time it’s nothing spectacular, forgetting a name (hm…see…here we have it…what’s your name, Mike? ), having difficulty finding a word (which you might have mislaid in your desk drawer ), not remembering something somebody just told you. Apparently some people have it worse than others. It disappears when you stop taking Xanax. There’s no lasting brain damage, no brain damage at all for that matter. Philip (I don’t mind this side effect so much as long as I have a good time here with you, my colleauges, at alt.support.accoutancy ) Philip, this is me you described!!! I have always been like this, and I don`t take benzo`s. I drive my kids nuts by asking them over and over about things, such as did you do your homework, did you take the garbage out, and what is your name again?<VBG Jackie nothing right in my left brain…nothing left in my right brain Great! You’re *natural*, you’re really *gifted*. I have two children and never could tell one from the other ) Philip (*left?* you mean there *was* something?) I can understand where you might have a problem with telling your two children apart if they are very close in age. But not if one is a boy and one is a girl. Karen But it’s the other way around: one is a girl and the other is a boy ) Philip Well then. There’s the confusion right there. Karen
I told you so. I confuse easily. Philip
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Some short-term memory impairment is a well known and common Xanax side effect. This has caused the term *benzo brain* to come into being. Most of the time it’s nothing spectacular, forgetting a name (hm…see…here we have it…what’s your name, Mike? ), having difficulty finding a word (which you might have mislaid in your desk drawer ), not remembering something somebody just told you. Apparently some people have it worse than others. It disappears when you stop taking Xanax. There’s no lasting brain damage, no brain damage at all for that matter. Philip (I don’t mind this side effect so much as long as I have a good time here with you, my colleauges, at alt.support.accoutancy ) Philip, this is me you described!!! I have always been like this, and I don`t take benzo`s. I drive my kids nuts by asking them over and over about things, such as did you do your homework, did you take the garbage out, and what is your name again?<VBG Jackie nothing right in my left brain…nothing left in my right brain Great! You’re *natural*, you’re really *gifted*. I have two children and never could tell one from the other ) Philip (*left?* you mean there *was* something?) I can understand where you might have a problem with telling your two children apart if they are very close in age. But not if one is a boy and one is a girl. Karen But it’s the other way around: one is a girl and the other is a boy ) Philip Well then. There’s the confusion right there. Karen I told you so. I confuse easily. Philip
*Confuse-a-cashier* seems to be the favorite pass time for some of my more inebriated customers. Karen :D – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Some short-term memory impairment is a well known and common Xanax side effect. This has caused the term *benzo brain* to come into being. Most of the time it’s nothing spectacular, forgetting a name (hm…see…here we have it…what’s your name, Mike? ), having difficulty finding a word (which you might have mislaid in your desk drawer ), not remembering something somebody just told you. Apparently some people have it worse than others. It disappears when you stop taking Xanax. There’s no lasting brain damage, no brain damage at all for that matter. Philip (I don’t mind this side effect so much as long as I have a good time here with you, my colleauges, at alt.support.accoutancy ) Philip, this is me you described!!! I have always been like this, and I don`t take benzo`s. I drive my kids nuts by asking them over and over about things, such as did you do your homework, did you take the garbage out, and what is your name again?<VBG Jackie nothing right in my left brain…nothing left in my right brain Great! You’re *natural*, you’re really *gifted*. I have two children and never could tell one from the other ) Philip (*left?* you mean there *was* something?) I can understand where you might have a problem with telling your two children apart if they are very close in age. But not if one is a boy and one is a girl. Karen But it’s the other way around: one is a girl and the other is a boy ) Philip Well then. There’s the confusion right there. Karen OK..let me get this right. One is a boy…the other is a girl..or is it one is a girl, and THE OTHER a boy?? So that means you have four kids? Or..no..sorry..you have one that is a cross-dresser?? Or am I just one drawer short of a dresser? Aww darn it..I am really confused now. I better go take some Zantac now. Actually…my stomach is a bit upset..maybe I wil try that 75 mg’s of Xanax. That is the correct dose, right?? Better make that 150mg’s. If I take a "little" extra..that won’t hurt, right?? Funny, but I don’t even remember what happened the last time I took Xanax. Zantac is the same as Zoloft, right?? They both start with "Z", so they must be the same. Well..the bottle says take 400mg’s per hour as needed. Ok…I’ll take the Zoloft and Xanax. So, 150mg’s of Xanax….and..well….maybe I’ll make up for the lost hours of the day by multiplying my Zoloft dose per hour..so…say 3000 mg’s of Zoloft. Ok. Glad these thingy sheets that the pharmacies give you really help. Ohh..and since we are on the topic..Vallium MUST be the same as Viagara, because they both start with "V", right? 100mg’s of Vallium…100mg’s of Viagara…Cool. I should have a nice productive day then. Cheers…here’s to better living through chemistry.. James
before I had my hourly allowance of caffeine. It actually made sense to me. Karen
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Some short-term memory impairment is a well known and common Xanax side effect. This has caused the term *benzo brain* to come into being. Most of the time it’s nothing spectacular, forgetting a name (hm…see…here we have it…what’s your name, Mike? ), having difficulty finding a word (which you might have mislaid in your desk drawer ), not remembering something somebody just told you. Apparently some people have it worse than others. It disappears when you stop taking Xanax. There’s no lasting brain damage, no brain damage at all for that matter. Philip (I don’t mind this side effect so much as long as I have a good time here with you, my colleauges, at alt.support.accoutancy ) Philip, this is me you described!!! I have always been like this, and I don`t take benzo`s. I drive my kids nuts by asking them over and over about things, such as did you do your homework, did you take the garbage out, and what is your name again?<VBG Jackie nothing right in my left brain…nothing left in my right brain Great! You’re *natural*, you’re really *gifted*. I have two children and never could tell one from the other ) Philip (*left?* you mean there *was* something?) I can understand where you might have a problem with telling your two children apart if they are very close in age. But not if one is a boy and one is a girl. Karen But it’s the other way around: one is a girl and the other is a boy ) Philip Well then. There’s the confusion right there. Karen
OK..let me get this right. One is a boy…the other is a girl..or is it one is a girl, and THE OTHER a boy?? So that means you have four kids? Or..no..sorry..you have one that is a cross-dresser?? Or am I just one drawer short of a dresser? Aww darn it..I am really confused now. I better go take some Zantac now. Actually…my stomach is a bit upset..maybe I wil try that 75 mg’s of Xanax. That is the correct dose, right?? Better make that 150mg’s. If I take a "little" extra..that won’t hurt, right?? Funny, but I don’t even remember what happened the last time I took Xanax. Zantac is the same as Zoloft, right?? They both start with "Z", so they must be the same. Well..the bottle says take 400mg’s per hour as needed. Ok…I’ll take the Zoloft and Xanax. So, 150mg’s of Xanax….and..well….maybe I’ll make up for the lost hours of the day by multiplying my Zoloft dose per hour..so…say 3000 mg’s of Zoloft. Ok. Glad these thingy sheets that the pharmacies give you really help. Ohh..and since we are on the topic..Vallium MUST be the same as Viagara, because they both start with "V", right? 100mg’s of Vallium…100mg’s of Viagara…Cool. I should have a nice productive day then. Cheers…here’s to better living through chemistry.. James
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Some short-term memory impairment is a well known and common Xanax side effect. This has caused the term *benzo brain* to come into being. Most of the time it’s nothing spectacular, forgetting a name (hm…see…here we have it…what’s your name, Mike? ), having difficulty finding a word (which you might have mislaid in your desk drawer ), not remembering something somebody just told you. Apparently some people have it worse than others. It disappears when you stop taking Xanax. There’s no lasting brain damage, no brain damage at all for that matter. Philip (I don’t mind this side effect so much as long as I have a good time here with you, my colleauges, at alt.support.accoutancy ) Philip, this is me you described!!! I have always been like this, and I don`t take benzo`s. I drive my kids nuts by asking them over and over about things, such as did you do your homework, did you take the garbage out, and what is your name again?<VBG Jackie nothing right in my left brain…nothing left in my right brain Great! You’re *natural*, you’re really *gifted*. I have two children and never could tell one from the other ) Philip (*left?* you mean there *was* something?) I can understand where you might have a problem with telling your two children apart if they are very close in age. But not if one is a boy and one is a girl. Karen
But it’s the other way around: one is a girl and the other is a boy ) Philip – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –
Great! You’re *natural*, you’re really *gifted*. I have two children and never could tell one from the other ) Yup, I am *naturally* absent-minded!! Philip (*left?* you mean there *was* something?) Hey, don`t you start picking on me<VBG. Honey, I have a heck of alot more *left* than you do. Jackie
Really? Oh well, have it your way. You have more *left* but I’m always *right*. Philip (hehe) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Some short-term memory impairment is a well known and common Xanax side effect. This has caused the term *benzo brain* to come into being. Most of the time it’s nothing spectacular, forgetting a name (hm…see…here we have it…what’s your name, Mike? ), having difficulty finding a word (which you might have mislaid in your desk drawer ), not remembering something somebody just told you. Apparently some people have it worse than others. It disappears when you stop taking Xanax. There’s no lasting brain damage, no brain damage at all for that matter. Philip (I don’t mind this side effect so much as long as I have a good time here with you, my colleauges, at alt.support.accoutancy ) Philip, this is me you described!!! I have always been like this, and I don`t take benzo`s. I drive my kids nuts by asking them over and over about things, such as did you do your homework, did you take the garbage out, and what is your name again?<VBG Jackie nothing right in my left brain…nothing left in my right brain Great! You’re *natural*, you’re really *gifted*. I have two children and never could tell one from the other ) Philip (*left?* you mean there *was* something?) I can understand where you might have a problem with telling your two children apart if they are very close in age. But not if one is a boy and one is a girl. Karen But it’s the other way around: one is a girl and the other is a boy ) Philip
Well then. There’s the confusion right there. Karen
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Some short-term memory impairment is a well known and common Xanax side effect. This has caused the term *benzo brain* to come into being. Most of the time it’s nothing spectacular, forgetting a name (hm…see…here we have it…what’s your name, Mike? ), having difficulty finding a word (which you might have mislaid in your desk drawer ), not remembering something somebody just told you. Apparently some people have it worse than others. It disappears when you stop taking Xanax. There’s no lasting brain damage, no brain damage at all for that matter. Philip (I don’t mind this side effect so much as long as I have a good time here with you, my colleauges, at alt.support.accoutancy ) Philip, this is me you described!!! I have always been like this, and I don`t take benzo`s. I drive my kids nuts by asking them over and over about things, such as did you do your homework, did you take the garbage out, and what is your name again?<VBG Jackie nothing right in my left brain…nothing left in my right brain Great! You’re *natural*, you’re really *gifted*. I have two children and never could tell one from the other ) Philip (*left?* you mean there *was* something?)
I can understand where you might have a problem with telling your two children apart if they are very close in age. But not if one is a boy and one is a girl. Karen – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –
Although I am not tapering off of Xanax as yet I will have to eventually.
Why? As long as the med. is working for you and the doc won`t cut you off? Different story if one is abusing the drug. Dan
Although I am not tapering off of Xanax as yet I will have to eventually. Why? As long as the med. is working for you and the doc won`t cut you off? Different story if one is abusing the drug. Dan
Dan, I am into my 6th week on Zoloft and can take up to 3 .25mg Xanax a day. If the Zoloft works for anxiety/depression I want to get off of the Xanax even though I know I am on a very low dosage, if not I will stay on them. The less pills I take the better I feel about it. Gene in New Jersey if not I will stay on it.
Great! You’re *natural*, you’re really *gifted*. I have two children and never could tell one from the other )
Yup, I am *naturally* absent-minded!! Philip (*left?* you mean there *was* something?)
Hey, don`t you start picking on me<VBG. Honey, I have a heck of alot more *left* than you do. Jackie "The male brain is like a railroad freight car…. guaranteed to have a certain capacity but often running empty."
I am new to xanax I do forget things alot and tend to forget what I was talking about right in the middle of a discussion but, I can handle that part just not the dizziness! I am alot better on the medicine then off Melissa
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Some short-term memory impairment is a well known and common Xanax side effect. This has caused the term *benzo brain* to come into being. Most of the time it’s nothing spectacular, forgetting a name (hm…see…here we have it…what’s your name, Mike? ), having difficulty finding a word (which you might have mislaid in your desk drawer ), not remembering something somebody just told you. Apparently some people have it worse than others. It disappears when you stop taking Xanax. There’s no lasting brain damage, no brain damage at all for that matter. Philip (I don’t mind this side effect so much as long as I have a good time here with you, my colleauges, at alt.support.accoutancy ) Philip, this is me you described!!! I have always been like this, and I don`t take benzo`s. I drive my kids nuts by asking them over and over about things, such as did you do your homework, did you take the garbage out, and what is your name again?<VBG Jackie nothing right in my left brain…nothing left in my right brain
Great! You’re *natural*, you’re really *gifted*. I have two children and never could tell one from the other ) Philip (*left?* you mean there *was* something?)
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Some short-term memory impairment is a well known and common Xanax side effect. This has caused the term *benzo brain* to come into being. Most of the time it’s nothing spectacular, forgetting a name (hm…see…here we have it…what’s your name, Mike? ), having difficulty finding a word (which you might have mislaid in your desk drawer ), not remembering something somebody just told you. Apparently some people have it worse than others. It disappears when you stop taking Xanax. There’s no lasting brain damage, no brain damage at all for that matter. Philip (I don’t mind this side effect so much as long as I have a good time here with you, my colleauges, at alt.support.accoutancy ) Philip, this is me you described!!! I have always been like this, and I don`t take benzo`s. I drive my kids nuts by asking them over and over about things, such as did you do your homework, did you take the garbage out, and what is your name again?<VBG Jackie nothing right in my left brain…nothing left in my right brain
I’ve got a benzo brain. It can be a bother sometime, but it beats an anxiety attack any day; besides, I’m a bit absent minded anyway. God bless, Mark Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.
Some short-term memory impairment is a well known and common Xanax side effect. This has caused the term *benzo brain* to come into being. Most of the time it’s nothing spectacular, forgetting a name (hm…see…here we have it…what’s your name, Mike? ), having difficulty finding a word (which you might have mislaid in your desk drawer ), not remembering something somebody just told you. Apparently some people have it worse than others. It disappears when you stop taking Xanax. There’s no lasting brain damage, no brain damage at all for that matter. Philip (I don’t mind this side effect so much as long as I have a good time here with you, my colleauges, at alt.support.accoutancy )
Philip, this is me you described!!! I have always been like this, and I don`t take benzo`s. I drive my kids nuts by asking them over and over about things, such as did you do your homework, did you take the garbage out, and what is your name again?<VBG Jackie nothing right in my left brain…nothing left in my right brain
I never heard of losing memory and xanax..Whats that all about?
Some short-term memory impairment is a well known and common Xanax side effect. This has caused the term *benzo brain* to come into being. Most of the time it’s nothing spectacular, forgetting a name (hm…see…here we have it…what’s your name, Mike? ), having difficulty finding a word (which you might have mislaid in your desk drawer ), not remembering something somebody just told you. Apparently some people have it worse than others. It disappears when you stop taking Xanax. There’s no lasting brain damage, no brain damage at all for that matter. Philip (I don’t mind this side effect so much as long as I have a good time here with you, my colleauges, at alt.support.accoutancy )
I never heard of losing memory and xanax..Whats that all about?
Although I am not tapering off of Xanax as yet I will have to eventually. I bought a pill cutter at a drug store ($3.29) and I broke in half at the score mark a .25mg Xanax and then split one half of a half with the pill cutter and got a .0625mg dosage. The pill cutter worked great and split it in half almost perfectly. I did not try to split the .0625mg. Just passing this along to all of you that will or want to wean off of drugs. Gene in New Jersey
I bought a pill cutter once, and the blade was bent. Cmat
Hi all, Although I am not tapering off of Xanax as yet I will have to eventually. I bought a pill cutter at a drug store ($3.29) and I broke in half at the score mark a .25mg Xanax and then split one half of a half with the pill cutter and got a .0625mg dosage. The pill cutter worked great and split it in half almost perfectly. I did not try to split the .0625mg. Just passing this along to all of you that will or want to wean off of drugs. Gene in New Jersey
It would be normal to feel some anxiety like symptoms when tapering Xanax, and in my opinion it is difficult to distinguish between withdrawal symptoms and the return of the anxiety symptoms. It’s takes mental will and physical will to taper off of a substance that your body has developed a dependence to. I don’t think it would be out of the question to have both withdrawal symptoms and the return of some anxiety symptoms at the same time. Cmat
Cmat, Where did this come from? Just go get the damn xanax. :o) You know I’m just kidding, I go through the same thought processes over and over again. I find it funny to see it in others as well. As I said before, I don’t think the withdrawl has to be so painful if you let your doctor know the trouble that you had before. Plus, you said he didn’t really taper you… (but, I’ll let you know firsthand if I ever have to taper off of this klonopin) <G. I know… I talk like this now, but in a few days I’ll be sending question after question to the group about the new AD I start on Thursday. Maria
It would be normal to feel some anxiety like symptoms when tapering Xanax, and in my opinion it is difficult to distinguish between withdrawal symptoms and the return of the anxiety symptoms. It’s takes mental will and physical will to taper off of a substance that your body has developed a dependence to. I don’t think it would be out of the question to have both withdrawal symptoms and the return of some anxiety symptoms at the same time. Cmat
It would be normal to feel some anxiety like symptoms when tapering Xanax, and in my opinion it is difficult to distinguish between withdrawal symptoms and the return of the anxiety symptoms. It’s takes mental will and physical will to taper off of a substance that your body has developed a dependence to. I don’t think it would be out of the question to have both withdrawal symptoms and the return of some anxiety symptoms at the same time. Cmat
Absolutely. And there also is such a thing as *psychological dependence*. Many moons ago I weaned off of Valium without a problem until I took only 1 mg which is virtually *nothing* and surely wouldn’t work for PA’s with anyone. It took me a lot of time to stop taking that last half pill! And later I always still carried a bottle of Valium with me without taking any, but just in case, as a security blanket. I also remember that, whatever my medication was, when I realized I had missed a dose (or had forgotten to take the pill bottle along) that would send me into an immediate PA while in *reality* nothing had changed. Now that I’m at it, to reply to your other post: if you can get the Xanax in every possible dose IMO it would indeed be easier to stop as you can do it more gradually and take more time for it. Philip
Oh Mark, You sound like I feel. I did all that you said…once when the only narcotic I was taking was xanax, and once when I was also taking heavy pain meds together with the xanax. It is a vicious circle. My memory is all but gone. Cause a lot of arguments around here, "you did NOT tell me that"…."I most certainly did TOO!" etc. I am weary. My anxiety creeps back in sometimes and sometimes dives in. You see, I have tried several times to not be dependant on this med and as much as I hate to admit it, I function better with it than without it. My one great hope is that one day, the underlying need for it will disapear and I will return to normalcy. I to was able to wean back without discomfort, but like you said, the anxiety returns. I wish I knew if the new effects you describe are derived from long term usage or were in line to come on anyway due to this disorder. good luck little bear – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – OK, after a year and 1/2 of Xanax at very low dosages (0.5 – 1 mg every day), with discrete results (no panic, still some anxiety in particular situations) and some recent problems (loss of memory and concentration, feeling sleep when I tried to concentrate), I decided to try to discontinue it, very gradually. I decreased the dosage, and I’m now at 0.15 mg/day, no big drawback symptoms, but I feel anxiety slowly returning. I don’t want to give out, I hate that sensation of being without memory and that impossibility to concentrate, but I hate much more anxiety. I think that the negative effects I was feeling derive from long-term usage, because I hadn’t them some time ago. I’d prefer to take Xanax only occasionally, but I’m not sure what I’ll do now. I also dislike the need to take your pills every day, in every situation, you know, it’s complicated to disappear and take them when you don’t want other people see you and know your problems. What a mess! Thanx for listening Mark Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.
OK, after a year and 1/2 of Xanax at very low dosages (0.5 – 1 mg every day), with discrete results (no panic, still some anxiety in particular situations) and some recent problems (loss of memory and concentration, feeling sleep when I tried to concentrate), I decided to try to discontinue it, very gradually. I decreased the dosage, and I’m now at 0.15 mg/day, no big drawback symptoms, but I feel anxiety slowly returning. I don’t want to give out, I hate that sensation of being without memory and that impossibility to concentrate, but I hate much more anxiety. I think that the negative effects I was feeling derive from long-term usage, because I hadn’t them some time ago. I’d prefer to take Xanax only occasionally, but I’m not sure what I’ll do now. I also dislike the need to take your pills every day, in every situation, you know, it’s complicated to disappear and take them when you don’t want other people see you and know your problems. What a mess! Thanx for listening Mark Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.