Social Anxiety Support

StacySkellington · 08-18-2009, 04:27 PM

Hi there!

ok, so here's a little of my history....

When i started college i realized that my anxiety what not just "how i am" I would have a really hard time just sitting in class. My stomach would turn and i'd sweat a lot...enough to make me want to change my clothes. I wouldn't be able to sit too close to other classmates. I also had a hard time walking around the city alone.

I went on Zoloft (120 something MGs) and that lasted a few years until i decided to take myself off of it.

Since then i feel the anxiety creeping back and my doctor naturally tried to put me back on zoloft since it appeared to help me just fine in the past...

WELL...i have developed Tachycardia (heart beat over 100x per minute) and now many of these medications make me crazy! I have tried the zoloft as mentioned,Celexa, lexapro as well as Wellbutrin and even Lithium when another crazy doctor thought i was bipolar. They all gave me this rapid heart beat and restless feeling. I felt like i had an adrenaline rush and i could run for miles. I also noticed some tingling in my hands, arms, and sometimes face.

After almost giving up, my therapist mentioned Buspar which is an anti-anxiety not like xanex, and is supposedly less habit forming.

Just wondering if anyone else has felt these side effects from antidepressants or if anyone has tried Buspar?

xoxo
Stacy

pokeherpro · 08-18-2009, 06:10 PM

I haven't tried buspar but I was on wellbutrin and lithium as well, but my psych felt they weren't working(and they werent) so I stopped taking them. Was also on effexor XR, which gave me horrible side effects, mostly when I was trying to ween myself of it. Since that, I just kinda refuse to use medication, as that isn't something I'm willing to go through again.
As for the heartbeat problem, there are medications that can slow it down, something called propranolol. I'm sure there are others too. What does your doctor say about your heartbeat?

arth67 · 08-18-2009, 08:42 PM

busapr is heavily promoted to docs and has been available for a long time, it is generally regarded as useless giving placebo effect only by shrinks who specialise in anxiety

in theory it might make an antidepressant work better

you need to learn CBT relaxation skills, deep slow breathing and to ignore your heart, dont monitor or listen to it
a brief course of beta blocker meds would perhaps stop the hearts habit of too fast beating

welcome

StacySkellington · 08-19-2009, 06:34 AM

As far as my heart goes, the tachycardia isn't severe, but its enough to feel uncomfortable and effect my sleep...my heart rate has reached over 160 beats per minute while in a "relaxed" state.... whereas the norm is above 60 but below 100. Amazingly enough, with all of my stress and anxiety, i have pretty low blood pressure so my doctor was at first hesitant to rx a beta blocker....however, with the increase of heart rate and that adrenaline rush of the other ssris and the like, my therapist thought that addressing the tachycardia might help with addressing the anxiety. i'm on a baby dosage of Atenolol (half a 25mg pill:again, for fear of lowering my blood pressure further)...i haven't seen consistent results...it may be a dosage issue. we'll see...i'll be seeing my doc tomorrow.

I've tried the breathing exercises and i've been working with my therapist on other cognitive things..positive thinking and so on....i've also read books on self esteem and cognitive exercises and continue to do so...i've made some progress and i will always attempt to make more, however my therapist can see that i'm trying really hard but with minimal results...she thinks that i may truly need a little help on a chemical level.

i've been on buspar (again a baby dosage of 15mg) for a couple of weeks now....i haven't had any epiphanies like some others have, but again, this may be a dosage issue... its the only thing that i don't have a terrible reaction to, so i'm willing to give this one a real go....

Thanks for the info from you both so far!

Medline · 08-19-2009, 07:56 AM

Buspar has not shown to be effective for social phobia. And many people on SAS think it sucks.

GSH · 08-19-2009, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Medline

And many people on SAS think it sucks.

That would be me. Its a dopamine antagonist

StacySkellington · 08-19-2009, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Medline

Buspar has not shown to be effective for social phobia. And many people on SAS think it sucks. ;)

welp, perhaps it'll help with my generalized anxiety...as far as medication, i feel like its my only option right now. Thanks! ;)

Medline · 08-19-2009, 01:55 PM

Try Lyrica instead for GAD, it's approved for this condition in the EU and this randomized, controlled, double-blind multicenter study shows that 600mg pregabalin / day seem to be an effective and well tolerated treatment for social phobia:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15206660

StacySkellington · 08-20-2009, 04:08 PM

I spoke to my doctor this morning...looks like Lyrica for GAD is out of the question at this point as it is an off label use in the US....don't think she'll go for rxing it. Thanks though!

Kelly401 · 08-20-2009, 04:51 PM

Buspar has worked for my daughter. It is not a placebo effect for her - she doesn't know she is taking it! She was on 30mg to start. It worked extremely well for a month. Then it stopped. The doc increased the dose. Nothing. Then she asked if the prescriptions were from the same company. Turns out it wasn't. Went back to 30mg from the previous company. It worked again. Doc said buspar has only worked for 60% of those she prescribes it for. She has had 6 cases where a change in brands made a difference. Now we only get it from this one company.

Kelly401 · 08-20-2009, 04:53 PM

We tried Lyrica. It had a beneficial effect but the side effects were too high. Particularly weight gain - something my 16 year old didn't like.

Jrock · 08-31-2009, 09:55 PM

http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991028/msgs/14622.html

Read the follow up postings for that thread

08-18-2009, 04:27 PM	#1 (permalink)
StacySkellington Status: SAS Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Massachusetts Gender: Female Age: 24 Posts: 24	Buspar? Hi there! ok, so here's a little of my history.... When i started college i realized that my anxiety what not just "how i am" I would have a really hard time just sitting in class. My stomach would turn and i'd sweat a lot...enough to make me want to change my clothes. I wouldn't be able to sit too close to other classmates. I also had a hard time walking around the city alone. I went on Zoloft (120 something MGs) and that lasted a few years until i decided to take myself off of it. Since then i feel the anxiety creeping back and my doctor naturally tried to put me back on zoloft since it appeared to help me just fine in the past... WELL...i have developed Tachycardia (heart beat over 100x per minute) and now many of these medications make me crazy! I have tried the zoloft as mentioned,Celexa, lexapro as well as Wellbutrin and even Lithium when another crazy doctor thought i was bipolar. They all gave me this rapid heart beat and restless feeling. I felt like i had an adrenaline rush and i could run for miles. I also noticed some tingling in my hands, arms, and sometimes face. After almost giving up, my therapist mentioned Buspar which is an anti-anxiety not like xanex, and is supposedly less habit forming. Just wondering if anyone else has felt these side effects from antidepressants or if anyone has tried Buspar? xoxo Stacy

08-19-2009, 07:56 AM	#5 (permalink)
Medline Status: SAS Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 1,866	Buspar has not shown to be effective for social phobia. And many people on SAS think it sucks. __________________ Disclaimer: The user "Medline" is not a medical professional and does not provide medical advice. All information provided by "Medline" is based on his own research and/or personal experiences and should not be considered professional medical advice. All information provided by "Medline" is intended to be for informational purposes only. "Medline" assumes no liability and/or responsibility for the actions of individuals using any information provided.

08-19-2009, 01:55 PM	#8 (permalink)
Medline Status: SAS Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 1,866	Try Lyrica instead for GAD, it's approved for this condition in the EU and this randomized, controlled, double-blind multicenter study shows that 600mg pregabalin / day seem to be an effective and well tolerated treatment for social phobia: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15206660 __________________ Disclaimer: The user "Medline" is not a medical professional and does not provide medical advice. All information provided by "Medline" is based on his own research and/or personal experiences and should not be considered professional medical advice. All information provided by "Medline" is intended to be for informational purposes only. "Medline" assumes no liability and/or responsibility for the actions of individuals using any information provided.

08-18-2009, 06:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
pokeherpro Status: Previously Banned Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Canada eh? Gender: Male Age: 25 Posts: 1,375	I haven't tried buspar but I was on wellbutrin and lithium as well, but my psych felt they weren't working(and they werent) so I stopped taking them. Was also on effexor XR, which gave me horrible side effects, mostly when I was trying to ween myself of it. Since that, I just kinda refuse to use medication, as that isn't something I'm willing to go through again. As for the heartbeat problem, there are medications that can slow it down, something called propranolol. I'm sure there are others too. What does your doctor say about your heartbeat?

08-18-2009, 08:42 PM	#3 (permalink)
arth67 Status: SAS Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: austral;ia Gender: Male Posts: 232	busapr is heavily promoted to docs and has been available for a long time, it is generally regarded as useless giving placebo effect only by shrinks who specialise in anxiety in theory it might make an antidepressant work better you need to learn CBT relaxation skills, deep slow breathing and to ignore your heart, dont monitor or listen to it a brief course of beta blocker meds would perhaps stop the hearts habit of too fast beating welcome

08-19-2009, 06:34 AM	#4 (permalink)
StacySkellington Status: SAS Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Massachusetts Gender: Female Age: 24 Posts: 24	As far as my heart goes, the tachycardia isn't severe, but its enough to feel uncomfortable and effect my sleep...my heart rate has reached over 160 beats per minute while in a "relaxed" state.... whereas the norm is above 60 but below 100. Amazingly enough, with all of my stress and anxiety, i have pretty low blood pressure so my doctor was at first hesitant to rx a beta blocker....however, with the increase of heart rate and that adrenaline rush of the other ssris and the like, my therapist thought that addressing the tachycardia might help with addressing the anxiety. i'm on a baby dosage of Atenolol (half a 25mg pill:again, for fear of lowering my blood pressure further)...i haven't seen consistent results...it may be a dosage issue. we'll see...i'll be seeing my doc tomorrow. I've tried the breathing exercises and i've been working with my therapist on other cognitive things..positive thinking and so on....i've also read books on self esteem and cognitive exercises and continue to do so...i've made some progress and i will always attempt to make more, however my therapist can see that i'm trying really hard but with minimal results...she thinks that i may truly need a little help on a chemical level. i've been on buspar (again a baby dosage of 15mg) for a couple of weeks now....i haven't had any epiphanies like some others have, but again, this may be a dosage issue... its the only thing that i don't have a terrible reaction to, so i'm willing to give this one a real go.... Thanks for the info from you both so far!

08-20-2009, 04:08 PM	#9 (permalink)
StacySkellington Status: SAS Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Massachusetts Gender: Female Age: 24 Posts: 24	I spoke to my doctor this morning...looks like Lyrica for GAD is out of the question at this point as it is an off label use in the US....don't think she'll go for rxing it. Thanks though!

08-20-2009, 04:51 PM	#10 (permalink)
Kelly401 Status: SAS Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Georgia Gender: Female Posts: 9	Buspar has worked for my daughter. It is not a placebo effect for her - she doesn't know she is taking it! She was on 30mg to start. It worked extremely well for a month. Then it stopped. The doc increased the dose. Nothing. Then she asked if the prescriptions were from the same company. Turns out it wasn't. Went back to 30mg from the previous company. It worked again. Doc said buspar has only worked for 60% of those she prescribes it for. She has had 6 cases where a change in brands made a difference. Now we only get it from this one company.

08-20-2009, 04:53 PM	#11 (permalink)
Kelly401 Status: SAS Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Georgia Gender: Female Posts: 9	We tried Lyrica. It had a beneficial effect but the side effects were too high. Particularly weight gain - something my 16 year old didn't like.

08-31-2009, 09:55 PM	#12 (permalink)
Jrock Status: Inactive - User Requested Join Date: Dec 2008 Gender: Male Age: 29 Posts: 653	http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991028/msgs/14622.html Read the follow up postings for that thread