Posted by Ritch on February 12, 2005, at 17:18:28
In reply to Re: Physical symptoms, posted by lizardk on February 12, 2005, at 16:13:05
> > > Right now what I am experiencing is a constant physical anxiety all over my body, but primarily in my chest.Deep breathing, meditation, going to sleep, taking xanax, nothing seems to get rid of it.I'm currently in CBT with only minimal success so far.I've also tried fish oil and jog 2 or 3 miles a day.Nothing seems to squash the physical anxiety and i think that is where most of my depression and obsessive thoughts come from, but the SSRI's definitelt amplified every problem i have.
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> > Would you describe what you are experiencing as a mixture of feelings of impending doom/intense dread (with no clear object) coupled with super hyper-vigilance where your muscles are all tight and rigid (unable to relax/sit still)? Sorry for the questioning, but I go through that at times myself and somatic problems/muscle tension/vigilance are MAJOR components to the anxiety associated with my bipolar depressions and those also strongly run in my family. As far as the SSRI's go... have you taken several different ones? Did you respond differently to any of them or were they all pretty much the same? Just wondering.. I *have* found that lowering the dose way down has helped. But I can't seem to completely get off them. It is like a little helps, but very much makes things much worse.
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> I've been on Paxil and Lexapro, and both sent me into a tailspin very quickly on a low dose.(I think 20 mg)I would definitely describe it as being totally unable to relax with a general feeling of impending doom and also hypervigilance in respect to my physical sensations and any perceived mental errors i might make.I had tried Paxil before and it seemed semi-effective in some areas, like not having as many panic attacks.But i tried just 20 mg for a few days and it really took me to the edge, as did Lexapro.Wow, I get similar reactions from SSRI's at higher doses. 20mg would definitely flip me out big time. I'm just taking 1/2mg of Celexa (liquid) every other day now and even that is associated with some impulse control loss (anger). It is like I feel a "calming" effect, a "well-whatever" effect, less obsessive, but at the same time an agitation. The first SSRI was Prozac and I *did* start right off at 20mg, but after about a week I had to start halving the dose every few days. Got to the point where my pupils were dilated, couldn't sleep, if I suddenly walked into a dark room it would be full of wavy colors, etc. I settled on 2.5mg-5.0mg/day for several years, but with time it seems that I'm becoming more and more sensitized to all of them. But, if I try to totally stop.. after about a week or two I start getting panic symptoms returning. Anyhow.. it sounds like you have got a range of possibilities: 1) You are bipolar and can't take SSRI's period, 2) You are bipolar and might be able to take other classes of AD's for panic with no trouble, 3) You just have panic disorder and the stress triggers your depressions and you probably would do well on an MAOI or TCA plus a benzo. It is really a tough thing trying to figure out. I just personally haven't had any success with just a mood stabilizer. I would be willing to put up with some increased depression as long as *panic* didn't creep back in. The Depakote I take (at this dose anyhow) doesn't seem to keep it away. Gabapentin (Neurontin) added to it seemed to help, but my pdoc doesn't like it. I wish you luck finding out what's going on.. hope you respond back with any success with meds, or dx changes, etc..
poster:Ritch
thread:455879
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050212/msgs/456866.html