Posted by med_empowered on May 29, 2005, at 0:47:48
In reply to Is Lexapro more effective for anxiety than Celexa, posted by 4WD on May 28, 2005, at 23:48:01
If you're currently on Celexa for anxiety and the dose is relatively high (you should probably try a drug in mid-range dose, if you can, before you scrap it) I wouldn't try Lexapro personally. From what I understand, lexapro is just an isomer of celexa--the company just isolated the most effective and potent parts of the celexa molecule and marketed this as lexapro. Milligram per milligram, lexapro is more potent and has fewer side effects, but it is basically super-duper celexa. If you want to go the anti-depressant route for anxiety treatment, you might want something a little stronger, but still clean...paxil and zoloft are the 2 most potent serotonin reuptake inhibitors available...Paxil has a pretty bad reputation for causing problems when you withdraw from it, and it has a short half-life, but other than that its good stuff...you just need to take it every day, at the same exact time. Tricyclics can help a lot, too...Surmontil and Doxepin are the 2 used most often for anxiety specifically...if you have bipolar, schizophrenia, or schizoaffective disorder, your doc may want to avoid tricyclics. Effexor is considered useful for anxiety, and Cymbalta is being used for anxiety, too. Personally, I've found that BuSpar helps tremendously...the only problem I had were mild headaches when I started and mild headaches again when the dose was adjusted upwards. BuSpar seems to work best if you take it with an anti-depressant...it may also help the anti-depressant work faster. Even if you're not bipolar, mood-stabilizers **might** help with anxiety...this may be the way to go if you need anxiety control but don't want to use benzodiazepenes or Miltown. Depakote is considered the most soothing, anti-anxiety/panic of the mood-stabilizers, but I personally have found that an adequate dose of trileptal (for me, its 600mgs under normal conditions, 900mgs under more stressful ones) helps with anxiety. Some people swear by Neurontin, but results are kind of mixed. Propranolol and other beta blockers can help with the physical symptoms of anxiety, but they can also have side effects--such as depression. If all else fails, you'll probably want to use either benzodiazepenes, anti-psychotics, or both. Zyprexa, Abilify, and Seroquel are used "off-label" to help treat anxiety, usually in conjunction with a newer anti-depressant; this kind of combo can also help depression immensely. Good luck!
poster:med_empowered
thread:504522
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