Posted by Ideopath on September 18, 2015, at 9:34:06
As I mentioned on the medication board, I am posting my meds on the alternative board since they include supplements.
I have had horrific anxiety and depression my whole life. Truly unbearable. I am 60 years old. I started with SSRIs maybe 20 years ago which made things definitely better, but not great.
I am still on an SSRI but with other meds. I have been on the same cocktail now for a number of years with no change in meds or dosage and am doing really good. I can safely say that I could not enjoy life before this time period, but have done so since.
Of course what works for me might not work for others. But here they are:
Lexapro (escitalopram): 20 mg 1x per day
Xanax (alprazolam): 0.5 mg 5x per day (every 3 hours) immediate release
Buspar (buspirone): 30 mg 2x per day (I actually take 2 15 mg pills at a time, twice a day instead of a 30 mg pill due to a pricing glitch)
Remeron (mirtazapine): 30 mg 1x before bed
Provigil (modafinil): 200 mg 2x (morning and at 3 pm)
Geodon (ziprasadone): 40 mg 1x before bed
That's it for Rx drugs. Here are the supplements:
Gotu Kola: Nature's Way 475 mg. I take 2 pills at a time, 3x per day- 9am, 3pm, 9pm
Aloe Vera: Solaray Super Aloe Vera- 2 pills at a time 4x per day- 9am, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm
Acetyl L-Carnatine: Doctor's Best 500 mg- I take 2 pills at a time 3x per day at 9am, 12pm, 3pm
Free and Easy Wanderer Plus- Plum Flower brand- 10 pills at a time 3x per day at 9am, 3pm, 9pm
In terms of brands, I have found differences in efficacy except for Gotu Kola. I have not tried other brands of that.
For acetyl l-carnatine I would recommend either Doctor's Best or Jarrows. They are the only 2 brands that I am aware of that have Biostint sigma tau carnatine. That is the one used in a clinical trial.
For Free and Easy Wanderer Plus by Plum Flower- make sure it has the word "Plus". There is another version without the "plus". The "plus" adds 1 or 2 additional herbs. The "plus" version is the one that worked in a clinical trial to augment Zoloft.
For Aloe Vera, I tried a few brands. I felt that Solaray seemed to work the best. I was surprised to read the Amazon ratings to see that very few people use Aloe Vera for mental health. IT is used for other purposes. But I read about it for mental health and it definitely helps me.
All of the above really help. I don't feel that I am taking any Rx drugs or supplements that I don't need. I get all supplements from Amazon.
In terms of side effects, I get sexual side effects which I am sure are mainly from Lexapro. So I have tried to stay off of SSRIs but was not successful in that attempt. Wellbutrin did not help me enough. I have not tried Remeron by itself, but my guess is that it would not help without an SSRI along with it. And Effexor also caused sexual side effects.
Also, I mentioned that I have been on the same drugs for a number of years. But 2 years ago I briefly tried a newer SSRI that was not supposed to cause sexual side effects. It did just as bad as Lexapro. So after a few months I went back to Lexapro.
I tried daily Cialis and Viagra but neither one worked to alleviate the side effects. So I tried a vacuum erection pump and that works very well.
So now that I found drugs that work and a solution to the one side effect I had, I have been very happy. If anyone has any questions or comments I would be happy to discuss stuff.
Also, my doc wanted to know if I wanted to take Xanax extended release so I would not need to take 0.5 mg 5 times per day. But I tried ER in the past and it didn't work as well. So it is mildly inconvenient to take it 5 x per day, but very well worth it since it works so well.
Thanks.
poster:Ideopath
thread:1082644
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20150301/msgs/1082644.html