Afternoon disabling anxiety

[mexfriend]

Hi, I’m new here. I would like to share experiences with other people with my same problem.
I have anxiety almost every day at around 4pm that last til night causing insomnia (just falling sleep). It’s not related with what i have for lunch, or what I drink. In the mornings, I wake up very calmed (perhaps somewhat anergic) and don’t have any anxiety until around 11am when it starts very slowly, but definitely the high rush of anxiety is around 2 hours past lunchtime. This is causing me big trouble because with that anxiety I can’t work well after lunch.

As a third problem on importance (after anxiety and insomnia), my mood is not very good. I don’t enjoy doing a lot of things that I liked before, but i suspect that this is an effect of the first 2 problems.

Let me share the experiences I have had with meds.

Alprazolam (Xanax): Pros: At .25 mg relax me and helps me to fall sleep. Cons: I don’t take it frequently because of dependence concerns.

Clonazepam (Klonopin): Pros: Last longer than Xanax, relax me very well. Cons: At 1mg makes me a little lethargic, same concern than above.

Beer : Pros: Great as an anxiolytic after work. Elevates my mood (> 2 beers). Cons: Creating dependence. Not restful sleep. promotes insomnia even more.

Doxepin 2 week trial (Sinequan): Pros: Only med that made me go to sleep early. Great for my acidic IBS-D (>50mg). Cons: Severe cognitive impairment starting with lowest dose capsule available here (25mg). Next day severe hand shaking. Couldn't stand the med :(

Escitalopram 3 week trial (Lexapro): Pros: Decreased beer craving. perhaps relaxed me a bit. Cons: at 10 mg Anorgasmia, Somnolence in the afternoons but not at nights! Didn't elevate my mood.

Paroxetine 5 day trial (Paxil): Pros: somewhat effective for my IBS-D. Cons: Nightmare for me. "480 Volt" brain shocks in first stage REM sleeping scaring enough to quit immediately the med.

Mirtazapine 8 week trial (Remeron): Pros: Eliminated completely my insomnia after a couple of weeks, great! Always felt very natural (mentally) on it (at 15mg). After 2 weeks it elevated my mood but that only lasted 2 more weeks. Cons: Gained a lot of weight in a disappointing way at 15mg and also 30mg. Couldn't stand more than 30mg because next day sedation.

Pregabalin 4 week pdoc trial (Lyrica): Pros: Worked for anxiety after 1 week. Strange but also elevated my mood (perhaps because of the anxiety stabilization). Cons: Just quit working for both things after a month. Never helped with insomnia.

Duloxetine 2 week pdoc trial (Cymbalta): Pros: somewhat effective for my IBS-D Cons: Extreme afternoon fatigue at 60mg, couldn’t stand the med. Made me sound sensitive and phobic. I think i don’t need more noradrenaline neither serotonine or perhaps I’m very sensitive!

Exercise, sleep hygiene and quit drinking alcohol doesn't help me much.

Feeling a little hopeless considering all the med i have had.

Today i started Kava Kava, i will give it a try to see if it helps.
After Kava Kava i plan to give a fair trial to plain valerian for the insomnia part.

Please share any experience. Any knowledge you may have on this concern is greatly appreciated.
Mexfriend.

[V for Victor]

Until now, I never met anybody else whose day to day anxiety problems worked the same way as my own. I would wake up refreshed in the morning, and then as the day progressed (particularly into the late afternoon around 3, 4, 5 pm, etc,) my anxiety would start coming in loud and clear.

It would stay with me until bed time, and if I didn't do something to alleviate it, it would keep me up. Usually, I would just read a book until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

Eventually, it got so bad that I went to see a doctor who prescribed me Citalopram. It's an SSRI that is very selective in its behavior and doesn't interfere with other functions like some medications do. It has a very low occurence of side effects. I take it once a day and it has helped me a lot. I still get a touch of anxiety/depression here and there, but I always work through it.

I'm sorry to hear that you've gone through so much frustration with medications. But, maybe you could ask your doctor about Citalopram? It might be just the thing for you.