TinfoilxTouch
09-14-2009, 04:33 PM
So, I'll try to keep this brief to get as many opinions as possible.
I suffer from both fairly strong GAD and moderate depression. Through all of the following I've been on 300mg daily of Wellbutrin.
I was on Xanax 2mg daily (divided as needed) for over a year. It did a good job of managing my anxiety, but the ups and downs between doses was just too much. I felt like there was an egg timer in my head, and that I needed to make sure I took the next dose exactly when the ding went off. Otherwise, I'd get the physical anxiety symptoms returning and could feel the withdrawal.
Because of this, I switched to Valium 10mg 3x daily. This has still chased away most of my anxiety, and I don't ever worry about doses. I can even forget one and there is no return of symptoms. Now, here is what I've realized..
The Xanax was also elevating my mood and was a handy tool when I had really depressing thoughts. I could take .5mg and it would put me in a place where both my anxiety and depression were okay, at least for a few hours. Now with the Valium, I find myself often in situations with overwhelming depression and no remedy.
I don't know where to go from here. I was thinking about asking my psych about trazadone, as it seems to have the best mix of relieving both my disorders with fewer side effects than something like zoloft (which I tried and failed horribly with)
Thoughts?
I suffer from both fairly strong GAD and moderate depression. Through all of the following I've been on 300mg daily of Wellbutrin.
I was on Xanax 2mg daily (divided as needed) for over a year. It did a good job of managing my anxiety, but the ups and downs between doses was just too much. I felt like there was an egg timer in my head, and that I needed to make sure I took the next dose exactly when the ding went off. Otherwise, I'd get the physical anxiety symptoms returning and could feel the withdrawal.
Because of this, I switched to Valium 10mg 3x daily. This has still chased away most of my anxiety, and I don't ever worry about doses. I can even forget one and there is no return of symptoms. Now, here is what I've realized..
The Xanax was also elevating my mood and was a handy tool when I had really depressing thoughts. I could take .5mg and it would put me in a place where both my anxiety and depression were okay, at least for a few hours. Now with the Valium, I find myself often in situations with overwhelming depression and no remedy.
I don't know where to go from here. I was thinking about asking my psych about trazadone, as it seems to have the best mix of relieving both my disorders with fewer side effects than something like zoloft (which I tried and failed horribly with)
Thoughts?