1st Psychiatrist Visit...

[Rhetoric]

Hello again, folks.

As I said in a different thread I made about a week ago, I had my 1st psychiatrist's visit on Tues.. It went well. He was a very approachable person who seemed to listen to what I had to say. You all probably know that I am not a fan of SSRIs / SNRIs.

Here's what he prescribed me...

Celexa for anxiety.. again, an SSRI, which I know from experience that SSRIs do not have positive effects for me. -- Gives me nausea, dizziness and intestinal cramping. - which for me causes MORE anxiety. I also don't want to stay on it due to the numerous reports of sexual disfunction.. not cool. I'm going to request that he let me try something else.

Trazodone for racing thoughts at night.. to take as needed. -- It has been helping a *little* bit.. the racing thoughts are still there, but I don't lay awake for quite as long. It also has caused me to have a "hangover" feeling which lasts the entire morning until after lunch time.

Propranolol for taking as needed; just before going into a situation which I know will usually end up stressing me out, or worse -- resulting in a panic attack. I have tried one so far, and it didn't really have any positive effect on my anxiety levels.

Like I said before the 1st thread I made, I've already proven to myself that SSRIs produce more bad than they do good for me.. I'm not sure if this doctor is a "benzophobe" or not. I did overhear a couple patients in the waiting room discussing the meds they are on.. and one of them mentioned being put on Klonopin by the same doctor, so that sounds promising. I'm going wait a week and see if things are better. If not, I'll be giving my psychiatrist a call to try something different.

Let me be clear -- I am NOT looking for a benzo fix / high. I just happen to know from personal experience that benzo meds do a better job for me than SSRIs when taken as directed by your doctor. The psych. said to call him back in a week or so to let him know if the meds are helping. We shall see.

[Schatmeisje]

I guess I am lucky, my doc has never ever wanted me to take anything other than valium and is more than happy to keep prescribing them as i need them, and if i cant get there to get a prescription, he will organise one to be left at the front counter to for my partner to pick up for me. I guess this is the benefit of having a doctor that has known you for a long time, and knows your personality etc. He knows that i do alot of CBT and other therapys to overcome this, and also that i do insist on doing this without other drugs. From what i have seen on forums and chat rooms with regard to other drugs, all i have seen is that the people stiill seem to be in the same situation as me, but battling with side effects at the same time. I know this isnt for everyone, and this is only my own personal opinion, and i definitely dont hold anything against people who take the medication route.
I will never ever use valium if i am doing cbt, as i dont think it really heps you acheieve things if you are doped up whilst doing them, and will only take them if i am dizzy at night time (and even then i will ONLY take 1mg) and the only other time i use it is very occasionally if i have a medical appoiontment (as this is what caused my anxiety in the first place, so i physically cannot do without it at the moment) so the most i ever take in one day would be 2mg, but if i dont take it, i have no problems at all.
Good luck, and i hope all goes well x

[Rhetoric]

Hey folks.

Thanks for your replies. After being handed more "of the same old SSRI stuff", I felt like I was being put on a "once size fits all" track. Like I said, while in the waiting room, there were other patients sitting there discussing the meds the doc had them on and the doc ended up handing me scripts for the same meds I overheard, minus the benzo. I'm not going to take the Celexa anymore. Just made me feel the same as all the other SSRIs I tried.. which again tells me that serotonin is NOT my issue. Like I said, he also gave me Propanolol Hcl, which is meant for treatment of high blood pressure. I read reports that the stuff works well only for the 1st couple of uses, then with repeated doses basically gets your heart "addicted" to it.. if you try to stop taking them, you start experiencing problems with constant palpitations. That is definitely NOT for me. I have another apointment with the psychiatrist in a couple weeks.. I'm going to try and bring up the topic of taking a benzo as needed.

The Trazodone does help me get to sleep as needed, which is ok, but again, it's another one of those "it is intended for this purpose, but we've found that it can also help this". I'm really not fond of using meds to derive a secondary purpose other than its original intended function.

He told me to call back in a week or so to give him feedback to see if we needed to try something else. I fully intend on making the call to him and complaining about the celexa and propanolol. The trazodone is ok for sleeping when needed I suppose.. as long as I take a low dose to avoid that cheap vodka hangover feeling in the morning. heh. I'll get through this adjustment phase.. one day at a time, as they say.