Posted by Mid- Life Crisis on October 19, 2003, at 12:30:55
In reply to Re: ssri INDUCED anxiety, posted by Viridis on October 11, 2003, at 4:45:13
Adderall, which I took for ADHD, induced anxiety (and, later, mood swings also) in me, and methylphenidate also induced anxiety, probably because both made my heart pound. I switched to Strattera, which I'm now on for the 19th day at 40 mg. So far, I cannot tell it's helped my "spaciness", in fact I often feel spacier and like my brain is wrapped in cotton, but I'm hoping that goes away in a few days at the 60 mg. dose. However, I noticed right away that it has completely taken away my near-constant feeling of slight unease, and I cannot worry on it or feel nearly as much anxiety when stressed as I did before. (I have always had problems with performance/social anxiety, such as before important exams, or when giving speeches, etc.) Also, it's not TOO sedating, though I had to switch to taking it at night to lessen that effect, and it does help me sleep. I have found that I can sometimes get rid of the "brain wrapped in cotton wool" feeling by drinking coffee in the a.m., but this isn't always enough. At any rate, this effect is not as bad as the "hangover" I got when I tried Gabitril, which also got rid of my anxiety but left me out of it the next a.m. Once I tried low dose of Xanax, but it made me so sleepy I had to go to sleep in the middle of the day, face down on the bed and couldn't move my neck to breathe except with great difficulty. Tried Buspar for about 2 mos., but found it worked well only the first week or so, then stopped.
So, to make a long story shorter, you may want to try a low dose of Strattera, as I can tell from my experience it has anti-anxiety properties that seem to kick in right away. (And the other side effects are mild and disappear, in my experience, EXCEPT for fatigue, which is still with me on some days.) So far, it's the best thing I've tried for anxiety, and I am hoping the ADHD benefits will kick in at a higher dose. Also, strangely enough, my BP is much lower on this than on stimulants, maybe because I'm having no anxiety?? Good luck and keep posting!
poster:Mid- Life Crisis
thread:268089
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031015/msgs/270829.html