kmurphy539She's been recently been dealing with depression and severe anxiety issues, but already takes Imitrex for the occasional migraine and Melatonin to help her sleep. She can't really afford to get any other prescription medications, so she wanted to take something natural like St John's Wort and/or 5HTP but apparently that's a horrible idea while taking Imitrex (which is the only thing so far that helps her migraines). Please help, I'm not sure what else she could take since so many things react horribly with Imitrex.
My gf has depression and anxiety and wants something to help, but has conflicting medication. Help?
- Posted:
- 8 Jul 2010 by kmurphy539
- Topics:
- 5-htp, imitrex, depression, migraine, anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, melatonin, st. john's wort
Details:
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Responses (9)
Anonymous 8 Jul 2010
Hi Murphy, I don't know much about Imitrex, but I do know about anxiety...
Perhaps she could see her doctor and get a prescription for Xanax, or another benzodiazapine. There is a medication guide on this site, A to Z, go look up Imitrex, and find out if there are problems with mixing it with benzo's. Just a thought here. Melatonin is natural, as you probably know, so no problem there... I THINK.
Wishing you and your GF the best o' luck! sweetlemon
ps Xanax is pretty inexpensive.
grey_cypr...9 Jul 2010
Just to confirm what sweetlemon said, imitrex does not interact with any benzos or SSRI depression medications. And i cant tell you INDEFINITELY that MAOI antidepressants dont interact, but ive never heard of anything like that. Imitrex isnt a very 'volatile' substance, in fact it can be bought OTC in the UK.
However, you are right about st johns wort. It, on the other hand, interacts with a boatload of medications, i found this out the hard way when on paxil (an SSRI), i was taking the stuff and began to experience symptoms of serotonin syndrome because st johns wort and SSRIs dont like each other apparently, haha... not fun.
As far as melatonin goes shell be fine taking that with pretty much anything, just make sure IF shes put on medication she tells her doctor, just in good practice.
grey_cypress
9 Jul 2010
Wow talk about a wall of text. Im sorry to leave such long answers, i just dont feel i can answer question, especially ones of importance, in a short one-liner.
Anonymous 9 Jul 2010
grey-cypress, you really should become a pharmacist/chemist!!!
xo, sweetlemon
hardfi
dmfdjttor5712 Jul 2010
Hi, sorry for you friend's anxiety, it's an awful feeling i know. If she does not want to take something to help it, there is nothing you can do my dear. It is great that she does not want to become addicted to something, but there are many people that take anti-anxiety medication PRN (as needed),which is when the anxiety is really bad, and never become addicted at all. A good drug to try, if she does not want to take a benzo, is Paxil, the antidepressant, which is for anxiety also, but if she doesn't want to take that and/or, it does not work (it takes a few weeks and she will have to slowly up the dosage) then try to talk to her about Librium or the .05mg of Ativan (lorazapam), as they are not terribly strong benzos and can be taken just when she really can't handle the anxiety.(as almost all benzodiazapams can be). A combo of Paxil and one of those benzos might be a good match for her. FYI, St.
kmurphy539
12 Jul 2010
Thanks a lot Dede, I'll try and go over it with her and see what she thinks!
Anonymous 12 Jul 2010
Sorry I mentioned Fish Oil in my comment will help depression and vitamin D. The regular Fish Oil is $11 at GNC then the more DHA in it it goes up $1 or 2. I don't know how much vit D alone is I get a script for that w my calcium and it doesnt cost me anything. Murphy please tell me what 5HTP is. I'm not on Immitrex anymore. Oh is your girlfriend on any other meds. Cause the actual reason I had so many migraines and had to take that was do to a medicine, thank God I'm not on anymore. But still have them so little on and of now.
kmurphy539
12 Jul 2010
5HTP is a chemical in your brain that is the precursor to serotonin being produced, so if you take extra 5HTP extra serotonin will be produced. I guess they give it out a lot in Germany for depression. And no, she doesn't take anything else other than ibuprofen, but she's really sensitive to sound/smell/light etc so that's why she gets so many.
Sacosam
15 Jul 2010
I will say this one time only. Stay the hell away from 5HTP. It looks good , it sounds great , there's a great read on it, its natural so it must be safe!! 24 To 36hrs, after I took 2 tabs, I was ready to kill myself, and I didn't even know why ! ! If it hadn't been for a girlfriend , I wouldn't be here. Only by prescription my friends, and only with a good Dr. who knows his onions. Sacosam
Anonymous 13 Jul 2010
it wont let me comment on your comment. This is a question. Im in the Us, Is it bad to take 5HTP. That other woman said it is a lot of money. I can't go out and keep buying stuf.. Is it a natural drug? What are the side effects. Since I never heard of it, is it even sold out here in the US? Do you think its covered by state heatlh insurance? Is it dangerous?
kmurphy539
13 Jul 2010
Well, I went out and bought a bottle of 60 capsules for about $20 at CVS pharmacy. It should be natural and you can get it most places that sell vitamins etc, you probably could find it cheaper some where else but CVS was closest to me. It's over the counter so you wouldn't need insurance, and as far as I know it isn't dangerous if you're not taking anything else. This page has the side effects and what not to take it with. http://www.advance-health.com/5htp.html
Anonymous 13 Jul 2010
Hi Murphy, I just wrote a veritable novella to you, but, alas it went into cyber-space! Xanax can cause something called dissociative disorder (sp?) which makes one feel numb/outside themselves. 'Tis hard to explain, maybe you could google dissociative disorder?
Actually, my panic attacks made me feel sort of "outside" myself! You can not understand that unless you have had a hellish panic attack.
Also, tell your gf that Xanax does not cause sexual side effects... at least not in women. best fishes, sweetlemon
13 Jul 2010
I would suggest that she tries any natural remedies first including meditation and yoga there are many things that she can do before resorting to medication. I am currently getting off my medication for many reasons. But there is always hope outside of medication.
Tell her to visit my blog about dealing with all of this I also have a support group on facebook she can become a member of.
http://nowyzexploration.blogspot.com
search facebook for tapering off lexapro
Anonymous 14 Jul 2010
I found this under ;
rare side effects
Aggressiveness, apathy, bradylogia, cluster headache, convulsions, decreased appetite, drug abuse, dystonic reaction, facial paralysis, hallucinations, hunger, hyperesthesia, hysteria, increased alertness, memory disturbance, neuralgia, paralysis, personality change, phobia, radiculopathy, rigidity, suicide, twitching, agitation, anxiety, depressive disorders, detachment, motor dysfunction, neurotic disorders, psychomotor disorders, taste disturbances, and raised intracranial pressure
I don't know if this is of any help, but there seems to be some links to her problems. I found this in Med.Dic.
Anonymous 14 Jul 2010
Bucky, What medication are you referring to with those horrible side effects?
your pal, sweetlemon
Anonymous 14 Jul 2010
Anonymous 16 Jul 2010
Kmurphy539, I need to know if the 5-htp is working for your girlfriend, I really need to know can you write back right away? I can't take my depression anymore and bad anxiety at night, sometimes during the day too and the drowsiness from my upped dose of Tegretol XR the doctor did to me.
kmurphy539
17 Jul 2010
Hey Depression2, she hasn't taken it because it could cause issues with her migraine medication. It helps with other people, as well as SJW. Maybe ask your doctor or look online and see which would be best for you? It's only $15-20 so it could be worth a try at least!
nekprem17 Aug 2010
murphy as i know ur gf is suffering from depression and anxiety so first of all she must have to concern with physician and take medicine regular as prescribed by physician and as per my knowledge she should take benzodiazepines
as melatonin is a natural product there is no much side effects
while imitrex have more side effect in that major one is phonophobia and photophobia so please concern with physician
get well soon
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or you can ask about adivan that is a lower degree antiaxiety medicine..it works good and doesnt make you sleep if its a low dosage... i am sure she can get some help..there is generic adivan which is lorazapam and its not too expensive... get her some help..drag her if you have too... there is meds that work. trust me on this one!
Much better answer, toobadgirl!
Is it Ativan, or Adivan?
yer friend, sweetlemon
She's tried Xanax, which really helps, but she really doesn't want to get addicted to anything (even if it's helping her). I looked up lorazapam, which sounds like it could be a good substitute, but it also warns about getting addicted so I'm not sure if she'll go for it :( I assumed you don't get addicted to SJW or 5HTP, so that's why she was willing to try it.
Oh, also, it says "Do not take this medication for longer than 4 months without your doctor's advice"... she's always had anxiety just not the depression, does this mean her anxiety would come back once she's done taking it?
Hi again murphy, her anxiety might come back after she stops any anti-anx medicine. Yet, some people get "situational anxiety", which may go away on it's own.
Also, some people take anti-anxiety meds their entire adult lives. Seems better than being a nervous, panicky wreck! If she is miserable enough she should seek medical help. Depression is not something to mess around with, in my opinion. Is she under stress at this time? Does she suffer from post-pardom depression (depression after child-birth)?
best wishes murphy, sweetlemon
She needs to understand that just cause you use a medication regularly it doesnt mean youre addicted. There is a fine line between 'Addiction' and 'Dependency', and dependency is not a negative thing. I wrote this short piece a while back trying to explain to a friend of mine what the difference between the two are. Its kinda long winded... but i guess thats not really different from any of my other posts, ha. Anyway here it is copy/pasted from the original document:
Expand this post...
"Dependency" is a normal physiological ADAPTATION to repeated dosing of a medication. An opioid-dependent patient with chronic pain has improved function with their use of the drug. It is the use of a drug for medicinal purposes that can cause an eventual physical need for that drug. Physical dependence is solely a physical state, indicating that the body has grown so adapted to having the drug present that sudden removal of it will lead to negative consequences such as a withdrawal reaction.
"Addiction" is a COMPULSIVE behavior that demands more and more of a drug, regardless of the consequences that lead to dysfunction. It is the EMOTIONAL need for a drug. A person who is addicted to opioids has a disease that undermines optimal function and drives one to compulsively use a drug, despite the negative consequences.
dependency is not necessarily indicative of addiction or drug abuse.
Hope that helps ya understand that use of meds isnt a bad thing. I hate to see people suffering from things, ESPECIALLY anxiety, because theyre afraid because they "dont wanna get addicted".
It's definitely not situational anxiety, and although she is under extra stress at the moment (school pressure/moving) she pretty much always has it.
I tried to talk to her about Xanax/lorazapam and she's against them because she doesn't want a bunch of man-made chemicals in her system everyday that makes her feel numb or has a bunch of side effects. She wants the SJW/5HTP since they're natural, but needs the Imitrex so I don't really know what other options there are at this point. She doesn't believe in going to a psychiatrist to be put on drugs, so I don't think prescriptions are even a choice now. :/
Expand this post...
Don't worry about the long text Grey, I'd rather that then a short answer with little explanation. Although I looked at Imitrex under the 'Interaction Checker' and it seems to not do well with most SSRI's, and 5HTP is even considered a "major interaction" and can lead to serotonin syndrome as well.
http://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/5-htp-with-imitrex-1-10727-2136-1391.html
I'm sorry but whats 5HTP? Will it help with my depression or anxiety too? Its starting to say Fish Oil helps with depression. Hope that helps you. For regular Fish Oil at GNC it was 11 dollars. The ones with more DHA in it it goes up 1 or 2$