depression/anxiety med question

[Psychmajor]

okay so im on Zoloft and its completely taken care of the depression but has done nothing for the anxiety. Usualy when you take care of one problem the other is taken away also. would it be a smart idea to scratch the zoloft and start on an SNRI like my doc wants me to or would just using a daily dose of klon or valium be better? (i do not mind withdrawls when i need to taper down, i know about them/have had benzo w/d so going in, ill deal) with the SNRI taking over a month to kick in (since i have to taper off one and start on the other that may possibly not work and put me back into a depression + withdrawls from that) i dont know if i sohuld go for the long nonaddictive route or the quick and future-ly painful one. i want to live without being scared of everything but i dont know if anything else will actualy work... (no side effects from zoloft or benzos)

thank you for all your answers, if anyone has had luck with a drug that took care of depression but not anxiety then switched to something that helped with both that would be very helpful.

[Psychmajor]

definatly would like some response on this out of the multiple people who have looked at it

[cheekysod]

wellbutrin, and zoloft, are they the same. that explains why you are posting all over the place advising on psycology.
get your sh!t together before you start lecturing buddy

[klopper22]

Lexapro is "my pro" at hitting both.

[cferd]

Anybody willing to go back on Benzos knowing first hand what the wds are all about must be at the least mildly retarded. JMHO

[pharmstud(ent)]

okay so im on Zoloft and its completely taken care of the depression but has done nothing for the anxiety. Usualy when you take care of one problem the other is taken away also. would it be a smart idea to scratch the zoloft and start on an SNRI like my doc wants me to or would just using a daily dose of klon or valium be better? (i do not mind withdrawls when i need to taper down, i know about them/have had benzo w/d so going in, ill deal) with the SNRI taking over a month to kick in (since i have to taper off one and start on the other that may possibly not work and put me back into a depression + withdrawls from that) i dont know if i sohuld go for the long nonaddictive route or the quick and future-ly painful one. i want to live without being scared of everything but i dont know if anything else will actualy work... (no side effects from zoloft or benzos)

thank you for all your answers, if anyone has had luck with a drug that took care of depression but not anxiety then switched to something that helped with both that would be very helpful.

I have not read any other posts, but let me make one thing clear. There is no CLEAR cut answer that works for all with depression/anxiety/mental problems. There are first line therapies that are chosen because they have less side effects than other drug classes or they work better or both. Sometimes one class works for some and other classes work for others in this case. It is not like an antibiotic where if you know the organism (Pseudomonas Aeruginosa then try possibly Cipro) then you know exactly what you need to do or at least try to do. This is more a trial and error approach. Here is what I would recommend. The least of amount of medicine is the best, right? This would cause less money for patients, less side effects, easier compliance, etc. The problem in your case is you said zoloft (SSRI) is working for you which is AWESOME. So it is hard to convince someone to switch because there is no guarantee that the new medication will work. Of course you can always switch back if the new drug doesn't work. With all that said, I would recommend staying on zoloft AND adding Seroquel XR and a benzodiazepine (probably Diazepam aka valium, do NOT get xanax) for as needed symptoms. Xanax is bad because you get quick peaks and then your levels drop off quickly and you get rebound symptoms "forcing" you to take more and it doesn't last as long as other benzos. The ONLY reason to even think about switching is the hope that you will be "stable" anxiety wise and depression wise with less medication which is possible... The seroquel xR will take a little bit of time to notice a difference while the benzos start working basically instantly. The benzo would serve as a crunch for "as needed" symptoms until the seroquel XR starts working and hopefully at that point you wont feel a need for the benzo. The benzo would only be used short term and if used often enough or for a long enough period of time then it will need to be titrated down. This would allow you to keep using what you know for sure works (for depression at least) and then add on something more long term for your anxiety. I have other regimens that would involve less medication but I think this is the best median between best odds of working really well and using the least amount of meds. Good luck and see what your doctor thinks!

[Psyched]

It would appear that someone has lowered the boom on psychmajor. I am sure we will all NOT miss him or his rantings. As the saying goes young one, LEARN before you SPEAK! I am sure psychmajor will get over being banned...I did, see

[curbsideprophet]

I have been on Prozac, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Abilify, Buspirone, Topamax, Risperidone, Klonopin, Gabapentin, and Adderall. I'm no doctor or "psych major" haha, but I feel pretty qualified in telling you that medications are not always the answer to complex psychiatric conditions like depression and anxiety. (This is not to say that some people may absolutely need them given their situation or to get through a particularly hard time.) Anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications often have the side effect of increasing the presence of other mental and behavioral disorders. This only leads to the prescription of an additional medication. Oh my!

Once prescribed, meds must be constantly monitored- the solution isn't always to "add more". Psychiatrists have a tough job here though. When several medications are involved it becomes difficult to assess the effects of each one individually. If the patient begins to feel better, can the dosage be decreased, or is the patient feeling better because of the medication, and therefore, the dosage should remain unchanged? I have several disorders and treating the conflicting symptoms has been an interesting journey.

Years into my treatment, I "woke up" and realized that I actually felt worse than when I began therapy. Where did all of these new symptoms come from? I hated being dependent on taking pills every day and feared that my personality was altered by them. The anti-depression meds made life tolerable by numbing me. They increased my anxiety by taking away my obsessions/compulsions, which had always been my psyche's coping mechanism for dealing with trauma. It didn't help that I was unable to get anything accomplished on the anti-depressants since I was always asleep because of them! My former psychiatrist's solution to this, of course, were anti-anxiety meds and mood stabilizers.

The only anti-anxiety med that worked for me was the Klonopin, which I became severely dependent on to sleep. I'm not going to lie... I miss it, I loved it. And that's the reason why I don't want it. I have very few memories from the several months I was on that medication (stopped about 6 months ago). It's like trying to remember a night after drinking too much and blacking out. Certain parts are missing and the parts that I can remember are dream-like. That's unfortunate.

Wellbutrin and Abilify were supposed to energize me and get me out of bed, but no luck. Lexapro made me pass out for days at a time. Buspirone and Risperidone were duds too. I continued with the Prozac for several years, but when it got up to 100mg I said enough is enough. I tapered off at first and then just stopped. If I had to choose one anti-depressant it would be Prozac, hands down. I tried Paxil for about a week and it made me sick. I still take Topamax (impulse control), Gabapentin (sleep/anxiety) and Adderall (attention deficit) and have been happy with them.

While my last two therapists loved to dish out the pharmaceuticals, my current one is helping me deal with my disorder's underlying issues without handfuls of meds. This method addresses the cause of my disorders rather than the symptoms. Psychotherapy takes a lot of time and hard work, but I think it will be worth it. There's no quick fix to mental illness. Any doctor who tries to write you off with some prescriptions and a "have a nice day" isn't putting in the effort you deserve. Your treatment may need to consist of medication as well as another method. I have found group therapy to be supportive and informative. You may enjoy that setting since you are already visiting this site- it's not so different! I hope some of this was helpful. Good luck!