Question:
I have currently taking 150 mg wellbutrin 2X daily. I use Xanax as
needed. I have found that wellburtin takes care of most of the
depression, but a lot of the time my anxiety is still high, and I have
explosive / panic like atacks, that have been labeled as Internitent
Explosive disorder. The welbutrin seems to make me a little more
agitated that I should be, but it takes away the depression and has no
other side effects.
What I am wondering is if anyone has found any good combonation that
works well for anixeity & ADD. When i take .5 - 1.0MG Xanax, it help
the anixeity and anger, but I don't really think it helps the ADD.
I also worry about taking Xanax long term. Are there any other AD's
or maybe Buspar that might be able to help?
Any thoughs on mixing Stratera, Buspar, and Welbutrin? Or am I just
using benzos for anixeity and anger?
Any though are appricated. I of course work with my doctor on a
regualr basis, I am just looking to bring some more information with
me when I go in next time.
Answer:
I have tried all (well, almost all) the SSRI's for primary anxiety and
secondary depression control. All the SSRI's I tried made me more jittery
and nervous. The only one that was tolerable was serzone. One pill of the
paxil brought on a PA. I personally think the benzos are the best things
available for anxiety and panic that doctors have in their pharmaceutical
arsenal right now. True, they do cause a physical dependence but they also
control my anxiety and panic quite well. Although I wish I could be totally
drug free, it's probably not in the cards. I have virtually no side effects
from taking the 1mg of klonopin daily, and I am able to work, exercise,
socialize, and have a sex life. I'd say that a good trade-off.
Maybe you started at too high a dose. People with anxiety disorders should
start psychotropic meds at a low dose and titrate upwards very slowly. A
good starting dose of Paxil would be about 5 mg/day.
Many antidepressants (the SSRIs and TCAs) also cause a physical dependence.
You should wean off all of them slowly to prevent a withdrawal syndrome,
with the exception of Prozac, which has such a long half life that is it
self weaning if you stop taking it one day.
You never know. Maybe the time will come when you are drug free. There's
alot of new meds coming out all the time, and in the future some may be able
to target the genes involved in panic disorder.
You might want to ask your doc about Ritalin if he hasn't already
suggested it to you. I have a friend who has anxiety and ADD and is on
both Xanax and Ritalin.
