Hi everyone. I decided to leave my last T to try out a female psychologist at one of the most popular mental health buildings in town (I didn't know it was so big). I saw her for an intake appointment and right away she said, "We need to get you on medication". I was put back, and a little nervous, but also a little curious to see if it would help me or not. I previously experimented with St. John's Wort and had no help from it. Maybe it was just too light for me-- since I've read cases where it has helped others. I was taking about 900mg a day for 10 months.

I was given a prescription of Propranolol (40mg)for anxiety. It's known as the "stage fright" pill. I have 60 pills at the moment, and another 3 refills when I am through.

I was also given two sample boxes of Lexapro (10mg). I've done so much reading on it. I have mixed feelings on it, because most that I read contained negative feedback. I'm worrying if it will be just like the St. Johns; ineffective.

Right now I am taking half a pill of the Propranolol for 7 days, spaced 12 hours apart- once at 7pm&7am. I'll go up to the entire pill after a week. I check in with the psychiatrist next Friday. As for the Lexapro, I take it in the evening starting tomorrow night.

This may be a long shot, but have any of you been on each of these medicines at the same time? What were your experiences? Did they help you?

Have any of you had success with Lexapro alone? With Propranolol alone?

I am very new to taking meds but I have learned that I am very sensitive to them (not sure how I will be with these sorts). I appreciate any of your feedback. Thank you!

I haven't been either of the drugs you mention, but I have been on numerous SSRIs (like Lexapro) I'm super sensitive to meds as well.

Make sure to give the lexapro time, at least 6 weeks, before you decide if it's helpful or not. Unless you react badly to it, of course. Personally, I can feel the effects of SSRIs a couple of days in, but I notice gradual changes in my mood after 3+ weeks on them. My husband is on Lexapro and it has been working well for him for over 10 years.

I've been on and off and on and off SSRIs quite a bit because I have such mixed feelings about them. On one hand, they do make my mood more stable, I'm less anxious and I'm more functional. What I don't like about them is that they flatten my mood out so I don't have the range of emotions that I used to, good and bad.

It may be helpful to you to keep a mood chart for a while. I like the one at http://www.medhelp.org pretty well. It can give you an idea if your mood is changing overall.

So many people have such a wide variety of reactions to these medications, it's hard to say what to expect. I don't think that the ineffectiveness of St. Johns Wart is much of a indicator of whether SSRIs will work or not though. I think I read somewhere that it's similar to a different class of anti-depressants, but since it's herbal, you can't get consistent dosing or quality control.

There are several SSRIs on the market; average time to reach maximal effect is 4-6 weeks. Propranol (Inderal) is a "beta-blocker." That will reduce the SYMPTOMS of anxiety, but not the anxiety itself.

I tried Lexapro and had good luck with it. I eventually switched to Effexor (SNRI) because of sexual side effects.

I hope this helps..
Best to you!

I used to be on Lexapro and it worked for me for a couple of years. After about two years we had to change my meds because it was just no longer working which they say is common with any antidepressants. I am now on prozac and buspar for anxiety because they took back my other anxiety meds cause I was abusing them. It does take about 4-6 weeks for the lexapro to really start working. I also know several other people who have taken it and it worked great for them for the first few years too. My neighbor is on it right now but says she is not feeling any difference but she has only been on it right at 4 weeks so it might just be taking her a little longer.

Z-

quote:

I haven't been either of the drugs you mention, but I have been on numerous SSRIs (like Lexapro) I'm super sensitive to meds as well.

If you don't mind my asking, what does work for you?

That's what I am thinking of doing-- waiting the 6 weeks although I'm feeling the side-effects already. I don't know what the P was thinking when she told me it knocks people out... I kept awake the entire night. I got zero sleep. But, I suppose it all may be worth it. I've read a lot of success stories.

Thank you for the mood chart link; I'm going to start one of those.

Psyched Out- Ah yeah, all this talk about losing your libido on SSRIS. I may have to switch because of that.
Thanks for your help.

Pippi- Thanks for letting me know how it went for others; I've been doing a lot of research! I hope it kicks in before 6 weeks for me. I can try to be patient though. I'm worried that it just won't work for me though. We'll see!

Thanks everyone

I'm currently on Luvox (SSRI) and Lamictal (mood stabilizer) daily and I take Ativan (anti-anxiety) and Risperdol (anti-psychotic) as needed. All of my doses are super small, every time I tell a doctor my dose they tell me that dose shouldn't be doing anything to me. Hah!!

Luvox is an older SSRI and is not used hardly at all. It tends to be used for OCD more then depression and anxiety, but it seems to help me with those.

Celexa and Paxil were terrible for me. They made me super agitated and made it absolutely impossible for me to sleep. (I'm not talking about insomnia, I mean, physically impossible.) Prozac made me terribly depressed, wanting to hurt myself depressed. I think Zoloft was going the same route, but I didn't really give it a chance.

Folks who are bi-polar react badly to SSRIs, and I think my P thinks I'm at least a little bi-polar because of how badly I react to some of these. She would be happier if I could tolerate a higher dose of Lamictal I'd be happier if Lamictal did anything for anxiety and didn't make me stupid (at higher doses).

Here is my advice on trouble with sleep. First, see if it's ok if you take your Lexapro in the morning. That helps me. You might be able to get something (ambien, lunesta, etc) to help you sleep while you are adjusting. Just be cautious if you go down that route. I ended up taking Lunesta for 3 years and when I finally got off of it, I found that it was doing terrible things to my mood. Ambien is it's own crazy can of worms with the possibility of sleepwalking and such. But they can be a godsend too.

I was taking Lexapro for a while and it was working, but it made me start gaining a lot of weight whixh stressed me out and then made my anxiety worse. My dr switched me to Prestique which was wonderful and I loved it, but my insurance wouldn't cover it so now I just started taking Cymbalta. It hasn't been long enough yet to see if it will work or not. I also have Xanex if I need it for anxiety attacks, but I don't take it every day even though it says I can have it up to 3 times a day.

Hi all- Thanks for your responses. I'm very intrigued to hear others' stories on their experiences with this medication. It is different for everyone, I understand.

Today my P upped the Lexapro (after one week of being on the 10mg) to the 20mg. I'm finishing up the 10mg (finished next Thursday) and starting the new dosage on Friday next week. I wonder if this will be any better. It wasn't that the 10mg wasn't working, but they figure it will be a better "hold" for me. Who knows! I don't yet!

Does this seem a little early to go up? Again, different for everyone but what are your opinions?

I was on Effexor for about 12 months and have never noticed any improvement in that time. I started seeing a new Psychiatrist and he upped it to 450mg per day and still no improvement. I also take 25mg/50mg Seroquel at night. The Seroquel helps me sleep and also helps my anxiety during the day. I have tried not taking it and it is not pretty.

The Effexor wasn't helping a great deal so he changed it to 300mg Effexor in the morning and 45mg Avanza at night. This seems to be working and he said it is a breakthrough. I have a major depression, complex ptsd and anxiety disorder.

He has always done the increasing/decreasing on a weekly basis.

Have you noticed any changes in your mood? It took about six weeks til I noticed the breakthrough.

Halo,
I'll have to do some reading up on Effexor. That's real scummy that you had absolutely no improvement with it, even after 12 months. I'd feel cheated out of my time and money. I've heard of Seroquel. A friend of mine went cold turkey on that and yes, it wasn't pretty, just as you said. Medication seems so complex.

I'm glad your slight change in the Effexor and adding the Avanza is working now. I hope that that continues to work out for you.

I have major depression/anxiety and BPD. I haven't been able to gauge my mood change, if there is one. It is probably too early to tell at the moment. But, in good news, I haven't been raging as much, and the obsessive thoughts have been more under control/minimized. If the Lexapro goes little by little I am happy for just that. I need the relief.

Good to know that it wasn't too early in upping the med. I hope it works for me. It's a little hard to not have high expectations here... although I know I shouldn't expect too much.

Thanks

The best way to describe the changes the Avanza has made is that I am still the same me and my life is still exactly the same but I see and feel and think things through a different filter - sort of like adjusting the focus on binoculars. I was always scared of getting better and still being me and hating me and my life.....but there was no need to be scared because it all just happened and felt right.

As for the seroquel it takes the daytime anxiety away - when I went off it I was back to being a screaming wreck and tidying compulsively and so manic about little stuff, I didn't realize what a great job it was doing til I went off it.

The avanza has also helped to slow my racing thoughts/obsessing to a much more manageable pace.

Do you feel like it is easier for you to see things through a different fileter?

Hi again Halo,
I'm starting to think semi-good things about Avanza. If Lexapro doesn't work for me, I will suggest this to my P, if that would be ok to do or not.

Are you back on the Seroquel? I thought this Propanolol would take care of the daytime anxiety for me (being the "stage fright" pill and all) but I still have the worst anxiety. I'll have to bring this up next session. It isn't even a psych med anyways... it's really only there to help get rid of the anxiety SYMPTOMS like someone else on here noted. That sort of irks me. I guess I should be happy about it taking care of most of my heart palpitations, but I am really looking for relief from this intense anxiety I have on my shoulders.

quote:

Do you feel like it is easier for you to see things through a different fileter?

I really don't know yet... It's only been 1 week of being on the Lexapro. I'll have to get back to you in a few weeks. I've been charting it and so far I feel distracted away from unhappiness but still... I need some time in truly figuring if it is improving anything at all.