The best drug..

Im interested in getting some meds from my doctor....i was wondering which drug works best for the physical symptoms of social phobia..i read on this site about betablockers..is that the best for me?cause i sweat, heart pounds,my voice gets weak,and i get really stiff and angry....can anyone give me some advice??

hi,i'm mark. I've had symptoms of SP for about 10 years now.What works for me will not work for everyone,but I'll give my two cents.I've been taking paxil for 5 years now & it helps but doesnt cure my symptoms by a long shot.I take 20mg. now & was taking 5mg. for about the last 6 months.The more I take the more side effects I get.Sweating happens to be a side effect!Imagine that.I have hyperhydrosis of the arm pits,what a drag that is.It started a few years after I started having physical symptoms of anxiety.I think it's directly related.Anyway,i also take valium 5mg. pills before I go into "major" social situations & it helps me a great deal.I tryed zanex for a week & I was anxiety free,but then I built up a tolerance to it.My doctor said it wasn't possible to build a tolerance so fast,but he was very wrong.I know other people who take it for long periods and have no problems,so I would suggest it.[/quote]

fff

I've taken prozac, effexor, zoloft, paxil, trazadone and none of these have worked for me. The only thing that has work so far is any type of benzo. I take Clonazepam, which works awesome for me. I can only take it for about 8 months, but this is enough time for me to seek therapy and become cured.

Clozazepam is the best for me too...

I suffer from social anxiety disorder. I'm a 40yo male and I have only recently discovered that there was even a name for this. I used alcohol and marijuana for several years when I was a lot younger to self-medicate. But, I've known for about ten years that clonazepam has the effect of a bona-fide MIRACLE drug (for me personally, anyway). The other benzodiazepines, (xanax, ativan, valium), do very little for me. I have tried all of them at one time or another and I had always thought that my disorder was just some obscure and unnamed "nervous condition" until now.

Whenever I can obtain clonazepam, (which has usually been through my girlfriend or an online prescription), 2mg. per day (1mg. at mid-morning and 1mg. at early-evening) makes my life completely normal: no anxiety, I can concentrate fully on any task at hand, and no fear of social situations. Without it, I freak out, I sweat, my heart races, and I even become nauseous at the very thought of going out in public. I've taken this exact dosage for 90 days with NO withdrawal symptoms upon running out, other than a normal recurrence of my SA which I already expected. I remember reading somewhere that if you truly suffer from SA, the dependence level for benzodiazepines is very low; this seems to certainly be the case with me. My main problem is with the cost of online prescriptions. A 90 day supply of 2mg. tabs is over $200 online, compared to less than $20 at the local pharmacy.

I have a question of my own, come to think of it. I'm going to a doctor (GP) in the next couple of weeks to try and obtain a more 'legitimate' prescription. My fear is that he will try to prescribe me something such as Lexapro or Paxil. The only thing that I fear MORE than social situations is taking drugs that have unknown effects on me. How do I tell the doctor that I already know clonazepam works for me and has no noticeable side effects for me?

I have taken AROPAX for several years now with good results, after taken various other medications over several years before that.
It is an antidepressant which also has the property of treating shyness/social arkwardness - a bit of a cure all.

Paxil was the worst for me. I felt nervous, and high. I felt high all day. But not in a good way. Throw in the fact I couldn't sleep or eat, I was a mess. But that was me., I've heard it can be good but I can't see how it can. Oh, ya, and I had no libido at all.

Wellbutrin is awesome, to a degree. I still feel major anxiety and have panic attacks in large groups especially if I am at school and have to talk out loud in class. Wellbutrin is awesome for me because I don't feel like I'm taking anything yet I feel the difference.

hey Worrydoll, how is the Propranolol working for you as far as side effects go? I read a lot about it and it seems to be a risky thing to take. Why do you take it? Is it for anxiety or panic attcks of any sort? It seems like something I would want to try but I'm weary of always asking my Doctor for new drugs to take.

best meds

I take clonazepam at 4mg. a day as prescribed by my psychiatrist along with paxil cr 25mg. a day. Luckily I have insurance and pay only $4.00 for 75 tablets of 1mg. of clonazepam and $20.00 for 30 paxil cr tablets. My clonazepam dosage was recently increased and paid $3.85 for 60 2mg. tablets. For me it is a very good drug and lasts a long time. It has fewer side effects than xanax or valium and others and is far less addictive even though it is a benzodiazapine. In fact I get no side effects at all from either drug. I am not suggesting that this will work for everybody, but it sure works for me. Good Luck

:wink:

Ive taken benzos, almost all the antidepressants and major tranquilisers as well as a whole host of cocktails. Betablockers are the only medicines which stopped my panic attacks. I used to sleep outside hospital because my heart would jump to 200bpm dozens of time per night. I spent periods in coronary care because doctors couldnt believe that anxiety could cause such symptoms. I saw several psychiatrists - each told me that my symptoms were the worst theyd seen. I had 15years in a 24/7 hurricane of anxiety. Ive spent 6month periods in hospital with anxiety.

I was finally referred to a renowned professor who diagnosed mixed bipolar disorder. I stopped all medicines other than betablockers and was given lithium at the highest possible dose. Then other drugs were given but side effects caused me to stop taking them. I collapsed on the hospital ward.

I continued with lithium and beta blockers (which wasnt the profs preferred route) and was told that 2 years would pass before it stabilised me!

18 months later and the anxiety is much better. Ive began working full time and my social life is improving too as the grip of anxiety weakens. Its not the usual choice but lithium is the only drug which has helped kill the anxiety for me and for this i am grateful. Over the next few months i will reduce and stop the betablockers as i wont need them anymore to keep physical symptoms locked.

This is the tip of the iceberg and is hell in a nutshell.

Stay strong, Eddie

Can you take these drugs as and when or are they a course? Do docs give them out easily or are they given as a "last resort"?

Hamble said:

Can you take these drugs as and when or are they a course? Do docs give them out easily or are they given as a "last resort"?

Click to expand...

for ur 1st Q, ur ans to the Qs are yes,

for ur 2nd Q, jus ask for a performance drug, n normally doctors should know what to prescribe..

Are these beta blockers you guys are taking helpful for the long term? Does their effect diminish over time so that you have to ramp up the doseage?

It also seems that benzo.'s and beta blockers seem to take effect almost immediately, whereas SSRIs require over a month to see full efficacy. How would I go about obtaining a small sample size of a benzo. or beta blocker to try it for a few days?