Posted by 3 Beer Effect on May 12, 2002, at 5:03:27
In reply to The best drug to make you more chatty, posted by janejj on May 11, 2002, at 17:32:53
The 'activating' SSRIs, Prozac & Zoloft are said to "turn shy people into social butterflies". For more info on this phenomenon read the widely available paperback book "Listening to Prozac" by Dr. Peter D. Kramer.
I found Zoloft at 100 mg made me much more chatty, sociable. 75mg is probably the minimum required for Zoloft to work, 50 mg doesn't cut it for most people. It takes SSRIs atleast 2-4 weeks to work, so you might want to get an appointment with your doctor immediately if you want to be chatty at work in the next month.
Although I have never tried Prozac, I have read alot about psychopharmacology & social phobia/inhibition, & I would argue that Zoloft 100 mg would be superior to Prozac because Zoloft tends to cause less anxiety/nervousness, it performed slightly (although statistically insignificantly) better than Paxil in a double-blind social phobia trial, & Zoloft is the only SSRI that has slight dopamine reuputake inhibition properties- there is a strong possiblility that social phobia is related to a deficiency in BOTH Serotonin & Dopamine, with low Dopamine being implicated in timidity/lack of self-confidence/lack of self-esteem.
Supporting this dopamine + serotonin theory is that tricyclic antidepressants like imipramine that boost norepinephrine & serotonin are ineffective at treating social phobia while MAOIs which boost serotonin, norepinephrine, & dopamine are very effective- the MAOI antidepressant 'Nardil' is considered the "gold-standard" of social phobia medications, although Nardil is rarely prescribed anymore because of potentially fatal interactions it has with certain foods & drugs.
If you need something to work right away, your options are pretty much limited to an amphetamine such as Dexedrine or Adderall plus a high dose of the benzodiazepine Klonopin.
Dexedrine at lower doses 5 2-3x per day is great for social phobia, & besides SSRIs or Alcohol is one of the few good social 'disinhibitors'. But at higher doses such as 10-20 mg 2x per day Dexedrine/Dextrostat serves better as a medicine for Attention Deficit Disorder or an adjunct to severe lethargic/anhedonic depression.
Adderall 10 mg 2x per day or Adderall XR 20 mg/day also works for social phobia but causes a bit more anxiety than Dexedrine, although it does last longer.
Either Dexedrine or Adderall should be combined with 2-4 mg/day of Klonopin (the standard dose range for social phobia) divided into a 1 mg breakfast, 1 mg lunch, & a bedtime dose if necessary. Klonopin alleviates any anxiety & is one of the most effective social phobia medicines. Klonopin + Dexedrine/Adderall mutually potentiate each other's 'social disinhibition'/chattiness' properties and is the closest thing to a 'quick fix' if that is what you are looking for to keep from losing your job. THIS DEX/KLONOPIN COMBO WORKS FROM DAY ONE, & actually works well long term if you take breaks from the Dexedrine once in awhile to prevent tolerance to its socialbilizing effects.
If you have more time, the Zoloft 100 mg + Klonopin 2-4 mg combo would probably work best in the long run. (Notes: The starting dose of Zoloft is a low 50 mg & most doctors won't increase it more often than in 2 week intervals. Also, many doctors are afraid of prescribing benzodiazepines (largely because of reports of Xanax & Valium abuse), but Klonopin is arguably the least addictive of the benzos because it produces no euphoria, has a slow (1 hr) onset of action, long 30-40 hour 1/2 life, 12 hour (long) duration all of which are characteristics unfavorable to abuse.
Hope this helps- you might want to print this out to show to your doctor, except if I were you I would delete the name 3 Beer Effect,
3 Beers..........
poster:3 Beer Effect
thread:106013
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020510/msgs/106084.html