Posted by Ritch on August 9, 2002, at 10:37:49
In reply to Re: How Parnate saved my butt » Ritch, posted by hildi on August 9, 2002, at 9:33:15
> Hi Mitch. You might be right about my alcoholism probably being the reason my dr. won't prescribe an MAOI. Also I think its because of the diet restrictions and the general safety of these drugs- my guess is that he probably doesn't prescribe them much in general. He is a very conservative guy.
> No, I didn't order an MAOI. I am not ready for that yet. I really want to deal with my anxiety and flush the SSRI's out of my body. I'd like to see what I feel like on an anxiety med alone. True, it may not be enough, but at least it will give my body a chance to prepare for an MAOI, if I have to.
> I hate these ssri's Mitch. I feel so strange and unemotional on them. Plus, they really don't control all the anxiety. They do help some, but I am still very limited while on these meds.
> My mind feels like a machine while on these, a robot. I can't stand anything touching my skin- I'm edgy.
> I ordered something for my anxiety online. I saw my dr. again yesterday- he wants to increase dose of paxil and does not want to add anything else. He thinks the paxil may be enough, and I need to give it more time.
> My dr.'s advice is always to up the ssri's, even if I feel like hell, so I am leary of this. Plus paxil scares me. I hear so much about poop-out and withdrawal side effects.
> I wish that I just would have let him put me on an anxiety med long ago when he suggested it. Now he is very unwilling to even discuss anything with me and is adament about sticking with paxil.
> I messed up. I fought against him on the benzos-
> What I fool I was. Now I cannot get nowhere with this guy.
> HildiHildi,
I would give him another office visit. This time just spell out that in many ways you are *worse* on SSRI's and that dose increases don't seem to help. There *are* a lot of people that are intolerant (or overly sensitive) of them (myself included-I can only take about 1/8 of a standard dose). Ask about BZD's and if he would write for one next time (Ok, let's try it). Then see if the BZD works well. If it does-ask him about a dose *reduction* of the SSRI (if you are still experiencing negative effects from it). At some point you may just need to just switch away from SSRI's altogether. If he just won't consider that possibility (not necessarily going to an MAOI, just no SSRI's please), then shop for a different pdoc. Have you ever tried any of the other AD's from different classes like Serzone, Remeron, amitripytline?
Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:115196
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020807/msgs/115806.html