Posted by Mr. Cushing on September 30, 2002, at 0:34:16
Hey all, I've been suffering from an anxiety disorder now for pretty much my whole life. I really didn't notice it untill about 5 months ago when it began to completely control my life. It's a constant anxiety and since I've had it for at least the last 10 years I know it's not GAD. I have panic attacks on my bad days and my good days I'm still completely on edge. I also suffer from chronic insomnia. So 5 months ago I decided that it was time I either get some help or I would go completely nuts and lose my mind.So first my doctor placed me on 50mg of Trazadone. Worked great for sleeping, did nothing to help me during the days.
Then my doctor decided to add Paxil (30mg) to the mix. I lasted for 3 months on that, I'm a fighter, believe me, but it made me into a zombie. All I was able to do was lie there on the couch and "pretend" like I was watching TV.
Then I was placed on Effexor XR. This is an amazing drug IF you're not as screwed up as I am. I feel great on this medication, no anxiety whatsoever. The bad part, I've got SEVERE insomnia again. Put it this way, at the moment I'm on 100mg of Trazadone (had to increase my dosage because of Effexor) and .25 of Clonazepam (was given this at the very beginning of my treatment in case I had a panic attack or was just too wound up). It's about 2:00am and I'm still WIDE awake.
So are there any medications that any of you people could suggest that might help me? I've been seeing good things about Lexapro for anxiety, did this work for anybody? Does it give you really bad insomnia like Effexor?
I'm going to thank you in advance for anybody that spends time reading my problem and actually provides some advice. This has to rate up there with one of the most depressing/frustrating periods of my life and I've done a lot of living so far.
poster:Mr. Cushing
thread:121617
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020922/msgs/121617.html