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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
[email protected]Shown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by karin on October 17, 2001, at 14:50:24
Hi. I've tried almost every med there is, to no avail. I'm starting to give up hope, and am wondering if there are any new drugs/classes of meds that may be available any time soon. I suffer from major depression, and extreme anxiety/panic attacks. I'm a 34 yr. old female, have an MA, seemingly look just fine, but underneath it all am shaking with existential terror.
Looking at other posts it seems Reboxitine would be a bad way for me to go...are there any other new therapies out there?
So far my docs haven't been willing to consider ECT, and I'm scared shitless of it, so I'm not going to push the issue.
Posted by Teri on October 18, 2001, at 16:08:09
In reply to any new drugs coming? Need hope, posted by karin on October 17, 2001, at 14:50:24
Hi. I've had anxiety, panic attacks and depression for years. I'm now 46 and have tried a lot of AD's that didn't help. I'm now on Celexa and it's the first SSRI that I've been on that hasn't had the terrible anxiety side effects like the others. I tried Effexor XR for a few months and it was the worst. I've never felt anxiety like that before. Xanax didn't even help it. My new pdoc has me on Celexa and Klonopin and the combo is really helping the anxiety problem. Also, Escitalopram, which is a new and improved Celexa should be available soon. It is a new class of SSRI's that supposed to have even less side effects. I think right now out of the SSRI's Celexa is the mildest. Good luck Teri
Posted by JohnL on October 19, 2001, at 4:18:22
In reply to any new drugs coming? Need hope, posted by karin on October 17, 2001, at 14:50:24
Hi Karin,
Could you please list the drugs you have already tried, and then describe what happened with each?
Thank you,
John> Hi. I've tried almost every med there is, to no avail. I'm starting to give up hope, and am wondering if there are any new drugs/classes of meds that may be available any time soon. I suffer from major depression, and extreme anxiety/panic attacks. I'm a 34 yr. old female, have an MA, seemingly look just fine, but underneath it all am shaking with existential terror.
>
> Looking at other posts it seems Reboxitine would be a bad way for me to go...are there any other new therapies out there?
>
> So far my docs haven't been willing to consider ECT, and I'm scared shitless of it, so I'm not going to push the issue.
Posted by adamie on October 22, 2001, at 11:59:29
In reply to any new drugs coming? Need hope, posted by karin on October 17, 2001, at 14:50:24
> Hi. I've tried almost every med there is, to no avail. I'm starting to give up hope, and am wondering if there are any new drugs/classes of meds that may be available any time soon. I suffer from major depression, and extreme anxiety/panic attacks. I'm a 34 yr. old female, have an MA, seemingly look just fine, but underneath it all am shaking with existential terror.
>
> Looking at other posts it seems Reboxitine would be a bad way for me to go...are there any other new therapies out there?
>
> So far my docs haven't been willing to consider ECT, and I'm scared shitless of it, so I'm not going to push the issue.I have had ECT done when my depression was in it's moderate period. It didn't seem to help, perhaps maybe a little. Aside from a lot of memory loss there has been nothing unpleasant about ECT. I fail to see what people are so afraid of. There is no confusion and other nonsence. You wake up after the treatment and everything is okay.
Posted by adamie on October 23, 2001, at 20:04:24
In reply to any new drugs coming? Need hope, posted by karin on October 17, 2001, at 14:50:24
hi. I have had ECT for what is sometimes extremely severe depression. It really has caused pretty much no unpleasant effects at all. The only thing which has happened is loss of memory. But I garantee you that it's really not a big deal at all. ECT is extremely safe and can be the most effective therapy for some patients. In my case it maybe only helped a little bit. But it was deffinetly worth trying and I dont regret that I have. ECT may be scary to you but depression relief is priceless. This could possibly be the only thing that can help you. In my case ECT has so far been one of the most helpful therapies.But what you deffinetly should try is 5-HTP. Here is some information and I'll tell you about my experience in a second:
-----------
5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) is the intermediate metabolite of the essential amino acid L-tryptophan (LT) in the biosynthesis of serotonin. Intestinal absorption of 5-HTP does not require the presence of a transport molecule, and is not affected by the presence of other amino acids; therefore it may be taken with meals without reducing its effectiveness. Unlike LT, 5-HTP cannot be shunted into niacin or protein production. Therapeutic use of 5-HTP bypasses the conversion of LT into 5-HTP by the enzyme tryptophan hydroxylase, which is the rate-limiting step in the synthesis of serotonin. 5-HTP is well absorbed from an oral dose, with about 70 percent ending up in the bloodstream. It easily crosses the blood-brain barrier and effectively increases central nervous system (CNS) synthesis of serotonin. In the CNS, serotonin levels have been implicated in the regulation of sleep, depression, anxiety, aggression, appetite, temperature, sexual behaviour, and pain sensation. Therapeutic administration of 5-HTP has been shown to be effective in treating a wide variety of conditions, including depression, fibromyalgia, binge eating associated with obesity, chronic headaches, and insomnia.
-------------------Believe it or not but after just the first dose I felt an improvement in my depression. This was a few months ago. Then later on I guess it lost it's effect or whatever happened. I have a poor memory. The thing is that 5-HTP can have a very noticable effect on someone in an extremely short time of being on the medication. I have read stories from this forum of how someone had the strangest night of sleep in their life after just the first day taking 5-HTP. And my friend just told me today how he felt as if it was creating a stimulant type of effect in him. 5-HTP can have an effect good or bad in a very short time. I feel you should deffinetly give it a try. What do you have to lose? a good dose by the way is 200mg daily. take care
Posted by pedr on October 24, 2001, at 8:01:13
In reply to any new drugs coming? Need hope, posted by karin on October 17, 2001, at 14:50:24
Hi Karin,
I can sympathise massively with your situation. I've suffered from severe depression and anxiety with panic disorder for 7 years now and haven't found a drug that has really helped me. I've tried Effexor XR, St Johns Wort, Lustral and sertraline amongst others.Most people who I haven't told about my problems e.g. people at work, think that I'm fine but just a bit quiet. But as you eloquently put, underneath a normal exterior I am normally feeling extreme dread, terror or lowness.
I have been on Surmontil 300mg/day for several months [which has stabilised me slightly] and am 2 weeks into a concurrent course of reboxetine 8mg/day. The only thing of note so far is that I've had several day's worth of suicidal ideation. I'm sticking with it though and will endeavour to post my progress.
Best wishes,
pedr.
This is the end of the thread.
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