Medication : does it help ?

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Hi.
I have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow. I plan to ask him to prescribe me anxiolytics for "anxiety problems and panick attacks". That's how I decided to phrase it.
I never really thought about doing that before but I saw an interview with Temple Grandin where she encouraged all autistics to at least consider medication because according to her it can make a big difference. So I thought why not, I don't have anything to lose, I'm not particularly against medication. I don't think I would mind taking pills everyday or enduring side effects if it means I can get a job.

So anyway, I was wondering if anyone here is taking any kind of medication to help with anxiety and all that. If so, does it help ? And did you have to try a lot of different treatments before finding the right one ? And how do you know if it's working or not ?

i take sertraline and resperidone

sertraline keeps me from screaming and resperidone lets me sleep.

I have taken Valium and Xanax for anxiety from time to time. I would strongly advise against both of them, or anything else in this class. Not only do the drugs have a rebound effect--meaning the nervous system really gets stressed when these drugs begin to wear off--but they are habit-forming, and subject to serious tolerance issues. After a while, that one pill that took away all your anxieties will only keep you from going in to withdrawals.

The only things I take now are kava kava and nicotine.

I take escitalopram (lexapro) daily to control anxiety. I take a small dose of lorazepam once or twice daily to control severe anxiety and panic.

The lorazepam works very well, but I have read alarming things about it so I try not to use it unless I really need it. The ssri is more subtle, but I hardly ever use the lorazepam so I think it is also working.

Edited to clarify: I have a script for Lorazepam 2x daily, but I only use it 1x about 4 times/month.

Last edited by Adamantium on 08 Aug 2013, 2:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well, yeah, those aren't meant to be taken long-term. They're great when you have a fear of flying and you need to go on a plane, but not for the long run. Usually, SSRIs are better for that.

OP, be sure to explain that you want to get a job, and what is keeping you from getting one. Doctors can also refer to therapists and may be able to get you in touch with a job agency for disabled people.

Well, yeah, those aren't meant to be taken long-term. They're great when you have a fear of flying and you need to go on a plane, but not for the long run. Usually, SSRIs are better for that.

OP, be sure to explain that you want to get a job, and what is keeping you from getting one. Doctors can also refer to therapists a

Callista, I understand and agree. The problem is that the valium-type drugs are the only ones that seem to do anything good for me, at least without unacceptable side effects. The SSRI's either make me climb the walls or make me sleep all the time. Then, we are all different in our body chemistry.

I take methylphenidate in the day time for obvious reasons but at night I take mirtazapine and that really chills my bean. I also think it works to compliment the Methylphenidate.

It took years to find something that works for me though and everyone's different.

See this related thread:
link-WP thread on anxiety meds
which is where my longer answer is.

I take sertraline (zoloft) daily for depression and anxiety, trazodone a few times a week for sleep, but it also helps with anxiety. I also take lorazepam as needed for severe anxiety (panic attacks, presentations, going in to super stressful environments), but I am happy to say that I am needing it less and less.

Another one of these threads..

If your having panic attacks then benzos are probably your best bet. It depends on the frequency of the panic attacks also. If your just always having panic attacks your doc might prescribe you a mood stabilizer/ anti convulsant like topamax that isn't as dangerous and won't require you to up the dosages as frequently as you would a benzo.

It is important to be clear by what you mean by anxiety ( it sounds like you are) but a lot of people aren't clear enough with their doctors because they haven't done the research of what causes different symptoms to be going on with their brains/ nervous systems. If you go in educated that will catch the doctor by surprise and they will be able to help you much better because only you know how you feel.

Thank you all for replying. I just got back and the doctor gave me two prescriptions one for Alprazolam and one for Citalopram and an additional appointment with a psychiatrist to make sure it's the right treatment.

Also, I made the mistake of mentioning asperger syndrome to explain the social phobia, because I wanted to be precise about the origins of my anxieties ... not only was he completely ignorant on the subject, he didn't even know how to pronounce it... and then he told me lots of weird things like " I don't think you have it, I just don't see it " so I told him I was diagnosed by a specialized shrink and so he told me how he thought being autistic wasn't really a thing anyway because people labeled as such were dropped on their head as a baby or stuff like that and if it really was then it could go away in a few years (what ?) and "people shouldn't be categorized into certain things".... I swear, I'm not making it up.
So finally I just had to say "Okay, I don't care anyway, that's not what I'm here for". Honestly, I was kinda shocked by the level of ignorance but I live in France so I guess that explains it.

But anyway, I got what I came for, and he was nice, once he stopped asking all those weird questions like "do you hear voices" and realized that my actual problem was ... what I told him it was right from the beginning. Anyways, thanks again for replying.

You have my sympathy for what a twerp this shrink sounds like.

I live in the States, already have an Asperger dx a decade old, but I went to a new psychiatrist a couple years back,
and she insisted on repeatedly asking me irrelevant questions about symptoms I do not, nor have I ever, had.
Stuff like "do you have hallucination, do you have delusions, do you hear voices ?" Aaargh !

I stayed long enough to get my rx for Ativan (only 12 pills, which lasts me more than a year),
then I quit seeing her and found another shrink-whom I told all this to.
She agreed with me in my interpretation of how unsuitable that shrink was for my condition/situation.

I only just now have used up the Ativan from the crummy shrink,
and the great new psychiatrist rx'd me another refill of Ativan, and the questions she asks are based on
how I *actually* am-not some stupid list that has nothing to do with me.
And she seems to comprehend ASD a lot better than the clueless psychiatrist who was "feigning competence", IMHO !

Point is, not all psychiatrists (or any kind of mental health care provider) know what they're doing, but *some* really do.
One just has to be lucky enough to find them, after going through the twerps and not letting them get you down/discouraged.

Well this guy is a regular doctor so it's okay, I mean he's not supposed to be an expert but I mean, I expected at least basic knowledge. Most people aren't even as clueless as he seemed to be.
But a few years back, I did see a shrink supposedly specialized in autism and ... she was even worse. She told me I couldn't have AS because I didn't LOOK autistic and didn't talk about trains all the time... It still makes me mad to think that woman has the power to misdiagnose people. She could do a lot of damage.
I think it was two years before I finally found the courage to go to another shrink who was really great and told me there was pretty much no doubt that I was right. Technically, it's not considered an "official" diagnostic because only a psychiatrist can make it "official" but I have a appointment with one in October. Hopefully, he won't be another ignorant jerk. Fingers crossed.