What medication is best for people with social anxiety (phobia) disorder?

Question

I have social anxiety disorder and I wanted to suggest a medication to my doctor, I have tried Zoloft and Paxil and I have mixed results. Zoloft the first time gave me good results, the second time on it I felt no different. Paxil made me a mean person. My S.A. has gotten worse over the past year or so and I'd really like to have a "heads up" on medications and how the results panned out for anyone else?

Answer 1

A slightly lower dose of Zoloft combined with a low dose of Celexa worked great. OK here is the disclaimer I am not a Doctor just been there. Sometimes finding the right combination can take time and is frustrating waiting it out. My doc believes the less medication the better but she has been very willing and creative in trying the two and for me it worked well. I had the same experience with the Zoloft as it worked well the first time then 3 years later I needed to be on it again and it didn't work so well so my Doc added the Celexa with it. As always you should check with your Doc before starting anything new etc.
Also check out Web MD they have a wealth of information.
Another thing I tried was therapy to try to figure out where the stressors were coming from..just a suggestion
Good Luck!

Answer 2

Mark just do this one little thing. Take the Briggs-Myers test. It's on the internet. Find out your personality type. Be 100% honest with the test, relaxed, attentive, sincere, alert, dedicated. Keep in mind that, you really can't take it twice. The first time is the time that counts, so make it real, don't be cavalier, or second guessing, or twisted in any way when taking the test -- give your honesty to it 100% -- tell the test about yourself in a fully truthful way. Do it with care, but be relaxed. Phobia is a strong word. People with a real phobia often wind up on Paxil, or worse. You may just be an INTJ (like me). So, find out. Then you can steer yourself into occupations you will most likely be good at, and you will have a lot less anxiety about your life. You may find that phobia feeds on itself, so when you start making better choices, given your personality type, you create a negative feedback loop and you start building down (or right-sizing) your self-diagnosed "phobia". I'm just giving you Truth here (that's my job as a Mentat), not love, so don't try to contact me, OK?

Answer 3

I use Zoloft right now without much trouble But prior to that I had Welbutrin which was good for a few months.
I think Prozac was the most effective but the low sex drive trade off got old after a few months. Another I have not tried is Effexor.(not sure if that is right spelling but sounds like it).
Good Luck!
P.S. When it gets really bad God seems to come thru for me.

Answer 4

i had the same problem, eas on the same meds. including xanax & that. the best think in my life 4 s.a. is neuronton[not sure of spelling] i ve been taking it 4 5 yrs now & im doing great. i take 800mil. 4 times a day. does not make me groggy or anything like that. by the way the spelling might b wrong, but it sounds just as its spelled. ask ur dr. about it.

Answer 5

when you mentioned sa...do you mean you cannot leave your house???? I have studied and .paxil, These weren 't even an issue since it has serious side effects. Prozac has them as well. Do you have another problem that may be causing S.A.

Answer 6

I am on zoloft and I know you said you tried it and it helped first but maybe they should have upped your dosage. My doctor did that with me and it helped. If you really want to try something else good luck.

Answer 7

Ativan.

Answer 8

A large gathering of people on 4th of July.