Whats is the best medication for anxiety disorder/social phiobia/deppression?

Question

Hi people. I hope you can help me. I have had Panic attacks and suffered from Agoraphobia. Oh ya and i have OCD. I pull my eyelashes out. A couple years ago i started valuim, then i got pregnant so i stopped cold turkey. WOW it was bad. I had attacks all day all night. Now its been 2 years i have beed drug free untill last night. I started takeing Lexapro. Tonight is my second night. I when to the food store and had a very very bad attack i thought i was going to faint. What medications are out there that are best for my problem. Remember i cant take valium or anything addicting. Is lexapro good or should i try something different? thanks everyone :}

Answer 1

Sorry. Citalopram worked well with me, but I wasn't as bad. I've never tried anything else and I'm sure your doc has a better idea than these yahoo's.

Answer 2

Preferred drugs for acute panic are the benzodiazepines like valium. For chronic panic, like you have, the preferred first line drugs which are FDA approved drugs are Zoloft and Paxil, and ones which are preferred but not FDA approved are Lexapro, Celexa, Prozac, or Luvox.
With any of these kinds of drugs, stopping cold turkey is very bad.
To get any effect from the Lexapro, it will take 3-4 for partial effect and about 8 weeks for full effect.
You are on a good drug, but it will take a while. If money is an issue, Zoloft and Prozac have generics.

Answer 3

Social anxiety can cause these feelings, which can also lead to severe depression,
http://www.socialanxietyinstitute.org/ds...

There is hope; I've been there, and still am there, it is a long, hard struggle. I recommend
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cognitive_b... worked best for me, with mild anti-anxiety meds. I suffered from social anxiety for over 15 years. I've tried individual therapy, and group therapy and studied psychology for 10 years, as a profession, but also with the hope to cure myself.

Depending on your comfort level, you could go to a psychologist that practices CBT and specializes in anxiety disorders, seek a group therapy, or create one. Usually those that do attend the group therapy are a bit more high functioning because as you know, it can be difficult to speak in a group.

Another idea is to see if there are any local research studies being conducted that you could participate in.

The program that finally worked the best for me is this one: http://www.socialanxietyinstitute.org/au... and I was lucky enough to have a structured behavioral group to go along with it. Sometimes the people that actually attend this program come back home and form groups.

I recommend a mild anti-anxiety med, and a beta-blocker (it will reduce shaking and tremors enormously, but only use in extreme situations) in addition to CBT therapy.

Any questions, let me know ... I can't tell you how much this has improved my life!

Answer 4

you can get withdrawal symptoms from lexapro although it wouldn't be as bad as a sedativ hypnotic withdrawal like valium. It depends how you define addiction but all drugs that work on the mind are capable of producing withdrawal symptoms. If you are concerned about withdrawal symptoms or addiction or dependence maybe you should just try drug free solutions like counselling or CBT.
You should not cold turkey psychotropic drugs. Best to wean off of them over several months at least to reduce withdrawal effects.
Improve your diet as well, eat healthy, cut out caffeine, alcohol and artificial sweetners.

Answer 5

See http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris on pages 2 & 6. OCD: no aspartame or caffeine products: (coffee, tea, chocolate, cocoa, pepsi, red bull, dr pepper, mountain dew, excedrin, coke: read labels!) See http://www.nami.org/ & http://www.onestepatatime.org and join at www.myspace.com [free], click on "groups", in an upper toolbar, select: "other" and type OCD in the bar provided; choose a group, maybe changing later, possibly exchanging email addresses. Acknowledge even small improvements, and avoid family rituals. Agoraphobia: http://deeplyrelax.com Panic attacks: other breathing techniques: breathe in to the count of 8, hold to the count of 4, exhale to the count of 8, or breathe into a paper bag for 10 - 15 seconds.

Answer 6

Lexapro does eventully work it takes about a week. OMG i take Lexapro to! Cool! I started taking it when I started having panic attacks and depression.

Answer 7

I was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder with slight agoraphobia a few years ago. I dropped out of school because of it, and wouldn't get a job, and basically did nothing with my life because of my fears. I was put on Paxil, and it did wonders. I am a full time college student graduating this semester, I have had two stable jobs, and I am not as depressed as I was during those years.

Answer 8

I recommend Xanax for a short period of time. It can be addicting but is safer than Valium. It helped me with my panic attacks & it also has anti-depression properties. You must consult with your physician for further advice & any prescribing information. Good luck!

Answer 9

OMg i take lexapro too. and we have like the exact same problems. i also faint from lexapro :[[ stick to lexapro it starts to work after a while.

Answer 10

when i started having panic attacks, i also became agaoraphobic. what really helped me was paxil. gradually i was able to drive further and further and not be scared and get back to a sort of decent life. i was also perscribed klonopin for when i feel like i am having a panick attack. i have not experienced any negative side effects from either one. i've been on paxil for 7 years, it saved my life.