Tian Ma Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Hello everybody. I am looking for some ideas to bring up to my pdoc. Perhaps you can share some of your experiences.... I am currently on .5 of Risperdal with does an OK but not great job of controlling my ocd symptoms. The thing is, the higher I go on the Risperdal the more anxious I feel. Which is odd because this med is actually VERY sedating for me. I want to bring up changing antipsychotics with my pdoc. Even if a different AAP doesn't control the ocd as well I would MUCH rather have my anxiety under control than the ocd. I have the really severe kind of anxiety where it feels like your going to have a heart attack or a seizure all day.Like your standing at the edge of the world trade center looking down only to suddenly realize your feet are half way off the building and your falling forward. I can't get anything done in that state. (Was checked for seizures and heart problems and such...nothing wrong there BTW). I hate having to take clonazepam 2 or 3 times a day just to keep it under control. It would be nice to discontinue the clonazepam completely or at least just for very rare occasions. What kind of AAP's (or other meds for that matter) might help my anxiety? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tian Ma Posted June 4, 2011 Author Share Posted June 4, 2011 Hello everybody. I am looking for some ideas to bring up to my pdoc. Perhaps you can share some of your experiences.... I am currently on .5 of Risperdal with does an OK but not great job of controlling my ocd symptoms. The thing is, the higher I go on the Risperdal the more anxious I feel. Which is odd because this med is actually VERY sedating for me. I want to bring up changing antipsychotics with my pdoc. Even if a different AAP doesn't control the ocd as well I would MUCH rather have my anxiety under control than the ocd. I have the really severe kind of anxiety where it feels like your going to have a heart attack or a seizure all day.Like your standing at the edge of the world trade center looking down only to suddenly realize your feet are half way off the building and it your falling forward. I can't get anything done in that state. (Was checked for seizures and heart problems and such...nothing wrong there BTW). I hate having to take clonazepam 2 or 3 times a day just to keep it under control. It would be nice to discontinue the clonazepam completely or at least just for very rare occasions. What kind of AAP's (or other meds for that matter) might help my anxiety? Thanks. sorry i mis spelled the topic name, can a moderator fix this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cetkat Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 sorry i mis spelled the topic name, can a moderator fix this? You can actually fix it yourself, if you'd like. Go to underneath your first post. Click Edit. Then you'll see a screen where you can edit the message. Click Full Editor. Scroll up, and you can edit your title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveyoursanity Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Abilify, while very activating in the energy sense, has been very very very calming for anxiety/panic for me. I'd say it's taken 90% of it away, and I'm only on 5mg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enlightened_plutonian Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 I find that my Seroquel helps me with anxiety. But it is pretty sedating, especially at lower doses. Though I've been told that my anxiety is actually a symptom of my psychosis, so that would probably explain the AP working well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snugglepuss Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 I'm on 3mg of risperidone and that helps me with anxiety. I too constantly felt like I was going to have a seizure or a heart attack. I also had OCD. psychosis and mood swings. Benzos didn't help with my OCD or fear of having a seizure/heart attack. I took propanolol for a couple weeks and that helped but my doctor didn't consider it a long term solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tian Ma Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 Thank you everybody for your replies. This information is very helpful. I called my pdoc, he thinks seroquel would help me. . I wonder if it's healthy for a non psychotic person to be on 2 AAP's at one time? I would not want to go off my risperdal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tian Ma Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 I'm on 3mg of risperidone and that helps me with anxiety. I too constantly felt like I was going to have a seizure or a heart attack. I also had OCD. psychosis and mood swings. Benzos didn't help with my OCD or fear of having a seizure/heart attack. I took propanolol for a couple weeks and that helped but my doctor didn't consider it a long term solution. Thanks for your reply! Are you taking any other meds with your 3mg risperidone? If so which ones are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Yes, you may be surprised at how well seroquel covers all your sx once you are on a therapeutic dose (keep in mind that for seroquel, that can be rather high). some people take seroquel xr during the day to reduce feelings of sleepiness, and that can be helpful for them, then take the immediate release at night to help with sleep. that is always an option. I've had short periods where i've been on 2 aaps at once, but I'm usually either cross tapering or crazy as a loon. long term, seroquel is my antipsychotic of choice. I find it helps a great deal for anxiety for the most part, but doesn't always do the full job (I'm also on benzos at the moment, though i hope to get off them soon, and don't usually take a benzo) so it really depends on the level and intensity of your sx. Agreed on the therapy idea, it can really be helpful. And yes, an SSRI instead of a benzo is not an unreasonable choice There are many SSRIs that are approved to treat OCD and anxiety, specifically. Anna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wag Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Neurontin works wonders for my anxiety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cetkat Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 . I wonder if it's healthy for a non psychotic person to be on 2 AAP's at one time? I would not want to go off my risperdal. Well, it's not *unhealthy*. Usually a cross taper - going up on one while down on the other - is the reason for being on two at once.. so it's a temporary thing. However, when I was going from Abilify to Saphris, I did an initial change from 30mg Abilify to 15mg Abilify/10mg Saphris. So half doses of both. This worked for me. I decided that if I felt better, I'd drop Abilify and up the Saphris.. if not, drop the Saphris and bring the Abilify back up. I expected to have some sort of negative side effects, but I didn't. Sure I had start-up Saphris side-effects, but those dissipated before my next monthly pdoc appointment - basically the Abilify/Saphris combo really agreed with me. So, since I got a positive benefit from Abilify when I started it, and got the same from the Saphris.. I decided to keep the 15mg Abilify and up the Saphris to 20mg and see how that would work. That was about a month ago, and I actually am feeling better on this cocktail than before. No additional side-effects. Hence I plan to remain on both for the time being. So, yes, it is an option. More than likely you'd want the half-type dose thing so you get a little of both without overdoing it, but the only thing that could hurt you that I can think of would be an increase in side-effects that may or may not go away - which is an individual thing.. not a med-interaction thing. I would talk to your pdoc about a trial cross-taper which would include enough of each med to feel enough of the effects of both in order to get an assessment of the combo prior to switching completely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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