TranquilMember3 Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 hello, I'm currently taking cymbalta to help with some anxiety issues. Cymbalta has proven not to be an effective treatment for my disorder. I find it to be way to stimulating. I need something to help calm my nerves not stimulate them. I'm thinking about switching to either paxil, celexa, or lexapro. What are your thoughts on these meds? Do you have any other recomendations? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Paxil is often sedating and a lot of people have luck with it for anxiety. It never did much for my anxiety. I take Celexa, and it has been the single best antidepressant that I have ever taken for anxiety. Lexapro contains the same psychoactive molecule as Celexa so I would guess that it is the same. I also take Remeron (mirtazapine). It is a VERY sedating antidepressant and it works together with Celexa for my anxiety. The Remeron is like a hammer while the Celexa is more subtle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horizons Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Well, Lexapro did nothing for my anxiety, though it does help some people. I'm thinking of trying either Zoloft or Paxil, since I've heard both can be helpful for anxiety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squish Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 I second Lexapro (or Celexa, I guess). I took it for a while and although it didn't do as much for depression, it definitely cut out most of my anxiety. Unfortunately it was too sedating for me and, as I struggle with fatigue anyway, that's a dealbreaker. Venlafaxine (so, something in the SNRI neighbourhood with Cymbalta) is definitely activating for me. It kind of puts me little on edge all the time but it gets me out of bed in the morning and really that's the more pressing issue. If I was taking an AD for mostly anxiety it would almost certainly be something else. I prefer to use non med things for day to day anxiety stuff. (I will sometimes take 2-4mg valium because there are times when that is not enough but only very rarely, bc doctors where I live do not like regular benzos.) Do you have any other recomendations? You might have just meant med stuff but the non med stuff is what I do so here it is: I found that CBT is really quite good for ruminating cognitive stuff. (I wholeheartedly recommend it if you haven't tried it before.) Also, the lifestyle stuff: spending time outside where there are nature type things, sipping hot tea, eating regularly so I don't end up hungry and having my down time to rest and recuperate. I've taken a course in mindfulness based stress reduction. While I'm not sure the stuff I learned makes me less anxious, it sort of makes being anxious more tolerable, if that makes any sense? There are books and CDs and stuff available if you can't do a course. This guy developed a lot of it: http://www.amazon.com/Jon-Kabat-Zinn/e/B000AQ12GA This is probably stuff you've heard before and YMMV as always. There's not much risk to doing some of it as well as taking a suitable AD though, and it can be helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainweather Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 i've personally found zoloft to be the most effective for anxiety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tired tammy Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 I also do well with Zoloft. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LynneRye Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Honestly I think it's a person to person thing. I have been on paxil since I was diagnosed at age 11 and it work beautifully on both my anxiety and depression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stickler Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Zoloft lowered my anxiety, buspar lowered it a bit more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sync Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 I love my Zoloft for it. But everyone's different so it can be hard to say what'll work for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Elvis Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 SSRIs will all vary from person to person. There is no way to tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peacelizard Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 I had a pretty good response to both Celexa and Zoloft, but couldn't tolerate the side effects long-term. Celexa made me super duper sedated and Zoloft gave me ... uh, GI issues four or five times a day. Things were getting raw. Haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImperfectJenny Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 I started on Serzone (Nefazodone) about 4 weeks ago and even though I used to take 3 .5mgs of Klonopin a day, I find myself going without it or only having to take 1 .5mgs a day. It totally chilled me out, for the most part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boy_interrupted Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Seconding remeron. It's fairly heavy duty though, and will sedate you a lot. i stopped it personally because of that, but it helped my anxiety for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Luvox was one AD I found incredibly helpful for anxiety and obsessive thoughts. It's a bit older, and is a reverse of Prozac, almost the same drug, but tweaked a bit, and it works incredibly well, and isn't as activating. It can work in 25mg doses, and you can go up to 300mg. I really liked Luvox when I found other meds too stimulating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peacelizard Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 (edited) I forgot to mention the one I'm on now. Duh! Um, so, Effexor hasn't been bad. Not super duper great. At 150mg, I noticed it took the edge off so I was more able to participate in exposures and just trying to push myself in general when it came to social interactions, but that's about it. At 225mg, it was more about its AD properties for me, but I didn't notice a change, positive or negative as far as anxiety goes. This is a drug that's specifically indicated for anxiety, specifically social anxiety in my case, but it didn't seem to live up to the hype. That's not to say that it won't for you. It's just a crap shoot and there's no such thing as "best" when it comes to psych meds unfortunately. It's all trial and error. Edited June 17, 2014 by peacelizard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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