Meds for Anger and Sudden Irritability

[Enya21]

Hello everyone, I am new here and am seeking guidance and opinion on medications.  I find myself incredibly volatile and irritable every couple of days.  Part of it is personality, part of it stress/pressure, and the other (probably greater part of it) is coming to terms with being a new mom.  I am not depressed per se and am totally functional, but my fuse is rapid and short at home.  Anything will set me off, and I will throw things and scream in rage until I find a way to calm myself down (usually xanax and a shot of whiskey).  I don't want it to get to that point, so I am seeking an every day treatment/medication that will even out my mood.  I have seen posts on here about anti-psychotics, but I tried one once and made me SEVERELY sedated.  I don't want to be taking something like that on a daily basis.  Perhaps there is something that causes a more subtle stabilization in mood.  THe benzodiazapenes help, but I also do not want to build tolerance by taking them daily.  Any other suggestions? Has anyone tried Buspar?

[IcePrincess88]

I take Xanax too, but I'm a recovered alcoholic. I got a feeling that anti-psychotic your referring to is Seroquel. Is that right? If so, I also used to take regular Seroquel and it did sedate me alot too. But, I switched to Seroquel XR and I'm on more than double the dose that I was on with the regular Seroquel. The Seroquel XR isn't nearly as sedating as the immediate release kind, and it works longer too. I still take it at night, but instead of waking up still tired; I wake up feeling refreshed and the Seroquel XR still last through out the day. You could just be experiencing postpartum depression, and it might go away on it's own. Another medicine that works for my whole family is Celexa. Everyone in my family including myself has been on or is currently on Celexa. It works for depression and anxiety. The only reason I'm not on it anymore is because I had been taking it for roughly 6 years and my body became resistant to it. I hope everything works out for you.

[Chantho]

I used to be on Zyprexa. It was sedating at first, but after a week or two that went away. It did wonders for my ragey outbursts. 

[San]

Topamax is often used for anger. It has to be slowly titrated up, it sucks, has shitty side effects, but it is good for anger.

[IcePrincess88]

Topamax is often used for anger. It has to be slowly titrated up, it sucks, has shitty side effects, but it is good for anger.

I wish I knew that before, I woulda actually remembered to take it if I knew this. There's always tommorow.

[Velvet Elvis]

Yeah, topamax.

If you've got rage issues tied to BP, topamax or tegretal and trileptal are all the ticket.  It's about the temporal lobe.

 

[Gearhead]

Topamax helped me.

[scream_phoenix]

I don't know if it works for anger per se, but I've been on Lamictal (Lamotrigine) 200 mg for over two years, and and I think that keeps my sudden mood shifts in check.  If you are looking for a  mood stabilizer it would make sense to try a drug in the class of mood stabilization like the anti-convulsants Velvet Elvis mentioned.  Lamictal is in that same class but it doesn't have as strong of side effects.  I'm not even sure what lamictal does for me, but I know without it it would be harder to control my anger.  

[jt07]

Tegretol keeps me mellow.

[IcePrincess88]

All this is great to know! I'm definitely going to start taking my Topamax like I should now. That's the only thing I can't seem to get under control with meds: anger

[Velvet Elvis]

The stupids should wear off after 4-6 months, but can really suck at first.

Also expect Dr. Pepper to start tasting nasty.

 

Looking at your dose, you might want to fess up to your doc that you haven't been taking it so you can start over at a lower dose and avoid some of the initial side effects.

 

[IcePrincess88]

I honestly think I might have some sort of permanent cognitive damage from Topamax. Even when I stopped taking it for months, "the stupids" never wore off. Since I just started back on it, I'm only taking 1 100mg pill a day, and I will build it up from there. When I wasn't taking it, and even now, I have a horrible time trying to recall the certain word I'm trying to use at the time. Or I'll be writing a paper for college, have an idea of what to write, and the thought is completely gone from my mind in seconds. Or I'll walk to somewhere in the house, but once I get there I've completely forgotten what I needed from that room. I've even had instances of beginning to write text messages, but totally forget where I was going with it. I also have instances where; you know how you randomly remember something to tell whoever your talking to on the phone about your day(or anything really), but they're in the middle of talking, so you have to wait until they're done talking before you can say what you remember to tell them. Well by the time they stop talking, whatever I was going to tell them is completely lost then.

[Velvet Elvis]

Yeah, you might want to wait until you're out of school for a while to go back on it.  I think I started at 50mgs, FWIW.

 

Edited August 28, 2015 by Velvet Elvis

[IcePrincess88]

The next decent length break will be next summer. As of right now, I'll be done with my A.A after this fall semester. Then I *plan* on transferring to a 4 year university and starting in the spring.

[Velvet Elvis]

I don't know what to tell you.  Talk to your pdoc about starting at maybe even 25 mgs and working your up perhaps.

 

Also be aware this is a really weird drug.  You can have horrible side effects at 200mgs and then have them all go away when you increase the dose.  Each time you change the dose it's almost like starting a new med.

 

[Nystagmus]

My dad had severe rages and irritability, but it was reduced drastically when he got into therapy and also got on a good antidepressant that worked for him.  Something about the antidepressant really helped a lot. 

[Ash19]

I know you said you wanted to steer clear of APs but Aripiprazole (Abilify) works quite well for my anger. When I was inpatient I had promethazine prn and it worked amazingly well but was really sedating so probably not what you're looking for.

[Nystagmus]

make sure you always get 8 hours of quality sleep.  it is well documented that lack of sleep causes irritability.  i'm not saying that's what's causing your mood issues, but it could be making it worse.  you will know if this is true or not. 

i know you said you're not depressed, but i just wanted to add for anybody else reading this... that my dad had severe rage issues and he told me that his rages decreased as he did therapy and antidepressants.  he found that the antidepressants helped once he found one that worked.  i remember this as a child and think it's true.  I think the antidepressants really helped him.  i remember the times when he skipped his meds he'd be really difficult to be around.  but as soon as he was back on his meds he was normal again. 

[mjs190]

topamax or tegretal and trileptal are all the ticket.  It's about the temporal lobe.

 

Hey - can you explain? I'm interested in heaven more about this, as I'm struggling with sudden irritability, too.

[melissaw72]

I don't know if it works for anger per se, but I've been on Lamictal (Lamotrigine) 200 mg for over two years, and and I think that keeps my sudden mood shifts in check.  If you are looking for a  mood stabilizer it would make sense to try a drug in the class of mood stabilization like the anti-convulsants Velvet Elvis mentioned.  Lamictal is in that same class but it doesn't have as strong of side effects.  I'm not even sure what lamictal does for me, but I know without it it would be harder to control my anger.  

Without lamictal I get very irritable, and angry in general because of the irritability.

[PapasFritas]

I'm currently trying to find something for agitation too. The SSRIs work well, but I've always quit because of  the sexual side effects. I take Lamictal and Lithium, but they don't seem to do the trick. I tried Risperdal, which definitely subdues something... but it crashed my mood. Zyprexa is effective, but the weight gain... sigh. I just lost 30 pounds from my last Zyprexa run and just bought a new wardrobe. 

Then there's always intense exercise. Endorphins are wonderful.

[IcePrincess88]

On 10/27/2015 at 5:30 PM, melissaw72 said:

Without lamictal I get very irritable, and angry in general because of the irritability.

I'm the opposite. Lamictal made me very angry, like out of control anger. Breaking stuff, throwing things, etc. It was just a bad drug for me