so now that everyone's taking a pissing contest about their knowledge of SSRI's, i thought i'd ask...
i just got prescribed paxil today for anxiety/panic attacks. i've been having pretty severe problems with anxiety lately, and after reading through some of these threads i've learned that SSRI's can possibly be ineffective for depression... and after looking online, i've also learned that in the first few weeks of treatment it can worsen anxiety.

does anyone have any knowledge on whether or not SSRI's are effective for anxiety issues? any suggestions of other drugs i should ask my doctor about? (besides benzo's, i wouldn't mind taking them short term, not long term though, unless absolutely necessary)

thanks bltc

does anyone have any knowledge on whether or not SSRI's are effective for anxiety issues?

In theory? Absolutely! Think of the most drastic and fast-acting serotonin reuptake inhibitor - MDMA.

Of course, MDMA not only inhibits reuptake, but reverses it, and has a few other side actions which enhance these effects slightly... but the basic concept is essentially the same, and fast-acting high-potency SSRIs, such as mesembrine, are known to have subjectively similar effects.

The mechanism is fairly simple. 5HT1A activity results in the release of oxytocin in the amygdala, which is about as freakin' anti-anxiety as it gets - again, think MDMA, hugs 'n all. 'n it occasionally even works in clinical trials, surprisingly often in fact, which is why they prescribe it for anxiety disorders now.

The downside, of course, is that the classical SSRIs take fucking forever to reach plasma concentrations. This is most of why you can't just double your dose and roll your fucking tits off for a day, and it also means you'll probably have about six months before it even thinks of having an effect.

any suggestions of other drugs i should ask my doctor about?

Why, ecitalopram, of course!

Currently, it's the other drug in the "high-potency rapid-onset SSRI" class, which is why it actually has a recreational use archive over at 'wid. From a more medical perspective, this also means that it will actually do something about your anxiety the day you take it, rather than the twelfth of almost never... or, since you're posting this in the second half of the year, "that day, not next year."

This basically gives it the antianxiety benefits of hardcore benzodiazapene abuse with the addiction potential of once-a-month cannabis use. 'n I think that's what you're looking for.

Of course, given your personality, any serotonin-active substance will probably cause personality changes in you. You'll be at risk for having a little less antisocial behavior. So, it's up to you if it's a worthwile tradeoff.

Other things you might consider, though they don't neccesarily require a doctor, are essential fatty acids ("fish oil" et al, required in the construction of oxytocin releasing neurons in the hippocampus), and magnesium (NMDA antagonist, gaba second messenger, and also utilized in the construction of oxytocic vessicles, if memory serves).

'n then if you're going balls-out, there's also OTC sedatives. But we won't get to that yet...

first off, IME ssris are more useful for depression than anxiety, and since they hardly do anything for depression...

second, paxil is probably the worst ssri

third, not sure about panic attack treatment other than benzos, probably ativan.

non-ssri, non-benzo anxiety treatment is lyrica, buspar, effexor if you count that, kava, thats it really

Why, ecitalopram, of course!

im assuming you mean escitalopram, lexapro, correct?

i got excited when you mentioned a vault on erowid, but i couldnt find it, can you give me a link?

Why, ecitalopram, of course!

Currently, it's the other drug in the "high-potency rapid-onset SSRI" class, which is why it actually has a recreational use archive over at 'wid.

...Lexapro?

Erowid says nothing about its abuse potential.. Doesn't even show up in the search engines? What?

im assuming you mean escitalopram, lexapro, correct?

i got excited when you mentioned a vault on erowid, but i couldnt find it, can you give me a link?

Dat be da schiz, sorry 'bout my crappy spelling. ;)

http://www.erowid.org/experiences/subs/exp_Pharms_Escitalopram.shtml

Here ya go!

I've been on citalopram for my social anxiety for two months and I've noticed a huge improvement.

Take 20 mgs of adderall xr and you'll turn into a cocky, fast talking social butterfly for the day. That's what I did earlier... which is why I'm on totse at 2:30 at night. I only wish it didn't fuck up my jaw and make me break out in acne. If it wasn't for that I would take it every day.

Of course, given your personality, any serotonin-active substance will probably cause personality changes in you. You'll be at risk for having a little less antisocial behavior. So, it's up to you if it's a worthwile tradeoff.


ha-ha.

thanks for all the other advice, i'll make a point in the future to not be so judgmental

i'll have to look into lexapro

again, thanks... and thanks from everyone else who posted

...Lexapro?

Erowid says nothing about its abuse potential..

Don't bother dude. You aren't gonna get H1Gh 45 Phux on Lexapro...and I'm sure that's the only reason you wanna know.

I've found (as stated above) that SSRIs pale in comparison to benzos when dealing with anxiety issues. I also agree that paxil is shit and does more harm than good.

i just got prescribed paxil today for anxiety/panic attacks.

Paxil worked great for me when I was younger. I used to get panic attacks all the time, and after a few days on paxil I stopped getting them all together. I think that the year I was on paxil I only got maybe one or two serious panic attacks.

not to make what your saying invalid, drsuicide, but, in my opinion, panic disorder is the easiest anxiety disorder to treat with placebo.

reason being is because unlike all other anxiety disorders (GAD, OCD, SAD, PSTD, etc) panic disorder only displays symptoms rarely, at most maybe 1/10 of their life, unless accompanied with fear of panic attack. anyway, all that needs to happen is the patient buying in that the medicine is working and in my opinion, theyre cured.

You could be right. Placebo or not, the medicine worked and I figured I would let the OP know my experience with it.

not to make what your saying invalid, drsuicide, but, in my opinion, panic disorder is the easiest anxiety disorder to treat with placebo.

reason being is because unlike all other anxiety disorders (GAD, OCD, SAD, PSTD, etc) panic disorder only displays symptoms rarely, at most maybe 1/10 of their life, unless accompanied with fear of panic attack.

Are you familiar with panic disorder caused by agoraphobia?

Are you familiar with panic disorder caused by agoraphobia?

yes. that's just my opinion. i knew it would draw people to disagree. obviously a placebo wont work all the time, but, again, in my opinion, panic disorder is easiest to treat with placebo. theres probably not any literature on this, any studies, or anything else, just peoples opinion, and thats mine.

yes. that's just my opinion. i knew it would draw people to disagree. obviously a placebo wont work all the time, but, again, in my opinion, panic disorder is easiest to treat with placebo. theres probably not any literature on this, any studies, or anything else, just peoples opinion, and thats mine.

Oh, I agree with you (to an extent) on your theory, I'm just pointing out that with something like agoraphobia the trigger event is going to happen a lot more often than with a slightly more obscure phobia-specific variation of the disorder.

I do think a lot of panic disorder patients incorrectly equate basic stress or nervousness with having a legitimate attack and wind up running to their pill bottle every time something goes less than smoothly.

Oh, I agree with you (to an extent) on your theory, I'm just pointing out that with something like agoraphobia the trigger event is going to happen a lot more often than with a slightly more obscure phobia-specific variation of the disorder.

I do think a lot of panic disorder patients incorrectly equate basic stress or nervousness with having a legitimate attack and wind up running to their pill bottle every time something goes less than smoothly.

another point is that agoraphobia based panic disorder is generally much more severe and tougher to treat in the first place. placebo is generally more effective in less severe cases, so it would be more effective in non-agoraphobic panic disorder then agoraphobic panic disorder, ya know?

I take 30 mgs of paxil a day it severly helps especially with social anxiety Ive been on it almost 4 years. I would suggest talking xanax to but having an opiate dependence sucks. I was taking 2mg bars everyday for almost 6 months. if your having panic attacks you really should ask about some xanax paxil takes a while to start working

I would suggest talking xanax to but having an opiate dependence sucks.

Make fun of this man.