[AnxietyMaster]

Hello all!

As you know, I have been doing better on medication. Being me, I have forgotten to take my medication at night and during the day before. Well, recently I have decided to stop, and figure out where my baseline is. A couple days ago I stopped everything cold-turkey, and have been feeling fine (in terms of withdrawal but insomnia and anxiety have been kicking my butt!). I realized that the reason I can't get anything done since the addition of BuSpar is because it causes me to have a serious lack of motivation. I am thinking maybe BuSpar is not the one for me. Here is the kicker: My mother is very restrictive of the medication I can take.

SSRI (NO)
SNRI (NO)
TCA (YES)
Azapirones (YES)
Benzodiazepines (NO)
Beta-Blockers (YES)
Antipsychotics (NO)
Mood stabilizers (NO)
Stimulants (NO)

As you can see, I can only take azapirones, beta-blockers and tricyclics. Imipramine is meh because of hangover sedation in the morning. The same thing applies to amitriptyline. Any tips on what I should try? Propranolol is so-so and is ok for performance anxiety. I might need a dosage increase?

My P-DOC was saying we could add either methylphenidate IR for when I have to study, or Vyvanse for during the day while I am at school. My mother won't let me take either of these.

Oh and her argument is: Antidepressants don't do anything. (that's it, it's all she will say)

[ComfortablyNumb5]

I'm on buspar and actually my motivation is coming back. But I also started lamictal too so maybe that's it. Why does your mom restrict your meds though? Are you under age? Also, I would for sure be careful about just quitting all meds. You should talk to your pdoc first. Good luck!

What about Strattera for ADHD? Would she let you take that? I only know one person who takes it. It seems to work really well for her. It's an NRI - the percentage on GI side effects looks unpleasantly high to me.

Have you ever considered trying L-theanine for anxiety? I take an over-the-counter sleep aid sometimes that has L-theanine in it, and it's very relaxing and feels natural.

I don't know if it would work for you. It might depend on how severe your anxiety it.

Now...I can't believe you stopped your meds cold-turkey after reading all the stories on this site about people doing that! Even if you aren't feeling weird withdrawal sensations, suddenly stopping a med can cause rebound anxiety and insomnia, which may be part of what you're experiencing.

I'm not clear why your mom will let you take TCAs but not SSRIs. In my experience, TCAs are a lot nastier than SSRIs.

Oh and her argument is: Antidepressants don't do anything. (that's it, it's all she will say)

Gotta shake my head at that one.

Why is your mother deciding what meds you can be prescribed? Are you a minor? Even then, I would hope your pdoc would know how to deal with an uncooperative parent.

Edited to add: Okay, I see you are a minor. I still say the pdoc needs to do some serious med education with your mother. Have you spoken to your pdoc about that?

[AnxietyMaster]

Hello all! Yes, I am a minor.

jo_thorne, I don't know if I can afford any more GI issues, but I will look into it. Yes, I have tried L-theanine. It does something for me, but like basically all other natural supplements I have tried it doesn't do enough.

I've always had insomnia, and yes I know about stopping cold-turkey. I did it to discover a baseline, but also because I wanted to know how I would react because my amitriptyline runs out this month, and the prescriber refuses to refill it. I don't have enough to do a taper, so I will be doing cold turkey.

As to having the psychiatrist educate my mother, she doesn't think that they are real doctors. In the first appointment with this psychiatrist she managed to insult her, and her profession with two separate comments. My p-doc simply laughed it off, and continued explaining what she was talking about.

She feels since tricylics are older, that they would essentially be better. She trusts the research to back them up because it is older.

[ComfortablyNumb5]

I feel very bad that your mom is preventing you from getting the right meds that could help. I would suggest she have a sit down with your pdoc and maybe they can help her better understand or answer questions she has. She should hear it from the horses mouth rather than google. Maybe that would help out some.

[eeyorestail]

Originally Posted by AnxietyMaster

Hello all! Yes, I am a minor.

jo_thorne, I don't know if I can afford any more GI issues, but I will look into it. Yes, I have tried L-theanine. It does something for me, but like basically all other natural supplements I have tried it doesn't do enough.

I've always had insomnia, and yes I know about stopping cold-turkey. I did it to discover a baseline, but also because I wanted to know how I would react because my amitriptyline runs out this month, and the prescriber refuses to refill it. I don't have enough to do a taper, so I will be doing cold turkey.

As to having the psychiatrist educate my mother, she doesn't think that they are real doctors. In the first appointment with this psychiatrist she managed to insult her, and her profession with two separate comments. My p-doc simply laughed it off, and continued explaining what she was talking about.

She feels since tricylics are older, that they would essentially be better. She trusts the research to back them up because it is older.

But stopping cold turkey doesn't provide an accurate baseline because of withdrawal effects. The only way to provide an accurate baseline would be to taper properly and wait for a bit. Even this is difficult because life experiences and other factors affect our moods. Sometimes it's impossible to know exactly what a med is doing. It's frustrating, but it is the nature of psych meds.

Like jo_thorne said, stopping cold turkey can be dangerous and isn't helpful. If you are trying to figure out which med does what, etc., that is something that needs to be done carefully with your pdoc's supervision. This would be the case even if you were an adult. Please stop experimenting on your own and let your pdoc know what you've been doing.

Your mom's assertion that older drugs=better drugs doesn't really make sense--but I think you know that! Medical history is filled with examples of newer, better drugs coming along. Just because they are new doesn't mean they are better, but a lot of the times they are. That's why diseases that didn't have cures before now do! If we thought old ways were always the best ways, we'd still be bleeding people with leeches!

If I were your pdoc I'd be upset that your mom was putting restrictions on how I was best able to help you, and would attempt to educate her. This should be your pdoc's job, not yours. If you are unhappy with your mom's restrictions I would talk to your pdoc about that possibility.

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She feels since tricylics are older, that they would essentially be better. She trusts the research to back them up because it is older.

When I got tonsillitis when I was a little kid, this is how I got my antibiotics dose.