Anxiety Support Group

Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...

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Med sensitive

mattiemae52
mattiemae52

Hi! I have been having a very rough time since Father's Day weekend. My Dr took me off buspar cold turkey and upped my nortriptyline 25 mg a night. I took the extra 25 mg for two nights and it threw me over the edge. From then on my dr had me try rexulti and risperidone which neither of them worked for me. They made me agitated to the point where I would be up half the night pacing. I have been on nortriptyline and clonazepam for the last 19 years and they worked wonderful. Then she started having me take more clonazepam and also gave me lorazepam. It was a roller coaster ride. She told me I should see a psychiatrist. He prescribed gabapentin which also did not work and Effexor which did not work.  I am very sensitive to meds and it seems like they all just cause me more anxiety. I can not take ssri's. I am now on 25 mg nortriptyline, .75 clonazepam and 25 mg hydroxyzine (3 times a day because it would not let me sleep) he prescribed mirtazapine also but never took it after reading the information the pharmacy gave me with the meds. Mixing it with nortriptyline it said you may not wake up.  The nortriptyline, clonazepam and hydroxyzine are working good enough that I could go back to work after being on family medical leave for 12 weeks plus an additional 2 weeks my boss agreed to. 
My concern right now is I am not happy and don't look forward to much. I still have some anxiety that I have been able to control with keeping busy and deep breathing. I'm scared I won't be happy or my old self again. I would love suggestions on what you all think or have any suggestions on what I can do to help. 

liliann
liliann
I feel for you. I’m in the same boat. ❤️
Community LeaderMid
Mid
You've mentioned the doctor changed the medicine.

It depends on the reason for the change as to what might help you to find a better balance.

Keep writing it out.
mattiemae52
mattiemae52
Mid the reason for the change in meds prior to Father’s Day weekend was stress at work. There have been a lot of changes and more work load going to be placed on me.
GirlinCalif
GirlinCalif
I'm sorry you are going through this. I understand about trying to find the right medicine combination. I have this problem, too. It is difficult to find the right combination of medications to take.

But my thought is, if the nortriptyline and Klonopin worked well for you for 19 years.... can you just take that same amount now? Why did they change it?

I have been told that stressful things going on in my life will make it seem like my medication is not working properly. But, it's actually the stressful event that is causing more anxiety and that I have to work on the stressor in my life. Nothing to do with my medication. I wonder if that is what is going on with you, with the stresses with your work.... that it seems the medication is not working anymore.... but it's actually the stressor. Medication can only do so much, is what I've been told.
arfie
arfie
The psychological/conditioned roots of my own anxiety disorders (plural intended) are severe enough to break through any med therapy. In my own case it was necessary to combine psychotherapy with med therapy. Drugs, alone, were/are not enough by themselves.

But that is me and my case is atypically harsh.

Continued support while you sort your own, Mattie Mae.
mattiemae52
mattiemae52
GirlinCalif and Arfie, thanks for the response and what you say makes a lot of sense to me when I actually think about it. I go for the meds hoping it will “fix” me. I am waiting to get in with a different therapist as the previous one was not doing much but chit chat. I am still on the nortriptyline and clonazepam which I was taking for so long. Maybe when I get my stress level down at work I can go back to that. It helped me for so many years.
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