Social anxiety medication for occasional use?
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From: Baldeagle on 14 Feb 2006 09:37 Is there a medication or any product that can be used before what you think will be a difficult social situation?
From: wjones1396 on 15 Feb 2006 11:52 Benzodiazepines Long term use of benzodiazepines remains controversial. About 10 are available but Klonopin is by far the most effective for SP. Xanax is sometimes helpful also. Klonopin (clonazepam): Klonopin is extremely effective for SP and usually works great. Klonopin can be taken either "as needed" or everday. "As needed" (prn) use can be done up to twice per week, and will usually provide excellent effect within 30 minutes, lasting several hours to 1 day (typical dose .25-.75mg). Taken "long term", Klonopin may be used alone, although sometimes a non-sedating antidepressant is added if depression also exists. Effective dose in long term use usually ranges from 1-5 mg/day (dose should be raised slowly over a period of weeks to months). If energy is sub-par but there is no "depression", the addition of low dose stimulant (caffeine, Provigil) may be helpful. Klonopin works so well that taking too much can result in "disinhibition", similar to the opposite of SP. Other phobias, excessive worrying and fear are likely to diminish also. Xanax XR (alprazolam): Occasionally may be helpful, especially for women. Alprazolam has a short half life which may limit its utility in long term use. This problem may have been lessened with an "XR" version released in the USA in 2003. Males in particular may find Xanax XR to be too sedating.
From: oldmolly2001 on 15 Feb 2006 12:54 Balteagle wrote: >>Is there a medication or any product that can be used before what you >>think will be a difficult social situation? wjones1396 wrote: > Benzodiazepines > > Long term use of benzodiazepines remains controversial. About 10 are > available but Klonopin is by far the most effective for SP. Xanax is > sometimes helpful also. > > Klonopin (clonazepam): Klonopin is extremely effective for SP and > usually works great. Klonopin can be taken either "as needed" or > everday. "As needed" (prn) use can be done up to twice per week, and > will usually provide excellent effect within 30 minutes, lasting > several hours to 1 day (typical dose .25-.75mg). Taken "long term", > Klonopin may be used alone, although sometimes a non-sedating > antidepressant is added if depression also exists. Effective dose in > long term use usually ranges from 1-5 mg/day (dose should be raised > slowly over a period of weeks to months). If energy is sub-par but > there is no "depression", the addition of low dose stimulant (caffeine, > Provigil) may be helpful. Klonopin works so well that taking too much > can result in "disinhibition", similar to the opposite of SP. Other > phobias, excessive worrying and fear are likely to diminish also. > > Xanax XR (alprazolam): Occasionally may be helpful, especially for > women. Alprazolam has a short half life which may limit its utility > in long term use. This problem may have been lessened with an "XR" > version released in the USA in 2003. Males in particular may find Xanax > XR to be too sedating. I found Klonopin to be useless for situational SP. At least 1 other person I know who has tried it has had a similar experience. What seems to work for me is to take regular Xanax (not XR) plus a small amount of propranolol (a beta-adrenergic blocker) about 1 hour before the event. Of course, you shouldn't try anything without seeing your doctor to decide what's best for you.
From: SavedByZero on 15 Feb 2006 15:39 X-No-Archive: Yes In article <1139927868.273763.320380(a)g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>, "Baldeagle" <leavens(a)comcast.net> wrote: > Is there a medication or any product that can be used before what you > think will be a difficult social situation? > To start, I'd try Xanax. It has worked well for me for situational anxiety. I would recommend that you give it a trial run _before_ the actual event to make sure it works for you, to find a good dosage, and to make sure the side effects are tolerable. Klonopin (clonazepam) works _mostly_ for the long term as other posters have written--it does not _generally_ help for the short term. However, one person I knew would increase or take Klonopin in the morning before an anxiety-inducing event with much success. I was skeptical. But, my psychiatrist, who knew much about medications and prescribed many, said that he knew too many people who had effectively used Klonopin for short term, situational anxiety-inducing events believe that it was simply a placebo effect. SBZ -- "Life is like a fan--it sucks one way and blows the other way" --P. Goodman
From: riccip-uk on 19 Feb 2006 01:26
"Baldeagle" <leavens(a)comcast.net> wrote: >Is there a medication or any product that can be used before what you >think will be a difficult social situation? Part of the answer lies in your question: "before what you THINK will be a difficult social situation". Why do you think it will be difficult? Because of Learned Behaviour and Anticipatory Anxiety. Approach the problem from this angle and you won't need any medication. Overcoming learned behaviour is not easy. It will take a lot of hard work in challenging the way you perceive, think and react. Relaxation, CBT and other desensitizing methods will help but not unless you are determined to make some changes and persevere through to the end. However there is a simple technique you can learn right now that will overcome anticipatory anxiety and make getting through that situation much easier. There's a complicated thought process you put yourself through before attending a situation or event. It involves a lot of "what-if's" followed by imaginary scenarios of everything that could go wrong and how dreadful you would feel. Each time you undergo this mental ordeal you experience real symptoms of SP that confirm you would be wiser to avoid the situation. In this way you set yourself up for failure BEFORE the situation ever takes place. Break the "Anticipatory Anxiety" habit of imagining what might happen in a forthcoming situation. Never allow yourself to think any further than arriving at the door - stop there. Don't think of anything, good or bad, that may happen after you turn up. If you do find your mind wandering over what might happen think "STOP!" and mentally change the subject. Think of something else, anything unrelated. Get up and walk around, turn on the radio or TV. This really does work. If you enter a situation with no preconceived ideas your anxiety level is lower from the beginning. Invariably you find there was nothing to worry about in the first place and you can get through the situation without much problem. Riccip |