Psychotropic medication discussion thread

Brandon Lopez6 said:If I'm gonna taper off Helix, I feel like I should probably get some Normabale so it isn't such a sharp drop-off (I seriously don't have the patience to cut my dose by a quarter every single week). So, I'm wondering if Normabale actually works well enough for panic attacks and general anxiety. I was thinking about asking my doctor if I could test it out for a couple of days—two days is plenty—just to swap one dose of Helix for Normabale and see how it feels. That's basically it.

Ah, I see... I totally misread you there...🙂 I thought you were planning on taking both at the exact same time, which is why I was confused about the logic. But if that's the case... okay... you can try it. Though, if I'm being completely blunt, Normabél feels like a glass of milk to me.🤷
It builds a tolerance incredibly fast, so I wouldn't exactly recommend it to anyone dealing with Panic Disorder.🤷

Well, then I'm out. I'm not about to go playing chemist for no reason if you guys are saying it doesn't even work 🙂

Brandon Lopez6 said:Well, then I'm out. I'm not about to go playing chemist for no reason if you guys are saying it doesn't even work 🙂

Look, listen—their universal objective is always the same, you already know which one. But that doesn't mean the results will be identical for you specifically.
Before jumping into these kinds of reckless stunts, let's be sensible, okay? You know better than most people on this forum: you talk to your doctor first.
Grrr...😍
In the end, all of this makes sense for a little while, maybe briefly... and then, just nothing.😢

I just can't deal with the incompetence over at City Hall in Chicago when there's a solution right in front of them that LOM could handle 🙂

Hey everyone.
Has anyone here ever taken, or thought about taking, Xanax? Any experiences you can share?

My doctor put me on it yesterday, so, well, I've started.

Jeremy Clark23 said:Hey everyone.
Has anyone here ever taken, or thought about taking, Xanax? Any experiences you can share?

My doctor put me on it yesterday, so, well, I've started.

I took it for about a year, though looking back, I really regret that because it contains aspartame; eventually, I made the switch over to Calixta—which is actually the exact same medication—and it works wonders for my sleep. That’s why I stick with it to this day. As far as anxiety goes, it does next to nothing for me; if you ask me, it seems much more geared toward treating depression...

Brandon Lopez6 said:If I'm gonna taper off Helix, I feel like I should probably get some Normabale so it isn't such a sharp drop-off (I seriously don't have the patience to cut my dose by a quarter every single week). So, I'm wondering if Normabale actually works well enough for panic attacks and general anxiety. I was thinking about asking my doctor if I could test it out for a couple of days—two days is plenty—just to swap one dose of Helix for Normabale and see how it feels. That's basically it.

In my personal experience, Normabrel doesn't come anywhere close to matching the efficacy of Xanax when it comes to crushing a panic attack. It might take the edge off or perhaps lull you into a sleep, but for me, Xanax remains the absolute gold standard. To be honest, I've tossed back a few Normabrel pills here and there, and frankly, they did nothing at all for me.
Actually, if you aren't looking to increase your Xanax dosage, there isn't even a need to change anything; I've been steady at 1.5 mg for four years now.

Hey there,
I used to take Valium, but honestly, I wasn't happy with it at all. It barely helped me. It worked for the first three or four days, and then after that, basically nothing... Can anyone recommend some other sleeping pills that actually worked for you?

As for Normbal, my doctor prescribed it along with Advil after a bad traffic accident. To be honest, I didn't feel any particular effect from it. It felt almost exactly the same whether I was taking it or not, except maybe feeling a little more drowsy, so I really don't know...

rowdyorca13 said:Hey there,
I used to take Valium, but honestly, I wasn't happy with it at all. It barely helped me. It worked for the first three or four days, and then after that, basically nothing... Can anyone recommend some other sleeping pills that actually worked for you?

As for Normbal, my doctor prescribed it along with Advil after a bad traffic accident. To be honest, I didn't feel any particular effect from it. It felt almost exactly the same whether I was taking it or not, except maybe feeling a little more drowsy, so I really don't know...

I use Ativan for sleep; it works best for me, both for sleeping and anxiety. Doctors get annoyed about it though, so I end up mixing it with Xanax during the day. My psychiatrist told me you build a tolerance faster with Ativan than Xanax, though personally, I think it's all the same. Easy to get hooked, hard to quit. Obviously, this isn't medical advice, just what I use to get through the night. You should probably just talk it over with your doctor.

Brandon Lopez6 said:Well, then I'm out. I'm not about to go playing chemist for no reason if you guys are saying it doesn't even work 🙂

I actually managed to get off my Xanax thanks to Lamictal! Good luck, sister DD!😍

rowdyorca13 said:Hey there,
I used to take Valium, but honestly, I wasn't happy with it at all. It barely helped me. It worked for the first three or four days, and then after that, basically nothing... Can anyone recommend some other sleeping pills that actually worked for you?

As for Normbal, my doctor prescribed it along with Advil after a bad traffic accident. To be honest, I didn't feel any particular effect from it. It felt almost exactly the same whether I was taking it or not, except maybe feeling a little more drowsy, so I really don't know...

Maybe you were just taking too low a dose to actually knock you out—how many mg were you on?

rowdyorca13 said:Hey there,
I used to take Valium, but honestly, I wasn't happy with it at all. It barely helped me. It worked for the first three or four days, and then after that, basically nothing... Can anyone recommend some other sleeping pills that actually worked for you?

As for Normbal, my doctor prescribed it along with Advil after a bad traffic accident. To be honest, I didn't feel any particular effect from it. It felt almost exactly the same whether I was taking it or not, except maybe feeling a little more drowsy, so I really don't know...

Doctors are the ones who prescribe sleep medication, so I suppose our personal anecdotes don't carry much weight, do they?
If we are talking about pure strength, Ambien is quite powerful.
Of course, since it belongs to the benzodiazepine class, there really isn't any point in taking it long-term, is there?

Kevin Nguyen3 said:Doctors are the ones who prescribe sleep medication, so I suppose our personal anecdotes don't carry much weight, do they?
If we are talking about pure strength, Ambien is quite powerful.
Of course, since it belongs to the benzodiazepine class, there really isn't any point in taking it long-term, is there?

I know people who’ve been on various benzos for years and they sleep just fine. For me, I was on Calixta with Effexor; took it for a month and quit. I could only afford to take it if someone paid me a massive salary, hired a housekeeper, and let me sleep half the day while walking around like a zombie the rest of the time. But I work, I run a household, I have a life. So I go back to the benzos. They aren't the sin you're making them out to be. Sorry, didn't mean to offend, just stating my piece.

Paul Newman5 said:I know people who’ve been on various benzos for years and they sleep just fine. For me, I was on Calixta with Effexor; took it for a month and quit. I could only afford to take it if someone paid me a massive salary, hired a housekeeper, and let me sleep half the day while walking around like a zombie the rest of the time. But I work, I run a household, I have a life. So I go back to the benzos. They aren't the sin you're making them out to be. Sorry, didn't mean to offend, just stating my piece.

😉

Yes, I consistently criticize them, but I have been on medications for many long years, so I am speaking from my own lived experience. And I happen to know a thing or two.
"Benzos" create dependency.
That is a fact.
After a certain amount of time, they lose their effectiveness.
And that, too, is a fact.
As for those others—the ones who claim to take them for years and still sleep perfectly... hmm. No offense intended, but there is nothing to that. Those are just made-up stories people tell themselves to justify their own excessive swallowing of just about anything.
Unlike you, I am currently taking 75 mg of Effexor and 45 mg of Calixta, but even that isn't enough, so I supplement with 250 mg of Quetiapine, then maybe a little Sonata, then a bit more... and Lamictal in the morning and evening at 25 mg.
Let me emphasize: I have absolutely no trouble getting up in the morning, and I am not an alcoholic.
Everyone reacts differently, and there are no universal rules.

Hey,

How does Seroquel behave at a daily dose of 150mg? I’m thinking 50mg in the morning and 100mg at night. Does it actually have any antipsychotic effect at that level?

Paul Wilson2 said:Hey,

How does Seroquel behave at a daily dose of 150mg? I’m thinking 50mg in the morning and 100mg at night. Does it actually have any antipsychotic effect at that level?

I'm on a different version myself—taking Quetiapine during the day for anxiety at lower doses
so I can't really speak to the psychosis side of things.🤷

Paul Newman5 said:I know people who’ve been on various benzos for years and they sleep just fine. For me, I was on Calixta with Effexor; took it for a month and quit. I could only afford to take it if someone paid me a massive salary, hired a housekeeper, and let me sleep half the day while walking around like a zombie the rest of the time. But I work, I run a household, I have a life. So I go back to the benzos. They aren't the sin you're making them out to be. Sorry, didn't mean to offend, just stating my piece.

I find myself cursing the day I first started using hypnotics for sleep, quite a few years ago now. I never actually had much trouble sleeping, except for those occasional nights when I was traveling or staying in a hotel bed. Back then, I was given them specifically to help me endure panic attacks. Everything would have been fine if I hadn't started taking them more frequently in my own bed, simply because I grew fond of how quickly they knocked me out. Now, it feels like it's too late... I truly have nothing against medication in general, but I have honestly made a mess of things with these hypnotics.
I suppose those who are truly struggling to sleep don't bother coming here to write about it. A friend of mine—someone who has never touched a drop of alcohol in her life—told me she couldn't sleep at all, so she took a 5 mg Normabel from her roommate. She collapsed into bed and slept for twelve hours straight. I was actually quite jealous, but I told her she shouldn't go down that road.😁

Sent fr

Paul Newman5 said:I know people who’ve been on various benzos for years and they sleep just fine. For me, I was on Calixta with Effexor; took it for a month and quit. I could only afford to take it if someone paid me a massive salary, hired a housekeeper, and let me sleep half the day while walking around like a zombie the rest of the time. But I work, I run a household, I have a life. So I go back to the benzos. They aren't the sin you're making them out to be. Sorry, didn't mean to offend, just stating my piece.

Yes, a zombie, a complete zombie... My psychiatrist told me there isn't much more he can offer; either you live as a zombie or you don't sleep at all. To be clear, I don't take anything during the day except my antidepressant, so you can imagine how I look after my evening regimen of Calixta, Quetiapine, Trittico, or Prazosin, even though I've tried the minimum effective doses. 😁

Skickas fr

Paul Wilson2 said:Hey,

How does Seroquel behave at a daily dose of 150mg? I’m thinking 50mg in the morning and 100mg at night. Does it actually have any antipsychotic effect at that level?

Of course it does.
I mean, when you look at the total amount taken throughout the day, that isn't exactly a negligible dose, is it?
To even be prescribed Seroquel, you generally have to be dealing with a pretty heavy diagnosis—plus insomnia or perhaps suicidal ideation...
I can't quite tell, are you already on this, or are you just planning to start?!
If you aren't dealing with actual psychosis, you are going to find Seroquel incredibly difficult to tolerate.

So, according to this psychiatrist's blog, Seroquel basically acts just like an antihistamine at these specific doses:

http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2007/...rticle_on.html

"This is the problem so many doctors have. “I tried him on Seroquel, it didn’t work.” Really? At what dose? Because higher doses aren’t stronger—they are completely different. The behavior of Seroquel AT 100 mg is completely different Than The behavior and effects AT 500 mg. 500mg is an antipsychotic; 100mg is not an antipsychotic. I know it looks like it’s five times more, but it’s not—it’s the addition of a completely new level. It's like adding a new “drug.”

This study seems to reach the same conclusion. If I'm remembering correctly, D2 refers to dopamine receptors, and blocking them is what provides the antipsychotic effect, right?

http://www.europeanneuropsychopharma...133-4/abstract

Results: Mean D2 receptor occupancies of 41 and 30% were observed at quetiapine doses of 750 and 450 mg/day. At lower dose levels no occupancy could be determined.

Haven't found any more recent research.

About three months ago, I was diagnosed with F28—Other specified nonorganic psychotic disorders. I started treatment with Risset at 2mg (1, 0, 1 tablet daily), but it hit me pretty hard, so I switched to Seroquel at 100mg (1/2, 0, 1 tablet daily), which I seem to tolerate quite well. I've been taking it for about a month now, and the only side effect is some fatigue—nothing unbearable, though.

As for the diagnosis, I'm in a bit of a strange spot. I actually checked myself into the hospital for a few days because of this restlessness and fear I was feeling all night. I tried explaining my state to the psychiatrist through the lens of spirituality and meditation, since I thought that might be causing the agitation (which happened during meditation). Because of that, the doctor noted borderline delusions and pseudo-philosophical thinking in my chart. I've read some stories on various forums from people who have gone through psychosis, and compared to them, my experience feels worlds apart. Either I got lucky and caught it early when it's just starting, or maybe it isn't what I think it is. I guess we'll see.