Posts by vividdrifter26

velvetmoose9 said:It’s pretty rare, but yeah, it can happen.

Then again, it might just be that she was stuck dealing with high blood pressure for so long that her body is still trying to find its footing, and now her pressure is effectively too low for her usual baseline (though honestly, 10 months should have been plenty of time for her system to adjust 🤔).

What dose of Perineva is she taking, and what kind of readings are we talking about?

She really needs to be checking her pressure regularly and jotting down those numbers at least three times a day 😒

Forgot to mention he's 45. High blood pressure was just some random thing found during tests for allergy reactions—after getting diagnosed with allergies to milk, feathers, eggs, and casein, he's basically living on a vegan diet. Maybe that vitamin deficiency is messing with his concentration too? Dose of Perineva? To be honest, I don't know (just one pill in the morning, but no clue on the dosage). Blood pressure? He "caught" it hitting nearly 160 (systolic)—don't know the bottom number, but since starting the Perineva, things have calmed down; it rarely goes over 130, and even then, only after hiking uphill or dealing with heavy stress. So, now what?

Can Perineva mess with someone's mental edge? My wife's been on it for about 10 months now, and she keeps claiming that Perineva is killing her focus—like her sharpness is just slipping away. Is there actually a link there?

Paul Newman5 said:How have you actually felt over all those 10 years? Does it still work? How do US psychiatrists view long-term use like that? Just curious since I'm new to this; I've only been on my first meds for three weeks. Before Lexapro, I tried Cipralex for a few days, but it was unbearable for me. When did you start feeling even a tiny bit better? My afternoons are fine, but mornings are rough. I get through my chores, but I feel like a total wreck, and the morning anxiety is intense. Then I take the Lexapro and it just numbs me out. Weirdly, when I was only taking one thing, there weren't issues. People say you get used to them, but right now, it feels like it's hitting me harder than it did a month ago when I first started taking it heavily.

I feel good—not exactly "flying," but I'm living. One annoying side effect is excessive sweating and feeling hot (it's not constant, but it's definitely the main thing). My psychiatrist told me during my first visit that this would have to be a long-term thing; I was about 29 or 30 back then. My concentration wasn't just zero, it was in the negatives, and my memory was shot too—this stuff smoothed things out. For me, the Zoloft effect was obvious by the second day, and within a few months, I actually managed to study for an exam that I couldn't wrap my head around before. Without meds, it wouldn't have happened. I also dealt with panic attacks while driving—not with other people in the car, but specifically when I had to be the one behind the wheel. Besides this, I practice yoga and meditation, which helps (though maybe not as much as those yoga instructors claim). Honestly, the biggest perk of yoga and meditation is the environment—when the people around you are doing it, they aren't being aggressive, which makes life easier for me, and there's a connection there. All in all, you shouldn't overdo the yoga/meditation stuff either; if you hit a point of extreme rage, yoga isn't going to make up for needing Xanax. Maybe for people without a diagnosis, but when something really sets me off, I need the Xanax.

Might as well add that if I take Xanax several days in a row, I get these massive cravings for actual cake—not just sweets or chocolate, but real, heavy cakes. And I'm not the only one; my neighbor's mom mentioned the same thing. During his first few months of therapy (don't know which specific med he was on), as soon as he got home from work, he'd polish off like 80% of a pan of cake.

Zoloft was recommended to me, and honestly—those first ten days? Some of the best days of my entire life. I had to check in with my doctor constantly back then; he kept grilling me about nausea, dizziness, blood pressure... stuff like that. But for me, everything felt perfect. I’ve been on it for a solid 10 years now (hitting the 16th anniversary this December). I tried quitting twice, but after about 7 or 8 months off, the withdrawal gets absolutely unbearable. It hasn't even crossed my mind to stop taking it—not without a doctor's orders, anyway.

Justin Rogers5 said:Man, my doctor won't even prescribe it anymore because I wasn't consistent over the last three months. Sometimes I take it, sometimes I don't. Lately, I've been taking it more often because stress has been absolute hell, but neither my GP (who's actually pretty understanding) nor my psychiatrist wants to write it for me again. Honestly, I'm too embarrassed to even ask them.🙄

My psychiatrist told me it’s different for everyone—said I just have a low pain tolerance and that it might be genetically hardwired (?)

To be real, before I started seeing anyone back then (around 2001-2003), I didn't know squat about these meds. I'd heard of Prozac, maybe Prozac in some movie... anyway, after those first two boxes of Xanax, it took me almost two years to actually reach out again. I was also pretty ashamed to show up at my GP's office after finishing the first couple of boxes. Both times, the psychiatrist was the one who prescribed it—I didn't even ask. He just warned me that Zoloft is the main fix and Xanax is just putting out fires. He kept saying Zoloft is like a brace or a cast... meanwhile, my old GP used to say it's stupid not to take Xanax, like it's just an aspirin for a headache.

Andrew Doyle said:Oh, absolutely, because your body has clearly built up a tolerance to it. You've been on it far too long. Honestly, you need to go back and have a serious sit-down with your doctor, or better yet, seek out a second opinion entirely. Just cranking up the dosage isn't a solution; it's a band-aid on a bullet wound. The whole reason I even brought this up on the forum is because doctors vary wildly in their approaches. Just because one person here finds relief with a specific medication doesn't mean it's going to work for you. Bottom line: you have to talk to a medical professional about this.

Look, here's an example: for me, Misar 0.25 knocks me out way faster than Xanax does—I sleep like a log. And I only touch the Misar when I actually need to crash.

Andrew Doyle said:Look, I don't claim to be an expert, which is exactly why I have a psychiatrist to handle all this medication business. When it comes to my own treatment, I only take an anxiolytic as a temporary supplement to my antidepressants, strictly following my doctor's orders. The plan is to use it for up to six months and then taper off; it’s meant to be taken as needed, though my need isn't even a daily thing. I'm specifically talking about managing an anxiety-depressive disorder while simultaneously being on an antidepressant.

I am well aware of what happens with long-term anxiolytic users—I actually have people in my own family who fit that description. They are essentially hooked at this point, and the reality is that most of them aren't even consulting their doctors anymore; they just take it on their own whim. That's when the real nightmare begins: the withdrawal phase once they finally face a physician. My aunt is currently in the middle of trying to wean herself off Lorazepam after God knows how many years of use. My grandmother is also dependent on an anxiolytic, but because of her age, chronic insomnia, and various other health issues, they didn't fully taper her off; instead, they just swapped her Normabell for something else (I can't recall the specific name).

Ultimately, as you can clearly see, this is incredibly individual. It depends entirely on the patient, their specific condition, their history of previous treatments, and so on. At the end of the day, any serious discussion regarding medication needs to be handled directly with your doctor, not on some internet forum.🙂

So, last year I tell my doctor I’m dealing with this massive amount of rage—just constant anger—and he basically shrugs and goes, "That's what Xanax is for." Look, the Xanax works—it's not like it does nothing—but it feels like the effects just don't last nearly as long as they used to(?).

Just posting this to see if anyone else is going through the same thing. What kind of Xanax doses have you guys been taking, how long has it been, and what kind of line is your doctor giving you?
I’ve seen some massive bottles of Zoloft and Xanax sitting on pharmacy shelves lately—just huge quantities of the stuff. I've also heard that these... I can't even begin to deal with these idiots. They’re handing out some extra heavy doses—who knows exactly what the deal is—plus another two or three different pills on top of that. Honestly, I don't even know the names, but whatever. It doesn't really matter right now.

Andrew Doyle said:Look, given how long you've been on it and the fact that Xanax is an anxiolytic, why on earth are we surprised? If it still worked perfectly after all this time, that would be the real mystery.🤷

Yeah, true—but what am I supposed to do now?
What’s the standard move when this happens?

Look, I’m no medical expert, but in plain English—it’s not even about overeating. It’s more like this deep, gut-wrenching "devouring" feeling you get when a problem haunts you so hard you can't even think about it without feeling pure dread.

It’s basically that sensation that the whole world is collapsing and there’s nothing you can do about it—you're just at the mercy of whatever comes your way. I’ve been on Zoloft for 10 years now (currently at 200mg a day since 2009), and I have Xanax prescribed up to 1.5mg, though I try to avoid it unless things get really bad. I do yoga and meditation, which helps ease the symptoms quite a bit, but for it to actually work, I have to commit two and a half to three hours of meditation every single day.

The reason I’m posting is because I feel like my Xanax just doesn't hit the same way it did ten years ago. Maybe it’s just me, but back then, 0.25mg once a day worked wonders. Now? I need closer to 1mg to get that same relief. First, my doctor told me those doses were too low for someone my size (100kg), but then later she said it was great that I hadn't needed an even higher dose after a decade. So... what gives?

Been on Zoloft for seven years now—started at one pill, moved up to two. Dealing with the constant sweating, which sucks, and I take Halle Berry every now and then to take the edge off. Tried quitting Zoloft twice, but after a few months, things just get impossible. First comes the insane irritability, then the pure panic. Now I’m back on two pills a day and honestly? Not even thinking about stopping, despite the side effects. When I first saw my psychiatrist back in 2001, he told me straight up that this would be a long-term thing, given everything I was dealing with.