What anxiety med should I ask for from doctor?

[Ambivalent1]

They always try and put me on some shit antidepressant. I've been on almost all of them and they don't believe me.

 

[smokingfish99]

You could ask for a benzodiazepine, the best ones being ones with long half life like clonazepam. However they come with many risks, most people won't prescribe them. A good psychiatrist should be able to balance risk and reward if you're already refractory to antidepressants.

 

[Ambivalent1]

You could ask for a benzodiazepine, the best ones being ones with long half life like clonazepam. However they come with many risks, most people won't prescribe them. A good psychiatrist should be able to balance risk and reward if you're already refractory to antidepressants.

Opioid epidemic leaves few options

 

[smokingfish99]

Opioid epidemic leaves few options

One med that's a bit unconventional is clonidine, it's a blood pressure med with it's main action being reduction in adrenaline. Some people have found it very effective for anxiety. Worth a shot? Your other options are a gabapentinoid like pregabalin or gabapentin but those drugs also come with nasty side effects

 

[xyazyppgy]

You could also ask for an enzyme test to see what is bioavailable and what your body is capable of synthesizing. I did these to find out most antidepressants don't work for me and were basically just guaranteed to give side effects. I chose to self medicate with substances of my own choosing after finding out there was nothing they were willing to prescribe that would help me. Good luck OP

 

[Ambivalent1]

One med that's a bit unconventional is clonidine, it's a blood pressure med with it's main action being reduction in adrenaline. Some people have found it very effective for anxiety. Worth a shot? Your other options are a gabapentinoid like pregabalin or gabapentin but those drugs also come with nasty side effects

I've been on that. Helped sometimes. I'll just do prozac. Every time I try it again it either works or it doesn't.

 

[etherealds]

Very few people get the "correct" medication for them the very first time, alot ot time its trial and error and levying the side effects you can manage. I had good luck with citalopram and xanax as needed but it still had its side affects I had to deal with.

 

[Celerity]

I haven't had much luck with requesting meds. Providers tend to want to steer the conversation and decide for themselves. My latest NP was nice enough to give options and discuss their properties and potential side effects so that I had more choice, but the options were set by him, not me. The most you can probably do is explain which meds have worked/not worked in the past. Requesting benzos may even be interpreted as a rare flag, as it can be addictive. I personally feel that the medical community has gone overboard with restricting them, but it is true that many people were hurt by taking them long-term.

 

[LSDXMT]

Well most doctors will not prescribe it, but i've heard good things about phenelzine, an irreversible monoamine oxidase inhibitor, especially for social anxiety disorder in particular. I think the old irreversible MAOIs have been forgotten, and risks overstated, so it will be near impossible to get it. You could also try and ask for pregabalin, and if that's somehow too much then perhaps you can try and ask for hydroxyzine, but it may not be the most effective. Im guessing you know about benzos already so these are some alternatives.

 

[Ambivalent1]

Well most doctors will not prescribe it, but i've heard good things about phenelzine, an irreversible monoamine oxidase inhibitor, especially for social anxiety disorder in particular. I think the old irreversible MAOIs have been forgotten, and risks overstated, so it will be near impossible to get it. You could also try and ask for pregabalin, and if that's somehow too much then perhaps you can try and ask for hydroxyzine, but it may not be the most effective. Im guessing you know about benzos already so these are some alternatives.

Benzos are abused by Gen Z and millennials and hard to get now. Hydroxyzine was ineffective

 

[LSDXMT]

Benzos are abused by Gen Z and millennials and hard to get now. Hydroxyzine was ineffective

For me, opioids always beat benzos recreationally but uh yeah I have found the old irreversible MAOIs very interesting, so I thought i'd share.