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Mental Health (Expert Forum)
4 Months On Zoloft....Still Have Anxiety
Answered by
Roger Gould, M.D. - Mental Health, Wellness
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD), bipolar disorder, dementia, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic, personality disorders, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, stress, transitions, and work problems.
4 Months On Zoloft....Still Have Anxiety
by buckeyes_fan, Oct 12, 2004 12:00AM
I have been on Zoloft for approx. 4 months now. I am currently taking 100mg/daily along with Buspar 5mg/3xdaily (only been taking it for a week) for anxiety. I still have anxiety once in a while. It usually comes in waves for a few days and then goes away. I currently went 2 weeks with no anxiety symptoms, but those symptoms came back and have kind of haunted me for the past 2 days. My anxiety symptoms I most frequently get now are an upset stomach, excessive nervousness, not being able to look forward to doing enjoyable things, thoughts that I will never get better and sweating. One thing is that my anxiety has gotten better since first being diagnosed. This is pretty much the way my anxiety has been for the past 4 months. It comes, it goes and every time it comes back it seems to be more managable, although it really sucks when it comes back. I have been going to therapy and that seems to have helped a bit and I have been trying to be more positive minded and that seems to help a bit. I have also been told that I am my own worst enemy because I think worst case scenario all of the time.
I was on Paxil about 3 years ago for anxiety and it seemed to work really well. I was switched to PaxilCR 25mg and it worked well, other than weight gain and it kind of stripped my feelings. I weened myself off of it and was completely off of it by last September. May of this year my anxiety came back. Chalk that up to several months of ongoing stress with girlfriend's ex-husband, new kitchen installation that was a disaster, vehicle troubles, new project at work.
My questions are: Is Zoloft still working? Will taking Buspar in conjunction with Zoloft curb the anxiety? Should I think about maybe switching back to Paxil and how hard is it to switch from Zoloft to Paxil.
Your help is GREATLY appreciated!!
I was on Paxil about 3 years ago for anxiety and it seemed to work really well. I was switched to PaxilCR 25mg and it worked well, other than weight gain and it kind of stripped my feelings. I weened myself off of it and was completely off of it by last September. May of this year my anxiety came back. Chalk that up to several months of ongoing stress with girlfriend's ex-husband, new kitchen installation that was a disaster, vehicle troubles, new project at work.
My questions are: Is Zoloft still working? Will taking Buspar in conjunction with Zoloft curb the anxiety? Should I think about maybe switching back to Paxil and how hard is it to switch from Zoloft to Paxil.
Your help is GREATLY appreciated!!
Doctor's Answer
by Roger Gould, M.D., Oct 14, 2004 12:00AM
, Oct 14, 2004 12:00AM
You need to give Buspar time to work and increase the dose as you get accustomed to it...keep increasing dose for next three weeks and see what happens then.
Note: I have no experience in medical education or psychiatry. These comments are from personal experience.