anxiety and panic due to accutane

[Jeanette18]

i was on accutane 40 mg on and off for about a month. ive completely changed. i had depression before taking the accutane, and during treatment it only got worse. i also developed severe anxiety. i cant sleep at night. i have terrifying thoughts about absolutely nothing. i also have panick attacks now. they strike at any time. when i have one i feel like im dying, i feel squirmish, and i feel terrified. my pyschiatrist had originally had me on lexapro but it stopped working. she started me on luvox, but that wasnt helping the anxiey or panick at all. ontop of the anxiety and panick, i also have bipolar. for about half an hour to an hour, im fairly happy, and then i drop into a deep depression. my doctor tried depokete, rispredal, trileptal and they didnt help me. my question is, what antidepressant/ and or mood stabilizer would be a good combination to take to get rid of all my problems?

[kcdem]

accutane is a bad drug. worse than the zits. it has many horrible side effects, i agree with barfer. i was on it while young, it can cause bad stuff, it dries up the joints, causes your hair to fall out etc... YOU WILL BE FINE when it is out of system time will heal....and as jsgeare says therapy is key. i am not trivializing severe skin problems but if you dont have big honkin puss oozing boils on your face and back. your doc should not put you on accutane.

i was young had a few zits and went on it, bad bad stuff. dont let this create even more anxiety and depression, it will pass, life will keep coming, YOU CAN DO IT and you will


kcdem

[barfer]

I'm a little surprised that your doctor put you on accutane knowing that you suffer from depression.  May I assume you were on it for skin problems?  If that is the case, the doctor could have treated it with something other than accutane.  How long have you been off accutane and how long have you been treated for depression/anxiety?  Was it during the time you were on accutane or once off of it?  My gut feeling is that once the accutane is completely out of your system, your depression and anxiety will get back to where they were before.  

[JSGeare]

That's a tough situation. It would be nice -no, it would be miraculous- if any medication for anything at all would make all the problems disappear. But none do. Not for nuthin'.

Medications CAN help with the symptoms of the problems, but there must be some "healing" that takes place by the body and mind themselves. Getting over an infection or healing broken bones seems straight-forward enough, but the stuff in your head is not as easy, because, as you know, everything is experienced in terms of ideas, sensations and feelings. That big hunk of gray matter itself may be perfectly healthy simply as a physical entity.

The approach to the brain is therefore along the same avenue that the problems comes from: ideas, concepts, feelings. And that means talk therapy. You mention a psychiatrist, but say nothing about the therapy. Why not ask your shrink about it?

Odd as it may seem, as your brain begins to think differently, the benefits of medication may be enhanced. In any case, recovery from anxiety type disorders tends to be faster and more effective when BOTH the meds and the therapy are teamed up.

And in the meanwhile, hanging out with us here on the forum is not a bad idea. Lot of good therapy simply in the sense of community and exchange of ideas and experiences.

Stay with us!