starting a new medication

my psychiatrist is starting me on a low dose (10mg once daily as needed) of propranolol in two days. i’m very nervous as i really don’t like experimenting with new meds..it makes me so scared and so anxious. but i think my anxiety has gotten so bad that i need to start using stronger meds. before i was on hydroxyzine which is basically just benadryl. and then i was on buspirone 3x daily, which was basically like taking tic tacs for me. and what i struggle with in anxiety is the physical symptoms it gives me. which causes my anxiety to get stronger. which makes my medical OCD super aggressive. it’s a vicious cycle. so i’m feeling sort of optimistic that a beta blocker can help. i know it won’t take the anxious thoughts away, but knowing that it’ll help the racing, climbing heart rate, and loosen my chest muscles, AND it’ll help with my vestibular migraines? i think that’s a win in and of itself. i’m hopeful 😌🙌🏻 and i would like to point out that i know medications will never do all of the work for you, that you have to meet them halfway, but the medications i previously mentioned ^ weren’t even meeting me a quarter of the way!

Brooke cookie

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 20d

I am also having to change my meds a lot because I have ocd and adhd and depression. Finding meds that work on all three is hard. I have found an med for ocd. For me meds that work for ocd help you get less stuck on ocd thoughs and have them a little less. You still need work on not doing compulsions and focusing ocd thoughts but meds can make life easier. I hope you find a good medicine setup for you :)

☆ madeofmoo...

Date posted: 20d

@Brooke cookie thank you! i currently take wellbutrin for depression, and just buspirone for anxiety, and seroquil for insomnia & kinda for bipolar disorder and then the propranolol in two days for anxiety. but my borderline personality disorder, agoraphobia, and OCD aren’t currently being treated. i’m just focusing on my anxiety right now, like getting it under control because that’s the biggest stressor for my OCD spirals. they go hand in hand unfortunately

Anonymous

Date posted: 20d

@Brooke cookie What meds help with ur ocd?

Brooke cookie

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 20d

@Anonymous I’m on a generic version of the brand name, Effexor 185MG. With psych meds is important to keep in mind that the brain is very complex when it comes to chemistry and brain chemicals. people can have different reactions to the medication so unfortunately, I cannot guarantee, You will have the same results as I have had. For example, Effexor has worked great for my OCD, It is also important to talk to a psych doctor about medication’s because depending on how many medical conditions mental or physical you have so, they may also want to give you certain medication’s. That will affect what other medications they can give you or not give you if that makes sense. Some medications really do not mix well . or the side effects, That would be a small risk for someone else could be a big risk depending on what you have going on medically already.

Brooke cookie

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 20d

I just started treating ADHD after I got tested for it a couple months ago. When I first started treating my other health issues they thought I had bipolar 2 then they thought I may have borderline the meds did not work(8 months of treatment to find out). Then someone me told it can be ADHD as it can kinda look like those two disorders put not match the disorder fully and make doctors think it those disorders when it is adhd. I finally got fully tested for ADHD and that is what I am treating now. I thought I would share how much I have been misdiagnosed a couple times. So if that happens to you, you know that is normal to be misdiagnosed has the doctors try’s different meds to see if you react the meds for not. I been told by my doctor a lot times how they know for sure for some disorders is how you react the medication or not. Some disorders can be tested for and others cannot. If you can get tested for specific disorders that maybe help vs going through the possible diagnosis’s with a med doctor. I wasted a lot time treating disorders I did even have, I also was upset about having disorders I did not have. It was a painful thing I could have avoided.Sorry if that was long ,just wanted to share my process, so if it could maybe be helpful for you to not have the same problems of being misdiagnosed and going through all that .I hope you are able to figure it all out and get the right medications.

☆ madeofmoo...

Date posted: 20d

@Brooke cookie oh no, i DEFINITELY have borderline lol trust me. it’s one of my diagnoses that make the most sense to me. but i really appreciate that, and yes! misdiagnoses happen every day. it’s so frustrating and upsetting. i actually had to go through a couple misdiagnoses until i finally got the proper one which is vestibular migraines and BPPV. ugh it was a nightmare. appointment after appointment. for like 9 straight months. i went to urgent care and the ER a million times and they kept dismissing my issues as anxiety but i KNEW something was wrong like IN me. and i finally saw a specialist lol and got diagnosed same day and now i avoid physical and emotional triggers and it’s helped very much. unfortunately VMs can’t really be truly treated. just some of the symptoms like nausea and stuff.

Megcurry

Date posted: 20w

Starting new anxiety meds

Hi everyone, I’m 23 and have been on Zoloft since I was 16. For the past couple months I’ve been having panic attacks more and I’m sick of feeling like a zombie everyday. My boyfriend said I’m very sad and unhappy then when I first met him 2 years ago…. He thinks it’s the medicine. Throughout the years I have upped and lowered my medication, but now, I feel as though it’s not helping. Either it was too much where I didn’t feel emotions at all like very scary stuff or it wasn’t enough to help me. I was given 5mg of Lexapro to try…. I’m scared to take it. All I know is how Zoloft is. I don’t want to go crazy on it, be allergic to it, etc. I feel like I’m going to trip myself out when I take it and not actually feel the difference. I could really use some positive feedback I really just want to be a normal human😭

Health Concern OCD

sarah.ek

Date posted: 13w

Beta blockers and nightmares?

Is anyone else on beta blockers (propranolol, metoprolol, ect.) and experiencing the weirdest and most visual dreams and nightmares? My GP has recently prescribed me bisoprolol since I asked him for beta blockers due my physical anxiety and as I recently started my A-Levels (“Abitur” in Germany) I really wanted to make sure that I do everything I can to prevent panic attacks. He only had bisoprolol in his office, and although I know that bisoprolol is usually only taken by patients with generally high blood pressure, we both agreed that I still try them first as he had nothing else available at the moment (I just love the shortage of medication). Although bisoprolol is quite different from propranolol (higher potency, therefore harder to dose, only blocking one receptor) it does seem to help at least a little bit, but the dreams I experience are actually insane. I dream almost immediately as I drift into sleep, even if I’m still half awake I feel like I already start dreaming. I frequently wake up because of it, though most of my dreams are not really “brutal” or morbid by any means, they all seem to center around my friend that I recently had a really bad argument-situation (don’t know how to explain it) with. So although I’m calm throughout the day, I constantly wake up in fear and total distress and I instantly start ruminating once I’m awake, but since I also happen to have a sleep disorder, I already don’t sleep the way I’m supposed to and my sleep schedule basically nonexistent. I really appreciate the medication in itself, but I do think that this whole dream situation is a side effect from bisoprolol since I never remember my dreams on the days on which I don’t take it. Does anyone experience something similar?

baukje

Date posted: 12w

Obsessing about… medication

I am having an appointment with my psychiatrist this afternoon and I am obsessing about what to do with my medication. I think it’s also very ocd like obsessing. I am currently on 30mg mirtazapine. Ive been on this for years (because of insomnia, anxiety and depression) (15mg) and after we tried to switch to another (amitryptiline) because of nerve pain, I went down the road of insomnia and later on ocd again. So I am back on mirtazapine, and weaning off of the amitryptiline. This is/was a very traumatic experience. Because the switch caused a mental breakdown. Now my psychiatrist has mentioned to up the mirtazapine to 45mg. And my obsessive self has done a lot of research and a lot is saying that the higher the dose, the more you can experience anxiety. And for ocd it’s obviously not the first choice. I am obsessing all morning about it. I am too scared to go up. But I am also too scared to try another and to wean myself of off mirtazapine. I feel stuck at this point. Taking two meds is also not something I want. I could really use some words of encouragement right now I think. 🥹

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