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Anxiety, Ativan, Prozac, Wellbutrin, Ludiomil, SSRI. Best?
Question: how do I curb anxiety better withativan i have been taking or adding prozac and reducing ativan, or just taking both. I don't want to gain weight. In past used wellbutrin which improves mood but not reducing anxiety. I npast used ativan 3mg and ludiomil 25mg for years with success. But mD changed this wanted less trycyclic, tried ssri's then and prozac 10 worked best
Hello XXXXXXX
Thanks for your query,
It is always a good idea to use a drug that is best known to help your condition. From a large systematic review and meta-analysis of various studies, it is found that Fluoxetine (Prozac) ranks 1st as far as response and remission in GAD are concerned. Prozac had demonstrated advantages over other treatments, including Ativan.
You can visit this abstract of the review published in March 2011.
WWW.WWWW.WW
Having this information at hand, you may consider switching to Prozac (dose to be prescribed by your treating psychiatrist) as your main drug here. You may give Prozac a trial. If needed, Ativan may be added as an adjuvant.
Though this is not part of your question, I would suggest adding a few more anxiety reducing / stress relieving techniques. I am sure you may have read about them or are using them already. Jacobson's Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is a good relaxation exercise you can do. This can be best done when you are tired and need to relax. It may not work when you are not tired. Also, make sure you do not fall asleep during this 10 minute exercise. Here's a link for you to read about how to perform the exercise.
WWW.WWWW.WW
As a side note, you may have to talk with your doctor(s) about a possible side effects of the thyroid supplements. Too much of thyroid hormones can cause anxiety, which may be resistant to treatment with traditional anxiolytics, including Prozac.
I hope this helps you. Please contact me again if you wish to discuss more.
Wish you good health.
Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD
Thanks for your query,
It is always a good idea to use a drug that is best known to help your condition. From a large systematic review and meta-analysis of various studies, it is found that Fluoxetine (Prozac) ranks 1st as far as response and remission in GAD are concerned. Prozac had demonstrated advantages over other treatments, including Ativan.
You can visit this abstract of the review published in March 2011.
WWW.WWWW.WW
Having this information at hand, you may consider switching to Prozac (dose to be prescribed by your treating psychiatrist) as your main drug here. You may give Prozac a trial. If needed, Ativan may be added as an adjuvant.
Though this is not part of your question, I would suggest adding a few more anxiety reducing / stress relieving techniques. I am sure you may have read about them or are using them already. Jacobson's Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is a good relaxation exercise you can do. This can be best done when you are tired and need to relax. It may not work when you are not tired. Also, make sure you do not fall asleep during this 10 minute exercise. Here's a link for you to read about how to perform the exercise.
WWW.WWWW.WW
As a side note, you may have to talk with your doctor(s) about a possible side effects of the thyroid supplements. Too much of thyroid hormones can cause anxiety, which may be resistant to treatment with traditional anxiolytics, including Prozac.
I hope this helps you. Please contact me again if you wish to discuss more.
Wish you good health.
Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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