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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Suggest Medication For Anxiety And Mild Depression

I currently have a high anxiety and mild depression diagnosis for the last 10 years I m fit and physically healthy but I started to over use the alprazolam I was directed to take twice daily . I haven t used any drugs to combat or treat my disorders but they got really bad so I m in councelling and seeing a phsycologist every other week and the Xanax were the only medication that seemed to work when I used it properly in a controlled environment. My GP has now put me on Cymbalta but it seems not to be working very well for me can you give me an idea of what other medication might work or suit me please??
Fri, 13 Feb 2015
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Psychiatrist 's  Response
Hello thanks for asking from HCM

You have complaints of anxiety and depression since last 10 years and was advised to take Alprazolam for that. The drug caused improvement. But alprazolam is a benzodiazepine drug and it is known to cause dependence and have abuse potential. The drug can reduce symptoms of anxiety and help in relaxation but this is not the definitive treatment for anxiety and depression. Probably you are having anxiety and poor symptoms control with Cymbalta because you have become dependent on Alprazolam.
There are other drugs that can be tolerated well in patients of anxiety like Paroxetine, Sertraline. These drugs also cause sedation and will help in sleep also. For severe anxiety you can take propranolol as the drug reduces symptoms of anxiety and is also not associated with abuse potential. Consult a psychiatrist for prescription of these drugs and to quit alprazolam.

Thanks, hope this helps
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General & Family Physician Dr. Swarnava Dattagupta's  Response
thank you for your query in healthcaremagic.com....

form your history and the treatments you have received, what you can do is you should continue your counselling and psychotherapy because they are very important methods of management in these kind of conditions....

also if cymbalta is not working, i would ask you to take fluoxetine 20 or amitriptyline 25 from now on....also the dosage of xanax would be 0.25 in the afternoon and 0.5 in the night....
continue the above medication for 15-20 days and definitely you will find yourself at a more confident and positive environment....

hope this was helpful...contact me for any further queries...

regards
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Suggest Medication For Anxiety And Mild Depression

Hello thanks for asking from HCM You have complaints of anxiety and depression since last 10 years and was advised to take Alprazolam for that. The drug caused improvement. But alprazolam is a benzodiazepine drug and it is known to cause dependence and have abuse potential. The drug can reduce symptoms of anxiety and help in relaxation but this is not the definitive treatment for anxiety and depression. Probably you are having anxiety and poor symptoms control with Cymbalta because you have become dependent on Alprazolam. There are other drugs that can be tolerated well in patients of anxiety like Paroxetine, Sertraline. These drugs also cause sedation and will help in sleep also. For severe anxiety you can take propranolol as the drug reduces symptoms of anxiety and is also not associated with abuse potential. Consult a psychiatrist for prescription of these drugs and to quit alprazolam. Thanks, hope this helps