new meds

[Cammy]

So I was on Mirtazepine (Remeron) for anxiety and panic attacks. It was working great until my body suddenly decided to make it a trigger for major migraines. I tried reducing the dose, taking it every other day, you name it, but nothing worked. I consulted with a P doc and he gave me an Rx for a very old fashioned tricyclic drug called Nortriptyline HCL. It will take a couple of months to have it work and to increase the dose until therapeutic blood levels are realized, and after all that it may not work. It seems that my many years on SSRIs have made me super sensitive to anything that increases the serotonin levels in my brain. Mirtazepine is an SNRI, so even though it had the "N"part working for me, the part that increased the serotonin would wake me up with headaches so painful that I was literally blind with the pain. Not good. I hope this old tricyclic works. So far, after a few weeks, all I've noticed is daytime grogginess, but I can still feel the underlying anxiety. Darn. However, we still have to give it a few more months before we can really tell.

So, if any of you out there have any experience with anti-anxiety meds, I'd love to hear from you. I do have Clonazepam for emergency use, but you mustn't take benzos all the time as they are highly addictive and take a dreadfully long time to taper off of. Anyone here with any anxiety issue experience, your input would be appreciated. Thanks so much.