Question:
well this is month number 2 after getting out of the psych ward at the hospital and i’m still taking everything in stride. i’m totally off of ativan and the buspar is taking over. i had a few twinges of panic when doc also has cut my imiprimine in half, from 100 mg to 50mg a day, i also had the mini panics but he said that if i had any in the first few days it was in my head, which that’s when i had them. so now i’m on 25mg anafrinil twice a day; 15mg of buspar 3 times a day; 20mg of inderal 3 times a day; 50mg of imiprimine once a day…….my doc says that by spring i’ll be off of everything! i’m starting to believe him. i thought i’d never get better but it’s happening. faith in the meds and my docs is doing it. before it was like i was fighting them both but i’m going with it now and cruising along just fine. there’ll alway be a bit of anxiety but that’s a normal thing. i’ve realized this and remember before all this happened that there was always a bit of stress, i just don’t blow it up like i used to. every little pain i get isn’t a heart attack or a stroke, it’s just an ache or pain that everyone gets. cheer up you can get better just find the right doctor that is willing to try to find the right meds and therapy. then try to believe that he’s on your side. -joey
Response:
Hello, Joey! <snipped for space so now i’m on 25mg anafrinil twice a day; 15mg of buspar 3 times a day; 20mg of inderal 3 times a day; 50mg of imiprimine once a day…….my doc says that by spring i’ll be off of everything! i’m starting to believe him.
Sounds like you are on quite a "cocktail," Joey, but, if it’s working for you, that’s all that matters. I’m glad to hear that you’re making progress, and taking things in stride. i just don’t blow it up like i used to. every little pain i get isn’t a heart attack or a stroke, it’s just an ache or pain that everyone gets.
That *is* progress!! cheer up you can get better just find the right doctor that is willing to try to find the right meds and therapy. then try to believe that he’s on your side.
Well, after all you’ve been through, that can be difficult, but, you seem to be swimming right along! Good for you!! I hope that you continue to feel improvements, and get better and better. Elizabeth
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positive up-beat post snipped for space….. cheer up you can get better just find the right doctor that is willing to try to find the right meds and therapy. then try to believe that he’s on your side.
Hi, Joey, So glad to hear that things are looking up for you! Sounds like you have found a good combination of meds and therapy…..and a doctor who will work *with* you instead of *on* you….. Keep up the good work! And do keep us posted on your progress! Always good to hear success stories……gives us all a bit of hope! Best wishes…. MikeH 
Response:
joey schreef: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – well this is month number 2 after getting out of the psych ward at the hospital and i’m still taking everything in stride. i’m totally off of ativan and the buspar is taking over. i had a few twinges of panic when doc also has cut my imiprimine in half, from 100 mg to 50mg a day, i also had the mini panics but he said that if i had any in the first few days it was in my head, which that’s when i had them. so now i’m on 25mg anafrinil twice a day; 15mg of buspar 3 times a day; 20mg of inderal 3 times a day; 50mg of imiprimine once a day…….my doc says that by spring i’ll be off of everything! i’m starting to believe him. i thought i’d never get better but it’s happening. faith in the meds and my docs is doing it. before it was like i was fighting them both but i’m going with it now and cruising along just fine. there’ll alway be a bit of anxiety but that’s a normal thing. i’ve realized this and remember before all this happened that there was always a bit of stress, i just don’t blow it up like i used to. every little pain i get isn’t a heart attack or a stroke, it’s just an ache or pain that everyone gets. cheer up you can get better just find the right doctor that is willing to try to find the right meds and therapy. then try to believe that he’s on your side. -joey
Hi! Glad you’re out. I am not an expert but the mediaction seems somewhat weird to me. Four different meds seems like a lot. I’m not sure about that. But I find it really odd that you’re p[rescribed two tricyclics at the same time (clomipramine & imipiramine), however the small the doses are. Maybe somebody who is more knowledgeable will let his light shine on this? Philip Peters
Response:
well this is month number 2 after getting out of the psych ward at the hospital and i’m still taking everything in stride. i’m totally off of ativan and the buspar is taking over. i had a few twinges of panic when
<snipped to save space cheer up you can get better just find the right doctor that is willing to try to find the right meds and therapy. then try to believe that he’s on your side.
Hi, Joey! Thanks for that heart-warming success story! Congratulations – and thanks for sharing your recovery with us — Gary Cooper
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I am not an expert but the mediaction seems somewhat weird to me. Four different meds seems like a lot. I’m not sure about that. But I find it really odd that you’re p[rescribed two tricyclics at the same time (clomipramine & imipiramine), however the small the doses are. Maybe somebody who is more knowledgeable will let his light shine on this? Philip Peters The only absolute truth with this disorder is that ever case is different. Cocktails like his while not the rule, are not unusual. Alot of people take tri-cyc, ssri’s and benzos at the same time. (i once did). It is really a matter of continuing forward until you find out what will work for you.
I completely agree with Chuck. Skilled psychiatrists (and especially psychophamcalogists) occasionally mix medications in ways that no GP would ever do and as the original poster has been hospitalised and has made such a recovery, I think it seems reasonable to assume that the doctors concerned know what they are doing and have got it right. — Gary Cooper
Response:
well this is month number 2 after getting out of the psych ward at the hospital and i’m still taking everything in stride.
Hi Joey… one question that might not be related, but I am curious….. in the back of my mind I always ‘envy’ those who go to a psych ward, I think that those are the ones that are taken seriously and who have the chance to heal faster, since at the ward, they get the ‘priviledge’ of leaving all the problem behind while they take ‘time-out’ to concentrate in getting better. But then again…I fear the possible ’stigma’ of having being in a mental hospital. ANd…I fear a ‘mental hospital’ are they…’panic frinedly’?? ANy coments? Can you tell me how it feels to be there? All that I can think of id "ne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest"
Response:
Joey… Sounds wonderful! By the way…any cocktail that works for you and from your trusted (trusty) doc is IMHO the right one for you. Sometimes in our "state" we tend to question, and this is good, but other times, when things are going well and we "let go" and trust in the right person, one can get better. Sounds like you have found the right combination…drugs, doc and you! Glad you are doing so well, keep it up. Jody
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – well this is month number 2 after getting out of the psych ward at the hospital and i’m still taking everything in stride. Hi Joey… one question that might not be related, but I am curious….. in the back of my mind I always ‘envy’ those who go to a psych ward, I think that those are the ones that are taken seriously and who have the chance to heal faster, since at the ward, they get the ‘priviledge’ of leaving all the problem behind while they take ‘time-out’ to concentrate in getting better. But then again…I fear the possible ’stigma’ of having being in a mental hospital. ANd…I fear a ‘mental hospital’ are they…’panic frinedly’?? ANy coments? Can you tell me how it feels to be there? All that I can think of id "ne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest"
– I can comment on what it was like to be in the "mental ward" of Good Samaritan Hospital in 1995. I really thought it was to place to be and that I would be taken care of while I layed in bed. Right??? Wrong. They are very strict there and make you getup early for all your meals and the various group meeting that go on. At the time I was in the hospital, I was very sick and couldn’t eat so had to force myself to eat. The nurse told me that I didn’t eat, they would have to force feed me. I had lost 14 pounds in a very short time. Being in the hospital was the scariest thing I ever went through. They put you in with all sorts of other "sick" people, transients, bipolar, suicidal, which is the main reason to be ther…it is a safe place..they took all my personal belongins away from me but my clothes(no draw strings on pants, shirts, coats ect). I did take my teddy bear for comfort. We weren’t allowed any mirrors in our rooms and had to share a room. Our beds had to be made each day. I think that this strict structure was a way to get our minds off the bad stuff and used as distraction. I was disappointed in that I was hoping I would get to talk to a psychiatrist every day and have session…but this doesn’t happen where I was. I met with my doc twice..once when he started me on meds and once when you are brought into a meeting room to talk to a panle of docs and administrators who determine whether you are well enough to be released. By well enough, I mean they ask you if you are suicidal anymore and if you are in any danger of attempting suicide. I regret getting ill enough to want to go to the hospital, but through this..i met my current psychiatrist who has worked withme for two years getting my medications going well for me. Sorry to pop the old bubble, but you aren’t pampered in the hopital. There was even a nurse that we called Nurse Wratchit. I wanted out after being there for a week, but was scared to death at the thought of going back home to my husband and children…and back to the real world with obligations. Don’t getme wrong, the hospital staff did their job, I am alive today and that is whattheir main job is..is to keep you safe. Michelle
Response:
this had me wondering too, so many meds, but believe me after seeing what some of the people in the hospital were taking, tons of pills, i’m not on all that much. anyway, the reason for the two tricyclics is that there is very little difference between the two meds ,anafrinil (clomiprimine) and tofrinil (imiprimine). my docotr explained that there is just an added molecule of chlorine in the anafrinil. i was started on just anafrinil and it made me really nervous and jittery (the main side effect of this med) so the doctor switched half of my dose with imiprimine…….and it worked. one problem though……i’ve gaind 30 pounds, that’s the imiprimine side that i got. oh well, i’ll just have to work out, but there’s no panic.. hell i went to a casino last night and anyone that’s ever been to one knows it’s no place for someone with panic disorder. i had no problems last night though. -joey
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -this had me wondering too, so many meds, but believe me after seeing what some of the people in the hospital were taking, tons of pills, i’m not on all that much. anyway, the reason for the two tricyclics is that there is very little difference between the two meds ,anafrinil (clomiprimine) and tofrinil (imiprimine). my docotr explained that there is just an added molecule of chlorine in the anafrinil. i was started on just anafrinil and it made me really nervous and jittery (the main side effect of this med) so the doctor switched half of my dose with imiprimine…….and it worked. one problem though……i’ve gaind 30 pounds, that’s the imiprimine side that i got. oh well, i’ll just have to work out, but there’s no panic.. hell i went to a casino last night and anyone that’s ever been to one knows it’s no place for someone with panic disorder. i had no problems last night though. -joey
Hi Joey Nice to hear of your success….I’m sure that the extra 30 lbs. is worth it not having to suffer the panic attacks. Very nice to hear you are doing well….Keep us informed:) Best wishes Jim — Delete ** in my address to email me (no spam)
Response:
one question that might not be related, but I am curious….. in the back of my mind I always ‘envy’ those who go to a psych ward, I think that those are the ones that are taken seriously and who have the chance to heal faster, since at the ward, they get the ‘priviledge’ of leaving all the problem behind while they take ‘time-out’ to concentrate in getting better.
Wayelllll….I look back on the 11 days (yes, I remember EXACTLY how long I was there, almost to the minute) I spent in the U of Washington Hospital for some *rest and relaxation* and it is THE worst nightmare I ever lived thru. Check in and after a gazillion questions the scenario ran about the same as Michelles – took ALL my stuff, assigned me a room with metal mirrors, my day became *when do we eat?* (nothing better to do as they made life a living hell with their meds and lack of), smoke smoke smoke, crying, being told to attend this meeting and that, surrounded by people with much worse disorders like schizophrenia and paranoia, suicide watches going on all the time, afraid to say anything in a frenzied state or them nurses would be having ME sleep with watchdogs, being asked to do STUPID things like TRY and have an attack so they could watch, being denied calls to the docs as the ward people saw fit to handle everything (even tho I knew the drugs they were giving me were WRONG WRONG WRONG), people puking in the halls – was just loverly. All I could do was concentrate on staying sane – I never felt as close to REALLY losing it as I did there. Now, I am sure there are places to go for that reprieve – but a psych ward it NOT it, in my opinion. As soon as I walked thru those doors, it was like I checked my credibility at the door and NO ONE listened to me – I was, after all, ON a psych ward. Never…never again. But then again…I fear the possible ’stigma’ of having being in a mental hospital. ANd…I fear a ‘mental hospital’ are they…’panic frinedly’?? ANy coments? Can you tell me how it feels to be there? All that I can think of id "ne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest"
IF you ever decide to do this – do NOT go to a teaching hospital. You are a lab rat and I found they were giving us ALL the same drug to see how it affected panic, depression, schizophrenia, OCD, bipolar, suicidal, psychotic and whatever else people had there. I know this sounds extreme, but it was MY experience for some respite from the world. Ah….had I had the money to go to some haven in the SW that caters strickly to panic – that would be different, as I know of 2. But mucho expensive and surely beyond the reach of middle income person. Oh yes, and they were doing ECT on some – I know it is more humane now – but was scary to see the people come back afterwards all lolled out for a few days. I think there are good places – but a general psych ward isn’t it for panic people. This is a livable and treatable condition given the tools and meds available. Some people that were there really needed to be and it was the best thing for them. But, no matter HOW bad I think PD is – I do not feel it is a hospitalizing condition – in fact, for me – it made things worse. When one looks at that as a last hope for help and it does not work – it was hard to come back out here so disappointed. Luckily I found a med doc and a counsellor that made all the difference in teaching ME to become aware of when I need some time outs and rest. I was disappointed in that I was hoping I would get to talk to a psychiatrist every day and have session…but this doesn’t happen where I was. I met with my doc twice..once when he started me on meds and once when you are brought into a meeting room to talk to a panle of docs and administrators who determine whether you are well enough to be released. By well enough, I mean they ask you if you are suicidal anymore and if you are in any danger of attempting suicide.
Ah yes…forgot about the daily (for me) panels with nurses who had specific questions to ask and the vanishing docs that couldn’t be bothered on weekends and after 5. Sorry this is so long, but is something that was NOT a good experience despite all the hopes I had for it. Gwen
Response:
: : one problem though……i’ve gaind 30 pounds, that’s the imiprimine : side that i got. oh well, i’ll just have to work out, but there’s no : panic.. Joey, In my case I put on 35 lbs very quickly. Once I started getting used to the imipramine it started coming back off. I finally lost all of it about 2 years later. CW
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