Anyone know much about Aropax anxiety medicine?

[pengoz]

www.gsk.com.au/aropax

G'dau my doctor recently prescribed to me Aropax to try and treat my social anxiety disorder. Currently its day 2 and to be honest I'm not feeling the best, everytime I try to walk I feel weak. And if I can be direct, its killed my sex drive

Just wondering if anyone has any experiances with it and would like to share?

Being classed in the group called "SSRI" the same as Zoloft (which I had previously been prescribed and didn't work) I don't have much confidence this will do much good either. Also doing a google on zoloft is not comforting, after reading what comes back!

Anyone who would like to share their experiances with dealing with anxiety and experiances with the medication would be great!

Thanks

[warning]

Well I'm a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in my state.  I'm not familiar with Aropax but it sounds like it's an SSRI.  They tend to be moderately helpful in treating social anxiety.  Mostly they tend to take the edge off rather than eliminate the problem altogether.  Most SSRI's can cause sexual side effects.  Not for everyone but it tends to be a common reaction.  I'd say stick with it for a good 3-4 weeks.  It's likely that your body needs to adjust to the medication.

The downside of taking medication for this condition is that it doesn't "cure" in the sense that an antibiotic cures an infection.  It's the equivalent of taking insulin to treat diabetes.  It helps manage the symptoms.  Most people find that when they eventually stop the medication the problems resurface.

To be quite honest, your best bet is to find a good therapist who practices cognitive-behavioral therapy.  Do some research on that (also called cognitive therapy) on the internet.  This approach help you change the way you approach situations and how you think about other people.  You stand a better chance of getting rid of the problem permanently with the right counseling combined with medication.  A good book on the subject of cognitive therapy is Mind Over Mood by Greenberger and Padesky.  Here's an Amazon link.

Most people find a combination of a medication and cognitive therapy are what it takes to help this problem.  If you do decide to go the medication route, be sure your doctor doesn't put you on a benzodiazepine class of medication (Ativan, Klonopin, Xanax, etc.).  They provide wonderful immediate relief but are highly addictive.

Hope that helps and isn't too much information!

[Jeff]

pengoz, I agree with warning on the combo of therapy + meds. Your killed sex drive is unfortunately a normal side effect for certain medicines. Just convey your current problems with Aropax to the doctor, and suggest trying something different. It's common to try several medications until you find one that works best for you.

good luck!

[Dr. Sugardaddy]

Warning has hit the nail right on the head with this one, Pengoz.  Just as an additional heads up, Aropax is the name that GlaxoSmithKline markets paroxetine under in Australia and New Zealand.  We know it as Paxil in the U.S.  It is indeed an SSRI.  It sounds like you have some experience with Zoloft not being effectivefor you in the past.  While both meds fall under the SSRI classification, what most prescribers find is that all meds react differently in all people.  I'm familar with many, many cases where one SSRI has not been effective, but another has been.

Just a bit of my background to give you some perspective before I largely echo what Warning has already said with additions.  I'm a clinical psychologist that works in a community health center with one other psychologist and about 14 physicians and physician's assistants. It's a bit of an experiment; here in the U.S., about 70-80% of people with concerns with depression, anxiety, or health symptoms produced by stress go to their primary care doctor first rather than a mental health professional (Professional Counselor, Social Worker, Psychologist, Psychiatrist, etc.).  So, somebody had the bright idea to just put us under the same roof as the primary care physicians.  As Warning mentioned, cognitive-behavioral treatment includes learning to think differently about situations, yourself and other people.  It also includes learning specific techniques that you can use daily that are very effective at managing anxiety, much like brushing your teeth for a couple of minutes daily helps manage your oral hygiene better.  Our docs give out SSRI meds for anxiety all the time, and often consult with us to titrate doses and provide all this additional good stuff.  

While it's between you and your medical provider how to approach anxiety medicinally, Warning is absolutely right about benzodiazepines.  They're very addictive; what this generally translates into for most people is that they find they need higher and higher doses to produce the same therapeutic effect over time.  Eventually, they start having withdrawl symptoms (for benzos this includes increased anxiety) when they don't have the meds (i.e., between doses).  If a person's anxiety is secondary to depression, benzos will often make the symptoms of depression worse, just like alcohol does.

Sometimes when we're already feeling crummy the hardest thing to do is to be the best advocate for our own health, but Warning has steered you the right way by recommending that you do some of your own research.  Another helpful book (if you're the self-starter type) is the Anxiety and Phobia Workbook  by Edmund Bourne.  Good luck to you.

[Sparhawk]

Seems funny that a drug created to help stave off social anxiety and help you be a little more relaxed in social situations... KILLS YOUR FUCKING SEX DRIVE!

"Hey baby..Wanna ride the dancing snake?"

Lady: "Since I'm your fantasy...SURE!"

*Unzips pants*

"Fuck."

Lady: "What?"

"I can't get it up."

Lady: "WTFOMGNOOBUSUK!!!!!1one!!1"

[EngineNo9]

Just to clarify, sex drive (libido) and impotence are two very different things.  One is no desire or interest in sex, the other is the physical inability to gain an erection.  I found that I pretty much just never thought about it when I was on Zoloft, but it didn't affect my ability to become erect.  

Also, I'm pretty surprised to hear you say that you have noticed such drastic effects after 2 days, Pengoz.  I know that all medications affect people in different ways and in their own time, but in all the anxiety and depression medications I have ever taken it usually takes a couple weeks for the full effects to build up.  Especially with an SSRI, where the whole point is to build up a "backlog" of seritonin in the brain.

[Laner]

I got off SSRIs once and for all this summer - since I started on Zoloft (and later switching to Lexapro), I packed on the pounds.... my doctor swore that it was due to my diet and aging, but ever since I stopped I've lost a good 15 pounds or so.  

I started taking Zoloft because I was basically turning into a hypochondriac (after seeing several family members die of cancer, it was a constant worry)... but I also had a bit of the social anxiety thing going on as well.  It helped with the fear of cancer, but never really did anything for dealing with other people - I never felt like the "life of the party" or anything like that.

I don't really need it anymore, thankfully... ironically my fears of getting cancer were well justified, but now that I've actually gone through the experience of cancer and chemotherapy, I don't worry about it nearly as much anymore (funny how that works).  So I weaned myself off the Lexapro this year, after talking to my doctor.

These days my "lows" tend to be lower, but it's nothing I can't handle.  Losing the weight I put on with the SSRIs is definitely worth it (it's better to look good than to feel good )

I don't know if this helps any - just relating my experience.  

[pengoz]

Thanks for the advice, just what I was after. Yeah I've read about the benzos, sounds like they are just a legal form of crack . I don't want to replace one problem with another thats for sure.

I'm definately going to investigate the therapy route, as  I want to solve this problem rather than just reat the symptons. I don't want to become a pharmacutical companies latest junky/bitch .

When I say it kills my sex drive, if I can be honestt with you.... I can't reach "orgasm" when I masturbate (shit I sound like a chick!). I noticed this happens when I was on zoloft. If feels like it blocks whatever reaction happens when you "orgasm" is being blocked by this drug? I don't have any problems getting it up.

I've also read alot of people talk about how its makes them pack on the weight, well that would be nice considering I'm a skinny runt! So far I haven't been that hungry while on the medication, but like it has been said it affects everyone differently.

I'll be giving this drug a month (till the end of the current pack) and see how we go.

I'm guessing a psychiatrist would be in a better position to prescribe something more affective than a GP?

[EngineNo9]

Oh, just one more piece of warning: I was reading a while ago that patients on Paxil who quit taking the drug without weening off it can have major depressive backlash.  Just make sure that if you are going to stop taking it that you get the help of your doc or psychiatrist to set up a schedule of decreasing dosages.  

This is the smart thing to do with any drug, but  obviously we don't always do everything that is best for us.   :wink: