panic and anxiety

I have been taking dothiepin (dosulepin) for years, far too many I think. Originally prescribed for post natal depression (15 years ago!) I have been on and off them ever since. Now, apparently I am being prescribed them for SADS, but because this summer and last have been so pants, haven't come off them for 6 months like I usually do.

I didn't have any enxiety symptoms, just a general depression and inability to sleep. Currently on 75mg at night, they help me sleep, but make it very hard to get up in the morning. Mood-wise, I am stable. :roll:

Hi Della

I have been on Dosulepin for 9 years & last year was discharged by the hospital, they had tried several times to reduce the amount I was on which was 225mg, sadly with no success, however I was determined not to given as they did, so I started to reduce them over the last year & have now been off them completely for 3 months. The only problem I had from this was total lack of sleep & wasn't sleeping for up to 12 days at a time, but again with perseverance I managed to get that under control fairly well. I also have osteoarthritis & have had a recent severe attack, I was put on some very strong morphine tablets but developed panic & anxiety attacks so was in a worst state than ever, I returned back to the GP & was told that by coming off of the Dosulepin completely after so many years of being on them had caused withdrawal symptoms that is common after about 2-3 months without them, so I have had to go back on them & will be able to try again in about 6 months time to reduce them, this may take several attempts he told me but it should work eventually, the other thing he told me was that it is a very good relaxant for people with my condition & helps reduce the tension in my body when these severe attacks happen. I can confirm that he was right & now thankfully I am beginning to start feeling better, it may about another week for it to settle completely but it is worth it I can assure you.

I hope this has helped you with you difficulties.

essex girl

Hello there, I suffer from General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and have been on SSRI medication for it for much of the past 5 years. Recently I became intolerant of SSRIs and developed painful gastritis. When I and my GP finally realised that the antidepressants were the cause, I was forced to try many other drugs to control my anxiety.I settled on dosulepin and So far it has been very effective and the side effects very mild. My anxiety is undercontrol with a dose of just 50mg at night. This is a low dose, with the reccommended dose being 75mg. The thing is, my anxiety is very intense without treatment so I count myself very lucky to be able to cope on this dose.

So in answer to your question, yes dosulepin is pretty good for anxiety and side effects are quite tolerable (drowsiness in the morning, dry mouth and small amount of weight gain). If you cant tolerate SSRIs (which also work very well for anxiety) I would whole heartedly suggest you give Dosulepin a go.

I have been on some sort of mind altering drug for the whole of my adult life. I am 37 and have been on dothiepin for 20 years, from the age of 18 to around 26 i was also on stelazine, kemadrin, and sometimes chloropromazine, also melleril prn, alongside all that i have been prescribed diazepam, lorazepam, anti anxiety drugs, temazepam, nitrazepam. All of these drugs have without fail not helped my situation at all. in fact the earlier drugs made things a whole lot worse. Since I have been off all the other drugs apart from Dothiepin I have not had one hospital psychiatric admission. I am now in a situation where my brain does not know how to function without some sort of chemical. At one stage I was on 225mg of dothiepin I have managed to get it down to, as of 1 week ago, 25mg one night and 50mg the next night, it has taken me 2 years to get to this from 100mg. These drugs destroy the natural brain chemical 'behaviours' to the point that they causr brain damage which affects physical and psychological feeling. I am not geting any help from anybody in helping me come off this drug, my gp knows but isn't helping. I do not want or need to be on some sort of false chemiceal controlling my feelings etc I want to be able to feel all that lidfe has to offer me without having a dampening effect on every feeling i have. These drugs long term damage do not let any psychiatrist, gp etc tell you any different. [/b]