i have social anxiety dissorder and was wondering who thought what on different ones, im will be switching from ritalin back to adderall soon and was thinking of getting something for social anxiety which is a big thing for me

There are several that are commonly used for anxiety - social or general - SSRI's are the most popular, I believe - drugs like Lexapro, Paxil, Remeron.....
I'm sure your doctor has a "favorite" that he/she will try first.

Doctor will say "OK, there are options. Personally, I normally start patients with ______ unless you have a preference?"

I would point out that almost all SSRIs work similarly, and so choosing one over another isn't so critical. My Dr. started me with Zoloft; yours may want to start with Paxil, etc. They are all indicated, but some say different things than others for marketting reasons...Paxil is for Generalized Anxiety and Depression, for instance, while Zoloft is for Social Anxiety and OCD and Depression...etc. etc. etc. Almost all are indicated for Social Anxiety Disorder, so you get a good choice.

Have a favorite drug company? Heh

I may add, the are some social phobia sites, you can find. I have one right here, and actually studies were done on the treatement of social phobia. Socialfear. REsults of the 2003 study state:
Nardil (Maoi) 50-75% effectiveness
Klonopin ( Benzo) 50-75%
Paxil (SSRI) 20-25%
Zoloft (SSRI) 20-25%
Effexor (snri) No stats
Neurontin (gabapentin) 20%

Now these states look pretty true, though i never took a MAO beause of the side effects if you eat certain foods. Some people say there the best medication ever. But some say you can die if you eat cheese.

Now i took zoloft 100mg for 2 yrs, i dont believe it did much for social phobia, which can mean a few different things. Some define it as like against society, anti-everything, well what i mean social phobia, is more like social anxiety, going out to a crowded place, ill just sit in the corner. I beleive Adderall helped my social anxiety (phobia) alot more than any other medication did. I take Klonopin, and even at 1mg i feel just bla feeling. Nothing like going out and talking to people or go out to a bar.

Now i used to drink alot and and use opiates. NOTHING can compare to say 5 beers and few vicodins. Im not advocating drugs or mean to bring that up on here, but for the longest time i used to try this med and that med thinking well it will replace alcohol or drugs. IT WONT. But i would say a combo of meds would make you more into what you like, more talkative, instead of hybernating. THats why the Mix of adderall and some klonopin did the best for me. Also i take the lexapro, but i dont think its doing much for social phobia.

SSRI's are mostly for depression. Now , again , alot of people have this image that they pop some zoloft and there gonna be like dancing the night away. SSRI's are not MOOD enhancers. THey just make you not depressed. They make me just flat effect, numb feeling like nothing bothers me. Actually, how i got to ask my doc for adderall, or dexedrine, is a guy posting on another board who suffered the same problem and when he was diagnosed with add, and was persribed dexedrine and Klonopin, he said he felt 10x better, and was alot more social and happy. Well, now i believe having ADD is a part of social interaction. More so on the dopamine system. But still seratonin, may play a part, but like i said it gets confusing. social dishinibitioin is mainly causes by alcohol where you drink more, you talk more, you become disinhibited. BUt i dont drink or do drugs anymore. So, finding a good medication or combonation is very important to me so i can function properly, without going back to drugs or alcohol. Just for an ending, I was on Zoloft 100mg for 2 yrs , but was clean for about 10 months. I did not feel right . Well i ended up using , and going overboard,just to feel more social, outgoing, motivated. I almost gave up on everything, untill i got on the right meds. But working a program, AA/NA, like this too shall pass also works. Did that for about 1 yr.

MindResearch

I would take issue with the claim that they are not mood enhancers. They are, in a way. They are mood balancers: that is, they function by preventing the reuptake of Serotonin, which is a mood enhancer. They simply give that Serotonin a chance to bind with receptor sites, because sometimes in depression and anxiety, the Serotonin is being taken back up before it has a chance to bind with receptors.

That said, they don't in and of themselves enhance your mood: they make it so when serotonin is released, it has a better chance of making you feel good. Meaning that they will at least flatten or level it out, and often times they will make it so the happy times are happier, and the sad times aren't so sad. Other times, they simply balance mood completely. "I feel nothing." This normally occurs when something that would hurt your mood is going on, but there is still serotonin bound to receptor sites (good.) In people with anxiety or depression, that is sometimes pretty often, hence the flat effect...

Dopamine is a "feel good" neurotransmitter. Serotonin is a "feel ok" neurotransmitter. That's the best way to say that, I believe. Dopamine makes you very very happy, and makes you feel "enabled." It causes you to feel "high," more or less. Serotonin, on the other hand, makes you feel "ok," "calm," "content." That's why drug abusers abuse cocaine, and not Prozac.

Flat effect is pretty common for SSRIs...but it can be a very welcome change. I rather enjoy "I feel nothing," because the alternative, for me, is "holy crap I just know that guy is about to stab me. Look at those three guys walking over there they are going to mug me. That idling car is just waiting to hit me..." And then, when I realize that I'm not afraid, I feel happy. And _that's_ when the dopamine production makes me feel happy, hehe.

I've taken Vicodin on several occaisions(not for pain relief, but for general anxiety, mood enhancement) when I was able to get it from a friend. Actually Vicodin makes me feel really good, but is there any psychological basis for prescribing it?

I mean from my understanding its usually prescribed for pain, but do you think I have any chance of telling my Psychiatrist to give it to me for infrequent anxiety. I don't have regular anxiety all the time, and I can't really tell what triggers it exactly. But I need something I can just take every now and again for quick relief of anxiety and it seems like based on my past experiences with Vicodin, it would work well for these purposes. From my understanding based on knowledge gained here and elsewhere anti-anxiety drugs basically fall into 3 major classes.

SSRI's(Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Lexapro, etc)
Bupropion(Wellbutrin)
Benzodiazepines(Valium, Xanax, Klonopin, etc)

-SSRI's just scare the crap out of me after hearing about all the prozac lawsuits.

-Bupropion is a bit better than SSRI's but I'm taking Adderall and don't need any more stimulation than I already have. I think the stimulation is part of the problem and the solution if that makes any sense.

-Benzos-I have a prescription to Valium 10mg tablets but it was originally prescribed for insomnia and it is way too strong of a Benzo for infrequent use since its half-life is much higher than the other Benzos.

So to summarize, for me ideally even though Vicodin is an opiate analgesic, I like its anti-anxiety effects,but I don't think I could get it from my doctor for anxiety unless anyone has something good I could tell him. I mean he is a relaxed guy and he basically gives me what I want, I just don't want to seem like a drug abuser to him. That would leave the only option to be Benzos, in which case which one should I ask for?

No way a reputable Doctor would prescribe opiates for anything other than pain - honestly, you shouldn't even ask the question. And you shouldn't use them recreationally or for anything else other than as prescribed - it's a dangerous slippery slope, and a hard habit to break free of.
There are anti-anxiety drugs that are not SSRI's - Effexor, Remeron, Cymbalta all work on noradrenaline with a little serotonin action on the side. They have different side effects and tend to work quicker than SSRI's.

Greg, your correct. But in reality they sure do help! Just ask me, after 2months only and addicted to oxys! Boy I say, what a mess. I was self medicating with those bad boys, just to make myself more social, and able to talk to customers when i worked at as a manager of gnc. Second, I just liked the way it may me feel.
Vicodin, is another drug that is like a gateway to harder opiates. I myself started on those, persribed, and the script was gone in about 7 days.
So, i basically wrote out all my problems and began to put some peices together. First of all drugs like opiates which both are mu agonist and dopamine releasers are addictive! Maybe not for some , but anyone who has an addiction. For example, for ADD, i feel someowhat dependant on adderall, more so i need it, because it actually is working for me really good. And even though its a schedule 2 drug, the same as oxy, (i dont know how), but someone say with 2 slipped disk who is in constant pain or worse cancer, ok, opiates are needed for there medical problem.
Adderall, Ritalin, Dexedrine, are potentially addictive, but no way no how as much as hard opiates. Now methamphetamine is really addictive from what i read. But i would never try it, because how powerfull it is. Yet im sure that the pharmacutical grade dysoxin is alot weaker than home cooked crystal.

Addiction and add and depression can coinside with another. Addiction alone caan cause symptoms of depression anxiety or add. In retro spect, one who has a condition like myself , such as depression and add to begin with, tends to abuse alcohol or drugs which make them less depressed, more social, less anxious. etc.

I get some people telling me "well your not clean your using , (adderall, and some klonopin). Well sure, there drugs, but there perscribed, im not eating the bottle in 1 week, they sure do help at least 60-80 percent for my condition, they lower my cravings for opiates and alcohol, and both adderall, klonopin dont have any bad outcomes or consequenses. LIke iv never took adderall or klonopin and wrecked my car, spend 200 dollars in a day, or got into a fight. etc. So the good points definetly outway the bad, and from my point of view, i dont see much bad.
Although there are people who like to stay up for 2 nights snorting ritalin, and drinking, etc. Thats different, and there using add meds , giving them a bad name. Or "kiddy coke" for ritalin. Now come on. There is no way Ritalin is just like cocaine, if so, you would have an extreme demand for it, and more problems, addiction, etc. I dont hear much of anything that bad with ritalin, except for some college kids snorting it up to party or someone taking it to study all night.

Im my opinion it should be like shedule 3 at least. But im not the fda or some polititian who maybe read about someone over dosing on add or ritalin, but in reality they also had 3 other drugs in there system. The same goes with herbal ephedra. Now a few people died from abusing it, either taking to much, or having a preexisting heart condition, or like that football player who trained in 100 degree weather, so they ban it. Some day illegal. another amino acid that was banned was L-Tryptophan and in actuallity it was some company that screwed up the batch. I never took it, but 5HTP work ok, and L-Tryptophan may actually be better, though different people say different. Now an Amino Acid? Banned! jezz, now ehedra, and soon to be androstedione.

But back to social phobia. I should have posted that in the other natural forum, but if you want to take natural remodies, I hear alot of good stories on L-Tyrosine, due to the conversion of dopamine. I also agree that social phobia, has more to do with the dopamine system. But taking L-Tyrosine, and L-trypotophan if you can find it, (5-HTP aslo actually is one step closer), and there are few products called Phenibut which is more Gabaenergic, and somehow has dopamine properties.
I will actually post these in the alternative medication forum. But medication wise, Paxil was suppose to be the social anxiety med, I tried it and made me antisocial due to the nausea. Back to SSRI's I would say they may help with social anxiety phobia, but welbutrin sounds better, thats if you cannot tolerate Amphetamines or Ritalin.
Another good aspect of amphetamines are they work fast. You dont have to wait weeks. When i started adderall, with in 2 days i felt alot better.

Mind Research

Out of all the SSRI's prozac worked the best for my Social Phobia, but It made my ADD symptoms worse and I no motivation. I would go out to clubs and just walk up to girls and start talking to them, and I don't drink. On prozac, all I wanted to do was go out and meet girls, which was not a very effective way to get through college. I ended up quiting the prozac because all I wanted to do is social things. If you are going to take an SSRI you probably need to supplement it with a stimulant or a Norepinephrine inhibitor (for motivation and treatment for ADD). Actually, there is a duel SE and NE inhibitor that's getting ready to be approved by the FDA called Milnacipran. This could be a wonder drug for us social phobic/OCD/ADD's. You can get Milnacipran legally and w/out a prescription overseas. But, make sure you take it under a MD's supervision.

I have Over-focus ADD http://www.mindfixers.com/amensub3.html

Dr. Amen seems to have had good success for this type with an SSRI and a NE inhibitor or stimulant.

i am taking lexepro and i don't know why anymore

here's my oft repeated laundry list:
paxil: made me 40lbs fatter and sex drive 86'ed (severely, i was thinking sexual retirement and i'm not that kind of woman)
lexepro: paxil sucked so my doc put me on this: did the same thing minus weight gain, my sex drive was still like that of an 80 yr old woman...
wellbutrin 300mgs: yessss this is the best. lost all the paxil weight, wasn't deppressed anymore, could literally feel the burden of the gun to my head dissapear and melt away and its great for sex drive issues. that i can stand behind
then we added 20mgs of adderall which i'm currently on
i'm an anxious type, apparently i have an anxiety disorder, so my doc said go back on 5mgs of lexepro
i'm taking it currently now too but i feel like it makes me a zombie
so i may JUST stop taking adderall and lexepro completely and run with the wellbutrin.

anxiety..i used to have to psyche myself up mentally for the entire day to force myself to walk across the parking lot on campus and enter the bldg my class was in...even sitting in my car can lead to this anxious feeling b/c hell, i feel like its just as bad sitting in a huge amount of traffic jams as it is to be seen in any store, parking lot, wherever...
it sucks.
no one really realizes that i have this issue unless they're very close to me...so if i hesitate to do something 'normal' and i don't feel like whipping out with "geez this is something i might now do b/c i might FREAK out with anxiety just doing it" i hate that...
i brim with pride when i manage for instance to go shopping on my lunch break without a close friend and my husband, i do errands and i feel like i deserve an award for braving the danger of other humans...