A drug which stops me Stammering

EternalSunshine

OK.

My story. Age 33. Stammered all my life. Able to hide it by not saying certain words etc... but always stammered with figures of authority or when under stress or when feeling low.

Did the mcquire program (10 years ago) which made me fluent but i lapsed, did it again, relapsed...etc. Program is excellent if you really do alot of diaphram training. Then it 'fixes' your stammering but it requires at least an hour a day.

Anyhows.

Working abroad i got a panic attack and was prescribed Paroxetine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paroxetine
http://www.healthystock.net/drugs/paxil.shtml

http://www.paxilcr.com/

It is also used for social anxeity disorder which now i figured i had all my life.

So i have been on this drug to treat my panic attacks and i no longer stammer. Maybe its the way it makes you feel better and treats my general social anxiety so i am not saying that it would work for everyone.

But for me it works. And whilst i still stutter over words it comes across as general laziness rather than a stammer and i can talk to anyone without any fear of stuttering . That is probably because it treats my shyness which means i no longer stutter with strangers. I used to stutter with strangers but with friends i never did.

So i now no longer ever think about my stammer because i dont stammer anymore. I dont avoid any words and no longer have a fear of talking to anyone. I even went into a police station this week to report some suspicious activity around the neighbour and told him the long winded story without stammering....i may have stammer a word or two but i dont remember which means that it was just normal speech pattern. I would NEVER have gone into a police station before because figures of authority would have brought on a bad stammer.

So that is my story. I intend to stick with this drug as it works for me.

I hope this story may help others who find that their particular situation mirrors somewhat mine and may want to speak to a doctor about it.

I am in no way advocating a drug to 'cure' stammering but for me who has gone to hypno therapy, about 10 mcquire programs..... it is the only thing that works for me.

I would be happy to answer any questions that ye may have.

Cheers.

IMPORTANT
The drug cannot be mixed with alcohol.You feel really great on the drug and your shyness is gone but that can mean that you become far more socialble. I changed from a somewhat reluse in work to one of the most known socialable guys. But alcohol reacts badly with it and for a day or two aftwards your anxiety levels increase dramically which means that your stammer sometimes returns.

bohsboy

Thanks very much for this. What type of side effects are there? Will you be on these tablets for life now?

I've done the Mc Guire myself, found it did more harm than good. The Patmar Programme in my opinion is years ahead and takes a much more personal approach.

EternalSunshine

I found the mcquire program excellent. I was completely fluent for a couple of months afterwards. I think for me the reason was that i had been doing alot of push ups so i was able to really strengthen my diaphram.

But it takes a lot of dedication to keep up the diaphram training and in the end i lapsed.

Side effects. Small loss in libido but that goes away after a few months.

I probably will think i will be on them for life. Maybe for me my stammer came about because of my social anxiety disorder ( which i never knew i had ) So i figure by treating the cause it has stopped my stammering.

bohsboy

Cheers,

Thanks for your post. We all live in hope.

Stephen P

Thanks for sharing that with us. It's great to hear that it works for you and helps your social aniexty disorder and also your stammer. How do you think your stammering iceberg is now? How long have you being taking the tablets?

EternalSunshine

Stephen P wrote: »

Thanks for sharing that with us. It's great to hear that it works for you and helps your social aniexty disorder and also your stammer. How do you think your stammering iceberg is now? How long have you being taking the tablets?

Ah yeah the iceberg. I sort of remember that one but i would have to find that book to see what it means again.

I have been on the tablets for 6 months now. Do you know how the say that stammering is caused by the fear of stammering. Well i no longer have that fear. I dont fear people or situations anymore so i dont think of stammering. I only came onto this forum ( which i never knew existed ) to share my story , not because i even think about stammering anymore.

I am happy to answer any more questions.

Stephen P

This link shows simply what the stammering iceberg is.
It would be interesting to hear if the medication "melts" away any of the iceberg under the water as well on top.

This forum isn't really well known yet. People normally tend just to stumble across it.

EternalSunshine

Stephen P wrote: »

This link shows simply what the stammering iceberg is.
It would be interesting to hear if the medication "melts" away any of the iceberg under the water as well on top.

This forum isn't really well known yet. People normally tend just to stumble across it.

Yeah i remember that.

Fear : Is gone. I no longer fear any situation.

Shame: This is the first time that i ever wrote on a forum about stuttering. I have no shame.

Guilt : Nope

Anxiety : Gone. Only comes back if i am out the previous night and have some alchohol which takes a day for the meds to work again.

Hopelessness: Nope

Isolation: Nope. And listen to this. I have made more friends in the last 6 months that all my life. I mean real friends. I no longer fear people and my happy character makes me more appealing to others. Besides no more stammering , this has been the biggest effect. I can now feel empathy towards others . I went from a nobody in the office to the most known. And i say that with upmost humility because i was never popular.

Denial: Not sure what that means.



So i guess i understand about the whole iceberg thing.(last mcquire program was about 3 years ago) But, I do not think about stammering. I am happy. I can now live my life like it was supposed to me before this horrid affliction ruined parts of my life. So for me there is no iceberg anymore. If stammering is the fear of stammering, and that fear is now gone, then so is my stammering. (so long as i stay on the meds which i will for the rest of my life.)

Feel free to inquire more. If i had read this a year ago , maybe i would noticed that it could be an avenue out of the depression and lonliness that i was in.

BigPhil

My first thread in this forum was about drugs that could stop/limit stammering so this is obviously a subject close to my heart.

It is really interesting that you mention Paroxetine because from the Wikipedia article about it says that it traded under a couple of names one being an anti-depressant that I have been using on and off for several years now called Seroxat.

I have to say it has elevated my mood etc like it was suppose to but it has had no impact what so ever on my stammer unfortunately.

Stephen P

EternalSunshine - is there any side effects to taking this medication? What do you think would happen if you came off the tablets? In my opinion I think medication would only treat the symptons and not the stutter itself, I suppose thats what a lot of medication does depending on what it is. I don't think its a good idea to be filling your system with tablets all the time. I try to avoid even taking paracetamol for a headache. I've been drinking herbal tea lately which is kind of making me more relaxed, but only a small bit.
With saying the above, I wish you all the best with it.

EternalSunshine

Nope, no real side effects. Just some initial shocks to the brain which can be unusual but they go away after the first week.

If i came off the tablets then i figure my social anxiety disorder would return. Then the fear would probably come back and thus the stutter.

I would disagree with the meds only treating the symptoms and not the stutter. What is stuttering. It is the fear of stuttering. Take away the fear and the stuttering stops. I just moved to australia and thus have had to do alot of interaction ( directions, admin, banks, meeting new people ) and everything is going great.

Meds treat problems, agree ? So what is the problem with taking meds which treat my anxiety and thus my stutter. I have never been happy. One tablet a day mate, and i got a new lease of life.

Maybe you can talk to your doctor or do an on-line test to see if you suffer from social anxiety disorder. That is my advice.

You may not have to suffer anymore. Dont rule out any avenue.

Stephen P wrote: »

EternalSunshine - is there any side effects to taking this medication? What do you think would happen if you came off the tablets? In my opinion I think medication would only treat the symptons and not the stutter itself, I suppose thats what a lot of medication does depending on what it is. I don't think its a good idea to be filling your system with tablets all the time. I try to avoid even taking paracetamol for a headache. I've been drinking herbal tea lately which is kind of making me more relaxed, but only a small bit.
With saying the above, I wish you all the best with it.

Stephen P

I don't agree that stuttering is caused by the fear of stuttering. There is no definitive pattern to stuttering, it's random and unpredictable. I might be having a very fluent spell then all of a sudden start to stutter. No one knows the cause of a stutter, every stutterer has a different theory as to why it started. I know for a fact I don't have a social anxiety disorder. I've no problem in social situations, it can be more difficult alright but I don't avoid. I couldn't care less who heard my stutter. It's who I am, I don't let it ruin my life. I can do presentations in front of 100 people no problem, yes I may stutter but so what, by getting it out there it's helping me to deal with the negative side of it.
Isn't the meds you take just "masking" it? Would you not rather tackle it with therapy? You may not know now but those meds might have complications down the road and make things worse. I can never see myself taking medication

EternalSunshine

Dont discount medication.

For others who may be reading the thread you can see why paxil for me works by reading the following. They are currently doing research on a anti anxiety drug simmilar to paxil which may solve stuttering.

Pagoclone
http://www.indevus.com/site/index.php?Itemid=45&id=31&option=com_content&task=view

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagoclone

Stephen P

I'm not discounting it for you, as I said in an earlier post I think it's great that it works for you but for me I don't think its the answer.

mbkkrone

hi can you tell me the name of this drug?i have a very bad stammer and it is running my life day in day out.thank you.

Reoil

It's in the first post.

Esel

A few years ago I collated this info from the web for my doctor. I tried the medication in question - olanzapine 2.5mg (it is an anti-psychotic medication, but 2.5mg is a very small dose).

It certainly worked for me, with no apparent side-effects. However, as my stammer these days (read years, or decades...) is not nearly as severe as it used to be, I did not continue to use the drug.

Word Doc attached - if anyone can't read it, I will post the plain text here if a mod agrees.

arold10

EternalSunshine wrote: »

I found the mcquire program excellent. I was completely fluent for a couple of months afterwards. I think for me the reason was that i had been doing alot of push ups so i was able to really strengthen my diaphram.

But it takes a lot of dedication to keep up the diaphram training and in the end i lapsed.

Side effects. Small loss in libido but that goes away after a few months.

I probably will think i will be on them for life. Maybe for me my stammer came about because of my social anxiety disorder ( which i never knew i had ) So i figure by treating the cause it has stopped my stammering.

I've been suffering from stuttering for years, in other word for as long as can remember. While searching on the internet for tips that can help me better cope with it, I sometimes come across that program which is known as Mcquire Program. My question is what is it all about?