Anyone on this Combo of Meds: Buspar, Ativan, and Nortriptyline

Any MAVers on this combination of medications and if so has it helped your condition in any way? Did it make you feel better or worse? I will be taking the Buspar when I get my day off from work. I heard it makes you dizzy at first and at this point I don’t know if I can handle having extra dizziness at work lol. I am kind of on the verge of giving up at work but I am still looking for a medication that will take away this constant unsteadiness that I am experiencing and also when I turn around quick or something like that I do get a few sec of vertigo. This really bites. Anyways thanks in advance for any advice. Merry Christmas.

Hey NAUGirl, Merry Christmas! I too am very young - early 30s so I totally understand. MAV is the worst. I’ve had it for nearly three years. My family doesn’t understand it! I have been on nortriptyline and it helps (initially it made me dizzier for a week but then helped w/ the light sensitivity and balance issues, but not enough and I have some side effects such as slow metabolism on it, but that doesn’t happen for everyone - I have a friend w/ MAV as well who didn’t gain any weight on it). I am on topamax now and hoping that will resolve this problem - I’ll keep you posted. I’m hoping that 50mg for a few months (3-4 months is what people on this great forum say that helps-it’s a slow acting medication) will settle my nerves down and help me get back to more normalcy. I haven’t given up work yet, but try to avoid situations that make my symptoms a lot worse as much as possible. MAV definitely has distanced me from some people in my life. I hope that will change when I get better. Coffee and citrus make my dizziness a lot worse. Gluten, nuts and yogurt might also be a trigger for me. Not sure! Fluorescent lights definitely still are, along with lots of humidity. Take it easy and make sure you don’t give up with the neurologists- topamax on its own might be a good option for you to try. I gave it up a few times because some of the side effects are weird, but I’m determined to stick it out this time since it seems to have helped some people get better. xx

Hi Liv85 thanks for your comment! It is nice to be surrounded by people on here that understand the pain and frustration we experience with this condition. Im thinking that if my symptoms don’t resolve after titrating up to 50 mg then I will try topamax instead. I need to find relief very soon because I am at risk of losing my job. It is going to get to the point where I can’t go in anymore. The unsteadiness and dizziness I experience some days are terrible. I work in a store with fluorescent lights galore so maybe thats why I am struggling. I have an appointment in Februrary to go over the MRI and EEG tests they did on me. I am looking forward to finding some answers and get better so I can enjoy life to the fullest again. I hope you feel better as well!!

Hey NAUGirl,

Yes, these symptoms are so hard to deal with - I totally know!! I’ve had this for three years and last year my work was under fluorescent lights. Very tough. I was so dizzy and had to cope with it just by praying I could get through it.

My current work is under mostly under LED lights that I can deal with better. But I still find it hard since any monitors wear me out. Unfortunately whenever I’m in a house or restaurant with the newer CFL lights, the flicker rate is so high and really aggravates my symptoms. A lot of other stuff does too, like TV screens, computer screens etc.

But we should be really encouraged that this forum shows that others who had the exact same symptoms recovered. I was just so tired of trying to deal with this without meds that I’m really glad I finally saw neurologists.

Do a search for Rich2008 and Zoology - these are two users who had great success with topamax, and many others have too. Zoology gave some great advice about titrating topamax slowly if you’re sensitive to meds. The main thing is not to be afraid of the side effects. I kept being so anxious about topamax, but it’s not a scary drug in the end.

I think nortriptyline also works for people at a high enough dose (and other drugs), but I think that for my MAV, I may have most success on an anti-seizure drug to calm down my nerves. I’m hoping for the best with topamax because depakote apparently causes weight gain sometimes. I just don’t know whether 50mg of topa will be enough over a few months. I hope so. Otherwise, I may need to go higher!

Happy New Year - I hope 2016 will be the year of MAV recovery! :slight_smile: If you can get topamax soon and titrate down on nortriptyline that may be worth trying if you don’t want to go higher with nort! Or you might want to search the threads about topamax/topiramate and depakote/valproic acid on the forum. I’m really hoping topa will work for me. xx

P.S. I think topamax can nortriptyline can be taken together btw - a girl had success with that on here I think (missmoss83). I’m just hoping for the best with topa at the moment over a few months if it can take fuller effect…

Well looking at the success stories makes me have even more faith that things will get better for us MAV sufferers. I just may be going back on topamax. I tried it for like a month or so but i don’t think that was really long enough to get real results. I do remember it making me feel more relaxed though. Maybe i will give it a shot then. I really do hope 2016 is our year to recovery. There’s so many things I want to do and this condition unfortunately holds me back :frowning:

Yeah if topamax doesn’t work for me after a few months at 50mg, I’ll talk to my neurologist about pushing it up by 25mg every month till I feel like I can cope with the fluorescent lights and just drink loads of water! I hope that at some dose/length of time it’s going to have that effect that other MAV-ers talked about on here in improving their symptoms so they’re 90-95% better. Valproic Acid seems like it worked for a guy on here named “Jackpad” very well. So that’s an option perhaps too.

The thing about MAV is that it teaches us strength that we never knew we had + also what’s important in life - I also feel like once I get back to more normalcy I would be grateful for things in a way I would never have been before. The frustrating part I think is how poorly understood MAV is by doctors. I think it should be researched more. xx

I feel like I’m a lot better when I cut dairy out from my diet - not sure if this might help you too. This link really intrigues me: On Being “Allergic” to Milk Proteins – Alice Dreger

Hey NAUGirl, What has been really helping my dizziness and head pain for the past few days is cutting 100% gluten from my diet. I’m only on 10mg of nortriptyline (I couldn’t tolerate topamax, may try again but I think a sulfa allergy I have makes me hyper-sensitive to the drug and my eyes get super red and sensitive–along with strange vision so that concerns me) but I am functioning well at work under all the lights and stuff. I still get a little pain behind the eyes but not too bad at all. I need to let go of my anxiety that this isn’t going to last and see if I can sustain this… Have you tried going gluten free? I don’t think dairy is actually the issue for me. Citrus and more than 1 cup of coffee does seem to be also a trigger though. xx

Buspar made me extremely dizzy. It made the dizziness I had severely worse. I had to get off of it after a couple months.

CBT can help really well with anxiety.