D-Cycloserine

I can't link the full text article due to copyright issues, but if you google "cycloserine social anxiety disorder" you should find a full text study in .pdf format.

Cycloserine is an antibiotic originally developed as a treatment for tuberculosis. However, research in the late 90s and 2000's revealed that it works on a receptor in the brain known as the NMDA receptor which scientists believe is in charge of learning processes with regards to anxiety and the amygdala.

Research showed that rats who were administered the drug prior to exposure to a feared stimulus were able to undergo "extinction" faster than rats who had no cycloserine. Extinction is the process in which a person's brain learns to drop automatic fear responses to previously feared stimuli.

Further research showed that people with social anxiety disorder who were given this drug in conjunction with exposure sessions reported a far greater reduction in social anxiety symptoms and much sooner than patients who were given placebo.

On the account of this research, I've become very excited to try this medication in conjunction with my own exposure therapy. I have to be honest, the exposure therapy I've done just hasn't seemed to reduce my symptoms. This last Christmas I experienced a great amount of physical anxiety symptoms coupled with an inability or unwillingness to communicate with my family members. Further, in events like ordering food or going to the bathroom I experienced the same heart racing/severe anxiety symptoms that I've experienced in the past.


I understand that treatment isn't meant to be constant progress and that I should expect to sort of "oscillate" between being better and worse, and I would be lying if I said there haven't also been times where I usually would have had physical anxiety symptoms and I didn't. It's just that progress hasn't been what I'd expected it to be and I feel I need to have something to "augment" my treatment.

This medication is still in the experimental stage for use in treating anxiety disorders, however other studies have been able to replicate its use in treating anxiety disorders such as panic disorder and acrophobia. So I'm fairly optimistic in its ability to treat anxiety disorders.

But as I've said, since it is still in an experimental phase in regards to anxiety disorders, getting prescriptions for it means that it would have to be prescribed off-label. This has proven to be an exceedingly difficult barrier to overcome, I've been to many general practitioners with little to no success. Tomorrow my mother is going to another doctor who'll hopefully give me the prescription.. otherwise I'm going to have to start calling psychiatrists and hope to find one who's willing to experiment.

I do think this is a promising treatment option, and encourage people who're willing to do exposure exercises to try to get this medication as it might help facilitate your treatment progress.

Please comment if you're reading this, I'd like to have discussions.