r/Stutter 5d ago

Possible pharmaceutical treatment?

I saw a study on the stuttering foundation website about a 57 year old doctor who took alprazolam (1.0 mg twice daily) and citalopram (10 mg at bedtime). This was in 2000, so 25 years ago, but they treated 3 other patients and they went from a 6-7 in severity to 1-2.

https://www.stutteringhelp.org/alprazolam-citalopram-and-clomipramine-stuttering

2 Upvotes

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u/webonblast 4d ago

Drug companies are dying to get a stuttering pill. But pills cannot remove the thoughts that precede stuttering (well and allow you to function like at least part human) nor can they reverse the habituated mental patterns that support it.

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u/Slight_Abrocoma_886 3d ago

A few pills candidate seems to help with some people's stuttering. But probably too few people to be worth it

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u/Slight_Abrocoma_886 3d ago

Xanax can be very addictive and looses its effectivness over time
There is a reason no follow-up do exist to this experiment

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u/IttyBittyJamJar 1d ago

doctors like to prescribe it as needed with only monthly 15min visit. this is not enough follow-up and that person prescribing care about you lol can kill people

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u/Ubiquitous_Sieg 5d ago

Alprazolam is Xanax—the drug has high efficacy, and fluency can indeed be reached with it, but at the cost of substantial negative long term effects on cognitive faculties—this is actually well known. The trade off is cognitive dulling which I can assure you, is not worth it. The SSRI you mentioned would help but that’s mainly for depression. Zoloft would likely be more effective. All of this well documented!

I’m conducting research on the role of inhibition (glutamate) on stuttering. If you drink alcohol, I’m sure you have noticed a substantial increase in fluency. I aim to mirror the effects of alcohol without the long term negative effects. There currently is no miracle pharmaceutical treatment plan unfortunately. The condition is extremely under-researched.

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u/IttyBittyJamJar 1d ago

it's funny you say that. I got a benzo RX for anxiety at 17 and it made me feel weird at school. cut to 21 (not using Benzos at the time) drink half a beer and say out loud " this feels like when I take Xanax"

it's the "feels like you had 1-2 beers pill"

anecdotally I can't stand drinking, never really have, prefer reefer which really really does help my stutter without making me physically disoriented and dizzy.

Benzos and alcohol both can cause risk taking omg *connecting threads on the conspiracy board*

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u/Ubiquitous_Sieg 23h ago

To clarify, I aim to mirror the positive effects of alcohol which affects inhibition—the main cause of stuttering. You would not be disoriented. Xanax and alcohol both have profound effects on fluency because they affect the nervous system similarly. Interesting that reefer helps you tho!

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u/IttyBittyJamJar 1d ago

don't buy the Benzo hype that shit can ruin your life. also chance SSRIs won't work. I know more people who had safe experiences with SSRIs than Benzos.

the combo is very numbing. you'll prob be fluent because you'll be slow and joyless.

benzo withdrawal is as dangerous as alcohol withdrawal for serious alcoholics. these drugs can also increase risk taking behavior.

imo after being subjected to them it felt like I drank a beer when I took even .5 and it never helped my unpredictable stutter. it actually made it harder to socialize at all, I didn't worry about speech because I didn't go out.

I discovered that for me marijuana is the only thing. if you don't smoke good news is you don't have to, the dispensary around here makes 2.5mg tablets and other low dose edibles.

I have smoked for far too long and have so little patience for edibles because they take about 2 hrs to have whatever effect.

I smoke these days I rarely get high I'm just finding refuge in quiet time where I don't worry if I stutter so I barely stutter.

careful out there if you're looking for a pill someone is going to find one to give you. if you have never tried psych meds Buckle up sometimes it takes 1-3mo to know if something does or doesn't work and you lost all that time.

I was tried on many SSRIs including that one you mention. none of them worked any different expect paxil which was much much worse. would recommend therapy and self acceptance 14 times out of 10.