Ive been suffering from really bad anxiety the past couple years. Alot of stress from work and relationships with family. I was taking Prescription drugs(xannax) for about a year . It helped with the anxiety attacks when they were happening but it did not cure me .

Its been 6 months since Ive taken the medicine. I do feel the anxiety still but Ive learned to deal with it . The problem I have is this . I cant go anywhere without my medicine on me . If I don't have that pill in my pocket I start feeling a lot of anxiety again . Its my lil safety net when I leave to know that if I ever do have a panic attack I got my pill to take care of it . I don't want to live like that anymore so I'm seeking advice from someone on this board who has gone through such pains or has and medical advice to help me out( My doctor just tells me take more xannax)

Thank you for your help

Sounds like you may need to see a psychologist and figure out what are the sources of your anxiety so you can confront them. Throwing medication at it seems like a terrible idea in the long run, for both health and your long-term ability to cope with stress.

Taking a **** ton of Xanax seems bad. But I'm on the fence about this. I know what anxiety is like.

What about the meds that lower anxiety long term but take a while to be effective? I don't remember the name

Nothing to be ashamed of taking meds.

But you could try to see a cognative therapist. Ask your psychologist what s/he thinks aobut it.

Beta-blockers?

My naive intuition is in line with JH. Whether or not to start with a shrink is debatable, but finding a durable solution that gets at the source seems far more solid than side-effect-laden band-aids.

Meds aren't band-aids. The problems are still there, they don't work the way you think.

He already saw a shrink (he has meds). I still think seeing a cognitave therapist would be a good idea.

Perhaps you're right. Fwiw, I'm not going Tom Cruise on your Brooke Shields asses.

Just referring to usual patterns of self-prescription with mental issues.
ETA: I understand he isn't self-prescribing.

He's not self-prescribing.

I was definitely a bit high strung and probably would have been prescribed a disorder and given some anxiety meds a couple years ago.

I've pretty much completely removed it without medicine. Definitely wasn't severe, but it was there. Starting to work out regularly, good diet, meditation type bull****, and removing some stressors in the daily life slowly made a big difference.

If it was much worse, some sort of meds (I hope not regular xanax though) would have probably been necessary. And might be a good idea anyway.

The only recurring (possibly linked) issue has been sleep. and apparently pot is the answer there.

are you also on an SSRI?

What is that?

It's a newer type of anti-depressants. I was in a similar boat as you, I got a random severe panic attack, doctors ruled out anything physical, so they gave me Xanax to take as needed. It worked but I found myself needing to take more pills more frequently, as for some people the withdrawl symptoms are basically the anxiety symptoms you are taking it for in the first place, but they become more severe. So I quit while I still didn't need too much.

I talked to my doc about it and I've been on Lexapro (a SSRI) since January, which I guess is marketed to treat both depression and anxiety. It's helped a LOT on a day to day basis and I have a lot fewer symptoms and attacks. I'm also seeing a psychologist which I would highly recommend.

I wrote up another post about my symptoms from an anxiety thread in OOT, shouldn't be hard to find since I don't post much.

Good luck.

Edit: PS if your doctor tells you to just keep taking more Xanax, I would find yourself a new doctor. When I decided to go off it my doc said I was making a good decision not taking it long term or upping my dosage. He said the longer you're on it and the more you take, the longer it will take to ween off of it.

^Perfect.

Finding a good doctor is very hard to find. Any ******* can diagnose, it takes a genius to prescribe correctly.

SSRI are a type of antidepressant.

i applaud you for not wanting to be stuck on meds to overcome this.

i don't know if this will help, but try easing yourself into situations that make you anxious. i like to be brutally honest with myself, so i'd ask myself if the situation is really something that i can't handle or am i simply overreacting. in the past, i also decided to consciously enter stressful situations to learn how to handle them better. it helped to remember that freaking out wasn't going to make the situation go any better, and that in 10 years, this probably won't even matter.

think it. act it. do it. be it. tell yourself that you are not an anxious person. decide that you will not be someone who stresses out easily. behave like you aren't anxious. eventually, you'll have no choice but to stop being anxious. i believe it's because of cognitive dissonance....



*i am not qualified to give this advice*

SSRI - seratonin specific reuptake inhibitors

In quick english: Seratonin is a way that information is passed from one neuron to the next. Some of this seratonin goes back to the original neuron, but it becomes a pathological problem when too much seratonin goes back to the giving neuron. An SSRI blocks the seratonin from going backwards.

A good image would be like thinking of a wire. If there is a whole in the wire, the electricity will stop. Not being able to pass enough seratonin is like slicing the wire. An SSRI causes the wire(neuron) to be able to pass on the electricity (seratonin).

I am curious what you mean by anxiety. Are you worried about tons of things or are you finding you cant stop thinking about everything?

I always have a ton of things on my mind . Its hard to sleep at night it usually takes me about 1hr just laying in my bed to eventually fall asleep . When I wake up I still feel tired and drained . The anxiety comes on strong when im in public places like the movies or the Mall . It rly sucks because I cant do basic things anymore without having this issue. Ive become a homebody and only go out about once a week its rly sad,

Do you have many physical symptoms associated with it (like heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, lightheadedness, stomach discomfort, etc.) or is it all just racing thoughts/things going on in your head?

Its feels like I cant breath sometimes and that causes me to panic more . Nd my heart sometimes skips beats. They did a bunch of blood work and everything and said it was all mental.

Yes it feels like a million thoughts going through my mind in seconds

Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz

amazon link

Read this book. If your issue is purely mental, then it should help.

What does that book have to do with curing anxiety and other phychiatric disorders, especially when it was written in the 1960s? I can understand something like this during the times of frontal labotomies, but now?

any advice on how to fake it so i can get prescription drugs?


joking! (not really)

You seem to favor the administration of drugs, but also talk about cognitive therapy.

I think there is plenty of evidence that a lot of different things can contribute to anxiety and changing things in ones life, behaving differently etc etc can help improve things.

Drugs should be used as a last resort, not a first resort.

It is interesting that you compare that information to frontal lobotomies. I think the way drugs are distributed for mental disorders in 2009 is pretty much the frontal lobotomy of our time. We don't, with any precision or accuracy, understand how or why they are helping, and certainly can not document consistent results. It is especially difficult because any judging criteria is likely wholly subjective.

.

There are plenty of things people who suffer from anxiety can potentially do to help ease their anxiety without taking pills. I don't know what is in that book, but because it was written in the 1960s does not negate that it might provide useful information to help someone with anxiety. Do you think the only viable treatments for anxiety have been uncovered since the 70s? Some people may require those more drastic steps, but it certainly should not be the first thing tried. Psychiatric meds are probably the least understood medications we use by a large amount.

I would be curious as to what the OP feels he is getting anxious about when he is out at the mall and movie theaters. Is it having to do with how he feels other people might be perceiving him? What are the common and likely repetitive thoughts you seem to be having in these situations that are building up your anxiety?

Try to reduce youre stress in life, try to rehearse your brain to no react to potential stressfactors anymore of whom you know arent really life threatening.

This is easier said then done but I think it hold true, it takes will and effort but is more effective cheaper and healthier then any medicine and most shrinks i think and it will def bring alot more positive side effects.

Meditaion is also a thing you NEED to look into.

Its not me being afraid of how people perceive me . I believe its all the noise and action that is going around causing my brain to spaz out because once I leave the place I feel perfectly fine .