Help with severe anxiety plz.

[Jphenethylamine]

I'm an 18 year old male and i've suffered with anxiety my entire life. I've been diagnosed with Panic Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. My mother also has servere anxiety problems, not sure if this can be hereditary or if it's because I learned my coping mechanisms from her. We both have substance abuse issues, opioids for both. I guess it's self medicating.

I'm currently on long term high dose benzodiazepine therapy, because it's the only class of drugs that seems to help me live a normal life. I am a tad bit worried about being on stuck a high dose of benzos, i mean what happens if for some unknown reason i'm unable to get my prescription and run completly out for a few days. I could go into delirium tremens or have a grand mal seizure. Not cool.

So I was wondering if there are any medications any of you have tried that helped your anxiety ( other than SSRI's, been down that road....never again ). I don't want to completely cease the benzos, just cut down the dose.



Thx very much for your replies
Jphenethylamine

[scarlati]

I can't tell you anything about benzos, unfortunately. I'm on an SSRI and it's working for me. I can say, though, that I think anxiety can be hereditary. My therapist and I talked for quite a while about how I came to have GAD and it's just something I've had since I was a kid. I've had a good life, upbringing and family and no major traumas or anything that would really cause me to be anxious. And at least 2 of my 4 brothers have the same problem. So the therapist says it's probably just genetic in my case.

Welcome to SR. I'm sure someone will be chiming in shortly with advice about the benzos. Good luck!

[kelsh]

Hi JP,

I have had anxiety for years and have taken many Benzoids starting with valium, librium, ativan, xanax & mostly have taken Xanax for past 15 years.

I started with 1 mg three times a day and now take 0.5 mg prn & rarely need it every day. When my pdoc let me reduce my Xanax, I titrated down 0.5 mg a month or sometimes would stay at the same level for two months before reducing again.

I have been taking Effexor XR for 15 years and Lexapro for just over one year. These both are SSRI's and have helped me better than anything else since I was first diagnosed with depression as a teen. I have a need for Serotonin and this is what both these meds address.

I do know to reduce any antianxiety med you need to be doing it with a doc's advice. I don't know of any medication to address anxiety that would be less addictive. Most all of them are addictive if used wrong. Most all of them can be reduced so you don't feel so spaced out but again a doctor needs to help with this.

I am glad you are thinking about this. My doc did tell me though that I shouldn't go without my med just to get off the meds because my anxiety is the real thing and could escalate at any time.

But I feel that Effexor and Lexapro both address my anxiety and sleep problems so am in a very good place right now. My depression is stable as well as my anxiety so I don't want to rock he boat at this time. I also quit drinking 19 years ago and am still sober...very proud of that.

kelsh

[Introvrtd1]

I was on Paxil back in 1996 for depression and axiety. That lasted about 4 months. I got better, but decided to quit paxil (good thing I did). It made me very aggressive.

By the time I stopped taking it, I learned to cope and have been better able since then.

Oh yeah, I still get panic/anxiety, but never debilitating and always able to cope, no matter how scary.

Intro

[Jphenethylamine]

Maybe i just need to try a different SSRI.....I was prescribed 2 of them in the past ( paxil and prozac ) and they both completely killed my sex drive and made me feel manic. The manic isn't so much of a problem, it's the loss of sex drive that messes with me ( come on, i'm 18 yrs old ;-) ). Has anyone tried multiple SSRI's and found one helpful for anxiety without the sexual side effects?


And thank you all for posting and trying to help out.......i appreciate it.

I started with 1 mg three times a day and now take 0.5 mg prn & rarely need it every day. When my pdoc let me reduce my Xanax, I titrated down 0.5 mg a month or sometimes would stay at the same level for two months before reducing again.

Well my doses are a bit higher than this......I take 6mg clonazepam on a daily basis slowly going up from 1mg 3x day to 2mg 3x day. Been on 6mg / day for the past 2 years.I have no doubt i'm dependant, which in and of itself does not bother me, i'm just worried that if i get screwed around somehow and can't get it i'll go into severe and possibly life threatening withdrawl. I'm also a little scared of reducing the dose because of the rebound anxiety.

[WTSOD]

Originally Posted by kelsh

Hi JP,

I have had anxiety for years and have taken many Benzoids starting with valium, librium, ativan, xanax & mostly have taken Xanax for past 15 years.

I started with 1 mg three times a day and now take 0.5 mg prn & rarely need it every day. When my pdoc let me reduce my Xanax, I titrated down 0.5 mg a month or sometimes would stay at the same level for two months before reducing again.

I have been taking Effexor XR for 15 years and Lexapro for just over one year. These both are SSRI's and have helped me better than anything else since I was first diagnosed with depression as a teen. I have a need for Serotonin and this is what both these meds address.

I do know to reduce any antianxiety med you need to be doing it with a doc's advice. I don't know of any medication to address anxiety that would be less addictive. Most all of them are addictive if used wrong. Most all of them can be reduced so you don't feel so spaced out but again a doctor needs to help with this.

I am glad you are thinking about this. My doc did tell me though that I shouldn't go without my med just to get off the meds because my anxiety is the real thing and could escalate at any time.

But I feel that Effexor and Lexapro both address my anxiety and sleep problems so am in a very good place right now. My depression is stable as well as my anxiety so I don't want to rock he boat at this time. I also quit drinking 19 years ago and am still sober...very proud of that.

kelsh

Since you've asked for feedback, I'll feel free to give you some. If I were your sponsor, I'd tell you to get off the xanax and change your sobriety date. God knows how to fix anxiety. I suspect you haven't taken the steps AND continued to do 10-12. The graveyards are full of AA's who doubted that God could do more than keep them away from alcohol.

P.S. I know that you will hate my guts for this feedback. You asked for it and I care enough to **** you off in order to tell you the truth. Deep down inside, I'll bet you already know everything that I've said, but there's no way you'd ever admit it to anyone. I'll pray for you.

[kelsh]

:puppet

[nandm]

Originally Posted by kelsh

:puppet

People with who have never experienced true anxiety or depression find it so easy to judge and feel the person should just "pull themselves up by the bootstraps and get over it". Unfortunately I was one of those people for many years. It was only when I experienced it for myself that I was able to truly understand the depths of the mental illness involved. Working a Twelve Step program can help for mild (non-chemical/situational/seasonal) depression but for chemical depression or true anxiety disorders no amount of working a program will make those go away. Even the Big Book says it is not the ultimate authority on such issues and encourages it's readers to seek outside help.

My thoughts on life:

Opinions are like as*hol*s, everyone has one and some stink worse than others.

Remember, it is easier to judge someone else as it keeps the spotlight of our judgement off ourselves.

Don't stress the small people.

Have a great day!

[grateful2b]

[quote=WTSOD;1601587]Since you've asked for feedback, I'll feel free to give you some. If I were your sponsor, I'd tell you to get off the xanax and change your sobriety date. God knows how to fix anxiety. I suspect you haven't taken the steps AND continued to do 10-12. The graveyards are full of AA's who doubted that God could do more than keep them away from alcohol.



God helps those who help themselves...

[Alera]

I found some of the older antidepressants helped my anxiety. This was before the SSRI's came out. Have you tried any of those older ones? At 'therapeutic' doses, there are side effects, but I did not get them with the low doses. My pdoc (and he may have been wrong but it worked for me) told me that for anxiety the doses needed to be much lower.

However, Elavil as it is contraindicated for those with previous manic episodes.