Neekolio

Hellooooo everyone! I have severe anxiety disorder, panic attacks and mild depression. I have tried probably every medicine in the book (well maybe not.. but alot!) and long story short, every single one of them has some sort of negative result. I have always turned to drugs and alcohol to control my anxiety and it has caused nothing but trouble in the end. I have tried a number of SSRIs over the years and found more bad than good. I am currently tapering myself off of 200mg a day of Zoloft (it is a nightmare let me tell you!) It gave me very little relief for my anxiety and causes me to be extremely lazy and lacking of motivation. My doctor is a quack and is more like a drug dealer than a doctor. The only SSRI that I found to help my anxiety was 40mg of Paxil a day but the side effects of that drug were by far the worst of them all! If I missed so much as a day of this crap I started withdrawling horribly. I would shake/tremble uncontrollably, get very dizzy and light headed, have brain "zaps", cry for no reason and just get physically and emotionally exhausted to the point where I couldn't even function properly. I finally weened myself off that drug and I still had terrible withdrawl symptoms. I ended up quitting my job when I started coming off this medicine because I was constantly depressed and I lacked so much motivation I basically stayed in my room for a week straight because I just couldn't bring myself to hang out with friends of family. It was the worst. Benzos are way to addictive and I am going to rehab next week because of alcohol/heroin/prescription drug abuse so I know I can no longer allow myself to take klonopin, xanax or lorezapam.

The reason for my post is basically just to see if anyone here has tried and natural remedies to treat their anxiety or depression. Addiction problems are very much present in my dad's side of the family. My father has a huge problem with alcohol and gambling and my uncle has used Meth and crack on and off for over 30 years. As a result that side of the family is completely wacko! My uncle hasn't seen my cousin in 20 years and my dad and uncle stopped talking about 6 years ago because they constantly fought and it is really just depressing to think that two brothers could completely write each other out of their lives all because neither of them will let go of their addictions and completely blame one another for things. I recently got in touch with my cousin (whom I have never met) via facebook and we got to talking about addiction problems in our family. He told me that he use to be addicted to coke and heroin in the past and had the same problem with anti-depression/anxiety medicines in the past and started taking natural remedies and says that it was the best thing to happen to him. I found some information on seredyn and amoryn (anti anxiety and anti depressing remedies) and just want to know if anyone here has tried them. I desperatly want to get better and I am terrified that if I don't find someway to cope with my anxiety I will jump right back into my addictions the minute something bad happens in my life.

CarolD

I'm glad you are on your way to a treatment center...
that's being pro-active about finding your way..
I suggest you ask the professionals there the best course
for you to find a clean and sober future.

There are many products that advertize themselves as natural
remedies for x y or z. I think the deal is to sell whatever.
And you never know what is actually in them....they are not regulated
last I noticed.

Welcome to SR.....

Tryin2Recover

Hey nicole...I dont know much about what you are asking about, but just wanted to let you know I been thinking about you and glad to see you are still trying to get clean! Hang in there, it gets better.

Oh and by the way, I used to think i suffered depression, insomnia, anxiety, and a few other things...but strange enough once i got clean and sober they ALL went away. This may not be the same for you, but you never know! Good luck!

Zak

Science of Mind help me through my anxiety, it a Spiritual way to solve all problems and vices, keep your thoughts pure, what you think about you bring about.

FT

I agree that the best way to do this is ask the docs who will be seeing you in rehab. They are used to these problems, and if they are addiction related they are the best ones to treat them too.

When I was not addicted to drugs or alcohol, I was tried on all the SSRI's for anxiety and depression. They only made me worse, which I was very frustrated by because I knew people who felt SO much improvement on them. My depression was so bad, though, that my doc was even starting to talk about WORSE things (to me) that I won't even go into here.

I had all but given up, thinking my depression had caused brain damage from which I could not recover. Seriously. It really frightened me, because my depression had some very physical consequences I did not understand. I did try various herbs and things, but none of them worked for me.

The one thing that finally did work for me, or at least set me on my way, was a book called "Worry" by Hallowell. I didn't THINK I was "worried," but the book cover just grabbed me while I was browsing in a bookstore. The guy writes in such a commonsense way about WHY I was thinking the way I was, and for the first time I began to understand that I had a normal brain that was functioning abnormally in abnormal circumstances. Situations and drugs can do that.

I hope the doctors are directing your Zoloft taper, because that should not be done on your own.

FT

tbeit

I also suffered terribly during my addiction. I would get so depressed I would stay in a dark room for weeks at a time. After I got clean it took time but I came around. I still have problems but not anything lie before. This sounds crazy but my shrink recommended a light that I attach to my hat. It could be all inmyhead but who cares it works for me. I am a big believer in holistic remedies but you need to be careful some are based in alcohol and you wouldn't want to trade one addiction for another. Remember the people in the health store have no training and only do what their managers tell them. Like sell the most profitable item

FNB3

[/QUOTE]Oh and by the way, I used to think i suffered depression, insomnia, anxiety, and a few other things...but strange enough once i got clean and sober they ALL went away. This may not be the same for you, but you never know! Good luck![/QUOTE]

So true...brings to mind the many dry times I've had in my life. Constantly creating physical and psychological ailments and using them as an excuse to lean on another substance or crutch.

I've gotten brief glimpses of sobriety over the years and the only constant theme was that I had to be a real risk taker emotionally to get there. And the minute I stopped actively working for sobriety it quickly vanished. For me it's one of the hardest things to ever find.

Know that sometimes the ailments are real, but don't assume that they are until you see what you are like until you have exhausted every avenue in overcoming the causes of those ailments. You may become sober and more emotionally deep and grown than most of the people you know.

krug

Melatonin over the counter for sleep, valerian root for anxiety, green tea, meditation or prayer, deep breathing, lots of water, exercise.

Harleybobber

Hey there Neecolio, I don't have any answers for you, but I just wanted to chime in and give you a little encouragement. I was taking Oxys by the bucketfull untill 32 days ago. It has been a hard fight, but slowly getting better. I wish you all the best in getting your life back, God knows it takes alot of courage to do it. It isn't easy or else everybody would quit. Good luck to you!