Kevin78

I have General/Social anxiety. I have always been very self-concious, Low self esteem. Scared to speak in front of AA as well. I badly need to start exercising, and was hoping to go to the Gym and maybe start swimming, But I did not have the confidence and was too anxious to go. I was this way before alcohol was a problem in my life.
I went to my GP today, as I have only recently discovered there are ways to help this. The Doctor prescribed me with 50mg of Sertraline to be taken once a day. I am also being referred to CBT for help.
If I can get this fixed, I think I would enjoy life much more.

I was just looking to find out if anyone has benefited from meds/therapy for this?

Soberwolf

I started on Setraline & was referred for therapy relating to my anxiety that I still do I recently changed my anti anxiety to Venlafaxine

Astro

I took an SSRI in early recovery, I'll refrain from mentioning medications because I know we'll all respond differently to what we're prescribed. I also went to therapy for a few months but my therapist suggested just going to AA because it brought me so much joy to attend meetings.

I think it requires a lot of things to get past anxiety to where we can enjoy life. For me it was meds, AA meetings, sunlight and fresh air, bicycling, healthy eating, morning meditations, and being around large groups of people. Sometimes I had to force myself to look someone in the eyes and smile at them. I was pretty shocked when people smiled back and I started making friends.

Kevin78

Thanks Astro. Yes, A combination of things together could be the answer. I started the meds today. It will probably be a few weeks yet for CBT. I am getting to about 3-4 AA meetings weekly, And enjoying them.

changingman

Hey, I had a lot of sife effects from venlafaxine, so was switched to setraline, so ifs horses for courses. I suffer from depression too though so maybe that has something to do with it. I do feel better after a week of setraline with only occasional anxiety flaring up. I'm having similar problems leaving the house to go to the gym but another week and I'm going for it.

bigsombrero

I take a very low dose of Lexapro daily, and have been for the past 1.5 years. It's been a wonderful help for my general anxiety. Stay patient, these things take a while to work. I didn't start feeling better for a couple of months. It's a very gradual process, don't worry if everything feels "weird" at first. Good luck!

Della1968

I take a low dose of Lexapro as well and it really has been a game changer for me. I also go to a therapist every other week. Good luck!

Astro

Great suggestion. I used to describe the way I felt as "cobwebs on the brain". Thankfully it went away.

Soberwolf

Thank you

SoberCAH

Thanks for bringing up this topic, Kevin.

Anxiety is a very serious matter and can make life miserable.

I agree with Astro that good mental health can result from a witches brew (to use a Halloween metaphor) of AA, exercise, meds, therapy, diet and trying to do the next right thing.

Kevin78

8 days on the meds now. I have had a few symptoms. Loss of appetite, Tiredness/Unmotivated etc. I felt anxious early on, It almost felt like a withdrawal. Today, I started off with a low mood, but this got better as the day went on. I had bloods taken today to check a few things, so get results in a few days. I just hope i'm over the worst of the side effects.

letitgo

I started out with setraline. I think alot of doctors use that first. I currently take 10 mg of lexapro which seems to help. The biggest game changer to my anxiety was to stop drinking. The meds help but take a month or two to start working. They market meds to make us think they will cure us. They will help but like Astro and SoberCAH said its really a combination of things. IMO the best thing is to stay busy and active. If your busy you cant dwell on anxiety. If you execerise you put your motivation towards working out the anxiety. I wish you well.