Anyone with an anxiety disorder...?

KarmaxKitty

I self diagnosed myself with an anxiety disorder about a year ago, and had it confirmed with a doctor...who then immediately began to prescribe me pills. I refused to take them, because I know that there are other ways of dealing with this frustration. And thus far it's been getting along fairly well, as long as I can control my personal items and don't get faced with too much outward sourced stress.

Anyone have an anxiety disorder, either medicated or nonmedicated? Does it have any influence on your weightloss/fitness goals? And how do you deal with it, or what are your strategies for tackling the anxiousness about...everything?

babyblake11

im pretty sure i have a bit of anxiety too. it would probably be easier for me to go on medication but i know i can handle it and not let it get me down.
lately ive been increasing what ive been eating because i havnt been eating quite enough and my anxiety kicks in sometimes and tells me im going to get fat but i can kick that feeling most of the time, because i know what i'm doing is better for my body. you've just got to be strongwilled and do whats best for your body.

christine24t

I don't have anxiety disorder but my sister does, and the medication helped A LOT. My sister's attitude towards life changed 180 degrees, and now she is a much more positive person, and not so anxious. I'm not sure why you don't want to take the pills, but they didn't affect my sister's weight very much.

snazzygirl

Hey there Kittygamer.

I was diagnosed about 5 years ago with panic attacks and anxiety disorder. My doctor started me on Lexapro, but I didn't want to take the medication at all. I wasn't going to take them but my husband and my parents really gave me no option. (I thank them now.) After starting the medicaiton I gained about 40 pounds within a couple of months and was so upset about that it was ridiculous. I continued staying on the meds though because I couldn't function well enough without them. Although I gained a lot of weight at first, I don't think it has affected my ability to lose weight. Also just becuase I gained a lot of weight doesn;t mean you or anyone else will. Part of the weight gain could have just been that I wasn't using up so much energy being in such a nervous state constantly. I guess my point is that you have to do what is right for you. If you can manage the anxiety with out the meication then there shouldn't be any reason why you would have to take meds. but if you are finding that you are having more bed days than good, maybe try the medcaiton. You never know, you might just find yourself happier because you are less anxious!
Good luck,
Shelly-

SparkleShine

I have anxiety/depression which I am medicated for. Exercise will help boost your mood for sure. Some people just have a chemical imbalance which can really be helped with meds. I understand you're being cautious though. *hugs* sweetie. Message me if you want.:flowerforyou:

Sherry1979

I've never been diagnosed by a doctor but I'm pretty sure I have it to some degree. I think mine is social anxiety. A lot of my weight gain has came from being depressed and I'm pretty sure the anxiety has a lot to do with that too. Good luck in finding what works for you.

runner328

No offense but it doesn't sound like you are dealing w/ it very well. The need to control your personal items and not being able to face stress is effecting your quality of life. The doctor is a doctor for a reason if you do not take the meds you will never know if they help. Plenty of people take meds for anxiety refusing to take the pills doesnt make you stronger than them just sicker. If you are not in counseling I would recommend it.

littleali

Yep yep yep! I have diagnosed anxiety amongst a myriad of other things. I'm on Lexapro and Rivotril atm, but have been on a lot of other meds. Never affected my weight and has helped SO much in managing my attacks and general feelings of anxiety, as well as helping my borderline and depression! yay for pills! In terms of dealing with it, without meds...I don't. I cry and can't breathe and feel like I'm going to die. So...not great. It was never the reason for my weight gain, but it is a branch of my borderline disorder (which has also caused my ednos) so it is part of the weightloss for sure. Feel free to message me!

Bethannny

I have generalized and social anxiety. I have been on several medications for it, but found that they helped my anxiety, but they made me more depressed so I'm currently unmedicated and am trying to find other ways to deal with it. I have a lot of trouble being around people too much. Since I work everyday, I tend to almost always cheat on my diet and I go on binges to deal with the stress. Unlike most, I actually stay on my diet when I'm just at home all day lol

HollyTsiaussis

I have high anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, and a slight hint of OCD. It honestly sucks. Worst of all, it makes me give in to my cravings a lot more. It makes it much harder to lose weight, but it can be done. And no, I am not on medication. However, I will take a xanex two or three times a week when I get really anxious.

wickedcricket

well i'd recommend meds & therapy until you learn coping skills - I am off all meds except ativan for panic attacks. yes, it definitely affects my weight, since I 'comfort' myself with mac & cheese or other fattening carbs - I've been known to bake & eat an entire batch of brownies.

I've found peer support invaluable- if you have someone you can vent to -
keeping a journal helps me
there's a book - YOU CAN BE HAPPY NO MATTER WHAT by Richard Carlson, PhD - it proposes that WE control our thoughts, NOT the other way round - it takes A LOT of practice but I AM happier
u can friend me if you like

HannahPastoor

I also self diagnosed myself. But have a terrible fear of doctors so I haven't been. It started in Jan 2009 when I had to get a few shots because my fam was adopting. Normally we don't get them. After that I was dizzy, had anxiety attacks and depression. Before that I was fine. Since then I have random attacks, episodes of depression and get attacks of extreme dizziness.

I have found that walking with my dog works AMAZING for me. I prefer walking in the woods near our house because it is peaceful. I also stop drinking coffee for a few days if I have a attack, listen to music and read.

I will not take meds (only the occasional Tylenol) or get shots again unless forced.

Fell free to add me as a friend!

htimpaired

I have OCD, was diagnosed five years ago maybe six. I also work as a therapist, so I have experience both as the patient and the provider. I do take medication, but I've had successful and not so successful periods of recovery both off and on medication. I find that my anxiety overall is much better since I started watching what I ate and exercising regularly. During the period of time a few years ago when the symptoms were at their worst, I was not exercising and eating the wrong foods-I gained weight and felt awful. So I think well rounded health is essential to managing anxiety, regardless of taking medication or not.

shaffer7110

I been diagnosed with anxiety with panic attacks. Dr also tried to put me on meds, but I refused to take them.
I am new here so please bare with me
The dr gave me all kinds of " technique" to do when I am in a panic. Unless you have them you really don't have a clue. You can sympathize with the person having one, but still no clue. Not to be rude but that just the truth. It's like you watching someone who has broken a legg. You know it hurts and you try understand. Unless your legg is broke you really don't know what they are going through.
Exercise to stop panic or slow panic for me doesn't help. I can hit the gym and still be as anxious as if I didn't.
I sorry I wasn't much help.

sarahcs424

I've had an anxiety disorders and panic attacks since elementary school. I was medicated for awhile but it just quit helping. I now do not take anything and for awhile it was hard. I think that this weight loss journey has actually helped because I haven't had a panic attack for about a month!

runner328

Unless you have them you really don't have a clue. You can sympathize with the person having one, but still no clue. Not to be rude but that just the truth. It's like you watching someone who has broken a legg. You know it hurts and you try understand. Unless your legg is broke you really don't know what they are going through.

This is so true!

sarahcs424

I agree! I've felt amazing since I changed my eating and exercise habits! It makes me keep going because I don't want to take all these different medications anymore!

squigglypuff

i was diagnosed with anxiety, depression, & panic disorder almost ten years ago. my dad is bipolar and shows signs of schizophrenia, so i hope i don't find myself there later. i was first on prozac, then celexa, then finally klonopin. prozac killed my dreams and creativity, so i stopped taking it after 4-5 years. then my anxiety became out of control, so my doctor put me on celexa (another anti-depressant) but i didn't want to take it because i hated the prozac so much. about 2-3 years after that, a different doctor gave my klonopin for my anxiety ... & that was BAD NEWS. i definitely gained weight from being on meds, especially since they made me not care about anything (& that includes my appearance/weight).

i didn't take my klonopin (clonazepam) daily, i only took it "as needed" & i did so very irresponsibly. i would intentionally take extra, or chew them, or otherwise ingest them. sometimes i would drink and blackout because that's what happened to my body when i mixed klonopin and alcohol. eventually i stopped taking them altogether because they barely helped with my anxiety, they actually made my depression WORSE, & i had a, um, let's say life-changing experience during one klonopin/alcohol black out that i can't remember but i'll never forget ... i'll leave it at that.

on a happy note -- my anxiety and depression really faded a lot once i started exercising! i get discouraged on some days, but i try to redirect my bad emotions into something better now, no hiding it with pills and alcohol.

sarahcs424

I have OCD, was diagnosed five years ago maybe six. I also work as a therapist, so I have experience both as the patient and the provider. I do take medication, but I've had successful and not so successful periods of recovery both off and on medication. I find that my anxiety overall is much better since I started watching what I ate and exercising regularly. During the period of time a few years ago when the symptoms were at their worst, I was not exercising and eating the wrong foods-I gained weight and felt awful. So I think well rounded health is essential to managing anxiety, regardless of taking medication or not.

I agree! I've felt amazing since I changed my eating and exercise habits! It makes me keep going because I don't want to take all these different medications anymore!

RhonndaJ

~hand raised~...Yeah. Anxiety. Depression. Medicated and thrilled to have finally found a combination that actually works for me. It's pretty much the core of why I weigh what I do, due to comfort eating, and I do think the stabilising medication is 50 percent of my being able to start to get a grasp on losing weight. I still work with coping strategies because the meds aren't and won't ever be 100 percent. Today being a point in case.

I've gone through bouts of going off my meds, in part because I hate the idea of having to rely of medication and I do believe that a lot of doctors are too quick to medicate. However, if a person has been living with the illness for a long period of time (no, I don't think a couple of weeks counts) medication is often necessary, even if it is only as a means to get to a point where you can learn the skills you need to cope without the meds.

The reality is it's an illness. A treatable illness. And sadly one that still carries a stigma making those who 'suffer' from it believe that they should be able to 'cure' it without medical intervention. Yes, some people can accomplish that, but try to recognise your personal limitations on fighting the illness.

abyt42

I was on buspar for a while: it helped tremendously. The longest lasting, most effective chemical change for me was becoming pregnant; however, I don't recommend it as a cure for anxiety. I just had the strongest sense of "well, it's okay, then" when I was pregnant, and it's carried on for the 8.5 years my kids have been around.

Now when I worry, it's in the range of stuff I can deal with, and it's within the human realm of possibility. (will I get the work done on time? Who'll feed the cats when I'm on vacation) rather than the overwhelming sense of wrongness I had about the world before the buspar and hormone shift.

victoriashea

The Lexapro and Klonopin I took never affected my weight directly (as in, not in a chemical way). However I, like you, refused to take them after a while. I didn't like feeling like a basket case. That was one of the worst decisions of my life.
Diagnosed with OCD, GAD, and panic disorder at the age of 13, I had the misfortune of manifesting my obsession in weight loss as a controllable compulsion. This gave way to anorexia nervosa which spun my life into chaos like no panic attack ever could until I was sixteen. At sixteen I abused weight loss pills (ephedrine)-- while continuing to ignore my Lexapro, Klonopin, and Welbutrin-- to the point where I entered a state of psychosis. To battle this state of psychosis I entered a state psych ward. There I gained back all of my ED weight and my sanity.
So yes, my anxiety greatly affected my weight loss.
Please take your meds.

shoshi68

I have anxiety and depression, controlled with meds and rigorous "mental hygiene." - for me, that is, eating right, getting enough good quality sleep, exercise, and, if I am really doing it right, meditation. My anxiety/depression has a seasonal affective component, so winter is a low functional time for me. I have to work hard, with all parts of my regime, to keep healthy.

This site has helped me a great deal to take control and responsibility of my food issues (I eat when anxious and/or depressed), without triggering anxiety over keeping track (counting calories used to literally keep me up at night as I obsessively counted them).

Anyway, that is my deal.

Thanks for bringing it up! It helps to talk about it!

runner328

The Lexapro and Klonopin I took never affected my weight directly (as in, not in a chemical way). However I, like you, refused to take them after a while. I didn't like feeling like a basket case. That was one of the worst decisions of my life.
Diagnosed with OCD, GAD, and panic disorder at the age of 13, I had the misfortune of manifesting my obsession in weight loss as a controllable compulsion. This gave way to anorexia nervosa which spun my life into chaos like no panic attack ever could until I was sixteen. At sixteen I abused weight loss pills (ephedrine)-- while continuing to ignore my Lexapro, Klonopin, and Welbutrin-- to the point where I entered a state of psychosis. To battle this state of psychosis I entered a state psych ward. There I gained back all of my ED weight and my sanity.
So yes, my anxiety greatly affected my weight loss.
Please take your meds.

Wow thank you for being so candid. I wish more people were willing to tell their story so honestly.

songbyrdsweet

I was diagnosed with moderate-severe anxiety and moderate depression over a year ago. I started with CBT, but my therapist and I agreed that it would be helpful to start medication. I started on Prozac but got mad migraines, so I switched to Celexa 40mg/day and felt SO much better. I recently added Wellbutrin because the Celexa kept me pretty tired all day and I was sick of taking 2 hour naps (don't get me wrong, I love naps, but that was disruptive). I also had disordered eating and severe body dysmorphic disorder at the time. Since I got my meds worked out I have been feeling AMAZING! Sure I still have rough days like everyone, but now I handle them in stride rather than having a panic attack in the cell culture room where no one will find me.
I didn't gain any weight from the meds and I haven't lost any because of them either. The Wellbutrin helped me have more energy so I missed fewer workouts, but they generally don't prescribe that to people with a past ED or anxiety. I only got it as a trial run and it happened to work well for me.

mariam446

Yes, lot of anxiety, and what it does is make me sick and no appetite. not taking any medicines either.

christine24t

The reality is it's an illness. A treatable illness. And sadly one that still carries a stigma making those who 'suffer' from it believe that they should be able to 'cure' it without medical intervention. Yes, some people can accomplish that, but try to recognise your personal limitations on fighting the illness.

I'm with you on this one. Anxiety is a chemical imbalance in your brain. It is not your personality that causes the anxiety, it is chemicals in your brain. Do not be afraid to take a medication to fix it. You would put a cast on a broken leg, you would take insulin if you were diabetic. So why are people so scared to treat a chemical imbalance with medication?

songbyrdsweet

The reality is it's an illness. A treatable illness. And sadly one that still carries a stigma making those who 'suffer' from it believe that they should be able to 'cure' it without medical intervention. Yes, some people can accomplish that, but try to recognise your personal limitations on fighting the illness.

I'm with you on this one. Anxiety is a chemical imbalance in your brain. It is not your personality that causes the anxiety, it is chemicals in your brain. Do not be afraid to take a medication to fix it. You would put a cast on a broken leg, you would take insulin if you were diabetic. So why are people so scared to treat a chemical imbalance with medication?

Agreed. It's just like a diabetic taking insulin.

erinoldham19

i have depression, anxiety and panic attacks.. i refused medication for a long time with fear of weight gain and it being a waste of time..until this past april where the panic attacks got so bad that i couldn't do ANYTHING my hear traced my breathing become so bad i thought i was going to pass out, i couldn't concentrate on anything and couldn't handle things going on around me.. i couldn't go to the store top get food for the family i couldn't handle being around people, except my husband and kids.. i felt safe with them.. granted i still had attacks but they weren't that bad around them..
i stopped cleaning the house and caring about my self (even more so than before, i have always had bad self esteem issues, this just made it worse)
after my husband demanding i go see a dr who suggested i see a therapist and start meds.. i started taking celexa, and ativan.. i was on those 2 for a bit then the dr added abilify.. then my therapist suggested i see a psychiatrist who stopped those meds and put me on klonopins and viibryd.
i am doing better but i have gained some weight. i dont know if the weight gain is due to the depression and anxiety or the medication but either way i wasn't eating well for a couple months..
now i'm trying to get back into a workout routine and log my food everyday.. EXERCISE is key.. its a way to exert anxiety and it helps make depression better.. its just getting off your butt to do it that is the hardest..the endorphines that are released while exercising are amazing..
depending on how bad your anxiety is you might want to think of a medication to get things mellowed out a bit work on the stressors get into a routine and then see how things are going.. worst case you can always stop taking meds (after talking to your dr) just because you use meds doesn't mean you are any less of a person than anyone else.. like it was mentioned above some people just have chemical imbalances (which is not anyones fault but genetics) so medication is necessary..
good luck keep your head up and take it day by day or hour by hour..

Anoble17

I have really bad anxiety. I'm prescribed Xanax but I only take it when I'm hyperventilating and can't breathe (which happens once every few months now). I don't really know what changed with my anxiety. I work out more, I do group activities. I still get anxious in large crowds, like going to Walmart on a Sunday FORGET IT. You can beat it. And when you do, you will be SO much happier.

KarmaxKitty

OP, here~~~!

Thanks, everyone.

I HAVE been finding specific ways of coping, and like a couple of members have said, excercise and nutrition really do help. Trust me, in the year and some change that I've been struggling, I weighed to pros and cons of being on meds. I fully understand that it IS an illness. But just like many other illnesses, there is more than one way to treat. For me (not that it's bad for anyone else), it simply isn't an option I can bring myself to. I've thought very thoroughly about it, meditated on it, searched within myself, and realized that I cannot. I don't know if anyone understands that.

The control of my personal items hasn't gotten out of control. It's more like the need to know how everything is, what it's doing. And only in relation to my personal space (read: my own room), and not things that people have borrowed. I finally fixed that one haha. I no longer self harm, or overfeed, although, as another memember has said (i cannot find the name now), i do have to force myself to eat and do right by my body and ignore the "you will just get fatter" talk.

I turned most of my energy and strong fixation tendencies into going to the gym and picking up new hobbies. :laugh:

If anyone has other coping tendencies, I would surely love to know.