Anyone with an anxiety disorder...?

@cmriverside: actually, your message to me made me think much more strongly on this subject! many doctors jump straight to medication far too often, because that's what's been the culture for many years and ultimately the response that's come to be expected.

To anyone: I'm not knocking meds as bad/uneccesary/evil. I would still love to hear what other people have to say on the various points brought up in this thread, and also, your progress with your disorder and any coping skills that have helped you, medicated or otherwise. Remember, this isn't just for me. I know other people are reading, and just not choosing to respond, which is perfectly fine. The more opinions/information/stories we can offer each other, the better.

As many people have already stated: TALKING HELPS.

To answer about this:

To start with, I will describe Post Traumatic Stress for anyone that has never gone through it so they can understand it. It essentially boils down to being a combination of Stress, Depression, Anxiety and mood swings.

I went through severe mood swings (violent one moment, laughing the next, crying uncontrollably the next – all in the space of several minutes). Then there were the anxiety attacks (afraid to even go up to the counter in a store to purchase something; jumping at the slightest loud noise. I used to start crying if I was in a bar with my brother and he asked me to go up and buy a round of drinks. I used to give him the money and beg him to go up to the bar instead). There was also the bouts of nausea (I would start to feel sick as soon as I smelled food and would actually get sick as soon as the first bite of food hit my stomach). And the nightmares, I would stay awake for 30 hours or more because I was afraid to go to sleep; every time I closed my eyes I could see the incident that caused the PTSD clearly. I used to stay awake until I would, quite literally, collapse with exhaustion. Almost forgot the dermatitis; I suffered very badly with dermatitis on my hands during this period and I now know to use that as a good indication of if I am stressed about something. If I notice that my dermatitis is flaring up agin, I know that I am getting stressed out.

When I developed the Post Traumatic Stress 10 years ago, I was put on prozac for about 6 to 8 months.

I do believe that the prozac helped me through the darkest patches. I was attending a counsellor on a regular basis but the counsellor wasn’t there when I wished I had a gun to put to my head. I believe the prozac helped because those thoughts stayed as just that, thoughts. Even though I would have had more options than shooting myself, I never went any further than just wishing I could kill myself.

Eventually I was weaned off the prozac but I continued seeing the counsellor for several more years afterwards.

Does it still affect me? Yes. I still jump at times if there is a sudden unexpected loud noise. I still get nervous in social surroundings. I still have mood swings (a lot milder than they used to be though). I still sometimes am prone to crying for the least little thing. I no longer have nightmares however.

Am I coping with it? Yes. PTSD is something that never goes away. It can remain hidden for years and then something can trigger it off again. I live my life by knowing that PTSD could surface again, I just know how to keep an eye out for it and to recognise the possible symptoms.

So to conclude; everyone is different, but don’t knock medication for psychological conditions. Everybody is different but in my case, I do believe that the medication helped me by keeping me from committing suicide. I strongly believe that if it hadn’t been for the prozac and the counselling sessions, I wouldn’t be around today to post this reply.



p.s. If anyone involved in this thread wishes to send me a friend request, feel free to do so. Just let me know in the request that it is because of this thread. I don’t like sending out friend requests but generally will accept any I receive.

Absolutely not knocking anything here. There's another poster who requested meds and her doctor refuses to give them. There's also people like me, who do not want them, and have them pushed on them without being offered other alternatives, if any are to be found. It indeed is a situational matter. I had a friend that I believe was also saved from suicide through medication and counselling, because her behavior was so destructive to herself and her environment. And I'm REALLY glad that you're still around. Thank you for replying.

I generally stay off the forums now but I always try to keep an eye out for topics like this. I always encourage people to talk about their problems for one simple reason:

I sought help, 3 years ago my cousin didn't. I'm still around, he is not. :-(

Me, me, me!! I've struggled with anxiety/phobias for a long time. I think if anything, my anxiety drives me more to be healthy and to exercise. My anxiety involves a fear of getting sick. I had food intolerances that I didn't know about since I was a kid, and I got so used to being sick to my stomach all the time, it actually turned into a fear. I'm recently getting over it and doing much better, but now that I know my intolerances...I'm scared that they are in everything I eat. It's kind of just a huge relentless cycle. All I can suggest to you is counseling, yoga, and guided meditation to be more mindful of your emotions/sensations. You can look up great 15 min or so guided meditations on youtube.

I'm starting to think I do. My anxiety was really bad when I was pregnant, and though it's much better now, it's still abnormally high (in my opinion). I'm always worried that something bad will happen to my baby, or that someone will break in, or that I will have a wreck when driving at night.

I have panic/anxiety disorder. Before medication I would eat constantly because it would release serotonin into my body. Now I just take the serotonin pill aka Zolof and I do not eat anywhere near as much.

I self-diagnosed my anxiety shortly before my wedding last year. My fiance and I were going to the mall and we decided to park inside the parking garage and I pretty much flipped out. I've always known I had a dislike for certain things (closed in spaces, crowds, traffic,driving in the rain) but at that moment I realized my anxiety was way out of control, it was ruining/controlling my life. I was so stressed out, I could feel my blood pressure rising and I was scared to death to deal with something as stupid as parking in a garage.

My husband doesn't understand. He's the total opposite of me (cool about everything) and he thinks I'm being irrational. It's been very hard to control lately. My new anxiety trigger is my weight. I obsess over it and I honestly feel fatter now than I was three months ago and I've lost 20lbs. I think this anxiety stemmed out of the fact my husband came out and called me fat, and I also found out that my mother-in-law was talking about it with my husband behind my back. I guess I feel like I can't escape his judgement (let alone the whole world's, if the person I love is that judgmental, what does everyone else think?). It's very sad situation, but somehow I deal with it and I hope for it to improve as I reach my goal weight. I have some other very positive things going on in my life (my job) and it helps to balance everything out.

I have an anxiety disorder, too... I'm the kind of person that refuses to take even a Tylenol when I have a headache -- I HATE taking medicine, so I was really reluctant to start taking any for my anxiety. Then, it started to cause a lot of problems in my every day life. I would just be sitting on the couch watching TV or out shopping, and suddenly my heart would start racing and I would start shaking like crazy. Panic attack for no reason. It kept happening, and it didn't seem to be linked to situations or stress at all. Just a disorder. So, I started taking a very, VERY low dosage of Paxil in June 2010. I haven't had a panic attack since November 2010.

As far as it affecting my weight or diet, it really doesn't. On the rare occasion I do have a panic attack, I usually feel sick the rest of the day, so I don't eat much. That's about the only way it affects my weight at all -- so not really.

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.

Actually, there are many good reasons not to take meds for anxiety. Neuroscience (and our modern treatment of anxiety) is relatively new, and medication is still a far from perfect or easy solution. There are many side effects that come part and parcel of common anxiety medications, and as of yet there isn't any firm, specific 'anxiety' drug. It's a work in progress, but the decision to use medication should not be assumed to be a cure-all or necessarily even helpful. Some are quite dangerous - a reason many prefer behavioural therapy, which comes with fewer risks and a measurable success rate, over the unknown factor many medications tend to be.

I think perhaps you would benefit from some research in this area prior to making suggestions to others, particularly when said suggestions have an air of judgement about them. Brain chemistry is not as simple or well-understood as you seem to be assuming. Realistically, our base of knowledge has a distance to go - remember that it was not so long ago that lobotomies, insulin-induced comas and electroshock therapy were used without the slightest concern.

There is something about this response that I find quite troubling, but I really can't put my finger on it, because nothing said is anything I would disagree with strongly.

I find myself wanting to say that it's incredibly unlikely that there will ever be a specific 'anxiety' drug, simply because dealing with the brain chemistry is more difficult than dealing with any other part of the body. It also happens to be the least understood of the body's organ and therefore, yes, finding an effective treatment is difficult. God knows I've played 'musical meds' for years before I found a combination that works for me.

I do agree that behavioural therapy is quite useful for some people, but it's not for everyone and seeing a medical professional for your mental illness is a starting point to learning what is best for you. Some people need meds temporarily to get them to a place where they can actually work on behavior therapy.

I thoroughly believe that everyone should do their own research on options out there before making decisions or suggestions to other people, but unless people take their information from good sources and are self aware, even research and knowledge can be pretty useless. At this point I'm also going to say that I'm troubled when people say they are 'self diagnosed', unless it's backed up by a professional diagnoses I believe it's in question.

Lastly, simply because a treatment is new doesn't mean it should be treated a suspect, sometimes you have to take a chance on the possible long term side effects in order to have a happy productive life now. While the medication is not mental health related, my husband was put on a drug that received one of the fastest approvals the FDA has ever given. It was worth it. The second drug he was put on, had only been approved for less than six months. Again, worth it. Maybe there will be long term side effects to taking the meds, I personally hope he'll be around to find out. The same with medications for mental illness. I'm willing to take the chance.

The irony to all I've said is that one of my biggest anxiety triggers is actually dealing with medical professionals, but facing up such things is necessary and often the best course of action.

I'm not going to say that I'm sorry for going on about this, and on this thread in general, but over the years I've become very vocal about depression, anxiety and mental illness and disorders in general. I got really tired of having to make excuses for my viable illness, and I got tired of being ashamed of it, and I got tired of running in to people who were miserable and silent because they blamed themselves and had never heard anyone speak up about what they were going through.

I actually agree with nearly everything you said. My main objection is that I've seen many people in this thread argue that people NEED to use medication, and that they have no sympathy for those who don't. Blaming people who suffer from anxiety for not seeking treatment is harmful - especially considering that many actions involved in seeking treatment are not things someone with a severe anxiety problem are capable of (making phone calls, scheduling appointments, walking into a new building, etc). A lot of what I know is from a mixture of personal experience and academic research on the subject, and I've known many health professionals and laypersons who act like meds are a cure-all. It's not that simple. We shouldn't pretend that it is. I'm excited to see scientific progress in this area, and hope that one day greater knowledge on the subject will lead to treatment plans superior to those we have today. But we shouldn't dismiss those who are reluctant to take the risks inherent in new medical treatment in an area in which there is a relative lack of knowledge and understanding.

As well, I should make it clear that I'm not touting the superiority of behavioural therapy - like you said, it's not for everyone. But neither are meds. Which is why we shouldn't shame those who choose not to use them, or fail to recognize the risks.

And you have absolutely no reason to apologize; I appreciate your thoughtful and well-constructed response. Thank you!!