Mild attacks of anxiety: seek short-term treatment?

[questionAday]

Hi everyone,

I am in college out of state, and have been suffering mild anxiety attacks (2-3x daily) for about a month now.

About five years ago, I was diagnosed with clinically-significant general anxiety (co-morbid with ADD).

After trying four different SSRIs and Neurontin, I began a regimen of Adderall for ADD. Surprisingly, the Adderall helped with anxiety, and so I have taken solely Adderall for the past three years (20mg XR + 5mg Instant Release salts).

My current psychiatrist (at college) doesn't want to start treating this resurgent anxiety, because in six weeks I will fly back home for the summer. He would rather that I start treatment then. (Ironically, I have scheduled to take the certification test for my private pilot's license when I get back. So, I would much rather experiment with medication right now then over the summer.)

Unfortunately, the attacks of anxiety (panic attacks?) are still a pretty big problem for me. When I am experiencing them, I feel like something is terribly wrong, but cannot for the life of me figure out what it is. They generally last between 30 min and 1 hr. My psychiatrist strikes me as rather conservative when it comes to prescribing medication. So, it was unsurprising that he did not want to prescribe anything for the next six weeks of school (besides a refill of Adderall).

A bit about myself: I am male, 5'9", 155lbs, and have 9% body fat (I exercise 3-4x per week). I avoid most processed food, and try to eat as well as I can. I meet with a college therapist once a week for anxiety. My grades are good, but have dropped somewhat in recent weeks. I do not want to go through another six weeks of this.

Right now, my anxiety over not being treated for anxiety is probably my largest contributor to stress.

So, I ask the forum at large: what, if anything, should I do about this? With no history of addiction or dependence to prescription medication, and none in my immediate family, should I seek a short-acting anxiolytic? If you feel that I should at least explore the option, what would be the best way to do so?

Thanks.


(Note: I am not looking to antagonize, embarrass, or provoke my current psychiatrist. Changing psychiatrists is an option, but not one that would bring about acute relief.)

[anxiousmess]

hiya and welcome to the forum :)

have you spoken to your pyschiatrist about your plans when you do go back home? and have you told him about how your grades have dropped recently due to your anxiety?

it sounds to me as though you want to take meds, only you don't want to ask your psychiatrist about them again.
remember, this is your body and it is probably your anxiety that is leading you to not want to ask him again.

if your life is being affected by your anxiety, and you want to take meds to help you get back on track. tell him your concerns and reasons for wanting the meds. explain how it worked in the past, and you think it will work again :)

[tommyf]

Hey, Quickly about me - I had times when I thought I was loosing it, going mad and literally going to explode with anxiety. I had OCD for 15 years (NOW GONE) I was suicidal for a while and just felt like there was no way out. Well there is and however you are feeling as the wise old words say "it will pass". I went on citalopram reluctantly when I became very low but I learned that if I really wanted to be free of anxiety, I had to face it head on and these are the tools I used.

The key is practicing not giving energy to the neurotic / "what if"/ anxious thoughts. They are only thoughts, not even of your making (until you give them energy). They are a product of the subconscious mind, a fearful, scared part of your mind which is just trying to keep you safe from potential dangers. How do you know they are not your thoughts?? Because YOU can sit and listen to them so how can they really be yours???!! Yes they are inside you but they are not part of the real you!!! Think of it this way - what do we hold on to longer a compliment or a criticism? Im betting most people would say they hold on to a criticism longer yes? Well, if you had the choice, which would you hold onto? A compliment, right, as it feels better?! But we dont, we get consumed by the criticism!! Why???? Because WE are NOT choosing!!!! Its our conditioned minds that are choosing!!! The way we have been influenced our whole lives by our parents, teachers, friends, the media it has all built up to make us who we think we are!!!! Dont believe it?? Just ask yourself in any situation if you would choose to be that way? If you wouldnt, you are not choosing!!! The beauty is that in order to reclaim our power from our conditioned minds, we just have to be aware that we are not choosing, thats all. No happy clappy positive bullshit (which can make you feel worse!) Just be aware that you are not choosing and ask yourself what you would ideally choose instead. This starts off the process of separating from your conditioned mind and after a while it looses its power as you know it is not reality. Like any skill, it takes practice, but what a skill to have!!!

I know what its like to feel high anxiety all day and its f*ucking horrible. This is how I beat it - if you can say to yourself "ok Im feeling anxious it is horrible but there is no way of 'thinking' my way out of it, I will just tie myself in knots as I always do and end up making it worse. The best thing I can do is just hold on tight, ride it out and wait for it to pass and it WILL pass, it always does".

Your mind will give you all sorts of 'what ifs' about everything, trying to get you to engage. If you can remain present by not giving energy to these thoughts when they come, that is the key to the door out of it. You need to practice, practice, practice not getting carried off into the past or the future by your worried mind. One way of doing it is feeling what you are feeling, however you are feeling in your body. Just feel it. The mind will say things like "it is horrible, i hate it, i dont want to feel it" that is fine but the fact is, you are feeling it so you might as well do your best to accept it, as fighting it only makes it worse.

You will be fine

Tom

[liveitup898]

Tommyf -

Very well put. Thank you for your insight...seriously.

[knp]

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This all are helping with anxiety and panic
It is said that inositol works for physical anxiety

Also google inositol for anxiety