Generalized anxiety disorder directly linked to depression

[Twobluebutterflie]

I suffer from severe generalized anxiety disorder since my early childhood, and by suppressing my anxiety which i didn't know about because i was born this way, i was anxious all the time and don't know about it and trying to live normally like everyone around me by suppressing anxiety until at 17 i had a panic attack and after recovering from it i thought it was a one time thing and kept suppressing my anxiety and it lead to severe depression and all types of bad feelings and feeling like a zombie a body without a soul.

i believe that if you have depression, you might just be anxious about something for a long time.

i don't know if someone having GAD is becoming any better by any medications ?

[jbean21]

I believe, as well, that depression can be a sign of long-standing anxiety. I once heard that depression was anger turned inward. I would also venture to say that depression is anxiety turned inward. I am dealing with anxiety and depression and think that my depression came about as a result of anxiety.

Depression is like a state of inactivity as a compensory mechanism after a period of extreme cognitive activity which characterizes my anxiety. Racing thoughts overtax the body and result in its shutdown (depression)?

I haven't started any meds, but feel like that is going to happen. I wouldn't take meds without doing therapy b/c meds, at least to me, feel like a mask to whatever underlying issues that are causing the anxiety and depression. I want to be able to feel less anxious without medication...if that possible.

[Twobluebutterflie]

Hi Jbean
you couldn't say it any better.
The word "Shutdown" is exactly what describes depression perfectly and that's exactly what i told my therapist but he couldn't understand !!

you are totally right about not starting meds because they don't heal, i stopped going this way too. If your anxiety is recent because of real life tensions, therapy will work for you. But what i strongly recommend before going to therapy that you check on your health, if the anxiety is FOR NO reason or the anxiety is not proportionate with the importance of the underlying reasons, it is often your body trying to tell you there is something wrong.

I had a blood test to check levels of vitamin D because it's deficiency causes anxiety and depression, so many people with anxiety and depression are vitamin D deficient. without even noticing it, you start feeling blue. Vitamin D is produced in our bodies when we are exposed to the sun. That's why we all feel a little down in winter.
And as expected, i am deficient in vitamin D and magnesium. There is a thread about that in the depression forum about how vitamin D cured some people's anxiety.

[Anne1221]

I think everyone is different. I keep trying to get off my medication, but when I do I cry all the time and my anxiety is so bad it is crippling. So for me, I have to take it and it helps immensely.

[Nic Marsella]

I think everyone is different. I keep trying to get off my medication, but when I do I cry all the time and my anxiety is so bad it is crippling. So for me, I have to take it and it helps immensely.

my problem is the exact opposite....I moved to florida from the northeast two years ago and I've had six psychiatrists since. I was on this magic cocktail of Effexor, valium, amino acid/magnesium/GABA supplements and next thing you know, no psychiatrists will prescribe me any valium, and my primary care doctor just gives me Toprol XL because he says it's not anxiety, it's just a rapid heartbeat. and also, "you're fat enough" (completely different subject, but i'm 6'6" and 265bs, i'm not fat and that doesn't do anything good for what little self esteem I have left) and valium will make me "fatter".

some days I feel like i'd be better off sitting in my garage all day long in the peace and quiet and dark and cool and not ever coming out again....until anxiety and the inevitable panic attack hits.

[Twobluebutterflie]

I think everyone is different. I keep trying to get off my medication, but when I do I cry all the time and my anxiety is so bad it is crippling. So for me, I have to take it and it helps immensely.

Hi Anne
i know exactly how you feel about the crippling anxiety. I cry all the time also and my life is put on hold from a year ago. The problem is that these meds are making you dependent on it and that's wrong. They are not healing. May be it is just your body lacking some vital vitamin and can't function. As i mentioned before, mane people suffering from anxiety turned out to be Vitamin D deficient like myself.And it's by total chance that i discovered that. Vitamin D is vital and regulates calcium and magnesium levels which controls your moods and tention. So the chemical imbalance of my body is a key factor in my anxiety and depression. But no therapist bothers to check if i am healthy or not.
so while on your meds, you can just get your blood tested for vitamin D3 (25-OH) and calcium levels and see what are the results. If the results came out to be deficient, you can get vitamin D3 supplements, get your body to a healthy state and most probably don't need to take meds for the rest of your life like the person who wrote the thread"Vitamin D3 cured my anxiety"

[Anne1221]

I have gotten both vitamin D checked and calcium checked (they were actually checked for a sleep study). Both levels were fine.

[Twobluebutterflie]

the vitamin D level to be healthy shall be from 50 ng/ml to 70 ng/ml. So some doctors would say that a level of 30 ng is fine but it isn't. so could you check the results again

[cloudy black]

that sounds so familiar. i just didnt know what it was and it only became "clear" when my GP diagnosed it by then i was in my 30's. i cant say that having a label has helped all that much.

[Twobluebutterflie]

that sounds so familiar. i just didnt know what it was and it only became "clear" when my GP diagnosed it by then i was in my 30's. i cant say that having a label has helped all that much.

Hi cloudy black, i am interested to know what you have been through till now
my doctors didn't diagnose me with it but after years of experience, i know very well my feelings to diagnose it myself.

[RoderickLariviere]

Yes, proper medication and therapy is the only way to get rid of anxiety and depression, you will become much better.
I have a nice experience of taking medication, it help me a lot with my anxiety.

[cloudy black]

my GP suggested i take it every other day as i was reluctant to even take any. that was last year. as with meds i dont get any worse but i dont get any better either. :{

[Anne1221]

Taking medication every other day may not be sufficient. There are rare people who don't get helped, but most people do. Don't give up until you find a medication and a doctor that will help you.

[cloudy black]

thing is my GP practice is just so unhelpful. Now they have a new system where you have to phone up and it has to be at a certain time which means the switch board gets jammed its a joke. prior to this i could make an appoint at GP practice and on one occasion i was so out of sorts i went to the GP practice to make an appoint as i had always done and the receptionist told me i had to ring for an appointment at which point i just lost it and shouted fine if you want to scape me up off the road and flew out of the building. by the time i had got back to the flat the phone was ringing. i really do get on with the doctor i see. its all the crap i cant deal with. and yeah i could move to another practice but they are all going this way and anyway i have not had a very good track record with GP's in the past. so the situation is well what can i say. regarding medication i have taken 4 different types in the space of barely 2 years. maybe i am one of those people who are impervious to medication.

[cloudy black]

hello RoderickLariviere. you are lucky then because it sure don't work for me plus i get no end of side effects one of which is not being able to think straight. so i kinda given up on the meds just take these i am on every other day in the sense that at least i am doing something as far as my brain is concerned. mind tricks