end of the road

[bananxiety10]

Friends, I am sending out a post as a desperate plea for help. I have suffered from severe generalized anxiety for 5 years. I tried many things for my symptoms and eventually settled on 4mg of clonazepam at night. My symptoms were severe insomnia, contstant ear ringing, constant tremor, and severe irritability. The clonazepam controlled the symptoms, but leaves me with a hangover every morning and cloudy for a couple of hours after waking up, however it is no longer working. My symptoms are coming back 1 at a time, and the medicine is apparently no longer working. I can not imagine taking a higher dosage, it will but me on disability, I will not be able to work and will end up sleeping 18 hours a day. Are there any new/different meds that might help, I feel hopeless and out of options.

[Charmbracelet81]

HAve you tried therapy? Not counseling, but therapy. I know its expensive & alot of insurance plans don't cover mental health, but I have been going for 7 months and see a huge difference. I have been anxious my whole life, even been put on st. johns wort when I was 11, but finally when I had literally a nervous breakdown, I sought help. I have yet to be put on medication. The therapist says I will benefit more in the short and long terms if I dont use medication. I am not against it, however, and at times I wish I had the extra help, but therapy has helped tremendously. Let me know.

[bananxiety10]

cb81, thank you for the suggestion. No, I haven't tried therapy yet. I might be open to the idea, but I think that I fall into the severe category. Believe me, I hate the medicine. I'm exhausted most of the morning. I never feel like I had a good nights sleep, and I've heard it's really hard to get off of clonazepam, but it was the only thing that provided any relief when this all started. I have an appt with my dr. this week and will discuss therapy.

thanks again

[bananxiety10]

cb81, just a question. If you had a full blown breakdown, or close to it, I'm very suprised that you were never put on medication. I'm happy to hear you can function without it, and I hope you never have to go on it, but how could they possibly not put you on something when you had your breakdown?

[Iridisis]

What is the difference between counseling and therapy? I cannot afford either, but am curious.

I have been on clonezapam, .05 mg 4 x day for several years. I have always been anxious but starting 2006 the economy affected us and I don't think I will ever be the same. The medicine barely phases me now, and when I have a bad upset I take more than prescribed. A couple of months ago, there was a mix-up and I ran out and didn't know they had called in a refill. I got bad news about one of my PT jobs and did not sleep for two nights. Combined with the fact that I had been out of the med for nearly two weeks, I thought I was going to have to call 911 and I have no insurance. Fortunately, I was able to get a friend to drive me to the pharmacy and get my refill. I think it's safe to say that I'm addicted. With so much chronic stress, I don't know what else to do. It BARELY works. Just takes a tiny little edge off.

[Charmbracelet81]

I went to the ER and everything thinking I was dying. They did heart tests and all that other blood work and all they found was a bladder infection and said I had a panic attack...gave me amoxicillan and sent me on my way. Ever since that "breakdown" I havent been the same. Like I said, I have been anxious all my life, but never like this to where no matter what I do, fear is attached to it. I see a phsychologist not a psychiatrist, so she cant prescrive but still says that from what she hears out of my mouth I dont need to be on meds. Sometimes I am skeptical, but oh well. I could use something for sleep time though, thats for sure!

[Charmbracelet81]

Iridisis: Counseling is more like listening to your problems and giving you coping skills, I know becuase I tried it. Therapy is just that: therapy. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to be exact. Its like if you hurt your leg badly you would go to therapy to repair it. Well CB Therapy reprograms your mind, which is what we with anxiety and panic have a problem with. You do different exposures of things you are afraid of, or afraid to do, you learn how to deal during a panic attack, techniques to use, all sorts of things. Makes you feel alot less like YOU have a problem and more like there's just a disorder. There are so many resources my therapist has given me that help me. Im not saying counseling is bad, jus that I would rather solve my problems rather than just talk about them. What my therapist calls it is "cognitive restructuring." Pretty much fixing the brain that took over our MINDS!!!! :shock:

[palow]

I believe that CBT is the only way to cure anxiety disorders for good. That and making enough lifestyle changes so that whatever caused that initial trauma is out of your life.

I hope one day all of us who had anxiety disorders will take out a class-action lawsuit against the pharmaceutical industry for making anxiety sufferers take drugs meant for mental illnesses like bipolar disorder.

Anxiety is not an illness. Anxiety is a natural reflex all animals have for survival. We just accidentally programmed our anxiety for DEFCON 1 and can't get it to reset. But CBT will help you to reset. Trouble is, it takes time and practice. You must change all the mental and behavioral habits that are associated with your anxiety attacks. It's not an overnight thing. But if you do what you're told, it can't fail. You will recover.

If you can't afford CBT, the next best thing is try one of those programs you can buy off the internet like Linden Method. They're pretty cheap. If you can't afford that, there's always the local library. Try books by Claire Weekes. There's also a good one called The Worry Trap by Chad Lejeune. But if you have a severe case, you might need a structured program that a book may not be able to provide.

Have to warn you, CBT takes time, commitment and ability to accept some difficult truths about yourself. Sometimes it doesn't even make sense because your anxiety has used logic against you. All I can say is that I followed instructions and recovered from a case of GAD that lasted 11 years.

PL

[Charmbracelet81]

Palow-thanks for the encouragement. It will be a year in April that my mind "reset" for combat!!!!!! 7 months of therapy down, and you are right, it takes a while to sort things out & start recovery, and at times it feels you are geting nowhere, but it is working!! Glad to hear that after suffereing so long, CBT is how you recovered!! New hope for me, thanks!

[palow]

You're welcome, CBracelet! But hey, don't keep track of how long you've been in therapy and don't say you need new hope. You've already recovered, judging by your attitude. Just treat any anxiety attack like you would a fly buzzing around you.

I still get an anxiety attack out of the blue every now and then (due to some things about my current job that I have not phased out yet). But I have a memorized checklist of things that automatically kick in now that flip all the negative thoughts that accompanies the attack into cool happy thoughts. They never last long if I don't pay attention to them.

Keeping track of whether or not you're cured will keep the Anxiety Beast alive. That's what I learned from Linden.

[Charmbracelet81]

Good idea on not keeping track of time-it's only another control piece to add to the anxiety. I am now beginning exposure therapies, starting with restaurants, so I am working on my hierarchy now for that. Next, we are going to do shopping places, then driving, since that's the order that gives me the most anxiety/panic. I even got anxious writing the hierarchy & picturing the senarios for example "Going to a restaurant out of town that is crowded & have to wait to be seated." So, I will keeo posted how this exposure goes! Thanks again

[anxietyguy]

I was on about 5 different types of anti depressant during my time with anxiety and in tru they only had a mild effect for me if any

I think the energy thats driving the anxiety needs to be dealt with

hav eyou tried eft ? I think its great and has worked where nothing else has.

I hope you find respite soon

[palow]

Emotional Freedom Tapping? Yes! Once I was guided through it in a group setting and it was amazing. It was about a year and a half ago. Afterwards, I tried to do it myself from some online instructions but I got all confused and gave up.

Thanks for reminding me. I'll have to investigate that further. The people who showed it to me were from England and doing a quick workshop where I live so they're no longer around.

Can you learn this yourself or do you have to take a course? I found I couldn't phrase the statements to tap to the way they did. I came up with half-assed statements that didn't seem to have the same effect.

PL