Can I get better without meds?

[eyeeye]

This is getting silly now. Every day I convince myself I have some new disease. I don't even have to know what the disease is/what its symptoms are (infact I usually have no clue as I have banned myself from Googling!) It was MS, then ALS (not sure what this is!) then any autoimmune disease...etc etc. IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY! And my poor boyfriend. Not sure whether to just cave in and get some drugs?!

[jstbtfl]

wow! I have also been convinced that I had both ALS and MS! I bet a lot of us have, those are two bad ones so of course our anxious minds would choose those. I was also convinced that I would never get better without meds. I have tried a few different ones and have a full bottle of prozac that I decided to wait to try. I think that meds can help a lot of people, but I also think that we can make vast improvements without them...but it's hard. I started seeing a therapist and that helped me to realize a lot of things...like that thoughts are not facts. Just a month ago I was wondering if I was just going to have to live the rest of my life having a panic attack every other day. But things have gotten better and I really think it's because of the cognitive therapy I started. I'm not saying the anxiety is gone, but I have gone from a full on panic at least 3 times a week and bad anxiety the rest of the time to not having a real panic in three weeks, and not too much anxiety the rest of the time. I also found a tea that seems to help quite a bit. It's Kava tea, and it makes me tired, but helps with the anxiety too. Another thing I did was got a med that I could take when the anxiety gets bad, it's just an antihistamine (don't know if I spelled that right) but it helps. So sometimes it's not that bad to take meds, and it might help a lot.

[mamascrazy1985]

i too used to think i wasnt going to live long and every birthday i get i am sorta releaved like i tell myself.. see i knew i was going to make it to 25 and right after that anxiety goes " well yea how bout making it to 26" its a cycle and your minds very powerful... have any of you guys ever watched those shows were people can make thereselves float and whatever else.. i believe it.. look what anxiety can do to us. i have never taken meds for anxiety i have a prescription for lexapro and have thought about taking it but havent yet... talking is the best thing you can do for med free anxiety.... and its cool that there are so many people out here that are going through the same thing.. so if your going med free i recommend this forum and soon you will forget to even go to this site.... i did for a long time but certain issues have brought me back..

[eyeeye]

Thanks guys, I have a pack of meds now in the cupboard-yeserday was a bad one and I felt I just couldn't go on alone. Then I decided to hold off taking them. The side effects sounded as bad as my symptoms! I am on the waiting list for some therapy...I wish it woukd hurry up!! I hope you guys can continue without the meds too. It's good to know that there are people on here that don't just symapthise with my condition but really understand it too.

[InZane4all]

I used to be on heavy meds 3 years ago (Xanax and Valium) but did not like the side effects whatsoever (hallucinations, panic attacks and more anxiety). I decide3d to get off of them, but weened myself out of them. Don't get off the meds cold turkey because it will suck so bad.

So far, I have been able to manage my anxiety by exercising and just keeping myself busy overall. Definitely do not go google your symptoms. You will just make things worse (I was in the ER 6 times 3 years ago thinking I had something serious, when it was just anxiety).