Welcome to the Anxiety Forum - A Home for Those with Anxiety, Fear, or Panic Attacks.

View Poll Results: How do you cope with your social anxiety?

Voters
1188. You may not vote on this poll
  • Medication

    162 13.64%
  • Herbal Remedies

    49 4.12%
  • Therapy

    56 4.71%
  • Self-help

    263 22.14%
  • A mixture of any of the above

    428 36.03%
  • I don't cope

    230 19.36%
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Results 11 to 20 of 526
  1. #11
    Guest
    Thanks Angel, I sure do hope to meet my new Phychiatrist soon, and get me some meds for my Anxiety/Panic Attacks.

  2. #12
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Toronto
    Posts
    2
    I have taken medications in the past mostly for depression and early this year for anxiety in school. I do not take any more. I took buspar and another pill. I can't remember the name it was a little pink capsule.

    Personally, I do not care for drugs and medications. This is based on how they effect me and studying about them.

    I find the best method for me for my depression is/was journalling, poetry writing, talking abut what bothered me, and reading self-help books and things like this. I also like alternative approches or what I'd call companion apprcoaches( dont think they work alone but are good in addition to) like medtation, exercise, aromatherapy, etc.

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  3. #13
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Washington, D.C.
    Posts
    1
    Sometimes I take the medication prescribed to me sometimes, which is Fluvoxamine (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorders) and Clonazepam (used to treat panic disorders). But they make me really tired so for the moment I've stopped taking them. I'm just trying to cope using self-help methods right now. but the medicine did work. I was going into stores and more comfortable around other people, but I was always tired. So I stopped taking it in order to see if I could find some other methods.

  4. #14
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    7
    I don't take anything regularly. I take a small dose of xanax occaisionally at night to help me sleep. Tried zoloft once and it made me terrible anxious and caused my first panic attack. I don't want meds, they are too expensive and just mask the problem. I do beleive they have their place, but there's just no money in healing us, is there?

  5. #15
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Posts
    100
    CBT and an SSRI.

    For many years i wouldn't take meds. I was afraid I'd be an anxious zombie. I have a handful of friends that suffer from anxiety and panic attacks and they went on an SSRI and had extremely good results. After a couple of months, they were able to do things that they hadn't done since their anxiety hit them. But i still didn't want to take the meds. After about 2-3 years i decided to try it, give it a chance because i saw my friends having a life with little or no anxiety. I read and researched as much as i could on SSRIs and felt that i needed more than just CBT (14 yrs of, at that time). I still remember the night i swallowed the pills! I had another friend who was taking it for the first time too that night. My close friend who had been on it for a couple of years stayed with us that night. I was nervous but very hopeful that this was going to help. The next morning i had no side affects, maybe a little drowsy or tired, but i don't know if it was from all the anticipation leading up to taking the med or the med. It's been six years now and I'm so happy i did decide to take it and wish i hadn't waited so long. It decreased my anxiety and wiped out my daily panic attacks within three months; and I am on a very high dosage of it.

    But there's no way I would be where I am today without CBT. If I just had taken meds alone, i believe i would still be very anxious. The meds stop the physiological portion of my anxiety so i do not escalate, but therapy stops my emotional escalation. I will always be in therapy and want to be. It's were i began to learn why i have panic attacks and social phobia and how to control and defeat. I good therapist who specializes in anxiety and social phobia has been the greatest gift I could ever ask for. The combo of the meds with CBT is the best road for me.

    But everyone is different physiologically especially when it comes to meds, so I'm not a big advocator on meds. This particular SSRI worked wonders on me and a few of my close friends - we had very similar anxiety and we must be physiologically similar for this med to work. I'm very sensitive to medications. I can't even take anything when im sick except certain antibiotics(if needed) or a couple of cough drops. The only thing I take if im in pain is aspirin or acetaminophen and i really gotta be hurting. Antihistamines make me freak out/panic and so do Rx pain killers. I had a serious neck injury a few years ago and the Rx from the doc was Percodan and half a pill threw me into panic.

    For me, consistently working in therapy and meds.

    Long-winded soshy
    “Embrace denial to shield the racing thoughts of fear.â€

  6. #16
    Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    San Francisco Bay Area
    Posts
    46
    Soshy,

    You are never long-winded. People with unmanaged anxiety need to hear successs stories described in great detail, and in technicolor. I LOVED your story. You give us hope! So by all means, everyone, if you have had success with anything, tell us all about it!!

    Which med was it that worked so well for you, if you don't mind me asking?

    *hugs*

    Maggie
    "The definition of insanity is doing what you have always done and expecting something different to result." Albert Einstein

  7. #17
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Posts
    100
    Hi Maggie...and thanks.

    I'm on the perfect, pretty pink ones!

    Paxil - and I'M LOADED! 60mgs faithfully everynight. :yum:
    I'm kidding about being loaded. I've never had any side effects, not even drowsiness.

    I was on 40mgs, but because of some recent unfortunate events my doc upped me to 60mgs for now. I also take Klonopin on an as-needed basis.

    It was great hearing from you. Hope you're doing well.

    Sending you calming thoughts,

    soshy
    “Embrace denial to shield the racing thoughts of fear.â€

  8. #18
    Banned
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Georgia
    Posts
    32
    I'm coping without medication. I was on it for a year or so but it didn't do anything for me. My doctor perscribed me something that the side effects were anxiety, which made no sense to me. I think I'm doing fine on my own.. even though it's very hard sometimes.

    I don't believe in medication.. I wont take it again. I have never been to therapy or anything of that nature. I am my own therapist and the only thing I find that truely helps me with my anxiety is music, and my family.

    I really strongly believe I can over come this without medication.

  9. #19
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    mass
    Posts
    61
    i dont take meds for my anxiety/panic and dont plan on it, i take an all natural vitamin drink called Reliv which has actually worked quite well and i have seen results in the last few days thank god, i am also seeing a therapist which hasnt really helped much yet but hopefully will, what helps me is just keeping busy whether its jamming with my band, cleaning my room or just having a conversation anything of that nature usually seems to help

  10. #20
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    New Hampshire
    Posts
    147
    i was taking meds for a little while just came off them 5 days ago cold turkey and i've been ok i still do take a klonopin here in there for extreme situations but i do the CBT it helps somewhat but i truly in my heart the only way your going to beat is just plain old will power i wanna beat this so bad i've always had that strong will it takes to overcome anything and in this situation its no different i am a help of alot better off now than i was 8 months ago so i must bedoin something basically my biggest tool is telling myself FUCK ANXIETY! this won't break me so i'm pretty confident i will beat this good luck to all
    LIFE IS TOUGH I'M TOUGHER!!!

 

 

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