can stopping medication make anxiety worse than before you started taking medication?

[liram]

hi

lets say a person is diagnosed with anxiety of some sort and a psychiatrist gives him psychiatric medication.
he starts using it and feels a lot better.
after a few months or a few years or a few decades of use he decided to gradually discontinue the medication, any psychiatric medication. no matter the reason.

once he completely stops - I understand his anxiety will come back.
the question is: could that anxiety come back in a more sever form than from the period before he started taking medication ?

[carlyjs]

hi

lets say a person is diagnosed with anxiety of some sort and a psychiatrist gives him psychiatric medication.
he starts using it and feels a lot better.
after a few months or a few years or a few decades of use he decided to gradually discontinue the medication, any psychiatric medication. no matter the reason.

once he completely stops - I understand his anxiety will come back.
the question is: could that anxiety come back in a more sever form than from the period before he started taking medication ?

I am not a professional but I would say yes. All of these drugs that are prescribed change your brain chemistry so your brain stops making that chemical, even if it wasnt making enough to begin with. Once you stop taking the medication your brain chemistry has to begin to learn how to make its own chemicals again. I know a lot of meds will give you rebound anxiety when it hasnt been in your system for a few hours. That is the way these pharmaceutical make so much money and everyone is hooked on the stuff! You become dependent on it after so long. I have researched this topic for years for I have been on xanax for 12 yrs. It was the worst thing I ever starting taking.

I really hope this helps and I wish the best for you in these hard times

[alankay]

Only if the patient went in very early and got diagnosed and he/she is now in a much more stressful environment than as before. In any case they should just resume meds if that was keeping them well. IMHO. Alankay

[liram]

....I have researched this topic for years...

do you have any articles or links or some kind of information source that has info on this phenomenon ? e.g stopping medication making anxiety worse than before taking medication?

[suji]

I was a hard core drug addict for several years. I have bpd, anxiety and panic disorder, and post-rape PTSD. I quit all pills over a year ago and suffered panic attacks and anxiety, until my fiance observed me and told me im actually creating my attacks. It really REALLY is all in your head. Once you gain mental control, the physical symptoms WILL cease.

[bhamlaxy]

I firmly believe that with a gradual supervised decrease your anxiety will not be any higher than it would be had you never taken meds.

For example, someone has panic attacks and gets on meds. They stop. It comes back worse for whatever reason. The meds didn't make it worse, stress etc. did. So if they had never taken meds they would be just as bad at that point.

These meds don't permanently change your brain chemistry. It is only in the withdrawal period that things can get "worse", which is why you do a very gradual decrease in dose.

[miss_mac666]

i stopped my celexa and its been almost two weeks and my anxiety is far worse now.. idk what to do... i cant see my doc till next thursday. i need help.