Has medication worked for you

[Peak]

I've been suffering from anxiety for around 10 years, actually considerably longer than that but it's only been in the last 10 years that the physical symptoms have consistently been present.

I'm coming to the end of a course of CBT which whilst interesting has done little to control my anxiety and having gone through a really bad patch for the last 2 days I'm really feeling desperate and that I can't go on like this and so want to go to my doctor and get put on some medication like Citalopram or something. I don't like the idea of taking meds for a psychological problem but at the same time I don't have the strength of mind to fight it on my own anymore. People who take meds have you found that it has helped even if it has jus lessened things rather than "cure" them?

[bajablue]

Medicine did work and is working. I cannot imagine life without it and I go long stretches with zero symptoms and I am talking years. Cured? Maybe not but feel like I was cured yes, at times.

[alankay]

They indeed help for most but not all. Why suffer any more? At this point CBT didn't help enough so add meds after a long talk with the doc and see what he recommends. If you were doing well of course not but you seem to be having difficulty yet so I'd consider a trial of a med like zoloft or celexa or maybe a benzo on occassion depending on how your anxiety manifests itself. Alankay

[nf1234]

I have taken Clonazepam (Klonapin) and it did help. It is in the benzo family and can be addictive but you should be fine as long as you are smart with it. I only took them before bed and only a few nights a week. I found that doing this gave me a good restful night sleep that so many of us long for. It also had a calm hangover feeling for me into the next day. By taking them at night and not when I was actually having a panic attack it allowed me to not "mentally" depend on them. For my daytime anxiety I found a product called "Rescue Remedy" to be very helpful. I probably relied on that more than any medication.

I have been able to 90% cure my anxiety naturally. I took the Klonapin for a few months of my senior year of college. It really did help me break the vicious stress, anxiety, insomnia, fatigue cycle. Since then I rarely take them and its been about a month since my last dose.

Have you had any bloodwork done to see if you anxiety is being caused or increased by anything out of wack? Things like thyroid problems, low levels of vitamin b12, vitamin d, iron, and ferritin among others can cause this.

Have you tried any natural supplements or vitamins?

[meco1999]

I'm hesitant to take medication. The last time I took meds was when I was a teen, and I'm 32 now. Back then I took Paxil and Prozac. Paxil gave me vivid nightmares and I think Prozac gave me suicidal thoughts.

[becki]

Hi I didn't like the idea of taking medicine either but my life was getting miserable. I avoided many many situations. Long story short I finally had a talk with my dr and we decided on generic lexipro I'm on 15 mg. tonight I used a gift certificate for a massage I got as a gift FIVE years ago. I did the massage naked and had no fears of having to run out in a panic. I was sad when it was over and will schedule another one soon. That's an example of how much better I'm doing now. After I went to the grocery store all alone!!!! I'm also doing CBT.

It's a very personal choice i just know I wasn't enjoying things that I should.

[Peak]

Thanks all for your replies, very interesting and promising that meds have helped for you. As I say I've not wanted to take meds before because I've thought that I should be strong enough to go without and I felt that I would be weak if I gave in and took them (not that for a second do I think that anyone that does take them is weak just that I would not be as strong as I thought I was personally).

I now realise that I can't fight this alone but I'm also nervous about talking to my doctor because in the past they have seemed uninterested in helping or unconvinced that I need help. The trouble is to look at me you wouldn't think anything was wrong. I don't really avoid many situations, it's not as if I can't leave my house, I'm not a jabbering wreck, I look "normal". That's because I internalise everything. I may physically be somewhere but often mentally I'm somewhere else and I'm just going through the motions. If you didn't know me well you wouldn't think anything was wrong. In fact very frequently the people closest to me don't know when I'm feeling the most anxious because I hide it so well. These are all safety mechanisms & coping strategies I've built up over the years and this is also why CBT has had limited success for me as I have multiple safety mechanisms in place over the top of other safety mechanisms on top of other safety mechanisms and every single one of them is on a hair trigger. There are so many in fact that I'm not even aware of them all and CBT has helped me identify a few if them but not to take them down.

The way I feel at the moment is that I feel I need to convince my doctor, that they don't believe me or think its not bad enough and that I couldn't take being turned down as meds for me feel like the last resort and if I can't have them, then where is there for me to go next?

[Peak]

Oh and forgot to say that yes I've had blood work done which came back all clear. I've also tried Rescue Remedy but it did nothing at all for me. I know I've taken various vitamins in the past for various things, I can't honestly remember which and for what now but suffice to say that none seemed to help any of the things I was taking then for. My doctors keep telling me that there is nothing wrong with me in terms of I don't have heart disease or a thyroid condition that might explain the ectopic heart beats and that its all in my head but there seems a reluctance on their part to prescribe anything for "mental" problems.

[Kaybee]

The way it was described to me was that often the short term use of medication can help someone feel rested, optimistic, and ready to do the work of therapy. For most people that may mean only a few months of an SSRI. Once you're able to focus and get enough sleep the therapy you're using--talk therapy or more often CBT--tends to go easier.

I think most of us have probably fooled friends, co-workers, even family members who had no idea how much distress we were in. We become adept at hiding how we feel because we don't want to be a "bother," or we don't want to feel "different" or we just have to muscle through because we have classes to attend, a job to go to, or a family to raise. In fact many of us cry in private, search the net with a leaden heart, observe others and think,"What is their secret to being so happy?"

Because depression/anxiety are very much in the realm of medical disorders I do ask you this: look for support sites like this one because community is very important. You don't have to explain anything about your feelings and symptoms here because we GET it. You're safe. But try to avoid the sites that will offer their own (non medical) solutions. Most often they are trying to sell you expensive supplements you can get cheap at a health food store. (And always run any supplement past your doctor first). Also you may be advised by other sites (again, they are usually non medical or licensed by a psychology board) to not use medication, or to not go to therapy or other hard sells.

These can be VERY detrimental to a worried, tired mind. Find a doctor you trust and can be totally blunt with. Work with him or her to find a plan most perfect for you.

And by the way, it isn't only sites set up for the anxious and depressed that can give you dubious (or even harmful) advice. There are people coaxed off of blood pressure medication, heart pills, hormones, surgery and other interventions because somebody on the net decided his or her personal philosophy (or hunger to sell pricey CD's or supplements) could trump your doctor's education and experience.

I'm glad you had a physical and blood work. Usually in an anxious person it comes back clear. That's the good news. The even better news is that there are so many ways to get you better. We know. You will be fine. Just tell your doctor everything and get on the best path for you.

[Peak]

Thanks very much for the reply I really appreciate it and everything you say. One of the things with CBT is that my therapist tells me I need to break the cycle of responses I have to anxiety, to break the checking and reassuring things I do in because these just feed back into the anxiety and perpetuate it.

One of those things I do is to come to this site and ones like it because I find talking to others who know what it's like comforting and reassuring and more than once the words of people on here have brought me back from the edge of a panic attack. So shhhh I shouldn't be here ;) I understand and agree that I need to break the cycle but knowing when you are feeding into the cycle by finding people confirming your fears and when you are breaking the cycle by finding people who dispel your fears is often difficult to do.

[acetone]

Medication has helped me tremendously too. I was suffering from god awful dizziness in which it felt that floor is shaking up and down. Zoloft,Zyprexa and Klonopin were able to control this condition. Definitely give meds a chance.