A family doctor to start with, who gave me some pills that were next to useless. Tossed the pills and struggled on for a few years by continuing to self medicate (as I had since age 12-13) using various types of alcohol.

Next was another family doctor (GP) who sent me to a therapist. He tried all sorts of calming techniques. They kind of worked for a short time, then they didn't, so back to the bottle. Not flat out and continuous drinking, just enough to take the edge off. I continued to function reasonably well this way for many years. I also took to altering my life around all the time. I had to be doing something different continuously to keep my anxiety at bay. I spent a fortune and caused a lot of financial grief to me and my then partner.

Then came a brief period in my life when I stopped drinking for a year. My anxiety stayed at a very manageable level, but one day something happened to trigger it again and I went back to the drink followed by yet another family doctor. He sent me to a specialised psychologist. It worked with him for some months and it cost me a fortune I just didn't have. Back to the same doctor who sent me to a psychiatrist, paid for by the public purse. Much the same as the therapist, talking helped for a day or so, but the effect didn't last long. Eventually PDoc gave me some Alprazolam (Xnax) and although it helped to get me to sleep (always had a terrible sleep pattern) it left me feeling groggy the next morning and I struggled with motivation. Stopped the Alprazolam and stopped seeing the Psych doc. Back to small quantities of alcohol in the evenings.

Recently saw yet another family doctor who prescribed Efexor. Currently at day 16, haven't been drinking since starting on it and feeling ok. Still some anxiety present, but I feel sure he'll up the dose from 37.5mg to 75mg when I see him next week. Not impressed with having to resort to meds again, but figured it was worth a try. My thoughts are that I'll eventually go off them and go back to alcohol again, not that I'm missing it in the slightest. I don't have an addictive nature and am not an alcoholic despite using it for a very long time to help overcome my anxiety.