[Hound]

While I am no doctor, I really do not think that I suffer from depression. I am pretty social and love to partake in my hobbies. Because of this, I'm scared the doc will prescribe me an anti-depressant when I need something for anxiety!

I have frequent moments of anxiety ranging anywhere from being able to ignore my anxiety to to repetitive anxious thoughts to full out crying and feeling a sense of doom.

I was prescribed Prozac months back, 20mg, and it really seemed like it "wanted" to work but never did. Very hard to describe. I think it may have taken the edge off but did not stop my more anxious periods at all. When I left the army I stopped taking it and never went to a doctor to get more.

I see a Psychiatrist next Monday and am very curious on what his thoughts will be. I have read about different medication that immediately help anxiety (Xanax) and I think it would help... but I read some bad stories about Xanax. I do not have an addictive personality but fear becoming addicted to Xanax.

Other medications (like the Prozac) seem to take longer to kick in. Because of the level of anxiety I've been experiencing lately I would really like immediate help. At one point this past week I debated on going to the ER because it was just too much to handle. I figured they wouldn't be able to do much or would just send me away, so my mother gave me one of her sleeping pills to at least knock me out. I'm not saying that was the appropriate way to handle the situation, but it's the only break I could get.

So my questions...
-Has anyone taken Xanax or a similar fast acting anti-anxiety medicine? Were you ok with it, or was it very easy to become addicted?
-If the doctor does not prescribe me a fast acting anti-anxiety medication, what could I do?

My doctor says that anti depressants work just as well for anxiety. I had xanax once during a hospital stay, but to be honest I felt like I couldn't function on it.

Now, I have anxiety and depression but prozac calms me down during my anxiety attacks, as does saphris, an anti psychotic. Just because something is marketed for one thing doesn't mean it can't have other uses (Another example-I take Depakote for seizures but it doubles as a mood stabilizer).

Maybe increase your dosages? I take 200 mg Prozac. Then perhaps ask about Saphris. If you don't mind going to sleep when you're anxious, sleeping medication may work, as PRN.

[~Christina]

Many Doctors are leery of prescribing a Benzio due to the ability of an addiction to happen. There are many AD's that actually do help with anxiety quickly, Maybe your Pdoc would be willing to give you a small amount just to take the edge off until an AD starts to kick in.

I will say as a person that has been on Xanax for about 6 years.. My body has a physical addition yes , if I go without I will become physically sick. But I am not mentally addicted , that is a huge difference, If my doctor and I decided I should get off it , I would need to go IP for a detox so that they can monitor me 24/7 and give meds to counteract the possibility of seizures and stuff as that is a real threat.

Anxiety can be a horrible thing to deal with. There is a Member that frequents this board name is Zinco he has vast knowledge on psych meds , feel free to PM with questions about maybe an AD that has the ability to decrease anxiety quickly .

I hope you find a way to manage your anxiety and feel better soon.

Welcome to PC

[gibsonsg66]

I've been on 2mg 1x daily since 2011 of xanax Xr. The extended release version. I know some may disagree but do NOT get on any benzos. They are not even recommended to be used for more then 8 weeks but people have been on them for years like me. You will feel better sure, but then you will be a zombie. I'm trying to get off them myself. My psy doc prescribed me Luvox for ocd but idk if I'm going to take it or not. Kind of tired of medication messing with the old brain chemistry. Best of luck!

[-jimi-]

There are some people who have an effect on anxiety from antidepressants, but many also do not. I don't even have a calming effect from those who more or less make you drop to the floor. Many doctors demand you try several antidepressants which averages maybe 2 years of med trials before they consider true medication for anxiety. I sometimes feel they are trying too much offlabel just to be able not to prescribe benzos. I had TCA, SSRIs, SNRI, antipsychotics, antihistamines and mood stabilizers all before I was allowed xanax. It was quite rough.

[Altered Moment]

I personally don't think that in the big picture antidepressants help with anxiety at all. For some people they do work. Paxil seems to be more effective for OCD type anxiety. You might get lucky with one.

My clinic is very anti benzo. It took a year of horrible anxiety with paranoia and trying different things before my doc would give me klonopin, a benzo. The benzo's like xanax, klonopin, valium, ativan, and lots of others are highly effective for anxiety and one like xanax can be taken only as needed which is the best way to take it.

We tried buspar, Vistaril, muscle relaxers, nothing touched it so he went against general policy. I think they are mainly afraid of law suits but benzos have very real dangers. I am a recovering addict so more risky. Addiction would be that if I took more than prescribed and then went looking for more and the purpose was to get high. I have never done that the year I have been on it. I take it as prescribed and feel I should cut my current dose in half.

I have not developed any tolerance to it so I have not had to increase dose. That is very odd for me because I usually have a high tolerance to all drugs. The chances are quite high that I am developing a physical dependence to it. Meaning if I stop taking it I will have withdrawal symptoms. Someone taking higher doses (mine is pretty low) for a long time and then stop cold turkey risk having seizures and stuff. No one should ever stop cold turkey with anything but do a very slow taper. Some people here have told stories of being on pretty good sized doses of klonopin for many years and then stopping and having very long and protracted withdrawal. I think it varies. Some people say they got off of them in a couple of months with out trouble. The risks are very real though. I decided to take klonopin knowing full well what the risks were. I knew it would work and it has worked beautifully. I have barely had an ounce of anxiety and what I was having was putting me at high risk of suicide as I just could not handle the constant no relief with the paranoia. So for me the benefits out weigh the risks but the risks are real. Someday I may have to go through horrible withdrawal or maybe I will be on it for life. I really don't care. I would rather have quality of life even if you told me it would knock five years off of my life for sure. That would just be five more years of misery.

I think it depends on severity of symptoms and people should try non med means and see if they will work. My buddy has it really really bad and he has a bottle of xanax but he refuses to take it. He runs and works out a lot to get rid of the energy and the anxiety convinces his he is going to have a heart attack so he has to get his heart in good shape. He stays busy all the time to keep his mind off of it. He constantly battles it on his own and I see him really snap at his kids out of frustration which is not good. And he is really suffering. But that is how he chooses to deal with it. I have been practicing meditation, mindfulness, and relaxation stress relieving techniques for twenty years and I just could do those when the anxiety was that bad.

The most recent med for anxiety is buspar. It seems like it is a dud to me. Why they haven't come out with new ones that work since the benzo's I have no idea. Valium came out in the 50's I think. Mothers little helper.

It is really going to depend on the psychiatrists views on all of this. Some will prescribe them some won't. You should be educated before you decide and see if non med means like meditation, mindfulness, exercise, relaxation techniques, and stress reduction will help.



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[gayleggg]

I took Xanax for a while. As my body got used to it, it didn't seem to work as well and I needed to take more. They have me on klonopin now which helps but it's not quiet as fast as Xanax but almost. I had to take it regularly for a while but since I started taking Fetzima, Saphris and quit working I haven't needed it often. I'm not sure which one of the changes helped the anxiety because they all changed at the same time.

[-jimi-]

Oh yea I forgot, I was on betablockers too for anxiety.

Talk about offlabel mess. LOL.

OCD type anxiety is known to sometimes severely worsen with paxil, so there it's not the first choice, but it seems to be the first choice with social anxiety.

Here, wellbutrin was pushed as the new fancy anti anxiety med when it was new. It was quite bizarre to see, since the med often causes more anxiety if you already had it. They just had to stop that practice and admit their mistake. Now seroquel is the cure all here. Ugh. For the longest everyone got zoloft for every mental complaint. Part from that, vistaril is still the number one anxiety med where I'm from. So many people here think if vistaril doesn't help them, nothing will. It upsets me some.

[-jimi-]

One thing I feel doctors are particularly bad at is understanding dependence does not equal abuse. Yea I AM dependent on xanax and luvox. The dependence is almost identical for both drugs. One CAN be abused and the other probably not. But for just normal dosages they act the same when it comes to withdrawals.

Both will cause withdrawals. But I was never warned about withdrawals from luvox. I can miss one day, that's it. After that I feel REALLY bad. But I'm warned over and over what hell I will go through if I get addicted to xanax. Sure, I notice if I don't take it. But more than if I miss the SSRI? Nope.

So replacing a drug that causes withdrawals with one that also causes withdrawals does not really make sense to me. Most anxious patients are super careful with their benzos because they KNOW if they abuse it, it will lose the anti anxiety effects and they are very scared of that. Being anxiety free is much more important for them than trying to get high usually. Of course, different people react differently. Some will try to abuse everything.

[Altered Moment]

Vistaril was totally useless for me. The first week it would knock me out to sleep and after that nothing. Even if I doubled the dose. It's an antihistamine for crying out loud. For some people it works though. It's safer and worth a try.

I have never been a big fan of Paxil. Whatever works for you is what counts.

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[Hound]

Thanks guys. In HS I was on Paxil, which did help at the time but also made me feel robotic. When I stopped taking it I had a very... uncomfortable time dealing with the withdrawals. It was definitely not a mental addiction but my body was used to it. More than a day without and I would get very weird feelings in my head.

I am scared of that happening again, but I really do need relief of some sort as soon as possible. Right now I've been taking things to knock me out during the day.

Months of trying different things and none of it working is a little scary for me based on how I'm feeling right now. It's a very overwhelming feeling. And now after researching ADHD I find that I have a lot of those symptoms, which is just another worry on my list.

I'm a recovering addict (to pain meds) that was prescribed xanax to help me sleep. I don't have access to the bottle right now and don't remember the milligrams but I take 3 of them right before I want to go to sleep. I'm also receiving ECT treatments. On the night before an ECT, I can't take the xanax (to make sure I have a seizure as part of the treatment). While my sleep is not as good on those nights, I don't find myself craving it at all. I've never taken it during the day so I don't even know what the effect is.

Good luck finding something that helps you.

[Altered Moment]

Paxil and Effexor are known to be worse for withdrawal.

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[-jimi-]

Yup... they are the worst. I've come to never underestimate the withdrawals from effexor....

but just cuz those two are most likely, depending on body chemistry, you can have withdrawals from any AD. I have from luvox but it is also very short acting and that seems to have much to do with the risk of severe withdrawals.

Originally Posted by zinco14532323

Paxil and Effexor are known to be worse for withdrawal.

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That sucks because next week when I see my pdoc I'm going to ask him to put me on a different antidepressant that doesn't ruin your sex life. What are the withdrawals from Effexor like? You just feel anxious or what?

[splitimage]

I've been on clonazapam (klonopin) since 2007. I was originally on 5 mg a day, but about 2 years ago, went down to 3.5 mg a day without too much trouble. It really helps my anxiety. But I will say I am heavily physically addicted to it. I miss a dose and it's ugly. I'm also tempted to abuse it, which isn't good, so I just get my prescription filled 2 weeks at a time, which really helps me manage.

I also take seroquel, and it's a godsend for anxiety, so if you can handle the thought of being on an anti-psychotic, you might want to consider it. I don't have the same physical dependence issues with it.

splitimage

[Altered Moment]

Originally Posted by newgal2

That sucks because next week when I see my pdoc I'm going to ask him to put me on a different antidepressant that doesn't ruin your sex life. What are the withdrawals from Effexor like? You just feel anxious or what?

It doesn't mean you will have withdrawal. The best way is to ween off of it slowly. I have never had withdrawal from an AD so I don't know. I think flu like symptoms are most common from what I have heard.

Not many don't have sexual side effects. Wellbutrin doesn't. All the SSRI's and SSNRI's I have taken have the sexual side effects EXCEPT for me with Fetzima, the sexual side effects have totally went away and reversed. That was a nice surprise. I just assumed I would still have them with it.

Originally Posted by zinco14532323

It doesn't mean you will have withdrawal. The best way is to ween off of it slowly. I have never had withdrawal from an AD so I don't know. I think flu like symptoms are most common from what I have heard.

Not many don't have sexual side effects. Wellbutrin doesn't. All the SSRI's and SSNRI's I have taken have the sexual side effects EXCEPT for me with Fetzima, the sexual side effects have totally went away and reversed. That was a nice surprise. I just assumed I would still have them with it.

I guess I've been lucky because I've been on a lot of different ADs and never had the sex drive/response kill that Effexor has given me.

[BlessedRhiannon]

Years ago, I was prescribed an SSRI for anxiety by my GP. It did nothing but make me feel numb and I had horrible side effects. I quit taking it, deciding I'd rather deal with the crushing anxiety. About two years ago, my therapist convinced me to see a psychiatrist. At the time, I was not depressed, and after I told him how I was affected by the SSRI, he decided I really probably just needed something for anxiety. He started me on a low dose of klonpin, which didn't work well. Then I tried Ativan, again, didn't work well, then tried Xanax, which worked great! I was on a fairly low dose for nearly two years, before my diagnosis changed to bipolar, and I was switched to Seroquel. I did have some minor physical withdrawal symptoms as I started Seroquel and my Xanax usage dropped, but that only lasted a week or so and was mostly just a headache and slight upset stomache.

Seroquel has helped my anxiety even more than the Xanax did, but it still creeps up on me now and then. It helps to have a therapist that has taught me how to cope with the breakthrough anxiety.

[-jimi-]

Originally Posted by newgal2

What are the withdrawals from Effexor like? You just feel anxious or what?

Well.. um "just"... Some people don't get withdrawals. Some people get a little more than anxiety.... But if you taper in a new antidepressant while tapering out effexor that should make things much more easier. If you have to stop totally before you taper in the new med, you should be supervised until you know if you have withdrawals.

[AncientMelody]

Originally Posted by -jimi-

There are some people who have an effect on anxiety from antidepressants, but many also do not. I don't even have a calming effect from those who more or less make you drop to the floor. Many doctors demand you try several antidepressants which averages maybe 2 years of med trials before they consider true medication for anxiety. I sometimes feel they are trying too much offlabel just to be able not to prescribe benzos. I had TCA, SSRIs, SNRI, antipsychotics, antihistamines and mood stabilizers all before I was allowed xanax. It was quite rough.

SSRIs, SNRIs, and antihistamines all have meds in the class that have anxiety as a label indication.

Cymbalta, prozac, luvox, lexapro, and vistaril......all of these and more are FDA indicated to treat anxiety. of course it doesn't mean they work for everyone. and I can sympathize that it's tough when you have raging anxiety going unchecked!

[-jimi-]

Well all these do not have anxiety as indication where I live. Very few SSRIs do over here. Therefore, offlabel use.

[cbdagency]

I was prescibed Xanax for panic disorder. Its total overkill, not only reducing anxiety but also puts me right to sleep. The main down side is its totally addictive and your panic and anxiety is then triggered and increased by your withdrawl pangs. And you really feel the withdrawls when coming off them, .both meotional and physical distubances

[pnw1]

I use to take Xanax, but doctor years ago switched me to Klonopin . I take 5-6 MG's daily. Am I physically addicted, probably. But I have severe PTSD and Panic Attacks and need them. Medication is not always the ans, but sometimes you need to outweigh the benfits and negatives. Sure, I wish I didn't have to take them at all, but I know I would not be able to function. I never abuse them, I don't drink , don't do drugs..... I hope you only need a little bit to get by and then don't need them for long term.... Good luck

[Hound]

Doctor prescribed me Klonopin, which I'm happy he went that way and didn't prescribe me Xanax. I hear better things about Klonopin than Xanax.

I'm now taking 0.5mg of Klonopin at night (along with an AD... Brintellix? I'm not convinced) right now. I... think it's working a little bit. Or trying to. I do feel a bit more at ease in general but am still getting anxious over the same things I was. Just now instead of feeling overwhelmed 100% of the, I feel overwhelmed 90% of the time... Hmm. No effect on my concentration issues whatsoever. Then again, I am taking it at night because of the drowsiness. By the time I wake up and get my day started, it's probably not as effective.