anxiety meds

What are good anxiety meds?
I'm taking Celexa right now, but its not doing much...
My psych is thinking of trying another..
Any suggestions?

xanax looks good for me. Also I learned a lot about ativan where it lasts longer than the normal anti anxiety meds.

Hope this helps.

Colleen

Xanax was a wonder drug for me... but pretty soon it also became my weakness.

Celexa, yeah, it's not good if you want relief to anxiety now and not in six weeks. I think you should be prescribed some benzodiazepines with it.

I find oxazepam a good choice. Light, but effective enough to relieve stress/anxiety.

Just my 2 cents

花鳥風月

c'est tout ce que j'aime

Medications for Anxiety Disorders

Ativan is my anxiety drug and I wish that I would have found it sooner.

It really depends what type of anxiety you are experiencing.

The benzodiazepines (Ativan, Xanax, Klonopin, etc) are quick acting tranquilizers that help best with acute anxiety such as panick and anxiety attacks.

At some point over the years I have taken all 3 drugs I mentioned above... right now I take Klonopin... I have found all of them useful for my acute anxiety episodes, but none really helpful for my pervasive generalized anxiety.

The other downfall is that these types of medications are addictive, so you have to be really careful.

Many antidepressants such as Celexa, Lexapro, Cymbalta, etc. also have anti-anxiety properties, but they usually take a pretty long time to reach the point in which they are actually helping your anxiety. Normally the depression will disspiate first, the anxiety later. How long have you been on Celexa?

I took Buspar for anxiety for a few months. It was not very effective for me, but for some people it works. It is not a benzo so is not addictive and does not have a tranquilizing effect. Even though it didn't help me much with my anxiety, it did have very cool side effects, and I would have kept taking it if these had persisted, but they went away after about 6 weeks.

I also take Xanax occasionally, but only at night if I am really having a hard time sleeping. It zonks me out--too strong/sedating for me to take during the daytime.

klonopin is really good for me. yesterday though i was in the parking lot going to a doc appt & i had a panic attack. i take 2mg klonopin a day but at that moment i wished i wouldve had a xanax or ativan---something fast acting. at one time though xanax became a big weakness for me & i had to go to a rehab to get detoxed off of it. i will admit the other day before i got my klonopin raised to 2mg a day i was having bad anxiety so i bought a xanax off someone. where im not used to them anymore it gave me a buzz & my speech was slurred & whenever i do take one now it makes me nauseous. i just take one once in a blue moon but now that my pdoc raised my klonopin i can take one in the morning & one in the evening & i wont feel like i have to go buy a xanax to relieve anxiety. there are websites that tell u what the short acting benzos are & the longer acting ones like valium & klonopin. i guess it just depends on what kind of anxiety you experience. like panic attack type spells or like me where my nervous system idles like a nascar & i need something i take on a regular basis to slow it down & to relieve constant anxiety. benzo.org.uk has lots of info. also dont let this site scare u. it has a lot to do with people who have gotten in over their head with benzos & about withdrawal/recovery but if a person takes them the way they are supposed to you should be ok. on the left if u scroll down there is an equivelance table of different benzos & their half lifes. it says xanax has the shortest half life. i dont mean to sound like a knowitall. ive just had a lot of experience with addiction to alcohol cocaine crack getting into trouble with xanax. at the time i didnt know anything about benzos--just knew this little blue pill calmed me down really fast & got hooked on them. had a seizure trying to get off of them---terrible!!! i even had a time where i abused the klonopins & pdoc took me off of them. finally after awhile he leveled with me & told me he knew i needed something for my anxiety & agreed to put me back on them. its been a year & ive taken them the way im supposed to--just had to learn a few hard lessons about abusing medication. i was actually put back on them when i first got pregnant cuz i read where early pregnancy can really mess with your nervous system & i guess thats what was going on. i couldnt eat i constantly felt sick & nervous so my ob & pdoc started me back on .5 & right after that i started eating good & it helped a lot. during my 3rd trimester he even raised it to 1mg a day. baby came out very healthy & also took 100mg of zoloft a day while pregnant. i give all glory to God for my healthy Lily!!! anyway i hope this has been helpful just thought i would share my story.

I've been on Celexa for about a year...It helped in the beginning, but now its not doing much for me...

Thanks for all the replies, everyone.
I really appreciate it. :-)

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pinksoil said:
It really depends what type of anxiety you are experiencing.

The benzodiazepines (Ativan, Xanax, Klonopin, etc) are quick acting tranquilizers that help best with acute anxiety such as panick and anxiety attacks.

At some point over the years I have taken all 3 drugs I mentioned above... right now I take Klonopin... I have found all of them useful for my acute anxiety episodes, but none really helpful for my pervasive generalized anxiety.

The other downfall is that these types of medications are addictive, so you have to be really careful.

Many antidepressants such as Celexa, Lexapro, Cymbalta, etc. also have anti-anxiety properties, but they usually take a pretty long time to reach the point in which they are actually helping your anxiety. Normally the depression will disspiate first, the anxiety later. How long have you been on Celexa?

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

I'm on celexa and it does nothing for my anxiety - I'm on 5 mg of clonazapam daily and that mostly keeps my anxiety in check, except for when I get really stressed out about job hunting and then nothing works.

--splitimage

I have xanax, klonopin and ativan. Depending on how severe the anxiety is, depends on what I take. They all seem to work. I didn't have very much luck with the celexa, it worked a little but not as much as I needed.

Also take xanax or klonopin for anxiety--work but put me to sleep so I can't take them during the day. Just have to tough it out.

Has anyone had experience with xanax xr? How is that different. Doesn't seem to work for me. Just makes me sleepy

I also found that it made me tired all day, I talked to my pdoc and he switched me to the quick release for when i need it, it normally works within 5 min. or so but it doesn't stay with me all day, just has a calming effect not drowsy

maaan that celexa messed me up!!