or maybe what i thought was anxiety is just the way i think, when i took it i was expecting it to be life changing for anxiety but i didn’t notice anything really, tho i kept taking it but only about once or twice a week.
i took a higher dose more often (1 mg every 2 days, as opposed to 0.5 mg every 5-7 days) when i was smoking cigarettes which was only about a week or 2, and after i quit smoking i continued taking it about every 5-6 days (sometimes would go 10 or so days without it), just recently i didnt take it for 16 days and i felt fine, i took it my last time when i was stressed from not having a bed and having to sleep in a recliner chair the night before and my td was bad, ive been off it again 6 days now and i know now i dont want to take it anymore, i havent had withdrawal but i didnt take it often.
i kind of wish my doc never recommended it tho because even tho it helped my TD it didnt do much of anything for my anxiety, but i kept taking it because i heard such good things about its effectiveness.
The same med. can affect different people differently. You might ask your pdoc if he knows of any other med., perhaps not a benzodiazepine, that will help with your anxiety.
i dont want to take any more meds for anxiety, i may not even have anxiety it may be some other condition that affects my thinking. i haven’t had a panic attack in years i just have strange thinking but usually worry about things like going places but when i actually go out things go okay most of the time sometimes i just have really bad days.
Statistically, none of the anti-anxiety meds are effective long-term as solutions. CBT/DBT and exposure therapy are the most effective permanent solutions for anxiety disorders. That said, I’ve been taking gabapentin 100 mg 1/day for the past year and a half, and my mental health has drastically improved. But I’ve also been doing serious CBT with homework assignments and thought exercises and everything. My pdoc hopes to switch the gabapentin back to PRN eventually.
oddly, alot of the symptoms i experience arent what most people would consider anxiety, most of what i experience other than psychosis (which is better now with meds) are symptoms of ocd, ive never been diagnosed with ocd but im starting to think maybe i was mistaking it for anxiety, i’m not sure tho it might just be stress making things seem worse than they are
OCD is a type of anxiety disorder, so that would make sense. I’ve had it since I was around 4, and it’s been a lifelong struggle, but biofeedback therapy has been a lifesaver to me. I’m so far recovered it isn’t even on my list of current diagnoses anymore. I’ve been using biofeedback since I was 17
what’s that mean @Ninjastar, I don’t have OCD, but I’m willing to try anything for anxiety. Do you do on your own online, or thru therapy. Nobody’s ever suggested that to me.
It means just that. Meds classified as anxiolytics are only short term solutions. You can use self-help CBT courses if therapy isn’t an option. Self-help CBT is also effective.
If you’re talking about biofeedback, it’s a type of brain training activity. I used to go to a practitioner, but about 8 years ago I bought my own machine. It helps you learn to manually activate your prefrontal cortex (where logical thinking happens) and shut down your limbic system (where panic and emotional responses happen) so you can easily re-exert control over your brain when it starts to spiral.
Yeah, it might be very triggering for you. I was thinking that as I was typing it. But the other treatment for OCD is antidepressants, and they all make me hallucinate. So biofeedback was a lifesaver to me.
In South Africa they only use benzos in psych wards and dont prescribe them outpatient because of addictiveness once got a prescription for two diazapams which my doctor said was for emergencies and the prescription could only be repeated in 3 months.
That was as needed in an emergency to take two. Just enough to stablize you for the ward. They suppose to be addictive so doctors here dont want to prescribe.
I’m on day 2 of taking Olanzapine instead of Risperidone. I feel happy, calm, and relaxed on Olanzapine. On my own I’m trying to taper of Clonazepam. I took half a pill today and will for the next several days. I have heard Risperidone can cause anxiety, while Olanzapine makes anxiety better. I’m feeling much better on Olanzapine.