(11-02-2011, 05:39 PM)mat422 Wrote:(11-02-2011, 04:24 PM)Ryan Wrote: Mat, be very very careful with Xanax. Doctors don't know much about these benzos as they call them. If you take it daily for a week or 2, you get addicted, then it's nearly hell trying to get off them. So use them sparingly as needed. You begin having interdose withdrawals when you need a pill. They can last up to months later. It took me 3 months to get off a drug similar to Xanax but a longer half-life (Xanax is the worse to be on). I only need it for a week or 2. Because of it I had to go on anti-depressants in order to wean off the Ativan, I still had horrible withdrawals for a week after each drop-down followed by a 3 month period of having very weird symptoms randomly pop-up.
If you need something regularly ask the doctor to try some anti-depressants, if they have horrible effects on you, ask to try another. Another good one I liked was Buspar which is similar to Xanax, but longer lasting and it has absolutely no withdrawals. It's a much lighter pill but for anxiety. Some doctors are so eager to just throw pills at you without any knowledge about them. But, mine were always wrong, I had to go through it mostly on my own.
Ryan
Yeah the xanax is for extreme anxiety provoking situations, definitely not an every week thing. The prescription is only for .25 mg so it's a fairly light dose as well. But I've heard of the addictive nature of xanax so I'm definitely only using it sparingly. Thanks for the heads up.
I'm still not sure about taking anti-depressants only because I want to see if these issues are all from negative beliefs and thinking. It's hard to tell you know? It's mostly social anxiety, but I still have anxiety when there are deadlines or when I have a lot of work to do. I'm not against medication, but I want to make sure that the underlying issues are addressed.
I just have a question for you Ryan. I'm sure you have heard of cognitive behavioral therapy. It makes sense that thoughts would influence a person's emotional state, but sometimes I feel like the social anxiety doesn't have thoughts attached to it. Did you ever feel like that? Either the thoughts are subconscious and I can't identify them or this thing is purely chemical imbalance.
That's all my social anxiety really is now a days...more of a light physical thing that more mental. I believe, it's because Alpha cleared out a lot of that thinking? And I associate my anxiety lately with resistance...some days it's a little more, other days it's nothing. It's weird. Sometimes it comes up for an hour and then goes away completely.
But...it could be a chemical imbalance too. I know the drugs removed my anxiety nearly completely for months until I dropped down at a lower dose, I started feeling it a little more, but not too bad. Anti-depressants can be rough, esp. starting but they work. Yes, I'd avoid them if I absolutely could mostly because I gained a lot of weight, had absolutely no care in the world and lots of sexual side effects. Not that it was a bad thing...lol I loved them, but I hated those side effects so I'm trying to stay clear of them if I can. But the Buspar thing is a good one, if you absolutely need anxiety help, but IDK how it is with social anxiety? It had no side effects for me, worked quickly and wasn't addictive...I came right off of it. Takes the edge off.
Ryan
