When is enough, enough?

[jayjoe18]

How long did/have you gone on with debilitating anxiety without medication? How long before medication is the only option?


I should add... I have had anxiety (social anxiety) for 7-8 years starting around 12/13 years old, I'm now 20. It's got progressively worse, I had to leave school in the last 2 years to teach myself at home, dropped out of sixth form college after 1 term, went through severe health anxiety, now dealing with toilet phobia and now basically agoraphobic due to the combination of original social anxiety/toliet phobia. Don't work, can't proceed with my education, don't have friends, don't have a life. I'm very unhappy but also very scared about medication (as my previous posts will confirm!) but I don't know what else to try (have had CBT, child therapy, CBT again, tried hynotherapy but couldn't relax enough!). I have a family history of mental illness (eg. anxiety, social anxiety, bipolar, emetophobia, morbid jealousy). I am now so tierd, emotionally, physically but not given up, I still want my life back even though I've forgotten how to be happy & live normally. But I feel lost and in need of guidance right now, I'm scared to make the wrong decision :(

[Gotagetthroughthis]

I think it depends on the person but when my anxiety started it became so extreme that I literally could not do a single thing. I couldn't eat or sleep. Getting through each minute of each day was a struggle. I constantly thought I was dying and going insane and the physical symptoms were pretty much non stop. So I saw no other option but the start medication.

I was on medication for about 8 months, it got me to a place where the anxiety wasn't constant and so severe but I still had anxiety every day. I have since come off medication about 5 months ago and I am pretty much at the same level I was when on the meds. I have blips where I think im going back to that non stop anxiety place but i usually come out of them. I still struggle every day with anxiety but I manage to battle through now.

But it is coming to a stage where living that anxiety battle every day is tiring and after trying for a while and seeing little to no improvement it makes me think it may be time for meds again. I have been perscribed meds again by my doctor about a month ago but im still just taking each day as it comes and hoping I start to somehow improve without starting the meds.

It is a hard decision but if you have tried everything else and are getting nowhere and are still living with bad anxiety every day then meds are worth a try.

[meche]

I never went on medication. Even when I thought I needed it, my doctor never once prescribed it - didn't even suggest it! Now, I'm thankful because I stuck in there & fought it on my own. It wasn't easy though! I'm not against meds & no disrespect to those who take meds but for me I'm glad it wasn't an option. You have to do what you think is right for you. xx

[Tufty]

I went for 3 months with debilitating anxiety in 2003 before trying medication, although I'd had anxiety for sometime before that. I was lucky enough to have CBT within a week of my first panic attack and it helped me get through those 3 months but it didn't stop the near constant high anxiety which led to hospitalisation.

For many people medication is never an option, they somehow manage, but others like me need medication to help them cope. If the anxiety is relentless, it can lead to depression and exhaustion and I believe medication has its place in the treatment of anxiety. Most of us would love to go drug free but after years of managing my anxiety, searching for reasons and solutions and trying to accept and face my fears I understand that medication can enable me to live my life to the full and be happy.

It's probably not the only option, if I could quit the rat race and persuade my family to do the same my stress level would be lower and I maybe able to cope without drugs but that is not an option at the moment. Many people manage their anxiety with alcohol, street drugs, self harm, anorexia, OCD rituals including obsessive exercise - prescribed medication is safer than these.

As for how long? For me initially it was 3 months, last year I went 7 weeks drug free but could feel myself slipping and restarted. If the anxiety is having a negative impact on your life and you've tried talking therapies I would suggest giving medication a try. Your signature phrase says it all - don't wait for the storm to pass, learn to live with it and sometimes medication can help you do this.

Sam

[Gotagetthroughthis]

Thats great to hear you have managed to fight it on your own meche. Have you managed to completely overcome the anxiety? How long did it take you if so?

[jayjoe18]

I think it depends on the person but when my anxiety started it became so extreme that I literally could not do a single thing. I couldn't eat or sleep. Getting through each minute of each day was a struggle. I constantly thought I was dying and going insane and the physical symptoms were pretty much non stop. So I saw no other option but the start medication.

I was on medication for about 8 months, it got me to a place where the anxiety wasn't constant and so severe but I still had anxiety every day. I have since come off medication about 5 months ago and I am pretty much at the same level I was when on the meds. I have blips where I think im going back to that non stop anxiety place but i usually come out of them. I still struggle every day with anxiety but I manage to battle through now.

But it is coming to a stage where living that anxiety battle every day is tiring and after trying for a while and seeing little to no improvement it makes me think it may be time for meds again. I have been perscribed meds again by my doctor about a month ago but im still just taking each day as it comes and hoping I start to somehow improve without starting the meds.

It is a hard decision but if you have tried everything else and are getting nowhere and are still living with bad anxiety every day then meds are worth a try.

Thank you very much for your response Gotagetthroughthis, that's how I feel at the moment, it's becoming so tiring living with the anxiety and also so upsetting knowing what a waste it is of my life.

---------- Post added at 17:54 ---------- Previous post was at 17:42 ----------


I never went on medication. Even when I thought I needed it, my doctor never once prescribed it - didn't even suggest it! Now, I'm thankful because I stuck in there & fought it on my own. It wasn't easy though! I'm not against meds & no disrespect to those who take meds but for me I'm glad it wasn't an option. You have to do what you think is right for you. xx

That is great to hear meche, what sort of anxiety did/do you have? Do you have any tips on how to cope day to day?


I went for 3 months with debilitating anxiety in 2003 before trying medication, although I'd had anxiety for sometime before that. I was lucky enough to have CBT within a week of my first panic attack and it helped me get through those 3 months but it didn't stop the near constant high anxiety which led to hospitalisation.

For many people medication is never an option, they somehow manage, but others like me need medication to help them cope. If the anxiety is relentless, it can lead to depression and exhaustion and I believe medication has its place in the treatment of anxiety. Most of us would love to go drug free but after years of managing my anxiety, searching for reasons and solutions and trying to accept and face my fears I understand that medication can enable me to live my life to the full and be happy.

It's probably not the only option, if I could quit the rat race and persuade my family to do the same my stress level would be lower and I maybe able to cope without drugs but that is not an option at the moment. Many people manage their anxiety with alcohol, street drugs, self harm, anorexia, OCD rituals including obsessive exercise - prescribed medication is safer than these.

As for how long? For me initially it was 3 months, last year I went 7 weeks drug free but could feel myself slipping and restarted. If the anxiety is having a negative impact on your life and you've tried talking therapies I would suggest giving medication a try. Your signature phrase says it all - don't wait for the storm to pass, learn to live with it and sometimes medication can help you do this.

Sam


Thank you Sam, that's brilliantly written and makes so much sense to me right now. I agree, I think there are many people who can cope without but others that really need it in order to live atleast a more normal life. I think I'm definitely at that exhaustion stage at the moment, I'm very unhappy with life but luckily don't think I have depression. I do actually manage some of my anxieties with OCD rituals and it has done physical damage, it is worrying that it has got this way :(

[bluebottle]

I have social anxiety, depression, pure O, and I usually manage it all. I do get moments when stress builds from outside things and then it feels overwhelming. My opinion, and it is mine, yours may be different, is that joining a group of people with similar issues can help a lot, and also finding a good private therapist who will work at a reduced rate will help.
Really we have to face the fear. That needs to be with support. Good luck.

[Speranza]

I went almost 53 years... don't recommend waiting quite that long... :ohmy: ;)