Can it be done without medication?

[LiveAboveIt]

I'm to the point where I'm struggling from both depression/anxiety. My major issue is overthinking my condition.. The thoughts of how this might never go away, the fact that I can't enjoy anything and feel entirely disconnected towards life and people.. Eventually have a tendency of overwhelming me and causing mental breakdowns/panic attacks.

I'm getting better everyday, but.. Can I truly do this without medication? I've been on so many different SSRI's to battle anxiety, including Citalopram, Luvox, Wellbutron, Effexor, Zoloft, etc etc.

I seem to be incredibly sensitive to all of these medications and they tend to cause me even more anxiety and/or other side effects that just aren't worth taking. I've managed to beat my anxiety multiple times in the past, so that I didn't really have any issues with anxiety or panic.. But something always triggers it, and it ends up coming back with a vengeance.. Even if I'm on medication that helped in the past.

I think most of it is my own fault, because I stop going to therapy when I start feeling better.. And then when I fall into this pit of despair, all I desire is being back IN therapy and it just can't happen soon enough.

Anyway, I'm getting off all of the SSRI type medication because I don't enjoy the side effects that they give me and I want to be able to beat this anxiety on my own.

Can it be done?

[Fishmanpa]

Hi LiveA,

Reading your post brings up a question. You say you're getting better which is awesome but lately you've been struggling and have, sometimes severely, for many years. You say therapy and meds help even though you don't care for the side effects yet you're not in therapy and are going off the meds? Don't you think that wouldn't exactly be the most prudent thing to do based on your history? People beat their anxiety without meds as we read about it sometimes but to do this without a professionals supervision may not be in your best interest.

Positive thoughts.

[Jacsta]

I got better without medication in the end. I, like you had been on several over the years and none of them really didn't anything special from me. One thing always stuck in my head from my early counselling days...my counsellor once explain that medication is only a small part of getting better....it can give you a boost in mood to allow you to address the thought cycles and issues that you have.

I found cbt very helpful....everyone has their own recovery journey...for some people medication works great, for others therapy works great, and then there are some that have a combination of both....it is about finding what works for you and going with it

[kirkatronics]

I am currently on a low dose of propanalol as my tremor can cause my anxiety to flare up.
I have found that exercising helps quite a lot. Maybe this could help you too.

[LiveAboveIt]

Hi LiveA,

Reading your post brings up a question. You say you're getting better which is awesome but lately you've been struggling and have, sometimes severely, for many years. You say therapy and meds help even though you don't care for the side effects yet you're not in therapy and are going off the meds? Don't you think that wouldn't exactly be the most prudent thing to do based on your history? People beat their anxiety without meds as we read about it sometimes but to do this without a professionals supervision may not be in your best interest.

Positive thoughts.

You're absolutely right. It was my fault when I stopped going to therapy in the first place. I always manage to convince myself that my therapist isn't helping, that she speaks to me about the most mundane things and that I'm tired of going. But I ALWAYS notice that I tend to get worse when I stop going. I'm currently trying to get myself a new therapist that specialized in anxiety/CBT, but they are making me wait forever because they need to contact my OLD therapist before they can schedule me with a new one.

Also, my psychiatrist is great. Always very caring and knowledgeable. However, someone in his family turned ill and he had to move to another state. They have this thing set up where I see him through a tv/webcam setup, and I've been seeing him like that.. However, it's incredibly difficult to get messages or questions to him through his nurses.. 6+ days most of the time for me to get a response and he's incredibly booked, so I'd have to make ANOTHER appointment two weeks prior for a 15 minute appointment that costs me 50$ or so. :\

[MyNameIsTerry]

I know what you mean when you said things get stale in therapy. I had this problem with CBT and I didn't really keep pushing on because of it. I later spent a year attending a self help group each week which ended up being the same.

I think for me it's about variety. I think I have an unrealistic outlook on life due to all this making me think I should always be doing something when in reality it is ok not to. Due to this, attending regular sessions left me bored and unfulfilled. For me to get past this "rut", because I think thats what it is, I think it will be a matter of introducing a variety of things that I enjoy e.g. joining some interesting clubs & activities or doing something useful such as outdoor volunteering working on the environment.

So, is it possible you can mix your therapy with other things? And would that help you break out of the cycle? I know I feel largely unfulfilled with my life so therapy alone just isn't the way.

I don't know on the meds. I think it may be a question of whether the side affects are really too much to tolerate and whether your anxiety is just out of control. I know for me, I was too far gone to believe therapy would bring me back down.

[Round in circles]

We all need different things at different points in our lives. Meds and cbt work wonders for some people. Neither helped me at all. Something that is helping now may not be useful in five years time or vice versa. It's impossible to plan out the future. All we can really do is try to find whatever works for us right now.

I'm not on any meds and see someone privately maybe once a month (all I can afford) and my life is far from in control or perfect, but compared to how I was and felt when I was in the system, I'm a hundred times better. When I did the conveyor belt of meds and cbt and patient reviews, I lost a good chunk of my humanity. I felt like a patient, a case, instead of a human being. I felt like I'd never recover. Maybe I won't, who knows. The difference is, I feel human again and it took stepping off that conveyor to realise it.

[LiveAboveIt]

We all need different things at different points in our lives. Meds and cbt work wonders for some people. Neither helped me at all. Something that is helping now may not be useful in five years time or vice versa. It's impossible to plan out the future. All we can really do is try to find whatever works for us right now.

I'm not on any meds and see someone privately maybe once a month (all I can afford) and my life is far from in control or perfect, but compared to how I was and felt when I was in the system, I'm a hundred times better. When I did the conveyor belt of meds and cbt and patient reviews, I lost a good chunk of my humanity. I felt like a patient, a case, instead of a human being. I felt like I'd never recover. Maybe I won't, who knows. The difference is, I feel human again and it took stepping off that conveyor to realise it.

I'm going through that, as we speak. I know that medication helps thousands of people all the time cope with their issues, without any side effects. But they don't seem to be do anything for me other than cause increased anxiety/depersonalization/depression, etc.

So I'm getting off of everything and going to try do it naturally.

[Round in circles]

A long time ago I was on an anti depressant that was giving me lots of bad side effects and no good ones. It was making me feel suicidal and not myself at all. I kept going back to the doc, asking to get taken off but each time he simply upped the dose. I can't remember which anti depressant it was (I've tried most of them) but eventually it got reported on the news that this particular drug had been linked to a number of suicides. I didn't want to go back to the doc only for him to up the dose yet again so I just stopped taking them.

I felt so incredibly ill for ages after. Nausea, dizziness, the shakes, sleep problems.. And that's just the physical symptoms. Mentally, things were.. chaotic to say the least. Suicidal thoughts went crazy, and I had awful brain fog. I got to the point where I wondered if I'd ever feel like me again. Really it's totally not a good idea to quit cold turkey. I just wish I'd known that back then. Then again.. I wish I knew a lot of things back when.. Don't we all?

[LiveAboveIt]

A long time ago I was on an anti depressant that was giving me lots of bad side effects and no good ones. It was making me feel suicidal and not myself at all. I kept going back to the doc, asking to get taken off but each time he simply upped the dose. I can't remember which anti depressant it was (I've tried most of them) but eventually it got reported on the news that this particular drug had been linked to a number of suicides. I didn't want to go back to the doc only for him to up the dose yet again so I just stopped taking them.

I felt so incredibly ill for ages after. Nausea, dizziness, the shakes, sleep problems.. And that's just the physical symptoms. Mentally, things were.. chaotic to say the least. Suicidal thoughts went crazy, and I had awful brain fog. I got to the point where I wondered if I'd ever feel like me again. Really it's totally not a good idea to quit cold turkey. I just wish I'd known that back then. Then again.. I wish I knew a lot of things back when.. Don't we all?

I feel for you. I'm going through that right now. The last two weeks have been hell on earth. I'm finally starting to see the light, but.. It definitely left a dent in my psyche.

[RicoD]

Same story here regarding quiting cold turkey..

how are you doing now? and what symptoms did you had exactly?