Advice required I am a bit stuck

[rossthekid]

Hey just looking for some advice really. To cut a long story short after trying different meds for 13 years I have stopped all medication for generalised anxiety about 7 weeks ago. I feel better without but I have been left with a sort of chronic anxiety all the time.
I really don't think I have anything I am concerned or worried about but feel my body has been stuck like this for so long and I am trying to retrain it.
The issues are the fatigue, even though I have difficulty to sleep to begin with once I am off then I sleep pretty well, 8 hours. I also experience varying degrees of physical symptoms but currently my neck and back constantly ache. Slight blurred vision just chronic symptoms really.
I have started CBT and am on my third week of mindfulness meditation in which immediately after I get some relief for a period of time, which varies in length. However the old physical symptoms reappear soon after. I have no motivation for exercise as I am so knackered.
Any other advice on what to try to help. Don't want to go down root of meds again.
cheers ross

[lior]

7 weeks is not a long time.

Stick it out for a bit. Set a time limit for how long you want to stick it out for, and then do a proper review about how things have happened. Keep making notes in the meantime about how you're getting along - writing up on here can help.

Meditation takes a long time to get in to, so stick at that too.

Good luck!

[mat74]

Did you stop the meds abruptly or by gradually reducing the dosage? I know stopping meds abruptly means you can have some horrid side effects - I had them when stopping mine and moving on to new ones (now back on original ones)

I too have often thought about trying no meds but the GP didn't think it was a good idea as I needed some 'additional help' with my GAD and depression although I have gone a few days with no ADs before and not felt any worse to be honest

Being depressed and anxious can cause lethargy, I have been like it for weeks and literally having to force myself out of bed and out the house to go for walks and shopping otherwise I know I will be worse.

Maybe speak to your GP about the symptoms as he may have some other ideas such as beta blockers woth no ADs or a very mild dosage of ADs

Best of luck

[rossthekid]

It was Prozac I stopped and I was only on 20mg so I stopped it cold turkey and side effects weren't too bad. But the last 7 days my anxiety seems slightly worse and I am unsure whether its still side effects of stopping Prozac 7 weeks ago or this is me. It is difficult to know. I just wish my neck pain would disappear but saying that there is a definite correlation between increased anxiety and more neck pain. With regards to the meditation when should I feel the benefit of it?

[lior]

How long meditation takes to pay off varies from person to person. With me, I did yoga once a week for about 6 weeks before I could properly meditate. But with other yoga teachers I have not been able to meditate at all. So I do think that teachers make a difference.

After you meditate you can have some benefit - like a kind of glow - for a while afterwards, but for me I find that wears off when I am faced with situations I don't know how to deal with - the stress wipes away the benefit. People say that if you meditate every day then you connect with some kind of inner calm that you can draw on in tough situations. I don't meditate every day, so I can't vouch for that unfortunately. But good luck if that's what you're aiming for, let me know how it goes.

[Angelika]

Try 'Headspace' Mindfulness meditation app. - look it up. It is excellent, and you get a number of sessions free, to get the idea and see if it is for you. I've been doing it for a while, and it isn't overnight, but studies show that over time it really helps.

Oh, and I just started a thread about help with vague feelings of anxiety and so on, that just linger and won't seem to go. I'm sure we're not alone. I think Claire Weekes referred to it as 'the shadow.'

[lior]

I'm doing Headspace - on day 2. Both times when he said 'let your mind do whatever it needs to do' I cried!