Meds

[Lacey]

I currently take beta blockers for panic attacks and they stop the racing heart beat, I need to stop worrying and fears.
Any success stories relating to medication?

[suzy-sue]

There is a med forum ,you will find plenty of information on there .Whilst medication will help with symptoms they dont cure the underlying condition .Thats where Reading ,Self help, CBT ,and Councelling etc come in .There is no such thing as a magic pill ,it takes a lot of hard work persistence and determination to recover .I hope you find what helps you .Good luck Luv Sue x

[cymraig_chris]

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[KayleighJane]

My understanding on medication
Regarding medication, you have two choices, to take or not to take. Firstly I would like to state that there is absolutely nothing to fear from taking medication, especially anti-anxiety medication.
If you understand what the medication is actually doing then there is nothing to fear whatsoever. Indeed when you open a pack of meds you will be presented with a whole myriad of potential side effects (these are effectively a list of what was reported during the drug testing phase and indeed what additional effects people have reported during the time when the drug has been in circulation), as you can imagine, us anxiety folk are an imaginative lot and so we focus on every minute detail and report these side effects back to our Doctor. If enough people report a side-effect, it gets added to the side effect list when the documented list is updated.
Consequently the list of potential side effects listed is rather substantial, additionally when we anxiety folk take the meds we start to attribute many of our anxiety symptoms as a side effect of the drug. The best approach is to read this bit with a 'pinch of salt'.
Here is a short précis of three main types prescribed for anxiety (there are loads more).
Diazepam
Bête blockers
Antidepressant SSRIs
Diazepam makes you drowsy and is chemically addictive, it contains no mind-altering compounds. Some people use it as a short term fix for stressful events (Plane journeys etc).
Beta blockers basically slow your body down a bit (heart rate etc), they give the parasympathetic nervous system (the bit that calms us down) a boost to initiate the rest/digest response, they are non-addictive and can be safely taken for years on end if necessary - they contain no mind altering compounds.
Some people with high blood pressure take them every day for years on end. Interestingly some performance musicians especially classical players take them before a concert recital to alleviate nervousness, since they have no effect in altering perception they are the drug of choice as the accuracy of musical timing is completely unhindered.
Antidepressant SSRIs.
Another completely logical approach to anxiety. Chemically non-addictive, they are not mind altering and very beneficial. They are successful in a very high percentage of people simply because whether they work or not is genetically determined, and all of us have the receptive gene sequence for many different types.
Q. What is an SSRI?
A. Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitor)
Sounds technical, sounds scary, it is technical, but not scary.
Q. What is Serotonin?
A. It is the natural chemical produced in everybody's brain that makes us feel happy and relaxed.
So what does the SSRI do, well the clue is in the name .. it inhibits the reuptake of Serotonin.
A quick very basic brain lesson:
Our brains are made up of billions of nerve cells, they connect with each other to form a super complex matrix, where each cell joins to another we call it a synapse. Serotonin is made in the brain cells and passed across the synapse to the connecting cells to be used (and make us happy and relaxed). During the fight-flight response it is detrimental to our survival to be happy and relaxed. In a historical setting, it would serve us no good if we sat smiling contentedly at the sabre-tooth tiger as he strolled into our cave, our brains would serve us much better if they made us feel so bad that we were running away for our dear lives. In order to do this our brain's (amygdale determined) protection mechanism (the 'fight-flight') initiate a mechanism that 'sucks' the serotonin back into the cell in which it was produced, then the mechanism breaks down the serotonin chemical and reuses its chemical energy for something more akin to a survival situation. That is what panic/anxiety/depression is. Nothing more.
The SSRI, let's take the example of Citalopram(in the UK)/Celexa (In the US) ... two brand names for the same thing ... a chemical called hyperbromide. Hyperbromide is a chemical that happens to fit the 'gaps'/'holes' (like a chemical-key in a chemical-lock) in which the Serotonin is sucked back through. The longer you take it the more holes it fills (it usually takes about 6 weeks to fill the 'holes'). The result is that the serotonin is no longer sucked back because it's path is blocked by the Hyperbromide, so it continues on its journey to the next cell where it is used to make us happy and relaxed (i.e. normal). Once we notice that we are relaxed, and, the medication is in fact working a bit, we worry less about the anxiety, and most importantly we start to act normally, the more we act normally the more normal signals we send back to the Limbic System, which in my opinion is the real cure (the medication just helps us kick start the process).
The medication is effectively there to help us cure ourselves.
Of the three medication types discussed here, I have tried all three. It is normal to fear them but there is nothing to fear from them. I have no anxiety-disorder anymore nor will I ever have it again.
I hope this helps dispel any fears of 'brain' meds that you may have.
Discuss any worries with your doctor about medication. They really are well placed to give wonderful advice.
I’m just an unqualified layman when it comes to medication; Doctors are the fonts of all knowledge, they are far-far superior relative to my small pieces of knowledge.


one word... WOW! thanks so much for that post it was so informative and helpful and very simply explained so was easy to understand, I am taking all three of these meds currently for panic attacks and general anxiety disorder and it was great to read how they are actually working. Its also inspiring to hear that you no longer have anxiety disorder :) it gives me some hope that I can get over this also x

[cymraig_chris]

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