Should I seek anxiety medication?

While I've had anxiety issues for the past 10 years, it came in waves. I had months of issues and then months of really nothing. This past year, however, I got a new boss that kept me constantly behind and stressed at work. When my work stress becomes too severe, my HA flares up and I cannot fight the HA thoughts.

In the past two months I've worried about colon cancer, eye cancer, brain cancer, rabies, melanoma, kidney cancer and a second round of eye and brain concerns. I just roll out of one concern straight into the next. It doesn't end. I've had 6 trips to a clinic over all this.

Throughout the last year, I've tried things to relax. Mental distractions, sports, video games, etc. I literally cannot relax anymore. I'm always tight and my neck hurts. I don't sleep well. I don't know what to try anymore. I've gone to my doctor in the past over anxiety, even last summer, and he only tries short term fixes like a muscle relaxer. He doesn't like anxiety medication and doesn't want me to go down that road.

Need some advice here. Should I just beg my doctor to try anxiety medicine? Does it work without too many side effects? Should I try relaxation help using a therapist or something? I do know vacation is not the answer. My mind doesn't need that much free time to worry!

I think I'd be dead without ADs (antidepressants)... Here are some things to keep in mind if you decide to try them.

1) They work by building up in your system. You can't just pop them like an aspirin for a headache. You need to be on them for at least a year, and it often takes 6 to 8 weeks to see the full effects of any dosage.
2) For some people, as your body gets used to them, have some start up anxiety in the first 4-6 weeks or so. This is normal. Just keep taking them and power through it; it'll even out. Gradually upping the dosage helps with this a lot.
3) You have to find the right dosage that works for you. You may need to up the AD after the first few weeks. Again this is normal, and finding the right dosage is a trial and error process, so be patient.
4) They don't replace therapy to deal with your issues. They make you less likely to dwell on your issues, but you still have to do the work.

When yous say anxiety meds, Vee iis right that AD will help.

It's possible doc might suggest benzos. If so, try not to take more than 3 weeks coz yous get tolerant/dependent real fast and it sucks a 🐀's ass to try and come off them. It's a short time fix only. Therapy a better idea in long time

Hi there double 0 seven

It's your new boss who needs dealing with. Bully bosses is all too common these days. You don't gotta be scsred, their the ones with problems.

Companies what is well run don't got bosses like that. Using fear to manage folk lead to low morale and low productivity.

A good boss rule through example and consent

Stand up to the *******. Yous scared it will make your anxiety worser or yous might get canned. Very unlikely.

So here is two ways to deal with the schmuck

1) Smile, and ignore orders. Don't even open your mouth. Go slow.
2) Snap back at him. He won't be expecting it

Leave at the usual time. If he try to keep yous behind, say "I'll do that tomorrow. Bye". Don't give a reason

It will do wonders for your anxiety too

Health anxiety is almost always self inflicted behaviour and thought pattern, so you need to consider that medication will not prevent you from undertaking the negative patterns you have built up over the years (checking, googling, catastrophising, imagining the worst etc).

Medication is also unlikely to change the dynamic at work. Very unlikely.


So perhaps consider changing the things you can change before taking medication to counteract the cause. I would focus on the cause, not the symptoms. Your Doctor sounds like a good one. Do you think medication will allow you to feel fine while the causes for your anxiety are still there?

You talk a lot about worry, and it sounds to me like a therapeutic solution is what you need more. CBT in particular is very good at taking your immediate mental anguish and diffusing it into reality check. CBT required you to practice what you are being taught. It's not something you passively turn up to and receive a cure.

Agreeing with Joe here - therapy is the best long-term solution, because it teaches you the strategies you need to manage your anxiety.

With that said, if your anxiety levels are so high that you're struggling to focus, antidepressants can provide a really useful fire blanket to help you put those strategies into use.

Thank you for the feedback, everyone. I guess I didn't really understand how the medication works. I just kind of thought you took it and it made you feel really calm. I had wondered if maybe I could try it short term as was suggested and then maybe if my body felt calm again, it wouldn't be so hard to get there on my own again? Right now I almost feel like my body has forgotten what a calm feeling is.

As for CBT, I really don't know much about it either. What's the best way to go through it? Is it a one-on-one thing with a therapist, or do you do support groups, or do you buy and follow online programs?

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Originally Posted by user007

Thank you for the feedback, everyone. I guess I didn't really understand how the medication works. I just kind of thought you took it and it made you feel really calm. I had wondered if maybe I could try it short term as was suggested and then maybe if my body felt calm again, it wouldn't be so hard to get there on my own again? Right now I almost feel like my body has forgotten what a calm feeling is.

As for CBT, I really don't know much about it either. What's the best way to go through it? Is it a one-on-one thing with a therapist, or do you do support groups, or do you buy and follow online programs?

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Meds are all different. The fast acting short term ones you are thinking of are the benzos that are highly addictive. They are used to reduce anxiety for a short time e.g. someone who has had a big shock like a car accident. In treating longer term disorders they mean dependence and more problems so they are reserved purely (or should be these days) for those who can't find other meds that help or are so severe they need the sedation of them.

You will likely start off with a typical SSRI type med. This means a start up where it's more likely nothing changes or you feel worse due to side effects, new symptoms or worsening of your existing anxiety. Not everyone struggles though so keep that in mind. I won't lie though, it can be very hard going if you do struggle. There are many meds though and one not working can just mean increasing the dose (after a time to determine whether it's likely to be a good med for you) or switching to another. Even switching to another in the same class as they all have slightly different "mixes" in terms of how they influence the various neurotransmitters.

Meds like SSRIs are a two stage med. Firstly they start your body making more of the neurotransmitters they work on. This is where the side effects come because it's a quickly change to your brain's usual levels of them so it has to get used to it. The second stage is how they affect your receptors in terms of re-uptake. All it does it prevent your receptors from re-absorbing it. So in the space between the sending receptors and the re-absorbing ones you end up with a) more pumped into that space that can be used (so if the brain needs more it has the ability to pass it on through the normal method) and b) it re-absorbs any excess in that space at a slower pace (allowing the brain to try to use more of it just as it does from the first stage effect).

The second stage takes longer. It may be a month or so for them, it's individual to the drug. This is why we often talk about waiting 4-6 weeks for side effects to go (your body getting used to the new raised levels) and 6-8 weeks to see improvement. I didn't see any improvement for a few of months but when you do you will notice feeling "different" i.e. just a bit better, perhaps.

However, meds just prop you up. Much of what they do can be achieved without them as studies have shown e.g. in depression they find exercise or meditation treatments can raise levels the same. But the old myth of low levels of Serotonin was busted many years ago (this was what they originally thought was the problem and why the drugs worked since with anxiety these drugs weren't even created with that in mind).

This is why CBT can help because it will teach you to change how you behave and think so that you don't add to worsening of these chemicals. Think about the classic panic cycle. If yo feel panic and then start to think panic you just add panic. But this isn't just in your mind, it will just make your body produce more chemicals. Therefore learning not to panic prevents this and allows your brain to cope better with the chemicals it normally produces.

As far as CBT goes you can do it remote/online, over the phone, on groups or 1-2-1. It's whatever services they offer. But you would do well starting with some free resources like CBT4PANIC and the OCD links on the OCD board (I think I noticed you had a theme about rabies? CBT4PANIC doesn't cover obsessive-compulsive cycles). The CCI workbooks are also very good. But CBT books can be soon, just bare in mind many of them are going to overlap so no need to buy tones of them. CBT also comes in different forms and some work better for people than others. Traditional CBT has been added to with new forms such as ACT or CBT for complex PTSD, etc. Mindfulness has been blended with it (or rather some of it) to form MBCT and MBSR (See the link in my signature for a thread with links to those).

Hey James Bond

That Tezza got one helluva memory. Be thankful yous got a guy here who reads posts and takes it all in

Regardin the CBT gig, if you don't got dosh to see therapy then read the book

Felling Good by a dude named Burns. It's about 500 pages long but the mother of all CBT self help book.

If you don't got dosh to buy it yous can download free from

b_ook.org

Did yous decide what to do about bully boss? If you'd take meds cozxa him/her, you lose.

Let us know how yous get on

hi, heres my experience..
basically anxiety has robbed me of many months/years of my life and after 2 breakdowns I couldnt take it no more and 15 years ago I took the jump and Im so glad I did. Now IM not saying it was easy , like other posts the start up was vile but well worth it. Yes ive had bad days since and currently I Ive decided to increase my dose of my current med after a messy marriage breakdown and being diagnosed with severe anemia..ive battled the last 4 months to try and get through but I feel its just robbing me more and more of my new found life ive made..thats to say , dont ever think a pill will save you from that pit of despair ! It gave me a coping mechanism, to help me manage and process my thought processes....you need to undertake a lot of self help...im having counselling...awaiting CBT ...but motivation is key.
i find mirror therapy is great... motivate yourself through the mirror..I tell myself ,Im strong, beautiful and I can do this ! over and over again...obviously i only do this alone lol but trust me it works... most importantly talk....
like i said , im all for meds but self help is the best cure

Hello user007.. Usually you have health anxiety. Like other diseases, it's also a mental diseases. If you don't care about it, don't treat it, you will become a mental patient. Through a proper counseling and medicine can save you. You will be complete cure if you treat it. My sister also suffering from health anxiety. A normal pain in ab-domain, she thoughts it will be a big issue, I need to admit to hospital. An we all including my parents ware busy to take care of her. Now after treatment for more than one year, she is gradually become normal. And can understand her situation. I believe, you also will be cure. Best of luck.
I am sure you will find many more related post from this great forum, but these articles also helps you to understand it better -
health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/always-worried-about-your-health-you-may-be-dealing-with-health-anxiety-disorder
addictionrehabcenters.com/mental-health-and-addiction-therapy-addiction-rehab-centers/