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Thread: An antibiotic to treat anxiety?

  1. #11
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    Re: An antibiotic to treat anxiety?

    Surely people who run to the doctors demanding antibiotics for colds and flu are contributing to antibiotic resistance illness, not people who take them for health anxiety and are unable to take alternative medication.
    By the way , I think the last time I took antibiotics was about 20 years ago.

  2. #12
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    Re: An antibiotic to treat anxiety?

    Same here, PB, with the exception of a couple of instances when I've used a topical ointment - once after facial surgery and once after an infected insect bite.

    Except in the rarest of cases, though, while it's exceptionally distressing and often debilitating, health anxiety isn't dangerous. My personal take is that talking therapies should be more readily available - multiple varieties, not just CBT - but that antibiotics won't ever be the answer.
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  3. #13
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    Re: An antibiotic to treat anxiety?

    The real question here is how does it work. Everything I've learned over the last 10 years points towards poor gut bacteria being one of the reasons for anxiety (there is much evidence for this), and a strong antibiotic basically wipes the slate clean. You kill everything, good and bad. Perhaps people feel relief from anxiety for a while (although antibiotics always ramp up my anxiety ten fold). But the real issue with this is when they re-stock their bad gut bacteria because they haven't changed anything else in their life.

    Severe health anxiety is a habitual issue, not a medical one. You don't catch it and it's not genetic. It's a place you get to because of negative and destructive habitual thought patterns that are reinforced over time.

  4. #14
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    Re: An antibiotic to treat anxiety?

    I am currently having cbt to help me deal with my health anxiety.
    No way are antibiotics a definitive treatment , I think they are a consideration for some people.

  5. #15
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    Re: An antibiotic to treat anxiety?

    If somebody has something like SIBO or another infection that cannot be treated another way AND is having an effect on their mental health, then sure.

  6. #16
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    Re: An antibiotic to treat anxiety?

    Oh wow, this became quite a debate! But that’s a good thing!
    However, I have to disagree that severe HA is not life threatening. I’ve been suicidal over this relentless illness, and know others who have been too. When your desperation is so extreme, and the NHS has you on waiting lists of 12 months+ to get any form of help, hell yeah...I’d try antibiotics for some short term relief!
    I agree that it isn’t a long term solution though, and from research Ive done on this drug, it seems it is to be taken alongside cognitive therapy as it boosts your ability to unlearn negative behaviours. Once therapy finishes, so does the drug.
    I’d also imagine it would be a low dosage too. But I suppose that’s for the gp to decide.

    I’ve worked as a nurse, and have seen the awful effects of C-Diff and MRSA. I know that risk needs to be factored in when deciding on the suitability of this drug. That’s a discussion to have with the GP I suppose. As with any drug, the benefits would have to outweigh the risks! But my need is such, that I’m not gonna rule it out as an option!

    Also AnxietyJoe...I’m interested in that theory about poor gut bacteria. I need to look into that as I have another physiological illness that has been associated with poor gut bacteria too, so it could make sense for me!

  7. #17
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    Re: An antibiotic to treat anxiety?

    Quote Originally Posted by BlueIris View Post
    Can I join in here? I genuinely think I'd rather live with the worst of my anxiety than contribute to the ever-growing antibiotic resistance problem. Severe health anxiety is hell, but it's a lot less likely to kill you than an untreatable infection, and those are going to get a lot more common in days to come.
    Me too, absolutely. By the way, I have realized , being for couple of years on that C DIff Forum I mentioned, that people who NEVER suffered from health anxiety before C DIff, developed severe health anxiety after the illness. Antibiotics, through C DIff, severely destroy your gut flora, directly - in my opinion based on experience - affecting the way your brain works. My anxiety and especially health anxiety is a thousand times worse after C Diff. I am now not only scared of usual suspects - cancer, neurological decline and similar - but also of food. Food people!!! Whether it is properly washed, cooked, handled and so on. I have not been eating out for four years now, and when we sometimes go out, I always order almost burnt cheese pizza. I wash my hands tens of times a day, and I am scared to death when I have to use public bathroom. So - there.

  8. #18
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    Re: An antibiotic to treat anxiety?

    Ow, Lana, I'm sorry. I gave myself salmonella over the holidays by making a mistake with food prep, but luckily it didn't trigger my HA, although I'm definitely more cautious now.
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  9. #19
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    Re: An antibiotic to treat anxiety?

    Quote Originally Posted by BlueIris View Post
    Ow, Lana, I'm sorry. I gave myself salmonella over the holidays by making a mistake with food prep, but luckily it didn't trigger my HA, although I'm definitely more cautious now.

  10. #20
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    Mar 2018
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    Re: An antibiotic to treat anxiety?

    PB, did you see your GP today about this? I wimped out of mentioning it and have ended up with Prozac!

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