Is medication a necessity? Or can therapy do the trick alone for this anxiety?

[NoraB]

Sorry... long winded... Bottom line is do what you have to do to get better. At 61 with real health issues, my mortality is imminent and the reality of how fast time is passing (2020 has been a blur!) is becoming more evident every day. We all deserve peace and happiness and we should pursue the things that get us there... My signature says it perfectly...

Positive thoughts

Can I just say that you are such a great asset to this forum. I used to come on here when my brain was melting due to HA, and your positive (and logical) approach helped me a lot because I thought, here is a guy who has major health issues and he's getting on with it. If I've never said this to you before, I apologise, but you are pretty damn awesome, Fishmanpa, and I wish you and yours all the peace and happiness there is.

[Fishmanpa]

Can I just say that you are such a great asset to this forum. I used to come on here when my brain was melting due to HA, and your positive (and logical) approach helped me a lot because I thought, here is a guy who has major health issues and he's getting on with it. If I've never said this to you before, I apologise, but you are pretty damn awesome, Fishmanpa, and I wish you and yours all the peace and happiness there is.

Thank you for your kind words

Positive thoughts

[Allochka]

Fishmanpa, thank you so much for your words! You help and support so many people here! Wish you to stay NED for many-many years to come!
regarding meds - they help me greatly. But every time I slip - it is because I am not disciplined enough. Meds help, but don’t totally cure. I understand I need to make more efforts in addition to meds to beat the dragon.

[glassgirlw]

I have huge issues taking medications that I’ve never had before. So I’m ok with Tylenol and ibuprofen and Benadryl, but as soon as a doc prescribed me lexapro, I couldn’t bring myself to take one. Fast forward two years, had been doing pretty well! Then bam - mental breakdown, massive return of HA, finally gave in after an ER visit for yet another panic attack and agreed to try SSRI’s again. Took one pill of a ridiculously low dose of escitalopram, and ended up nearly going to the ER because I had convinced myself I was having a heart attack. So....I gave up on meds. I’m no good at therapy either, so I found this forum. Did a lot of reading on here, found many tips from a lot of amazing people, and have put them into effect in my life. Also stopped googling my symptoms. Absolutely no googling. So important for me personally. Am I cured, no. But I’m in a 95% better place than I was a couple years ago, and I’ll keep working to get better.

[pulisa]

What a great post, glassgirlw! It's finding what works for you and getting tips from people who have truly "been there" and can share their experiences is a valuable resource.

True motivation to get better does mean rejecting Dr Google's advice though and there's absolutely no leeway on this.

[Fishmanpa]

Fishmanpa, thank you so much for your words! You help and support so many people here! Wish you to stay NED for many-many years to come!
regarding meds - they help me greatly. But every time I slip - it is because I am not disciplined enough. Meds help, but don’t totally cure. I understand I need to make more efforts in addition to meds to beat the dragon.

Thank you for your kind words I hear you about slipping. When I was recovering from depression, I often found myself ruminating in negativity and was defeating myself. That's where the whole "Positive Thoughts" thing came along. Those positive quotes I post I've been reading for 20 years and they really came to fruition after my 1st heart attack and subsequent depression. I did and still do read one every day (I subscribe to them) and often times I use them as a screen saver and/or print and post them on the bathroom mirror and/or someplace I'm going to see and be able to read it.

One of my favorite quotes is....

"We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.” - Charles Swindoll

The other is in my signature Keep on putting one foot in front of the other and you'll get there ya hear?

Positive thoughts

[glassgirlw]

What a great post, glassgirlw! It's finding what works for you and getting tips from people who have truly "been there" and can share their experiences is a valuable resource.

True motivation to get better does mean rejecting Dr Google's advice though and there's absolutely no leeway on this.

I completely agree about Doc Google. I kind of see the same association that an alcoholic has with their beverage of choice, or a drug addict with their “fix”. An alcoholic must give it up to recover - not one more drink, ever. Those of us with HA are not that different, really. - Google is our “drug” of choice. Have to give it up completely to recover.

People like FMP (and many others as well) have been a saving grace for me personally. I haven’t shared a ton of my own personal struggles on the forum, but I have read hundreds upon hundreds of others, and have commented when I felt I had something worthwhile to add. FMP’s advice in particular is just so irrefutably logical and straightforward that it’s made a huge difference in my steps to recovery. So I’d like to jump on the bandwagon and say thank you to him for that.