3 ms·
I have always suffered from some level of social anxiety, but never really considered it crippling. Years ago, I brought this up to a doctor who promptly prescr
by IAmGraydon 8y ago
I have always suffered from some level of social anxiety, but never really considered it crippling. Years ago, I brought this up to a doctor who promptly prescribed me a drug of the benzodiazepine class. At first I felt like an idiot. Slightly less anxious I guess, but I became kind of loose of the mouth (like you get when you're drunk), forgot a lot of things, and generally didn't like it. However, I stuck with it and a strange thing happened - as I adjusted to the medicine, my anxiety started getting worse. At this point, not taking the medicine had a rebound effect as well that was pretty terrifying, so I avoided that. All the while I was trapped - I couldn't stop using it or I would have panic attacks, but using it was also seemingly causing an increasing paradoxical reaction. I got to a pretty bad place with this over a few months, and ended up having physical manifestations of my inner anxiety (cramps, pins and needles, sweating, inability to sleep, etc). Eventually the only way out was a lengthy taper off the drug. It was literally 3 months of hell. After finally getting back to baseline, my normal anxiety level returned and it seemed like a walk in the park next to what I was experiencing on the medicine.
The point of my anecdote? Medicine can often compound the problem or even create new problems that weren't there before. Once you're in the midst of this, it can be hard to even recognize the medication as the cause, specially if you're taking multiple medications. I'm not suggesting that anyone stop their medicine without talking to their doctor, but at least consider that the anti-anxiety cocktail you're on may be making things far worse. It happened to me, and some research has revealed that these paradoxical reactions are not at all uncommon.
- scrozier 8y agoI had exactly the same experience. Turns out that I am really sensitive to benzodiazepines. I now take 1/2 of a 0.25mg tablet when I know I'm going to do something that will trigger me (maybe twice a year). But a doctor initially prescribed 3mg a day (!) to me. I got physically dependent and had to wean myself off using liquid valium.
- rrmm 8y agoAs far as I understand (not an MD), benzos are not generally considered a long-term anti-anxiety drug. They treat the immediate symptom for people who need immediate relief from debilitating anxiety attacks and occasional 'flare-ups'. Generally, you could go on an SNRI or SSRI coupled with some form of cognitive-behavioral therapy to try to treat the root cause of the anxiety. But I'm not a big fan of GP MDs giving out benzos like that given their long-term effects (anxiety, dependence, tolerance, withdrawal syndromes). GP's don't have the time to spend with you that a psychiatrist or therapist might in order to figure out what's going on.
- hndamien 8y agoMy anecodotal experience is that SNRIs and SSRIs can massively increase the propensity, and even induce panic attacks where they were never present. My recommendation is to first try dancing - I know it sounds dumb, but the risk reward profile of this I think puts it at the first line of defense. I get that it is very hard for somebody in that mental state to get up and go dancing.
- rrmm 8y agoYes, SNRI/SSRI's can precipitate panic attacks. And I agree aerobic activity of any sort can be very effective for controlling stress/anxiety and even depression. The important thing is to find some things that work for you and do them.