Anxiety - Xanax

LegacyUser

Have to go unreg for this. I am not looking for medical advice, just wondering if anyone can relate to my experience.

All my life I have been a worrier, for as long as I can remember I've worried about people close to me dying, about the world ending- really morbid thoughts for a 7-8 year old! I also have an extreme phobia of blood- I have never been able to identify a trigger for this.

At secondary school science became a nightmare for me, the very mention of biology would have me in a cold sweat and not wanting to go to school on the days we had it. Eventually this developed into coming home from school everyday I had science as I would work myself up so much before hand to not being able to make it through a full day in school at all because of panicking.

I got counselling for the phobia but since then it feels like I have become afraid of everything! As soon as I wake up I feel anxious about the day ahead.

Today I went to the doctor in relation to another medical problem that I believe is a result of stress and I have eventually spilled my heart out about how I have been feeling only to be told that I shouldn't be feeling this way, I am young, intelligent, have everything going for me etc! He said he would prescribe me more tablets for my current medical condition. So he printed out a prescription and I said look, I want to tackle the cause (which I believe to be anxiety) rather than the symton (my current medical condition). He said yeah I've put something for that on the prescription too. On it was 20 X Xanax X0.25mg twice daily. I told him I didn't want to be taking tablets for the rest of my life so he just said ok and scribbled it off the prescription!! I aksed about counselling and he said take your tablets for the other condition and come back to me in a wee when you have "calmed down".

I feel really angry at him for the way he treated me today. It took me so long to finally pick up the courage to tell someone and ask for help and it feels like he totally dismissed my problem because he thinks I have no reason to feel like I do!

Thanks so much for reading!

Xiney

I suggest you switch doctors.

alo1587

I think counselling and CBT would be more helpful for you?

blairbear

<snip>

I think CBT would be great. Very effective for anxiety symptoms. My mum is very similar to you and has been for fifty odd years. She takes meds at different stressful times but has never bothered to tackle the underlying problem and that's why she's the age she is with nothing changed in terms of her anxiety. Being a stresshead and a worrier may very well be just a fundamental part of personality, but not so much so that it impairs your life. You can definitely get help and treat this successfully!

Go to a different GP. 30% of a GP's practice is psychiatric in nature so it baffles me that he was so bad at dealing with your concerns. Good luck.

shakenbake

OP, be very careful with drugs like xanax (benzodiazapenes). The problem is that they work, too well in fact for a lot of anxiety issues. They are addictive and whilst he has put you on the smallest dose available, you will very quickly develop a tollerance and dependance with them.

I'd definitely change GP for starters and talk them him/her about other options that are available to you.

banquo

Did I read your post correctly that you were to be on 20 Xanax a day?!

My mum also gets extremely anxious, and takes 1/2 of 1 Xanax pill before she goes to sleep and it does her fine.

20 a day. Jesus. I really hope I misread your post...

LegacyUser

Thanks for the replies guys!
I understood the prescription as 20 0.25mg tablets in total, 1 to be taken twice daily so he was giving me a 10 days supply of them. The way he just put them on a prescription for me without asking me first or explaining what they were worries me to be honest. Like if he thought I needed them so bad in the first place why did he just scribble them off the prescription as soon as I questioned them.
I rang today to get an appointment with another doctor. Can't wait to get it over now but hopefully she will be more understanding!

jenortega

Hi there,

Here are some idea's to help you:

Reading Eckhart tolle - his books discuss the mind and how we identify with the voices in our head - he sees all people in the world as having mild schizophrenia and how we can realise total peace and real love and end our suffering. He talks about how the mind is either living in an imagined past or future, and how this creates suffering, because the future is only a mental concept, it's impossible for us to deal with. He might be worth a read! He's huge now, so his books will be easy to get.


I completely understand your fearful thoughts, if you get panic attacks, try the free emails you can sign up for on the panicaway website - they are incredibly helpful and really understand how we are triggered by believing scary thoughts.


Byron Katie's 'the work' - it's 4 questions, a self dialogue to help you unravel any negative thoughts in your head - I would highly recommend this.


Patrick Holford's Optimum Nutrition for the mind discusses how mental health has an enormous link to our brain lacking sufficient nutrients for the neurons to connect properly - mainly fish oils and b vitamins.


Reiki, reflexology and other complimentary therapies might help you feel more balanced. Maybe hypnotherapy too.


I absolutely understand your anxiety - I had obsessive compulsive disorder.

For me, it's the build of thoughts in my head, images, talking, confusion, movies in the mind, constant fears, scenarios being played out from different angles. You are not alone in your constant fears, phobias and worrying!!!

Sorry if this isn't helpful.

Wishing you the best!!

Jenortega. xxx

Lone Stone

Your doctor sounds like a total dick !I had a simaler experiance where some gp told me "get over it" . If it's more a medical center than a small gp with 2 docotor's, I would ring up and say you would like to know which if any gp deals with anxiety related issue's.

I use to have this arcane gp years ago when i started to have problems with anxiety attacks and pts , She put me on xanax which was probaly the worst thing she could have to done i ended up having withdrawls when i changed over to a different docotor in a different center, She took me off them which i had the shake's and sweats coming off the bloody things.

Cutting out fast food might help trying eating healthy, cutting out alcohol even.
I tried cognative therapy to hypno therapy it was always just a temporary solution, i was on a few different med's for it till i found one that worked for me which was lexapro , I dont need it anymore and havent taken it for a few years, well not like everyday sometimes if it starts come up again il take it for a few days.Small price to pay reallly.

Anyway depends how bad it is , if you think its getting pressively worse (ie:stopping you doing things or going place's) Then you should think about some extra help , till then id try a councilor.

LegacyUser

Went to see another doctor today and the difference in their attitude was amazing! She was really helpful and feels I may have Generalised Anxiety Disorder and is going to refer me to a counselor. I feel so much more positive today after seeing her. Thank you all for your replies, helps in knowing I'm not the only one suffering from this and I will definitely take a look at your suggestions jenortega.

That is great OP.

I just want to recommend one more book.

How to stop worrying and start living by Dale Carnegie.

LegacyUser

Another book I recommend if you get actual panic attacks is When Panic Attacks by Dr Aine Tubridy. Worked for me anyway.

I'm really glad your second doctor was better, I have anxiety too and was prescribed a low dose of Xanax to take as needed, which did work for me, but really counselling was what made the biggest difference.

I really hope you can recover from your anxiety and get past it, but you've made an amazing start and good luck with the rest of the journey!

kjl

how do you know how to read prescriptions?

Sounds to me like you are a suitable candidate for xanax, if you are worried about getting up in the morning for no reason, you clearly have a chemical imbalance which it will sort out.

The drug was invented for a reason, although Im sure all the people on here are medical qualified professionals your GP is, if he sees no harm in prescribing you xanax, then wheres the worry oh wait, its because you have a nervous disorder.

Ian Beale

Firstly the OP wanted to tackle the root cause and not take pills to mask it (Fair play OP)
Telling someone who suffers from anxiety to take pills to solve the problem is ridiculous and you've obviously never had severe anxiety before because ask anyone that has been through it and they'll say the same thing that the only way to rid yourself of a severe anxiety is to confront it and not by putting pills down your neck. OP I wish you the best of luck you've already taken the first step to recovery.

degausserxo

Ian Beale wrote: »

Firstly the OP wanted to tackle the root cause and not take pills to mask it (Fair play OP)
Telling someone who suffers from anxiety to take pills to solve the problem is ridiculous and you've obviously never had severe anxiety before because ask anyone that has been through it and they'll say the same thing that the only way to rid yourself of a severe anxiety is to confront it and not by putting pills down your neck. OP I wish you the best of luck you've already taken the first step to recovery.

As much as I agree with you that 'the only way to rid yourself of a severe anxiety is to confront it and not by putting pills down your neck', at the same time the doctor only prescribed a ten day supply of the tablets. It's easy to say 'just deal with it without medication' or whatever, but from my own personal experience, these particular tablets have helped me start facing up to problems rather than just being thrown in the deep end. For me, the medication helped me to function on a remotely 'normal' level so that I could begin to deal with the problems in question. Basically, I think that drugs such as Xanax are good for short periods of time to help control the severity of attacks or whatever, but ultimately the cure should be a cognitive and not a chemical one.

LegacyUser

kjl wrote: »

how do you know how to read prescriptions?

Well to be honest I think it's quite obvious...I don't see what you are getting at here!

kjl wrote: »

The drug was invented for a reason, although Im sure all the people on here are medical qualified professionals your GP is

I didn't ask for opinions from "medical qualified professionals" and to be honest I don't know if that particular GP is suitably qualified to deal with anixety disorders. I don't think it's appropriate to prescribe someone a drug which it seems can be addictive without telling them a bit about it first.

kjl wrote: »

if he sees no harm in prescribing you xanax, then wheres the worry oh wait, its because you have a nervous disorder.

As above the "worry" is that he prescribed me an addictive drug which I didn't believe was necessary!


Sorry for dragging this topic up again and thanks again to everyone for their advice and recomendations!

TelePaul

Anxious7!!!! wrote: »

.

As above the "worry" is that he prescribed me an addictive drug which I didn't believe was necessary!

It's not addictive in all cases, just like not everyone who drinks alcohol becomes an alcoholic. Just to keep things in perspective. Many times counselling and medication are prescribed to manage the problem in both the immediate term and the long-term. Of course you don't need a referral to see a counsellor; if you think it'll help, just go see one.

Acoustic

i was prescribed xanax loads of times

its a wonder drug and u feel better almost minutes after taking one , but yes it can be addictive

i used to take one , only when i was really bad with anxiety , i wouldnt take it just for the sake of it

i havnt had one in about 10 months now

only in extreme situations id take one

lee_arama

I was diagnosed earlier this year (following a breakdown over a friends passing), and realised I'd been suffering for some time.

Anyway, I was on Lustral for a short while and although the reaction I had to them was off the wall for the first week (bad side effects etc), they helped me calm down, slow down, and basically understand that life needn't be all fastlane.

Still a nervous mess but once I know I can work with it. I imagine the same is true for many sufferers but it's just a question of having a support network around them, be it family or friends.

The worst thing you can say to a suffer is to 'cheer up'. If they could do that, then they wouldn't be suffering in the first place.

LegacyUser

Hi-I have found Xanax great on a short term basis during one severe anxiety episode to bring me back to "normal" as such. It has only been prescribed for ten days for the OP and this is its purpose..short term will sort you out! I never took it as long as it was prescribed as it got my seretonin up to normal again all be it with other meds but the Xanax was only short term as it is supposed to be. I was advised to carry a Xanax with me after but have never taken since. The fact I also read it was addictive, my own research on the internet BTW, I was reluctant to take but did as as needed, and stopped when I felt good again after about a week.

I believe of course its down to the individual, but I would recommend short term use to help.
Only down side for me was that it made me drowsy.

My 2c anyway.

LegacyUser

I recently went to my doctor about anxiety and he prescribed me xanax but was very reluctant to do so because he kept telling me that pills weren't going to fix the issue and talked over and over about the need for counselling to fix the underlying issue. He probed me about it and kept saying that pills weren't the way to go. I knew anyway that that was the solution, finally he agreed to give me a short course of this to tide me over until I could address the underlying issue which I'm doing. It's taking a little bit of time and I've found the xanax a great help and very quickly to take effect. I'm only taking one whenever I absolutely feel the need to so it's working out quite well. BTW they also make me drowsy.

black123

I suffered from anxiety/anxiety attacks for years. For me I found xanax are helpful only if you realise they are a crutch to get you started. The only way to stop suffering (I believe it never goes away you just learn to control it) is to learn and understand why it happens and how to deal with it naturally what it does happen. NLP and a really good doctor helped me. I basically had to retrain my mind by doing my own research and getting advice from the doctor (there werent many CB therapists back then). To stop the fight or flight aniexty symptoms you can do simple things like reading a book or trying to remember the words of a song etc. Its been 7 years since I've taken xanex and ive only had a handful of attacks in those 7 years, which im pretty happy with.

Id be reluctant to take the xanax long term as I believe it prolongs the recovery I found that out the hard way.