Anxiety medication recommendations please

[Pepin]

ETA *****  I am clear on the fact that this forum is not a place for *real* medical advice.  Just wondering what your experience has been.  I've taken Lexapro and Zoloft for DEPRESSION and I'm not going to take those 2 again.  Thank you.
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I've been battling high blood pressure for some time now and according to my MD I don't hit the normal markers for it.  There is a strong case that my anxiety is fueling the HBP.   

I shared with my MD my tools for healing and self care but that I still live with a lot of anxiety.  I feel as though I am at a stand still for what else I can do until certain situations change that are beyond my control.  I just have to live with it for now until the pieces fall and show me what my *new* normal is going to look like.    

In the mean time, it is exhausting to live with being anxious.  I am tired of it and just want to block all of that out so I can just be.  The noise inside my head just needs to be turned off.  Just when I think I have crossed something off that resurfaced as a memory, another one pops up that I have to untangle and acknowledge -- all of a sudden I understand what happened that I couldn't understand before! 

My question is.....medication.  I am thinking about going on anxiety medication short term until I can reset myself.  It's been a year since CN MIL passed and NF is right around the corner -- and his passing will possibly be a gigantic mess to contend with.  And I will probably remove a few close FOO members from my life after that dust settles.  For now I must tolerate those FOO members....and it is gnawing at me because I don't want to wait any longer!   

Anyone on anxiety meds?  It has been a while since I have been on them......and I worry about side effects like weight gain -- which is not in my favor at the moment since I'm in menopause -- and the BP meds are also not kind to my weight. 

I just want give my brain a rest and be HAPPY.  Any good meds (easy to quit when ready) to recommend that have helped you find some calm when everything else isn't enough?

[moglow]

We can't really recommend meds, considering everyone responds differently and has different issues in combination. I will say this - our office stocks CBD gummies and has for a few years now. For me, they've been a godsend. I'm not high or out of it [any more than usual!] since they're strictly CBD-based but they do chill me out a smidge when I need them. The non-stop freefall ruminations all night every night are a thing of the past and I sleep much better as a result. As I told my brother when I suggested him trying them during a particularly tough time, they help turn the voices down where I can manage better.


Just a thought, maybe discuss with your doc and see what he thinks.

[Pepin]

We can't really recommend meds, considering everyone responds differently and has different issues in combination. I will say this - our office stocks CBD gummies and has for a few years now. For me, they've been a godsend. I'm not high or out of it [any more than usual!] since they're strictly CBD-based but they do chill me out a smidge when I need them. The non-stop freefall ruminations all night every night are a thing of the past and I sleep much better as a result. As I told my brother when I suggested him trying them during a particularly tough time, they help turn the voices down where I can manage better.


Just a thought, maybe discuss with your doc and see what he thinks.

Yeah, I have CBD gummies.  Too expensive to take those every day though they are helpful in certain situations when I know I am going to be extra anxious.  And I know that meds cannot specifically be recommended and that we all react differently -- and that my MD would be involved in the choosing of what is appropriate.   

[Pepin]

With that said, I have had good success with SSRI's (I take the generic version of Lexapro, call Escitalopram). The nice thing about SSRI's is they are not addictive like acute short-term anxiety meds (like Benzos or something like Valium). You don't develop a tolerance to SSRI's like you do with short-term anxiety meds. The downside is they take a long time to really kick in...it took me 6-8 weeks before I felt the full effects. But after that it has been extremely helpful. I honestly believe SSRI's saved my life. I'd probably be in a ditch somewhere, homeless and familyless, without them. I was going down a really bad spiral before (a story for another day). They definitely have stopped the "noise in my head" completely.

I feel very fortunate in that I've never really had any side effects. There are a couple things that might be related to the meds...but, I have tried not to focus too much on side effects...as an anxious person anyways, I can really work yourself myself into a mess about side effects. My doc will usually ask about specific ones, but as long as my doc is happy, I'm happy. For the most part it's only been good for me.

I think you need to decide what you mean by "short term". My understanding of anxiety meds is there's either very short-term for emergencies, like a couple weeks or when you have panic attacks...or there is medium/long term like for a year or more. I don't think there's really a solution for "3 months" or something like that. (I could be wrong, I"m not a professional).

If you decide to go the SSRI route, regarding "easy to quit when ready", I don't think this will be the case for any anti-anxiety med. My doc has warned me that coming off will probably be a bear...but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Although I do have a couple friends who took SSRI's for about a year and said they had zero issues coming off. YMMV.

For me, it's been a lifesaver, and I credit it with the stability I've been able to maintain during all the ups and downs of living with a PD individual. I seriously don't know where I'd be without it.

I took Lexapro and then Zoloft.  The Zoloft was indeed a bear to get off of but it helped tremendously at the time and for my depression.  While I don't feel depressed anymore, it is the anxiety now that is too much to handle.  As for "short term"....I'm thinking at least a year or two.  This was the same amount of time that I was on Zoloft.  Took it for a few years, did the inner work with a therapist and then spread my wings.   

[square]

Disclaimer disclaimer

Google/ask your doc about beta blockers off label as anxiety medication.

They don't do anything to your mind, they stop your heart from pounding and just overall calms fight/flight.

[xredshoesx]

as always we aren't doctors but this is an option that worked for me when i was getting work bullied to the point i was having screaming nightmares and so tense i couldn't drive.

i had an effective course of treatment with celexa that lasted about 6 months.  after the boss that bullied me got fired my dr tapered me off and i've been able to manage my  low level OCD stuff that doesn't interrupt my life on the daily  with non medical interventions.

i hope you find some answers.  CBD didn't work for me as i needed it too and i'm not comfortable using/ trying benzos bc both my biological parents abuse various substances-  i have a few daily self care rituals that help manage my anxiety and help me sleep and if it got bad again i would def ask for the SSRI over something short term that may give me a bigger problem in the long run.

hope this helps- 

[Pepin]

Disclaimer disclaimer

Google/ask your doc about beta blockers off label as anxiety medication.

They don't do anything to your mind, they stop your heart from pounding and just overall calms fight/flight.

YES!!!!  This sounds like a good solution- to add a beta blocker to by ARB.  I will ask my MD about this immediately.  THANK YOU!!!  I need to calm my heart down. 

[JustKeepTrying]

I have tried just about everything but at this stage in my journey, my body can't determine what it reacting to.  I don't metabalize well anymore so I can't take most meds - I blame all the cancer drugs.  On a recent attempt to try meds again, my body shut down out of fear - like paralytic and I struggled to breath. Talk about an anxiety attack.

In the midst of the anxiety attack/trigger reaction, the therapist had me sip water through a straw.  Within ten minutes, my body relaxed and began to reset.  According to the therapist, if you drink water at the beginning of a trigger/attack your brain changes and says "oh, if you can drink you are ok."  I did this a few times when the anxiety rose and darned if it didn't work then too.

So now, I meditate daily; work with my therapist; journal multiple times a day; and really slowed my life down.

Every other day I take one CBD + small amounts of THC.  In the evening just before bed.  It does help with the knot in my chest. 

[Srcyu]

JustKeepTrying,
That's a very clever trick about the sipping of water, I'll remember that one. Meds are not always an appropriate approach for everyone like you said.

Certain foods can help towards beta-blocking, bananas in particular alongside a fairly radical change to the overall diet making sure to include the right vegetables, pulses, herbs, amino acids, the list goes on.

A quick google search shows up a myriad of options.

[1footouttadefog]

For many a small dose of certain high blood pressure medications can work wonders with anxiety.  Perhaps revisit this with your doc or seek a second opinion.

Perhaps find one familiar with treating PTSD and CPTSD. 

[Pepin]

For many a small dose of certain high blood pressure medications can work wonders with anxiety.  Perhaps revisit this with your doc or seek a second opinion.

Perhaps find one familiar with treating PTSD and CPTSD.

Thank you -- I reached out and am waiting to hear back.  Hopefully she will say yes.

[Cat of the Canals]

Years ago I was on Paxil. I'm not sure it was particularly helpful. It wasn't BAD, just didn't seem to help my anxiety much. I tapered off once I learned about the long-term side effects of drugs like that.

My husband and I both take a supplement called ashwagandha for anxiety and have found it really really effective. You can find it on Amazon or at a health food store. I take the Naturalife Labs brand. My husband takes Jarrow Formulas (the black pepper in the one I take upsets his stomach).

We've recommended it to several people and all of them have reported positive results.

My absolutely magic formula on peak anxiety days is ashwagandha and 3 drops of delta-8 THC (Delta Alternatives brand) -- both medical and recreational marijuana are legal where I live, fwiw. It's more potent than CBD, but less potent than delta-9 THC (which is the main psychoactive in marijuana). It came highly recommended for people who want the relaxation effect from pot but get paranoid with regular THC. That's me. I tried magic brownies once and absolutely HATED it. Three drops absolutely zaps my anxiety without any paranoia or psychoactive effects.

[Cat of the Canals]

Cat, for you, how long does the effect of the combo of Ashawaganda and delta-8 THC last? Also if you do it multiple days in a row, does the effect of the same dose diminish?

It seems to last most of the day -- either that, or keeping my anxiety from spiking out of control in the first place means I'm noticeably less anxious overall for the rest of the day.

These days, I usually only take it here and there, like when I have a doctor's appointment, but I did have two stretches where I took it every day for a week recently. When I went to visit my FOO (that was anxiety-inducing enough but traveling is also a trigger) and when my in-laws came to visit. I didn't notice any diminishing effects. I also slept great when I was visiting my family, which is not the norm for me. For years I had terrible insomnia during family visits.

I've never taken Xanax, so I can't really compare the two, but I call this combo my "herbal Xanax." 

[Jolie40]

if I get stressed, my BP can go up (not on meds as BP is usually normal)

have found that deep breathing will lower my BP back to normal
even found an article that said deep breathing is just as effective as BP medicine
it must be done several times even up to 40X but it does work

wondering if deep breathing would also work for anxiety?

[NarcKiddo]

wondering if deep breathing would also work for anxiety?

I have been using a deep breathing app for about 7 months now. (HRV4BioFeedback). I got that particular app because I already used the free HRV app by the same company for my fitness training. My therapist had been suggesting meditation and such like but I just can't get on with it. The app gives lots of data which I can also use to inform my exercise, so it meant I would actually use it daily. When you do a session you record how you are feeling at the time - there are sections for stress, anger, anxiety, mood, tiredness and energy. There are some custom fields if you want to monitor other factors. You can then get graphs showing how the various factors correlate to your heart rate, HRV, biofeedback score and so on, but for the purposes of the above question you can in the process see the movement of the anxiety etc graph. I can see that the overall trend of my anxiety, stress and other bad things is getting much better. My lung function has also noticeably improved. Clearly I have been doing other things, such as therapy and other interventions and activities suggested by the therapist so I don't credit the deep breathing alone with the improvement in my psyche. But I think it has made a noticeable difference and I think a deep breathing practice would absolutely help with anxiety. My sessions are for 5 minutes and I do a session when I wake up, before I go to sleep and (usually) immediately after exercise. It's a very good result for 15 minutes a day, I think.

[Boat Babe]

if I get stressed, my BP can go up (not on meds as BP is usually normal)

I have found that deep breathing will lower my BP back to normal
even found an article that said deep breathing is just as effective as BP medicine
it must be done several times even up to 40X but it does work

wondering if deep breathing would also work for anxiety?

I'm a big fan of polyvagal theory and the breathing works for me every time. Generally, somatic work like breathing, tapping and other self soothing interventions are wonderful because they're incredibly accessible, free and you get pretty quick results. It's about calming the amygdala and switching from fight/flight into rest/digest. 

Drugswise, I was on SSRIs for some twenty years. This was because my anxiety went through the roof when my young son was diagnosed with leukemia. At the time we had just moved across the country, had bought an old house with no central heating and I was the breadwinner doing a nice easy job as a teacher (heavy sarcasm). The meds got me through it but I then found that I couldn't get off them without wanting to kill myself, something that had never been an issue in my life at all, even with probable C-PTSD. I chose to stay on the meds to stay safe, for myself and my family. I finally managed to come off them once I no longer worked in mainstream teaching and had a whole bunch of tools at my disposal to deal with the contents of my mind. It was really really hard but I am 15 months meds free and starting to feel really stable again. Therapy has been an absolute godsend recently - when people say get yourself a trauma informed therapist I now know what that looks like and it's bloody amazing.

Anyway, I do hope that you can  find the right medication for you Pepin. I really understand the need/desire to have a rest from overwhelming feelings. No one should have to live in a constant tsunami of pain. Much love.

[Pepin]

Thanks everyone!  I did get approved for an additional beta blocker and it certainly has helped.  BP is in the healthy range and I actually do feel calmer -- and my heartbeat is no longer racing like before.  It definitely took the edge off.  I also have done and continue to do deep breathing....it wasn't enough before but now it is.  Hopefully I can coast on this for a while until I am ready to tackle the next steps of my healing journey. 

[square]

Awesome news, Pepin.

[hhaw]

My youngest DD researched options for her anxiety and depression in recent months.

She came up with the supplement  Jia Wei Xiao Wan.  There were 2 websites offering this product.  The one with the higher price has better descriptions. DD ordered from the cheaper site. 

I believe she takes 8 pills 3x a day with warm water....the pills are small.  Easy to swallow.  So far no negative issues.

DD began noticing marked relief from anxiety a few days after beginning this supplement.  She's about a month in and her anxiety is pretty much gone and she's started driving again and attending college!

My oldest DD has started taking them on her sister's recommendation.

There's 200 pills in a $10.00 bottle, which is cheap compared to most Rx's. 

6 bottles fit in a box perfectly, so that's how we order PLUS free shipping after 35.00 minimum reached,  I believe.

We have good luck with supplements and years working with functional med practitioners.  DD's been exposed to integrative medicine since she was 6yo.

She has a T and a psychiatrist who prescribed several meds that failed miserably over the last few years, btw.  We aren't opposed to Western medicine.  We're disappointed and failed by it.

[Pepin]

She came up with the supplement  Jia Wei Xiao Wan.  There were 2 websites offering this product.  The one with the higher price has better descriptions. DD ordered from the cheaper site. 

Ok, wow, sounds phenomenal after looking this up.  And I see that many have found menopausal relief with it as well....excellent.  Thank you for the find.  And I am glad your daughters are responding well to it though I am sad they are also dealing with anxiety...