Recovery without medication

[skybluker]

Hi all

Is there anyone out there that has or is recovering without medication??   I have a real phobia about taking pills and am trying to do it alone..not much luck though.  I am going to see a psychotherapist so i am hoping this will be enough.  I had a badexperience on Prozac years ago.  I have not taken any medication since 1996 .  I have had ups and downs but got thru it without .  This however is the worse I have been since this time and has been going on since July.

I know this has been triggered by a life changing event in my life...living on my own.... maybe some of the old problems have resurfaced.  I certainly feel like my brain needs a shot of something to get it going but i dont want to take medication.

Not that i think it is wrong , just from experience being a zombie

if you have done it without meds how did you do it ????????

[joycicle]

Hi Sky!  I don't want to lead you astray and say I have recovered without meds because it is not entirely true. HOWEVER I am 90 or 95% better than I was a  year ago.  I do have some moments, maybe a minute here or there every day or so, when I may be only 50% improved, but overall I am back to my life and doing my thing.  I don't have a fear of meds,, but I don't think they are necessary for me. I have GAD and panic attacks. I don't know about things like ocd and depression , as far as meds go.  I have a formula I've been sharing with others,  SLEEP,, critical 8 hrs oR MORE if you are super stressed out. SUNLIGHT,, every day find some way to get the sun to soak into yoru skin and face.   MINERALS, I drink heavy mineral water and use natural SEA SALT , packed with minerals,, MAGNESIUM , i spray on a magnesium oil daily to soak intothe skin and MASSAGE. If you've not had a massage in awhile go get one. Releaseing the tension from the body will release it from the mind as well. They are so connected, its uncanny .  The rest is a mental game of cat and mouse. You have to tell yourself you are winning until you are winning. :) PM me if you need any help.  I love to help!

[nicksan]

I am certainly no veteran when it comes to anxiety since I started my bout about 2 weeks ago. I can tell you I was MISERABLE when this first began. I took an entire week off from work just drowning in my sorrows just not having any desire to do anything. Churning stomach, tightness in the chest area, sensation of not being able to breath, hot flashes, chills, profuse sweating, insomnia, etc, etc. Just came out of the blue. Actually that might not be true. I've had very brief episodes of panic attacks when I let my mind think negatively but they were usually gone in 5 minutes and I would be fine after that, like nothing ever happened. Recently I've been having hypnic jerks and waking up in the middle of the night. Perhaps those were signs of what was to come?

Anyways, like yourself, I am very against taking medication of any kind. But I was suffering so much and not getting any sleep that I could already tell it was going to become a vicious, never-ending cycle and I needed to break that. I got some .25mg Xanax pills from the time when I went to the ER (yes, I did go, just like everyone else in here!) I was so reluctant to take them b/c I felt like I was sort of crossing a line and will never come back. But after not being able to sleep for a few days, I finally gave in and took the Xanax and it acted quickly, but it wore off in a few hours and sleep was still a problem.

I went to my PDoc to explain my symptoms and he agreed this was all due to anxiety. He's been my PDoc for years and he basically told me if there was anything wrong with me (like Diabetes, Hypoglycemia, Thyroid, etc) he would know about it. I told him I was on Xanax but wanted to try Klonopin b/c it's more subtle and lasts longer. So he prescribed me those and Lexapro. I am not taking the Lexapro b/c I am not depressed and it sounds like I don't have nearly the same level of symptoms that others do. Also I don't like the fact that it can affect you, pleasure wise that is! I just don't feel I need it.

I also completely changed my diet and I try to get any exercise in. I would walk to all my appointments with therapists and doctors and try to keep busy. I am back at work having only missed 1 week. It's not easy. I take a bus and subway to work and my office is in NYC. But being in crowds don't bother me too much.

This is my daily routine right now:
-Wake up the same time every day.
-Take a shower.
-Get dressed.
-Drink whole food fruit juice which has essential vitamins. I will mix a teaspoon of liquid fish oil with the drink.
-Go to work (Bus and subway in NYC)
-Try not to let anything bother me during my commute. Almost impossible!!!
-Arrive at the office
-Break out the Granola bar and bottle of water. Eat and drink along with Magnesium Taurate, Vitamin B complex, and Vitamin C pills.
-Work, work, work
-For lunch I eat anything that follows a Hypoglycemic diet b/c it's healthy and keeps my blood sugar level! I'll also down another Mag pill.
-Work, work, work
-Around 3pm, I'll eat some mixed nuts for a snack.
-Work, work, work
-Get home around 6:30pm
-Dinner also usually follows a Hypoglycemic diet, but I am really not that strict. For instance, I ate a bunch of white rice last night! I'll down another B complex pill, and a Mag pill and also a teaspoon of liquid fish oild.
-Then try to relax the rest of the evening. Might eat some fruit, usually grapes. Maybe munch on the mixed nuts some more and have some decaf tea.
-Around 10:30pm, I take one .25 Klonopin pill which helps me get rid of any residual anxiety I may have.
-I try to go to sleep before midnight.

Things I completely quit:
-Starbucks
-Caffeine
-Fast food (Burgers, fries, pizza, chinese food takeout, etc)
-Sodas
-Excessive sugar
-Getting mad at everything and everything. (I have a rather short fuse and am hot tempered)
-Alcohol

Right now, I've read more than half of "Hope and Help for your Nerves" by Claire Weekes and it's a GREAT book. It really is. I highly recommend it. It has already helped me.

I feel pretty good right now. I try to keep the medication to a minimum. Right now, I take .25mg of Klonopin before I got to seelp and nothing more than that. I plan to slowly get off that. I follow what is suggested in the book and other similar exercises I found on the web. I am finding they are working for me, but again, my symptoms are not debilitating, so I can handle doing these exercises. YMMV.

[bababel]

I have been dealing with my terrible anxiety for 3 years.  I have never taken any meds for it.  At the start it was the worst.  The first 6 months of my anxiety I thought I was dying!  I still have anxiety pretty much every day, but I know what it is and I know how to deal with it.  Now I am soooooo much better.

Dealing with it without meds can be done.  It's definitely difficult and I have been tempted to try meds, but I just don't want to become dependent.  Good luck!

[Carryon]

Patient don't become dependant on antidepressants. There are many more, more effective antidepressants available today than in 1996 and perhaps medicine has also advanced int the use of them. You may have entirely different experience on a different medication with a different doctor. Fifteen years later, your reaction could be entirely different; you body has changed.

Every person's situation is unique and if one person says he solved a problem with medication, that has little or no bearing on whether you can, just as your negative experience in 1996 with an AD does not mean that others will have the same bad experience.

All you can do is try different approaches. It's more art than science.

[dajacobs]

Heya. I certainly wouldn't say I'm over my problem, I still have my moments (as I just posted) but I haven't taken any meds at all. I did get Vallium from the doctor though. I have never taken it but it comes with me when I have to fly, just knowing it's there if I have a v bad attack helps. I've heard v good reports about CBT and also Linden.