Hi Everyone, Anxiety-Sufferer Here, Needing Help!

[BobIndy]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forums and going to share my story or parts of it. Maybe some can relate and hopefully give me advice! I have suffered from general anxiety, social anxiety, and panic attacks to varying degrees for years. I also have OCD. I am NOT depressed, although the anxiety does take its toll on me at times. I am a gay male, HIV positive, and currently taking medication for two years and am doing very well thankfully in that regard. However, the anxiety was with me before I became HIV positive and is still with me now. I do not know how to deal with it. Basically I always feel anxious to one degree or another, although at times much more so than others, such as when I have to go on a job interview, be around new people, or large groups. My palms get sweaty, my heart races, and I just have this reaction to crowds that I can't control. I simply can't stand them. I'd rather be by myself or with people I feel comfortable with and trust. I have a terrible time meeting new people and breaking the ice. I'm not in a bad relationship or anything, and there isn't anything in my personal life that is causing the anxiety, it is just involuntary. I have suffered with it for as long as I can remember.

In recent years, I have developed mild issues sleeping, specifically with falling asleep, not staying asleep. It's not severe as of yet, but it does make me more anxious when it happens. My primary care doctor started me on 50mg of Zoloft, which, after researching, I was leery about, but I tried it for two weeks, and it made me feel worse! I felt jittery, gritted my teeth, anxious, and high all the time, like I couldn't turn my brain off. It also totally killed my appetite. I also felt like I was in this bad brain fog. It also ruined my sex drive, and I couldn't sleep on it. Well after almost two weeks I had enough and stopped it. I feel like the zoloft made me more anxious than I was to begin with! And isn't it more of an anti-depressant anyway? I am not depressed. but I am anxious. There is a HUGE distinction in my book. So I am supposed to be seeing my doc again in a few weeks for a follow up and I'll have to tell her that I had to stop the zoloft because of the side effects. So I'm back to square one. Isn't there any good starter low dose medications that are more specifically for anxiety without major side effects? I'm scared of ativan because of the potential dependency of it, and other benzos. So I guess I'm just hoping there's something out there I could try that could calm me down, and help me sleep at night when I'm having a rough night. The anxiety is quite bad at times, to the point where I'm scared to go into any kind of social situation or job interviews because of my anxiety. To be clear, I'm not depressed, just anxious. I hope some can relate to this, and hopefully give me some advice/suggestions. Thanks a lot!

[Cuchculan]

Welcome to the forum. Good to have you as a member. Here you are with like minded people. People who understand. As we all suffer from something or other. So feel free to ask any questions. Our members are always willing to help others out. Good chatroom too. 3 posts to enter the room.

Find the correct section of the forum that suits your condition and create a new topic on it. This is just a welcome section. Never really get the same amount of help in this section as you would on the other sections of the forums. So whatever one suits the questions you are asking. Get much better answers.

All users of the chatroom must be 18 years old or over. The room is off limits to anybody under the age of 18.

[bradswife]

Hi Bob,  I think I can offer you some insight.  First of all the wanting to be with "safe" people, not in crowds etc. is SO common in anxiety sufferers.  I went years with always having to be the person who drove so I could leave a place if I felt anxious.  Or I would have to go with only my husband or family because I would panic that someone would not understand if I had a panic attack in public.  It was awful!!!!  I also had mild OCD as well so this just added to my anxiety...a vicious circle.  I tried Zoloft and it made my face break out.  I was then put on Prozac which is not only for depression but also helps block anxiety.  That combined with xanax was great combo for me for many years.  However, after about 10 years I didn't think it was doing what it should, my anxiety went haywire one day and I was back to square one after years of being fairly ok.  Finally my doctor had my try Cymbalta.  He explained that it helped with anxiety by hitting slightly different receptors in the brain then the older school medications. For me it was amazing. I rarely have anxiety problems now although remember...it is usually a life long struggle.  Once you can get your medication situated then you will eventually learn different coping skills etc.  This took me a  long time to master, but this site along with the book Anxiety and Phobia Workbook (I highly recommend it and it's not real expensive) are a huge blessing and help with dealing with your anxiety.  If your doctor does not seem to be open to trying some different anti-anxiety combos then find a different doctor.  It can be hit or miss several times before finding something that may work for you. Remember that some anti-depressant medications are given to anxiety patients because many times the medication treats both disorders.  Don't be afraid to try them...you might find that you feel even better and were actually a bit depressed from the stress of the anxiety and within 4-6 weeks (most of these take this long to begin to build up in your system and start working) you will feel SO much better then you ever thought you could.

[BobIndy]

Hi bradswife. Thanks for the nice response. It really helps to know your not alone. I have OCD and have for years, in addition to anxiety. I have a specific set of things I must do before I can go to bed or I literally will go crazy thinking they haven't been done, such as counting the times I check the locks on doors, shutting doors, etc etc. For some reason my OCD is worse at night. I have to do those things or I feel like I left a window open or something. I have heard that you shouldn't let a general practicioner prescribe anxiety medication, because they don't understand the dosage or other things as well as a psychiatrist. Is that true? The zoloft seemed to worsen my insomnia but I am scared about Paxil because of the addictive nature of it. I don't think I have severe anxiety, but it is always there and many times keeps me isolated because I detest crowds so much. It's getting to the point now where I am even scared to go on job interviews. I am also an openly gay man, which at times makes me feel more anxious around people thinking they are judging me. I guess I could try the zoloft again and give it more time to work, but I am just wondering if maybe an ssri should be combined with a very small benzo dose at first, until the body becomes used to the ssri? Particularly dealing with sleep issues?