To think I can fight anxiety without medication?

[ucanttouchthis]

Is it possible ?
Can anyone share stories?
I really need someone to tell me I can do it.
I'm waiting to see a CPN for therapy /counselling
If you have took medication which ones plus how did you feel with it?
Any advice would be so very grateful

For me, Sertraline was a life-saver. It made me feel totally normal and gave me enough breathing space from the anxiety that I could function again.

However the initial side-effects included a magnification of the feelings of anxiety. I had been warned that this could happen. I was crippled for a few days. There was just no way I could have gone to work in the first few days after taking the meds.

Once the initial side-effects had worn off and the medication had actually started to work, I felt better than I had for years.

Work was my biggest cause of anxiety. I held on and held on because I had convinced the world would stop turning if I wasn’t there. It didn’t.

So sertraline seems to be the best option?
I'm terrified about the side effects but I'm sure anything's better than this.

Yes Sertraline. I take the lowest dose which is 50mg and like the poster above, I’m happy to stay on this now. Have done for about 3 years. No side effects at all now.
The dr can prescribe you some diazepam to help with the initial peak in anxiety that you’ll experience.
I couldn’t have done it without the support of a friend who’d also taken sertraline and kept reassuring me the side effects were normal and would go away.
They did - stick with it, it was really only about 2 months until I really felt the benefits. Worth it though

Firstly, I completely feel your pain. Mine was mainly based on existential crises, feelings of failure, HATED my job (also helping people) or at least the system it was in. I had it for years and the physical symptoms are very real indeed, your DP needs to actually look up what it feels like before telling you to forget about it.
I don't know if this helps and I'm sure is very different to what you would want or do, but hopefully shows that it can (sometimes?) be beaten without meds. I think the first step to conquering it was going to the doctor who was amazing and let me weep and wail. She told me that I did have anxiety and depression but it was very logically to do with my stressful life and putting too much pressure on. She gave me some sleeping tablets so my body could at least recover a bit (I had major insomnia) and suggested walking up a big hill with someone supportive and screaming at the top of it. That helped a lot, mainly because she wasn't phased and clearly didn't think I was being mad or unreasonable but did validate that it was real and horrible. A few months later I quit my job, moved house, started a business and got pregnant. Since then (4 years ago) it's pretty much gone, it raises it's ugly head every now and then but only temporarily. Basically I did all of the most anxiety inducing things at once and killed it off. I guess you need to be kind to yourself and find out the underlying causes (perhaps the non supportive DP isn't exactly helping) and if at all possible, change them.
I didn't think there were any underlying causes and that I was just overreacting to minor things and an emotional train wreck. Hopefully you have some triggers you can identify, or get help to identify.
This probably didn't help, but yes - it can stop without medication.

I had ptsd, anxiety related but with specific triggers. I had counselling and no drugs to process the causes and subsequent issues. I’m a better person for it now. I have occasional flare ups and low mood but I manage it better than I ever would have had I relied on drugs. I, like others, got a dog, and spent a lot of time angrily tramping the countryside in all weathers, it was very cathartic. It also taught me, actually I can handle this stuff and the bad times really are just a phase that will pass. At the time, drugs were the easy option I wanted. Now I’m grateful I never touched them and had the various tools I needed to deal with it myself.

I've fought off anxiety without medication but the main reason for that is the fact one of my biggest triggers is a fear of not being in control of myself due to being medicated. I had a bad experience with some recreational drugs in my twenties and it left me with that fear. So I unfortunately won't allow myself any sort of antidepressants or anxiety meds because of possible side effects.
I have suffered panic attacks and what I would class as geberal anxiety. I had counselling a few times which didn't really help. I've suffered at work, taken sick days when faced with things that scared me such as giving presentations etc. I also tebd to avoid crowds and overly obsess about my children and their health.
I've found that to deal with the symptoms of this I have to talk to my boyfriend and friends. I give myself days off where I just have time to myself and do whatever I feel like. I gained confidence when I was a single mum and I've carried this with me the last few years so now I allow myself to say no to things and people and limit the situations that stress me out.
I'd say don't rule out medication. Try it and find one that works for you. You can do it by yourself but it's not easy.
Good luck whatever you choose.

Sorry to hear you're going through this as anxiety is bloody awful.

I'm trying to deal with it without medication. I have had ADs in the past but had unpleasant side-effects. I also tried beta blockers, but I have low blood pressure so they make me feel quite bad - only to be used in case of emergency.

I have had some counselling and have a better understanding of where it originated and what causes the thoughts/physical sensations that I experience. I've also learned to be kind to myself. It's getting better, but I've still got a way to go.

I purchased a book from Amazon called Mind over Mood it helped me so much with Anxiety, depression and anger. I have never felt better. Lots of activities and you can always go back for reference, its highly recommended by counsellors and therapists.

Try and get some CBT or read some techniques. It sounds like you have a lot of physical symptoms from anxiety and CBT can teach you how to manage these and learn how they relate to your worries and behaviours. I found it really helpful and made relaxation a lot easier.

Meds don't always have awful side effects. I take them and I get a bit of dry mouth and that's mostly it.

I did it. I suffered with awful anxiety for a long time. It was long and difficult to work through it without medication but definitely worked best for me. I'd only have become reliant on medication as my anxiety was so bad that I feared if I started medication I'd never get off it. It took a lot of different methods. I read lots of books, and tried to understand the causes of anxiety which helped me to understand how I was feeling. Understanding the medical reasons behind it was really useful I I signed up for online courses in anxiety management, I started a lot of exercise classes/running which I found calmed me down a lot, and I started doing things that really got me out of my comfort zone like travelling alone (it took me a long time to get here but it really worked wonders). I still suffer from occasional health anxiety which can be really exhausting and stressful and horrible but on the whole I worked my way through it and I'm so happy I did it this way.

I take the medication and it's given me my life back. Counselling was an absolute disaster, but like every other pp, you need to do what's right for you.

I take escitalopram and it was SO incredibly helpful for me.

I don't really have side effects and have been on it for years.

CBT is also helpful for some people - I would suggest Feeling Good and The Feeling Good Handbook by Dr. David Burns. Dr. Burns is the creator of CBT and the books are focused on how to do it.

I was on Citalopram. It was a life changer for me. No side effects that I could discern. I only came off it when I was planning to get pregnant. I wasn't able to do it without medication. Wasted a lot of my life trying.

I am sure it can be done op but I just want to say something (very, very gently because I do understand) that to look at anxiety as something you need to "fight" can be extremely counter productive. Accepting anxiety and undemonising it is so important in being able to manage it. CBT focuses very much on training yourself not to be anxious about your anxiety! I would recommend the book by Sarah Rayner which has a title something like Making friends with anxiety if you want to do a bit more reading around the subject.

As PPs have suggested try beta blockers for the palpitations and give therapy a try. I have quite severe social anxiety and have done since about 14 and have no desire to be medicated due to seeing how they effected family members who were prescribed them for severe PND.

IME CBT didn’t work very well for me but it definitely made me start to address my anxious behaviours, I found sitting and talking to someone about the triggers and underlying causes for my anxiety more beneficial but everyone is different. I still have the odd bad day but so do people without mental health issues, but my coping strategies are healthy (baking, mostly, and now focusing on getting out and about for my DD) and in general I’m a happier person.

If that doesn’t work though I know a lot of people who are medicated for anxiety and they swear it’s made their lives much easier. Everyone is different and there’s no one size fits all solution so you have to do what’s best for you.

I have but am failing.
I tried sertraline for 2 years which was very effective.
But....it made me less "sharp" mentally when i had started a new job.
Ive been off it for 4 years, but anxiety is a huge issue now. Im waking numerous times during the night and I'm suffering.
Trouble is, i started a new j9b this year and I am still not up to speed with it.
So i can't risk taking meds which affect my sharpness as i need every ounce of it.

With me I'm anxious about being anxious.
I have tried beta blockers for palpitations but they didn't help me.
I'm sat here nervous about having to walk home as I know as soon as I go outside the palps will start.

I also want to get pregnant ASAP which puts me off AD

If you have severe anxiety, then in the short term, medication may be required and perhaps enable you to pursue other therapies.
I had anxiety so bad that had become a constant state that I had to be admitted to a hospital (many years ago) I was on high doses of anti depressants and tranquilisers.
It took me a long time to get off them but I eventually did by reading books on therapies and doing yoga, some counselling, and getting more exercise.
I pretty much had to find my own way but I've not suffered anxiety since because I know immediately when stress is creeping in.
Today, I would recommend mindfulness classes or books, meditation and exercise.

Meds treat the symptoms, pursue your cure through other methods.

Evidence based ways of calming your stress response include pets, exercise, getting out in nature and meditation.

However, I know when my anxiety was really really bad I felt unable to engage in anything in a meaningful way so they wouldn't have worked.

Citalopram calmed me enough to be able to introduce some good techniques like those above and CBT.

I'm not going to lie, the side effects were crap for the first week or so but totally worth it because I got my life back.

I hope you find something that works for you OP. Feel better soon

I take propranolol and Amitriptyline and they do help. I get a bit of a dry mouth and some mild dizziness for the first week or so but that is subsiding now.

Citalopram helped at first but then stopped working, mindfulness helps me when im having a mild attack but when I'm having a massive attack nothing helps.

If you can take it please do so. I cannot for various medical reasons and My physical health is struggling because of it. I'm so tired and exhausted. Therapy is helping, yet slow process. I would advise, to take medication if you need to and your GP will be able to advise you how to wean off it when you don't need it anymore.

Haven't time to read the thread but giving up booze and exercising worked for me.

Sounds trite but totally works. I promise.