Has anyone found a drug that actually helps reduce anxiety?

[Marne]

Feeling so fed up with this anxiety and phobia (of being sick) , i have been on anti deresants for 6 months and am on my 2nd lot and can see/feel no change at all. The trouble is i hate going to the gp as i'm worried i will catch a bug and get sick but i need to go and get my medication changed. This anxiety effects me every day (90% of the day) and controls everything i do (or don't do as i may come into contact with a bug). Tonight my anxiety is extra high as dd1 told me a boy in her class was sick today, i am now panicking that dd1 will get sick and then i will get sick, i am counting down the last 2 weeks of term, each day i take them to school gets worse and worse (my anxiety gets worse, i feel like a baloon being blown up getting closer to going 'bang').

I have tried CBT (twice), i have had hypnotherapy (it wasn't for me) and have seen 3 different therapists at my gp surgery, it feels like theres nothing else that can be done. I don't know how much longer i can cary on like this . I wish there was pill that could take this fear away but it doesn't look like there is.

Has anyone found anything that works?

Cannabis can trigger mh issues so how can it be distinct?

Besides how people react is individual; DH took cannabis a couple of times, made him feel MORE depressed if anything. Actually it may have triggered what ahs become a lifelong MH problem but hrad to say in his case (whereas I know the causality for OP was ascribed by med profs)

I am now feeling even more anxious Dd did not eat her dinner and is complaining of a head ache and tummy ache, i have chewed my nails right down (until they bleed), i feel sick (not sure if its just the anxiety, it probably is). I have sent dd1 to her room to watch a dvd and have dosed her up with calpol. I feel like such a sh*t mum because i find it hard to comfort her when she's feeling poorly .

Breathe. It is worth trying relaxing exercises/cognitive again.

I can't suggest drugs that help, but I can tell you that some make it worse. Caffeine and alcohol don't help. Cannabis would be a bad suggestion for those with pre-existing anxiety issues - it can make them worse.

I don't drink Alcohol or caffeine (one thing i'm doing right)

I am in bed with tummy ache , dd1 is in bed feeling very poorly, my mind is all over the place (thinking we may have a tummy bug),god i hate this so much, why can't i cope with illness? why do i have to panick so much? I'm so useless . Dh is moaning as i'm making such a fuss which is why i have taken to my bed with the lap top.

Cannabis is a very bad idea for anxiety. Hope you get some help soon. Can you pinpoint when it started and if you get it 90% of the time what is different about teh other 10%?

noddy, i cant remember not having the phobia but can remember it getting worse each time i was ill or saw any one else be ill. Only 90% of the time as the other 10% of the time i would be worrying abot something else or be so busy that i forget.

I could cope with most things the life could through at us and have got through tough times but i would rather do anything than be sick (i fear being sick more than death), i hate spiders and i hate the dentist but if given the choice would rather face them than be sick . I try and sort it out in my head but all i keep thinking is 'one day i will be sick wether i like it or not', its not something i can avoid (like going to the dentist) and its something i have no control over. I feel like its taken over my life, when i go out i plan ow to avoid getting ill or seeing anyone ill, i can't go on a bus (because once someone was sick when i was on one), i can't walk past pubs incase i see sick, i hate taking part in anything at school incase a child is sick. The only time i feel safe is when we are all at home and not in contact with anyone else (which is hardly ever). I must be making my dd's lives sh*t because i dont let them have friends over or go to after school clubs and i don't help out at school, i make them wash their hands and take off their school uniform as soon as they get through the door, i remind them to wash their hands after using the loo every day. As soon as anyones off their food or looking a bit pale i start to panick, shake and cry. Sorry for going on, i just want someone to understand how i feel and how bad this has got for me. I can't cope with much more .

I can certainly relate to what you are saying.When i was a child i saw a child being sick on a bus and it was also sick on the steps downstairs and I kept replaying over and over in my mind
At times in my life when i am more anxious generally my phobia gets worse but my son was sick once and it went everywhere DP was away so i just had to get on with it. Hated it though! When Ds has a bug my handwashing goes into overdrive! The way i look at it is i can worry as much as i like but these things are always going to happen and sometimes we cope better when we are caught of guard.
However if i wake up in the night to my DS getting out of bed in the night my heart is literally pounding and i am petrified he is going to be sick

It was not a child it was a dog sorry not sure why i put that !

I took escitralopram for anxiety. It was fantastic, and I was on it for 18months. I came off as id made lifestyle changes which eradicated some of my triggers and I feel better equiped to cope with small episodes without it now. Speak to your Gp.

So sorry you have this horrid phobia too .

Dd1 has now gone to sleep and said her tummy was ok. I on the other hand am crippled up in pain bellow my belly button and across my back, it may just be IBS caused by me getting stresses but i have never had it this bad before. Luckily i have anti-sickness drugs from my gp so have taken them but i am still extra anxious and worried dd1 will wake up and be ill .

Have you ever had propanolol?

citalopram 40mg, I take it for ocd

No i havn't noddy, is it any good?

Iwas going to ask gp for Citalopram.

It is used for various things blood pressure and anxiety too. I was on it for my blood pressure years ago but a friend had it for stress and anxiety and she was transformed. She is still on it I think it is for life iygwim. May be worth a try. I suffered badly from panic when ds was little and had to train myself as I was on other meds for my kidneys and couldn't take anything. It took me years and a very patient dp but I got there and rarely suffer now. xx

if miterzapine hasnt helped the anxiety, i dont think citalopram will. The one youre on is supposed to be one of the best.
Im on venlafaxine, which is supposed to be good for anxiety. Its certainly helped me a lot, although hasnt eradicated it, but i have a LOT less panic attacks now. If it gets really bad, i either drink wine or smoke cannabis, which helps me, but obviously not the answer. Some people it makes them worse.

I used to be on flupentixol (fluanxol) which helped massively, but i came off it as it affected my libido too much when on it full time, but you can take it on an as and when basis too, so i still have it sometimes.
I also have valium/diazepam in the cupboard for emergencies, which is brilliant, but i avoid it unless nothing else works, partly because its not something you want to have a habit of, and also partly because i find it lingers into the next day and can make me feel a bit flat and depressed

Thank you, i'm feeling a bit more positive this morning. I phoned the gp but couldn't get an appointment for today as they only had one appointment left which dd1 needs, i will make an appointment for tomorrow or friday when i take dd1 in later.

Constable, cannibis can make anxiety much, much worse in the long run for many people. Which can then lead to somebody self harming. The more anxious you are the more likely you are to resort to extreme actions. Smoke it if you like but don't judge people who don't get on well with it. You may find in the short term it helps with anxiety but in the long run makes it much worse, obviously I hope that doesn't happen to you but it is something to watch out for.

I am on quetiapine in low doses for anxiety and other things and it has been a miracle drug for me (its an antipsycotic).
But it does make me very sleepy in the mornings.

Marne,

I have emetophobia as well. It's not taken over my life in the same way as it has yours but I've been lucky in that respect.

One thing I would say is that I don't hold with ADs, but then I know a lot of people do.
While I am still frightened about the things you describe, I cope with it by psychological methods. CBT did work well for me though I never expected it to and was scared it would 'change' me, and make me let my guard down. It didn't - all it did was make me see what was going on when I got panicky, so that I could control that. And it put my fear into perspective.

I think I had someone very very skillful actually, she was brilliant and I saw her for a year.
And I still think of her when I feel bad because what she did with me actually worked.

I know that's not much help to you, but what I wanted to say was that there are ways around this phobia without having to take medication, and the main thing about it is the fear, that's huge, I know - the physical thing of being sick isn't that bad without the fear. I know because I did it a year or two ago, and if you can separate the fear you are feeling from the thing itself, you realise that fear is what it is all about - so it could be spiders, or snakes like old Sancty there or anything really.

When you did CBT did they look at ways to manage the fear? Mine taught me how to stop it, almost. And once you take that out of the equation you're pretty much home and dry.

Reading that back, it did take over my life for a long time, when I was a kid. And it's never gone away entirely but it can be learned to live with iyswim.

You will get there in the end

Mertazipine has worked for me whereas citalopram made mine worse, however my anxiety was general rather than something specific. Have you tried a talking therapist that specialises in your phobia? Hope you get some relief soon x.