Does anxiety ever go away?

[Emz0614]

Does anxiety ever go away so you can live a normal life without the need of medication? I’ve suffered from low level anxiety and low mood since being 16 (I’m 37 now) on and off AD, going years without needing them until it gets to the point where I feel I can’t cope. 2 years ago my stepdaughter took her own life. I ended up having a MH crisis and was put on 50mg of sertraline. Took them consistently for about 6 months but then once I started feeling better I kept forgetting to take them, I decided in May this year that I would just stop because stopping and starting them due to forgetting couldn’t be doing me any favours. I didn’t taper off but I know I should have done. Felt absolutely fine until I caught covid on 22nd July. This for some reason has set my anxiety off to the point of crisis! It’s just got worse and I’ve been in a constant state of panic since. Docs put me citalopram 20mg and I have propranolol as and when needed. I know everyone is different but has anyone else suffered from severe anxiety and come out the other end?

For me - no

I've been on some sort of medication for most of my adult life, antidepressants of one kind or another. in my 40's I weaned off Seroxat and stayed relatively stable until menopause, ended up on sertraline 50mg, increasing to 100mg during lockdown ( project fear certainly didnt help ) Same as yourself as I felt so well for so long I stopped taking them regularly and stopped altogether last year. I ve just been prescribed Bisoprolol aged 60

Each time Im prescribed Im get cross and angry with myself, which is really a mad way of thinking. To me its like saying Im a failure which is really stupid, cos Im not a failure. I have a medical condition, its real and it can be managed as long as I take the meds

Im a bit more accepting this time around because the anxiety was making me feel ill - high heart rate with palpitations - which in itself was increasing my anxiety and stopping me from doing the things that make life enjoyable for me

Tbh I dont think there is an "out the other end" unless you can afford years of private therapy

So Im back on meds. And now 3 weeks down the line Im back to a even keel, back to doing the things I enjoy doing

Why not just stay on the medication that was making you feel better though? There is obviously some sort of physical/chemical imbalance causing the anxiety so surely you just keep taking the medication?
I used to be horribly anxious, I don't get anxious at all now, probably one of the least anxious people you can find but I do take medication and I have no intention of ever stopping taking it, it hasn't even entered my head to consider stopping it, why would I? It makes me feel good.

What happened when you were 16? Was there a particular trigger?

Yes, it intensified in perimenopause and then resolved as I got to actual menopause. Always been hormonal, it started in puberty.

Mine was severe and never went away on its own. I know I’ll be in medication for life, and I’m ok with that now.

Why have you changed medication?

Bcdfghjk - well firstly I kept forgetting to take them once I felt better and secondly they were starting to me take emotionally numb, so I stopped. I’m glad yours is working so well for you though. ☺️

Summerhillsquare - I have wondered if I’m perimeno but I can’t be arsed getting fobbed off by the GP telling me I’m too young. I’m glad yours has resolved now though.

suki1964 - Glad you’re feeling better. I will also be having a few sessions of CBT through my work so I’m hoping the citalopram and this will help me enough so I can nip it in the bud and it doesn’t become a crisis. Thanks for commenting x

As @Summerhillsquare , the peri got me back on them after years of being off. Now Im post menopause, I was in a traffic situation ( no not even a crash or even near miss ) which I realise has affected me more then it would most and it was becoming crippling again

Im like you, get the meds, take them till I feel well, come off them and then the spiral starts again. Total madness because I know the meds keep me balanced and capable, but for me theres this niggle, you take meds when you are ill, Im not ill