Real talk: Paging Dr Hess? Anti-anxiety meds.

Going through a really stressful time right now and having a hard time coping. I don't think I need/want to be on a "long-term program." I just need something to get me through the next month or so.

Can't eat. Can't sleep. Can't stand to be around other people. Work + family + other drama has me completely overwhelmed.

Reading about the "non-habit-forming" stuff, it seems like takes a couple weeks to take effect. So I'm considering the riskier "kick it in the ass" stuff short-term, assuming the doc will prescribe it.

FWIW, therapy, exercise, ETC are not helping, and there is no time to just "blow off steam" for a weekend.

Thoughts from the hive?

Watching with interest.

Anything in the 'kick it in the pants now' camp is going to be at least mildly addictive (or at least classed as a controlled substance). There are definitely Meds out there that you can take daily that will take effect within a day or two (klonopin worked very well for me). You may have to push your doctor a bit as they're likely to suggest the other tools and meds (prozac, zoloft and the like, which take up to a month to take effect).

Klonipin is a benzodiazepine, which is a controlled substance. It's on the kick in the pants list. I was on it for years. Quite habit forming. I had withdrawal symptoms for almost a month after being taken off of it.

If only there was a non addictive natural drug that reduces anxiety, and is known to make people want to eat and sleep.

My doc put me on klonopin while I was going through the divorce last year. The initial dose was too much and I was practically stoned the first time I took it. I cut the pills in half after that and it was much less intense.

It certainly helped with how I handled stress. It was still there, but I didn't get as worked up about it. However I always felt groggy and hazy while I was on it. Once things in my life calmed down I started working myself off of it. Went from 1/2 pills to 1/4s, then to every other day, every third day, and so on(took a few weeks).

Hey, something I know about! I'm on several. The unfortunate thing is the short term ones suck balls. They're just that, short term. Benzos might be fun for a bit, but really all they do is turn you into a zombie. After a while, they don't work, and you need more. "Natural" solutions are not habit forming and arguably healthier, but only legal in co and or, therefore I cannot endorse them. Obviously drinking to dull the pain works... But its not real smart.

What happened to me was- freaked out, went to er. Got script for bemzos. Nearly wrecked car from taking too many. Obviously they weren't working. Got a script for one anx med. Took the edge off. Got we sleeping meds. Took more edge off. Ended up in a therapy called dbt. Interesting stuff. Teaches a lot of skills on how to manage to feelings, actually useful. Amazing how effective a 10min drive can be for me now that I know how to use it.

Unfortunately, there really is no easy answer. What you need now is a prn, or prompt relief med. But that don't do the long term.... And that's what you're really looking for.

fritzsch wrote: If only there was a non addictive natural drug that reduces anxiety, and is known to make people want to eat and sleep.

And was legal in more than a handful of states....

mndsm wrote: And was legal in more than a handful of states....

Since it's so difficult to acquire in the states where it's not yet legal

SnowMongoose wrote:

mndsm wrote: And was legal in more than a handful of states....

Since it's so difficult to acquire in the states where it's not yet legal

My only concern word be additional anxiety created should one be discovered with said substance. I fully agree its a better option than anything I'm on, but I'm not going there til its legal. I've run afoul of the law too many times.

Said natural substance doesn't help anxiety in everyone.

As I'm not one to mince words: Yeah, I'd have no qualms with weed if there wasn't some switch that flipped in my head at some point in my 20's that made it affect me totally differently than it used to.

mndsm: Thanks. Yeah. Booze helps in the evenings fo sho, but I'm not trying to go "pro" & kiss the bottle before work.

Ativan, Lorazepam, Xanax have worked in the past. I worry about the addictive component, but seriously, just need to take the berkeleying edge off for the next 3-4 weeks, and am capable of kicking after.

Working myself half to death, family drama, and touring in a couple weeks, for real this time(?)

The happy pills take the edge off & help me focus/not worry. I've been having what I can only assume are "panic attacks," and they're getting worse.

My cat's been on Prozac for 5 years and is so chill we think he's dead half the time. Also, weed's legal here for fun or medicine. That's all I've got.

You really, really, really want to avoid the benzodiazapines (ativan, valuim, xanax, etc.) I mean, really avoid them. I don't prescribe them. Now, if you're having a seizure, we can talk (sort of). But I've seen so much harm come from those drugs, it is, uh, mind blowing.

Sit back, relax, do some meditation. Do some journaling. What is bothering you? Distance yourself from it. It is not that big of a deal. REALLY. BZD's are EVIL E36 M3. Nothing is worth what they will do to you. Doctors hand them out like they are candy. The SSRI's are totally different. Try some Zoloft. Read my web page on mental health. http://www.drhess.net/Clip_n_Saves.htm#Dr.Hess%20on%20Mental%20Health

You asked my opinion.

Simplify your life before you kill yourself, man.

(I know that doesn't help the next 3-4 weeks, but after those are done set yourself on a manageable schedule.)

Smarta$$ McPoopyPants wrote: As I'm not one to mince words: Yeah, I'd have no qualms with weed if there wasn't some switch that flipped in my head at some point in my 20's that made it affect me totally differently than it used to. mndsm: Thanks. Yeah. Booze helps in the evenings fo sho, but I'm not trying to go "pro" & kiss the bottle before work. Ativan, Lorazepam, Xanax have worked in the past. I worry about the addictive component, but seriously, just need to take the berkeleying edge off for the next 3-4 weeks, and am capable of kicking after. Working myself half to death, family drama, and touring in a couple weeks, for real this time(?) The happy pills take the edge off & help me focus/not worry. I've been having what I can only assume are "panic attacks," and they're getting worse.

If you want more details, etc- feel free to ping me. You'd not be the first grmer I've helped and I'd be happy to do it again. Having run myself through this grinder multiple times, I may not be am expert, but I know my E36 M3- and I didn't stay at a holiday inn last night.

I think the root of the problem is you are giving too many berkeleys. Cut back on how many berkeleys you give until the anxiety is back down to a tolerable level.

This link has been posted here before, but I think it's relevant. The subtle art of not giving a berkeley

I've been having similar issues. Always had mild anxiety, and it started getting progressively worse over the past couple of years. Came to a head over the past 4 months or so, to the point of multiple full-blown panic attacks a week. Just in time for my last semester of school, where I really need to get E36 M3 done (degree in social work with a mental health specialization- there's a bit of irony). I've been taking sertraline, which helps for the baseline constant anxiety a bit, but does nothing for the "peaks".

I've wanted something short term that works, but my Doc is not big on benzo's, and I understand why. Propanalol did nothing. Buspirone is evil stuff; it greatly increased my anxiety and I was having constant shakes and tremors. It's a long process, but most of the benefit is to be had with therapy.

EastCoastMojo wrote: I think the root of the problem is you are giving too many berkeleys. Cut back on how many berkeleys you give until the anxiety is back down to a tolerable level.

There is great wisdom here. In what now seems like a completely different life I ended up hospitalized after all the berkeleys I gave came crashing down around me. It was during that recuperative stay that I came to the realization nothing is really worth giving so many berkeleys that it could cost me my life or well being. Job is going to hell, who gives a berkeley, if I loose it I'll find another one, if I don't I can live in my car and travel the country doing odd jobs for beer money (I'd really be much happier in that scenario to be honest) The only real berkeleys I give are on behalf of my wife and child, what matters to them matters to me, but I've also tried to help them understand how to care about what matters not just random things they think matter. At the end of it all very little in this life matters, if we stop placing artificial importance on it life gets easier.

Lately my job has been bothering me, things aren't going well here and I was actually feeling the stress. I made the decision to find a new job, and while that's still in progress it's going well and I started giving many less berkeleys around work because I know I'll be gone soon. And ya know what...suddenly this job isn't so bad. It wasn't the job that was stressing me it was my own artificial importance placed on the job that was stressing me.

Other people know more about this than me, but I can say if my Mom on Valium is any indication, stay the hell away. She was half dead to the world, falling asleep at weird times, forgetting stuff and generally it made a mess of everything.

I have tried to relax and get some rest. For the first time in months I did nothing yesterday except take the wife to a car show, get ice cream, and take a nap. I felt worse because all the things I didn't get done yesterday are still here. Meds are looking better all the time.

I'm with Mojo here. Hess too. The poison band-aids will just make you give less berkeleys. They won't make you perform better or make good decisions. You might as well go into work/whatever E36 M3faced on gin as Klonopin. It just makes you a different kind of retard. You will have more to do and less capacity for it.

If the end game is to care less... you have to actually care less at some point. THat is why there are race tracks, motorcycles, fishing boats, UFC gyms, parachutes, hookers and big open woods. Pick something. Anything. Wander off. Get your E36 M3 together.

Thanks dudes & chicks.

Being one who detests the 'take a pill for everything' attitude that permeates our society (just look at the number of ads on TV, for instance) I'm in the 'get rid of some of the load' camp. That's the real long term answer. No it's not easy, like ECM said you have to teach yourself not to give all the berkeleys. That was what I had to learn to do back during the period when all at the same time my marriage was on the rocks, my job was in jeopardy, I was terrified for my daughter, my dad's cancer was discovered and a couple other things. I couldn't change a large percentage of what was happening but I could change how I let it affect me, that was the key. Had I not done that, the stress likely would have given me a stroke or even worse, as it was it triggered an attack of shingles that had to be seen to be believed. And no pill, booze or natural leafy substance will ever do that; only you can do it.

From the page ECM linked:

What we don’t realize is that there is a fine art of non-berkeley-giving. People aren’t just born not giving a berkeley. In fact, we’re born giving way too many berkeleys. Ever watch a kid cry his eyes out because his hat is the wrong shade of blue? Exactly. berkeley that kid.

This is no way to live, man. So stop berkeleying around. Get your berkeleys together. And here, allow me to berkeleying show you.

It's the opposite of 'The Wall'; instead of tearing it down you have to build it up- but selectively!

Propranolol is a beta blocker that reduces overall anxiety and trepidation when taken at low doses. It doesn't make life suck less. It just makes it easier to manage when you get hit with a hard decision or flashback or stressful situation or whatever. It doesn't linger in your system so skipping doses or stopping cold turkey is fine. Because it's not steady state, if your stress is ongoing I wouldn't skip out on doses (I switched to Prozac because of this and am on neither now).

It's another option. Consult with your healthcare provider. Consider talk therapy in conjunction with any drugs simply because one of em better work and, frankly, it doesn't matter which. Talk therapy can certainly help you evaluate when to move on and quit.