I am at the end of my rope here. For 9 years now I have been in some sort of discomfort every single day. It started with bad stomach aches which caused some anxiety. It then turned into a severe acid reflux problem, anxiety, severe iron defficiency (was corrected) and now, at 19 years old, I struggle with severe dizziness, stomach aches, OCD, anxiety, hot and cold flashes, insomnia, trembling, and nearly everything imaginable. I have chest and upper abdomen pain currently and I feel sick and I am so exhausted from sleeping 4 hours a night for the last 4 nights, and I wont sleep again tonight because I am so sick. I have exhausted every remedy including cognitive behavioral therapy and nothing has helped. It has all flared up again with college and I dont even know how to keep functioning through the semester. I never know if I am sick or anxious or what. I guess what im asking is, is it to the point where a low dose axiety med would be worth a shot for me? I have tried many therapists, meditation, I cant exercise because I am so unwell. Would an anxiety med (im thinking zoloft) be worth a shot or would it most likely throw me off the deep end
Hi Addie
I’m sorry you feel like this and it has being going on for so long. I suffer from health anxiety also, the feelings are very real but our mind is so powerful, it convinces us we are sicker than we are and makes any aches and pains much worse, which fuels the anxiety and in turn keeps the physical symptoms going. It’s a vicious circle that is so hard to break. I have had great success on zoloft 50mg once a day. It really saved my life a few years ago when my anxiety was full blown. The only way I can describe it is that it takes the edge off the anxiety and the worry, it gives your mind a rest which in turn helps with the physical symptoms. I have, maybe foolishly, stopped taking zoloft a couple of times over the years, for silly reasons like forgetting my prescription or being on holiday and thinking oh well I feel better now so maybe I don’t need it. I actually did ok when I came off it the first time, but gradually about a year later the anxiety crept back. So it is certainly a drug you can come off of, I had minimal withdrawl symptoms, just felt a but light headed for a couple of weeks. But if you are naturally an anxious personal, like me, that anxiety will creep back once you come off it, unless you can find successful alternative treatments like counselling to cope in the long run if you want to be drug free. But even a councillor I saw for a while advises that most of her patients do the therapy alongside a low dose of anti depressant for at least 6 months to a year settle your mind and allow the counselling to have maximum benefit. I suppose then afterwards you are in a better place mentally to try and come off the meds with just counselling and their techniques . I am just about to re start my zoloft as of Monday, I stopped a few months back when I was on holiday, but a lot has happened recently in my life and my health anxiety is back. I can’t say I got any major side effects when starting, the only thing was it kept me up a bit at night for the first week or two but if you speak to your doctor and ask for a short term prescription of valium or a sleeping tablet, just for 7-14 days it worked a treat to get me to sleep and after those first couple of weeks I found I was getting off to sleep much better once the zoloft kicked in. After that it was pretty much plain sailing, withing the first month I notice my panic lifting and my mood and outlook on life is brighter, I really don’t know why I keep coming off them as they do really help. Sorry this is so long, but I hope it helps.
A friend of mine went on zoloft for anxiety, she is 22. She speaks very highly of it, says it workd well for her.
-Keep in mind tho, as gillian stated, medication is only a temporary solution. It does sound like you prob need to try meds at the moment, since you’ve tried therapy n etc and nothing has worked yet. But be prepared that eventually you have to try and get off the meds and learn to cope with your anxiety on your own. It is not easy, it takes a LOT of work. But it is doable with the right plan and coping techniques. Did you try seeing different therapists?
-When I first went to therapy I saw someone who wasn’t very familiar with anxiety, and I found they weren’t that helpful. The 2nd time around I saw someone who actually specialized in anxiety, and they helped me a lot.