How long do your anxiety flares usually last?

[suzzeeb]

I'm totally sick of being anxious all day, every day for the past months. Even more tired of waking up after maybe 5 hours of sleep at 3 in the morning and feeling the anxiety ramp up and just lay there until morning and getting up feeling depressed because I know I will be exhausted and struggling all day!

Does it last for months and months for anyone else? I don't feel like I'm getting any better - actually worse.

 

[Cuchculan]

Maybe it is time you considered actual medication. Not just a bit here and there. You sound like you need it full time. Help steady the ship. At the moment you are getting nowhere. Simple fact. I hate been on all the medication that I am on. But I need it. So sit down and ask yourself if what you are doing to try and right things is doing you any good at all? Question we all had to ask ourselves over time.

 

[suzzeeb]

Your right. I think I need a new doctor or maybe look into a psychiatrist at this point. My doctor wants me to take less anxiety medication (even though I told him my anxiety has flared) and the antidepressant he gave me makes me feel even terrible, so I think I need someone who specializes in medication. I think the psychologist will be able to help in the long run, but I didn't start seeing him until right in the middle of this so it's hard to make any progress feeling like this. Thanks for your reply.

 

[DenimBlue]

I agree with Cuchculan.....also with your statement about a new doctor. Sometimes it takes trying a few meds before finding something that works for you. I was fortunate that mine worked. To your question, my anxiety lasted years until I finally tried medication. I still get anxiety but its not as acute or chronic . By the way, since your post, how have things been?

 

[suzzeeb]

No better at all. I stopped taking the Prozac because of side effects and since then he started me on Viibryd. I was barely managing the starting dose of 10 mg and then was supposed to go to 20, which I did for a few days but felt so bad again I quit. I am still struggling every day. I asked my doctor if I could go back to just the 10 mg until my body got used to it or maybe that would even be enough but he said I can take 10 mg for one more week and then go to 20. I really don't want to do that. Even the 10 mg causes me to stay home all morning because I need to be by the bathroom! I have definitely moved from severe anxiety to depression at this point. I just don't see how I can dig out of this. It's so weird how I started out feeling off and a little more anxious last summer to now full blown anxiety/depression. I don't know what to do next I guess. I still see my psychologist once a weeks. He doesn't understand why I haven't improved at all.

I think my first post last summer I said how I was afraid I was addicted to Klonopin and that's why my anxiety was so bad, and the more I worried about that, the more anxious I got, and the more often I needed to take the Klonopin. That fear is still in my head. I can be having an ok day or part of a day and that fear creeps back in and I get super anxious about it again. Its craziness. I'll never really know if it's true because when I take less I'm terrified about being addicted so feel super nervous again. Oh well, I have no idea what to do about it at the moment.

 

[DenimBlue]

Be sure to read what you can about its (or any medication) side effects. What works for some, doesn't work for all. That medication is for severe depressive disorder. I'm wondering why he/she didn't start with something for your anxiety.

 

[suzzeeb]

Well i take the Klonopin for anxiety? Are there SSRIs for anxiety only?

 

[DenimBlue]

hmmm.....I'm not sure about that, I wish I knew. I'm mostly concerned about your feelings about the other med. Often people need to try a few different ones. I hope your doctor isn't dismissing your concerns.

 

[suzzeeb]

what medication do you take?

 

[DenimBlue]

Venlafaxine and wellbutrin