Also it’s not the perfect solution. I still get anxious and shit. I like listening to podcasts and deep breathing when I feel panic. Also a good sleep, aim, and social life is important.
Yea, keyword being under the guidance of a doctor, except ones here just rubber stamps the script without much guidance. Be sure to know what question(s) to ask when you see them, and speak fast because they have 200 other patients to see that day.
I got some benzos but I just keep them around in case I need them. But 0.5mg, even 1mg of xanax doesn’t seem to do much for me. It’s supposed to be very strong, and according to dose equivalency chart it’s supposed to be stronger than 10mg of vallium.
The big problem is if you become dependent on them (and this can happen if you don’t know what you are given and just take them regularly without a thought) and for some reason the doctor decides to cut you off.
I’m not really sure how I can help you, but my opinion change has to come from within. Taking medication is just a Band-Aid to the deeper problem, I’m not sure how to fix it for you, but at least for me deep breaths, meditation applications, background music, exercise has helped, but I’m definitely not cured I do still have some problems.
If you find the cure let me know!
I think you get some of that here, given the amount of concern and support folks give you. YMMV
For me, a pepperoni pizza from pizza hut, preferably Costco sized (but they don’t make them that big), at 3am is a pretty good medication for me. But it is also extremely unhealthy.
Hahaha I get ya. I’m in Japan now and when I finish work I go outside to a nearby park everyday and take a walk and listen to some podcast or purrple cat. Give it a shot
Dealing with anxiety for me seems to be about setting the table before sitting down to eat. I constantly thank my former self for setting myself up for little successes. I get my morning coffee ready to go in the coffee maker before bed for example, saving the groggy hassle in the morning. I Set out reminders of things to be done or completed. I leave post it’s around the house. I make to do lists.
Being busy and getting a dozen little shitty things accomplished each day takes my mind off wishing or waiting for death. And the sense of accomplishment lets me see that it’s not death I’m after, it’s really just a moment of calmness and clarity. But it feels like Nemo’s dad getting stung so much by the anemone that it doesn’t register like it once did.
It’s depression. It doesn’t go away but it can become a much smaller part of one’s life. Again YMMV.
That may be true, but the placebo effect is also real. Therefore, someone who loves the church and believes that god-talk will be helpful, will likely feel better after going to church.
You had a lot of debris placed in your way. You are definitely on your road now though.
I have had anxiety or something, that I wouldn’t label as depression, as far back as I can remember. I’m definitely healing from it now though. I don’t know really what caused it or what is curing it, it just seems to have been my journey.
Being outside is definitely the right place for me, mentally. Not teaching in a school is definitely right for me. Today I took the train for 90 mins to a job I’m doing (handyman at a refuge for female victims of trafficking). In the past a twenty minute commute felt like torture. I spent a few hours knocking the mortar out of a broken wall I’m repairing, weeded a garden, designed a community garden day and came home. While knocking out the mortar the local school day ended and the teachers came out with the kids. It was raining a bit. I was wet, on my knees, smashing mortar, listening to pedantic dick heads telling teenagers, “hurry up, move along, don’t stand there, get out of the road,” and it pleased me to realise ‘I’m enjoying myself, and I’m glad I’m not working in a school.’ Having agency over the things I choose to do is great for my mental health. Being outside is great for my mental health. Not participating in govt lead dick headed behaviour is great for my mental health.
Quitting alcohol has also been very good for me. Again, there’s a sense of ownership over that choice.
I’m rambling. I don’t care. My anxiety has diminished so I’m not pouring over my words, worried about how people will feel about them. I’ve stopped people pleasing too.
Might be my age. Might be experience. Might all crash down tomorrow. Today though, today I’m doing just fine.
You sure are. 
I’m glad you can’t. You’re not missing anything fun.
I take Zoloft (sertraline) for anxiety. Started 2-3 years ago. I’m fine with taking it forever. I usually don’t take meds unless I have to, even for headache/anything. I would have very non-specific anxiety where I don’t have any conscious anxious thoughts, just a general feeling of anxiousness. More physical than mental.
Doing research yesterday on supplements I happened across something interesting. My blood tests have shown for years that my level of homocysteine is high - it’s a marker for inflammation / heart health. No idea why it’s high, and my dr said not to worry about it. But I was just reading that your body sorta converts homocysteine to other substances, and one of those is a precursor to something called SAMe, which happens to be used as an anti-depressant. So this tells me that the two could be correlated. I’m buying a B vitamin called TMG which is used to lower homocysteine. I also saw it recommended as one of five supplements a dr that studies longevity recommends. Low B-6 and B-12 can also affect mood.
I hate SSRI, it doesn’t work for me, and there are withdraw effects if you quit.
So we have Zoloft (sertraline) as a medication for anxiety.
And B vitamins. Would a B complex vitamin be good, then?
I am looking into the possibility of some form of take-as-needed medication for anxiety. My anxiety comes and goes. Like today, for example, I feel great. But yesterday, I got some mildly bad news and my anxiety levels rose. On some days, it can shoot through the roof when there’s some difficult situation at work or at home.
So I’m thinking of maybe asking the doctor for something like this:
Benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines (sometimes called “benzos”) are a class of sedative drugs. They work by strengthening the effect of the GABA neurotransmitter, which plays a role in relaxation and reduces brain activity.12
Benzodiazepines can be taken on an as-needed basis to help you relax and reduce muscle tension when facing a stressful situation. Because they are fast-acting, they can be helpful in treating panic attacks.13 They can also be useful for social anxiety disorder (SAD) and phobias if they are only taken occasionally.
Common benzodiazepines include:
Not sure, though, because I feel I’m healing and maybe it would be best to just continue with my particular path of doing things mostly naturally. Strangely, I get some of my best workouts in when I’m experiencing some anxiety that day (see the “how was swim today thread” and you’ll see one of my better times in a while yesterday after I got that bad news).
If it’s often at all I’d go with SSRIs. You don’t want to be popping Xanax everytime you get anxious, unless it’s rare and specific (eg my dr had given me some for flying).
I ordered a B complex along with the TMG, but haven’t tried either yet. I’m not certain how much effect either would have, as supplements are always said to do xyz but in reality the evidence is flimsy.
I would say once a week something seems to happen to increase anxiety levels. But maybe about once every two weeks it gets bad.
The good news is that I am learning to shrug off my irrational feelings in a shorter time. Like yesterday, I got some bad news at around 11 am, I went for a swim during the lunch break, and then I was feeling okay at around 2 pm (three hours total).
But thanks for your input. My next doctor visit is next month. I need to think about this.
Just be careful with benzo if you do go down that path. You do become addicted with regular use and they become less and less effective too. And by that time you would also have issues with withdraw if you stop. Getting them isn’t hard, doctors here hand them out like candy, responsible doctors aren’t supposed to hand them out without doing a lot of investigation.
I wish they treat benzos like they treat ADHD medications here sometimes. It’s impossible to get ADHD medications without a lot of testing.
It’s inspiring to hear things like this, where healthy non-pharmaceutical solutions (whether it be a swim, a run, a walk, a hike, a cycle, nature, etc.) are found for these “life problems.” Well done 
Exercise helps me a lot. But it’s also experience knowing that some of my thinking is irrational, and if I give things a little time and if I maybe get some words of encouragement from someone, the feelings will pass. My wife helped me out yesterday.
I meant to say, apart from all the typical reasons to have anxiety, there’s something called spring asthenia, which I’m pretty sure I have experienced several times in my life and which probably could explain some cases here.
just fyi…