Depression and anxiety

I think you are very correct. I now know that I was probably depressed for years before the anxiety took hold. It was just a manifestation of the depression that was sort of hidden in everday life.

Thank you Sergio what a sweetie you are. So you deal with this with no meds?That takes courage. I just get awful side effects that make me feel even worse. Staying positive is very difficult although I, like you like funny movies and funny stuff on Youtube anything that brings a smile.Staying in the game so to speak.Yes I would love to talk to you about the stratgies you use. Thank you so much for your response....Carol

Anytime Carol??!!!!!!!!! i kno how it feels because im dealing wit this stuff everyday so your not alone me and you are in the same boat so i do understand everything your going through and yes staying positive is very very hard to do but you gotta remind yourself that everythings okay and anxiety symptoms hurt but they won't kill you so wat doesn't kill you makes you stronger and im not judgemental because any one who deals wit anxiety are depression is strong because it takes alot of inner strength so if your feeling down are need someone to talk to about anything im here ??????

So nice of you yes it is very difficult to stay positive but it so helps to talk to someone who understands as any mental illness or as i prefer to call it brain disease is impossible to understand unless you have been there and then there is the stigma attached which doesn't help matters at all just tends to make us withdraw and put on a "good" face for the world to see. I know that before this happened I would not have understood and I am very compassionate person.

Linda I have taken so many I have lost count. Many of the ssri's ssrni's the last one was BusPar which is suposed to help anxiety and not be habit forming I thought this sounds great.I took it for two weeks and became so depressed. I emailed my psych Dr.and she said it was something else this does not cause that... yes it does but rarely so I have about given up on meds I might try 1 more she is thinking about. It is similar to Effexor which I took 9 years ago and had great success with.I now can not take it awful chills and side effects not to be believed. They tend to make symptoms worse when you first start them they always say 4 weeks until they take effect I rarely last that long. Before the BusPar depression was not a big issue now I have waves of it so beware of these side effects xoxo

What kind of anxiety med Lee, benzos?

Alprazolam

me also I take it for sleep .25 mg or.05 mg depending,I prefer to take ,25. How long have you been taking it? do you take it during the day?

Since 2009. As needed. I do take it for sleep as it really makes me sleep well. But i can take it in the day also.

Usually the 0.25 is enough to sleep good. O.5 is the pill strength. i can split it. 0.5 for anxiety. Xx

I have taken it for  four years I don't take it during the day unless I am very anxious and then only a small amount. does anxiety alter your sleep and can you sleep without ir? I really ca not. 

I do the same thing

If im exhausted probably. But i tend to think too much and i lay there at night and my brain wont shut off. It really helps. My best friend takes it only at night but she takes 1.0. Every night.

She used to take ambiem and had dizziness etc. She sleeps well with alprazolam. No side affects.

I understand Lee as I am the same way. The problem with benzos is the tolerance issue sounds like you are like me and are on a stabile dose so that is encouraging. 1 mg. is quite a high dose but whatever works we can't function without sleep.

I took ambien and became addicted to it suffered from withdrawal. The problem was I did not realize it was withdrawal until i woke up one day suicidal Ambien is a very dangerous drug but so seductive because it works so well.

I agree. Every time she took it she would get dizzy. Great way to try and sleep. So she asked to be switched to alprazolam. Frankly quite a few people i know take it. It also is given many times along with an anti depresant.

I will tell you it is highly addictive, ambien, I finally dicovered that i was having withdrawal after I found a list of 80 side effects. I had been to the Dr about how I was feeling she had no idea and sent me to a cardiologist a complete waste of time she was the one who gave me the ambien and it never occurred to her I was suffering from withdrawal after non stop crying I took matters into my own hands I was so desperate that I took a prozac within 30 minutes the depression was gone. Yes it does work that way in certain situations my psych Dr. confirmed this. three days cold turkey and no futher problems your friend was fortunate to get off them

I was on Ambian for a few years, until the dose that worked raised to a degree I wasn't happy with, so I started the weaning. It took me about four months, but because I was in no hurry and tapered down slowly, It was a relatively peaceful process. 

If I ever come off the anxiety med, I already know I will have to taper. Having already done so with two Benzos, I am not at all concerned about the posibility. I also weaned with cigarettes, down one cigarette a day every two or three weeks....took awhile, but I am at 2 cigarettes a day, and.....not craving any more than those two!!!!!!.