Posted , 6 users are following.
Hi All,
I am a 32 year old female suffering from GAD and possibly OCD. My anxiety is so severe it cripples me. No signs of depression here. I was recently prescribed Fluvoxamine (VOXAM/LUVOX) and experienced so much anxiety about having to take it so I thought I'd search the internet for journeys of other people who have had success with the medication - surprise, I was unable to find anything useful, especially in Australia. This post is almost a self-help post for me to release my inner thoughts and to help others who have been prescribed this mediation. I am going to document on a day by day how I went, in hopes that I can help someone else out! The worst part for me about taking the medication was that it lists SO many side affects and the only reviews I could find online were negative encounters with it. So here is my experience! I am only on day two – I will keep updating under this forum.
DAY ONE: I took a 1/2 dose of a 50mg pill (25mg) as directed by my doctor. I was EXTREMELY anxious to take it after reading about side effects etc but I realised that I pretty much couldn't feel any worse that I already do, so I bit the bullet and took it at 10:30 PM. The doctor told me by taking it at night, it would alleviate any side effects I may encounter.
DAY TWO: I slept through the night and woke up with my body clock at 6:30 AM. I woke a little anxious, not knowing how I would be feeling today. I took three drops of rescue remedy onto my tongue (I've been using this for the past two days and it literally brings me instant relief). For the rest of the day I took it easy and relaxed in bed. Very alert to potential side effects but NOTHING! I took a long nap and I actually told my mum that I was feeling very little to no anxiety. This came as a huge shock to me as the pharmacist told me I would feel worse before I felt better. Further, my anxiety has been through the ROOF for the last five months and today was the first time I’ve felt relaxed in a very long time!!!! I’m actually excited to take the tablet again tonight so that I can continue to feel the benefits tomorrow. If this is a taste of how it can improve my life in one day, I am so excited for the future and to potentially being anxiety free. Will update again soon! Please dont hesitate to ask questions :-)
1 like, 12 replies
Patrick2016 AnxietyGirl123
Posted
I'm glad to hear you found a medication that works for you!!!!! Finding the right one can take a couple try's but it sounds like you have it and your on the right track! I'm always excited to hear people beating anxiety and the partial ocd I have the same exact thing. Keep up the positive attitude!!!!!!
AnxietyGirl123 Patrick2016
Posted
Thanks Patrick!! It's so hard to find positive stories on here so thought this could potentially help someone in their journey :-)
jasper99 AnxietyGirl123
Posted
That's really good news, my dear.
I am glad that you plucked up the courage to try the medicine.
I shall be most interested to read of your progress.
AnxietyGirl123 jasper99
Posted
Thanks Jasper!! I've just done another progress update :-)
Ranger507 AnxietyGirl123
Posted
It's good to hear someone feeling better, I'm currently still waiting for
Mine to clear up lol hope it goes soon
AnxietyGirl123 Ranger507
Posted
AnxietyGirl123
Posted
DAY THREE update guys: I got anxious around 7pm last night. Took another few drops of rescue remedy and was still a bit anxious but nothing unbearable. I took another 25mg at 10.30 PM. Again I slept through the night. I am feeling a bit anxious today, but what I have noticed is as soon as I feel anxious, my thoughts normally start racing and I end up in a full blown panic attack. That hasn't happened, so I am really starting to have faith that this is working :-) As for side effects, I haven't felt ANY. Everything I read told me I would have nausea, headaches, terrible anxiety attacks etc whilst getting used to the medication. So far, it has exceeded my expectations. I thought I was going to be useless for this entire weekend but so far I've just been relaxing and chill. I up my dose in two more nights so hopefully that provides even more benefit. Happy to answer any questions!
alissa30949 AnxietyGirl123
Posted
Hey that's great to hear is this the first med you have ever tried? Keep me updated on how you do I want to feel better so badly! I will have health insurance starting nov 1 so I'm hoping getting back into therapy will help as well. Do you work? If so how do you cope with the severe anxiety and also do you have panic attacks as well
AnxietyGirl123 alissa30949
Posted
Hey Alissa! Thanks for reaching out :-) I used to be on Effexor but stopped that when I lived overseas as I couldn't fill my script for it. My anxiety was okay for a while but for the last year it's been really out of control and yes, I get panic attacks too - so decided to go and see the doctor again. I work full-time as a trainee lawyer and I'm also in law school. An added plus is a have a five year old daughter and I'm a single parent. My anxiety/panic attacks starting well before i even studied or had my daughter though :-) So I can't blame that. Coping at work - I am often stuck in court rooms all day - I work as a criminal prosecutor - so it's terrible if I'm experiencing anxiety in court as I definitely cannot just explain to a judge that I am feeling anxious lol. I just have to force myself to do it. I have been using this stuff called rescue remedy and i swear it's been a saviour! It's all natural too. Helps with anxiety but won't pull you out of a panic attack. It might do enough beforehand to stop one from coming on though. Sometimes in the office I just have to go and lay down if I am feeling too overwhelmed. My colleagues know I suffer from anxiety so they don't judge. I think knowing that your colleages know what you're going through helps a lot. Hopefully with this new medication I won't be put in that position anymore. I am feeling great today! Tomorrow wil be my first day back at work on the medication so I shall update you with how it goes. I enter a three day trial as of 10.00 AM tomorrow so if my anxiety is going to kick off, it will be tomorrow morning before trial haha.
alissa30949 AnxietyGirl123
Posted
Wow we have a lot in common. I work in the law field as well as a legal asst. you should be so proud of yourself for the job you do and able to deal with your anxiety it sounds like there is a lot of pressure in your job so that's great. At my new job my manage has anxiety attacks so it's nice that she understands As well. I just started my first dose today in switching over to zoloft and praying I will see a difference with this med compared to the pristiq. Good luck with your trial!
AnxietyGirl123
Posted
Day Four: Had a great day today!! First day back at work since starting the medication and all went well. Mood overall better, I basically freak out anytime i feel a headache or some weird symptom in my body due to my anxiety and today whenever I felt something, I didn't react. It's amazing. I think with this medication and some CBT to get rid of the negative thought patterns that I could potentially be cured :-) I don't care that I have to take medication forever. The positives far outweight any negative of having to take medicine if it means I get my life back. Considering I am only on day four, I am so excited to see what happens when I up my medication dose tomorrow night :-) (as directed by my doctor). The only negative symptom I have today is some dizziness which would normally put me into a full blown panic attack - but it didn't. All good! Super excited. and Relieved. and Happy :-)
AnxietyGirl123
Posted
I'm at day eight today guys. The last two days have been hard. I had a really bad panic attack on Wednesday night when I went to the City for a work function. Had a glass of wine and ended up in a full blown panic attack and it's taken me until today to start feeling better!!! BUTTTT I have faith that the medication is working and that the panic attack was not caused by the medication. It is too early in the piece for me to be relying on it to stop the attacks from coming. Today I felt anxious in the morning. But it subsided during the day and I was feeling great by lunch time :-) Not much to update with otherwise. Does anyone know how long it takes for medication to become fully therepeutic?
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