Treatment For Anxiety Without Medication??

I have had anxiety all my life & was never diagnosed The dr just gave me meds & I just took them trusting the dr. I always seemed to be able to wean my self off without noticing side effects but I was young & so busy with raising 4 children & taking care of my dad. Looking back now my mother & grandmother had this disorder. If someone would have told me that I could have dealt with this with supplements & theraphy I would have went that route. But I am currently on meds I feel like myself & taking the risk of the side effects if any are worth it to me . I am 63 years old & want to live in peace not fear. There are millions of ppl taking meds for their anxiety . I just keep leaning on God & His grace. I pray you find help . I will be praying for you!

Hi,

I wouldn't worry too much - you don't become addicted to Xanax if you take it occasionally. Taking it every day may be a problem, but if you stick to the guidelines, you should be fine. Also, you wouldn't feel any withdrawal symptoms after one or two tablets per week (0.25 or 0.5 mg).

As an alternative to benzodiazepines, you could take one of the SSRIs with an anti-anxiety profile. This could be either paroxetine or sertraline, where the former one is more effective and the later one gives less side effects. A good herbal medication to try would be St. John's Wort - 300 mg three times a day or balm mint - depending on the severity of your anxiety. However, mind that herbal medicines are not as effective as the synthetic ones...

It's a valid reason to not take meds, and meds are not a requirement. Therapy works every bit as well, don't let anyone tell you meds are essential,its just not true

hi

This is a reply I sent to someone who asked a similar question to you.

I'll admit firstly that although medication can be helpful in severe cases, I think medication is given out far too easily and quickly when people furst see their doctor / GP. That said, I would always suggest following the advice of a therapist or any other medical professional who is treating you for your anxiety.

I often had panic attacks and driving, social interactions made me very anxious. I used to worry about having a panic attack in public. I became overwhelmed by anxiety for a number of months. I really didn't want to take medication for fear that I would become too reliant on it. I managed to turn things around by making some changes.

First, I looked at how I was living and made some changes to the basics in my life. Made sure I looked at my energy levels by scheduling things that I enjoyed, even though it felt like I didn’t have time for it. Tried to go to bed at a decent time (even though getting to sleep was difficult) but made changes to my bedtime routine)

Then I started meditating everyday. First just for 5 mins every morning and eventually 10 mins in the morning and 10 in the evening. This started to calm my mind.

Then I practised a therapy called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which really helped me deal with the anxious thoughts and feelings. I tried CBT before and it was okay but didn’t make a huge difference.

Once I was able to manage the anxious thoughts and feelings and felt much calmer, I used ACT to start to do the things that made me anxious but that i needed to do. Like driving, going to public things, making telephone calls (which made me anxious). ACT is very much about accepting that you feel anxious but taking action anyway.

Not sure if this helps you in your situation right now but there definitely is hope. If I can do it, anyone can.

full body massages help tremendously, but are expensive, then you need to find someone who really knows what they are doing. but it works