Social Anxiety Forum - View Single Post

mylifemyradio · 12-18-2008, 10:14 PM

Hi everyone, this is my experience with SA

I used to be a pretty normal kid, never experiencing SA or anything. Well, actually I had a little low self-esteem and was a little shy.

However, last year I start smoking weed. That's when it triggered my social anxiety. When I was high, my mind would start thinking all kinds of crazy thoughts. 'Oh my god, I feel like an idiot' 'These guys don't like me, they think I'm dumb bla bla bla'. Eventually I stopped talking entirely and from then, even when I was sober, I had to deal with social anxiety. Almost a year and half later, I'm still dealing with it. I can't say it's been a lot better but I can't say it hasn't gotten worse. I've made small improvements.

On some days, I would feel hyper for no reason. Like this morning, I would be energetic for no reason. This would motivate me to try and not be shy with people. However, the downside is that on other days, I would feel down and depressed for no reason.

So I'm sick of this anxiety and I've been talking to people online. Someone recommended Effexor XR to me and I have a few questions concerning it. For one, is it too dependable? I don't want to be taking Effexor and becoming better and then when I stop taking the medication, I don't want the social anxiety coming back to me. Basically, I don't want a SSRI to be in my life forever. If I use it for a period of time (maybe 6 months to a year) will it help me have a better state of mind, not be as shy, and finally overcome my SA? Or would I have to keep taking it to feel better?

And second, will my SA ever go away? On somedays, I can kinda force myself to be happy and outgoing. But it's kinda random and I hate that. I want to be spontaneous, happy, and nice all the time!

12-18-2008, 10:14 PM	#1 (permalink)
mylifemyradio Status: SAS Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 1	Medication for Social Anxiety? Hi everyone, this is my experience with SA I used to be a pretty normal kid, never experiencing SA or anything. Well, actually I had a little low self-esteem and was a little shy. However, last year I start smoking weed. That's when it triggered my social anxiety. When I was high, my mind would start thinking all kinds of crazy thoughts. 'Oh my god, I feel like an idiot' 'These guys don't like me, they think I'm dumb bla bla bla'. Eventually I stopped talking entirely and from then, even when I was sober, I had to deal with social anxiety. Almost a year and half later, I'm still dealing with it. I can't say it's been a lot better but I can't say it hasn't gotten worse. I've made small improvements. On some days, I would feel hyper for no reason. Like this morning, I would be energetic for no reason. This would motivate me to try and not be shy with people. However, the downside is that on other days, I would feel down and depressed for no reason. So I'm sick of this anxiety and I've been talking to people online. Someone recommended Effexor XR to me and I have a few questions concerning it. For one, is it too dependable? I don't want to be taking Effexor and becoming better and then when I stop taking the medication, I don't want the social anxiety coming back to me. Basically, I don't want a SSRI to be in my life forever. If I use it for a period of time (maybe 6 months to a year) will it help me have a better state of mind, not be as shy, and finally overcome my SA? Or would I have to keep taking it to feel better? And second, will my SA ever go away? On somedays, I can kinda force myself to be happy and outgoing. But it's kinda random and I hate that. I want to be spontaneous, happy, and nice all the time!