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Are Meds Necessary or Is it Possible to Live without them?

4K views 44 replies 18 participants last post by  DukeDuck 
#1 ·
I've had severe OCD from the age of 12. I then developed Social Anxiety later on. I keep fluctuating between OCD and SA.

So basically ever since I was 12, I've not been living a regular life (compared to how I was living before 12). By regular life, I just mean how a person without an anxiety disorder would go about life.

The anxiety affects my social relationships, the way I talk, the way I conduct my life, everything!

I've tried CBT and exposure therapy. It fixes whatever problem I'm targeting, but my anxiety soon manifests into another problem. And as soon as I fix that, my old problem pops up. It's like a neverending source of anxiety that needs to manifest in some way or the other.

So I've been considering long term meds. Something I can take every day for the rest of my life. Something that will kill the anxiety so that it won't manifest in any way, and I can live a regular life. I don't know even know if such a thing exists.

I was always hesitant to try it because of the side effects, but I don't see another way out......or is there another way out? Are meds the only option at this point? Is there any other way to live a regular life?
 
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#4 ·
Depends how bad your anxiety is - and like Karen said it's up to you really. No-one can answer that for you unfortunately.

Medication can help enormously. But it depends on a range of things - which ones you take, how they affect you, how long you take them for. I've tried a few different things - and they all have their problems. But some of them definitely helped me do things I otherwise would not have been able to do. It's fair to say that benzos helped me build some sort of life for myself for example - but then I took too much and too often and they caused a lot of problems.

Some people can find an anti-depressant that will help - but that will vary enormously from person to person.

It's a very complicated situation, but if you're someone that's sitting at home completely alone (which I doubt you are) - I would take something to get out of there. Let's put it that way.
 
#6 ·
Depends how bad your anxiety is - and like Karen said it's up to you really. No-one can answer that for you unfortunately.

Medication can help enormously. But it depends on a range of things - which ones you take, how they affect you, how long you take them for. I've tried a few different things - and they all have their problems. But some of them definitely helped me do things I otherwise would not have been able to do. It's fair to say that benzos helped me build some sort of life for myself for example - but then I took too much and too often and they caused a lot of problems.

Some people can find an anti-depressant that will help - but that will vary enormously from person to person.

It's a very complicated situation, but if you're someone that's sitting at home completely alone (which I doubt you are) - I would take something to get out of there. Let's put it that way.
Hmm I can manage short term anxiety well. Getting out of the comfort zone and doing stuff. Takes enormous energy but I can manage (and its sometimes fun).

The problem is long term background anxiety. Any form of stressful routine or workload triggers this long term anxiety. The only way I can stop that is by leading a stress-free life with no expectations. But that's not possible. I need a solution that will enable me to work in a job without the anxiety getting in my way.
 
#7 ·
It's possible but it's probably better to try out the pro's first : /
 
#11 ·
I have never been on medication. Not because I haven't needed it, but: 1. because I've never really been in a position where I could afford it, and 2. I'm terrified of having a chemically-induced psychotic episode (related to my OCD).

For the last few weeks I've been spending several hours (!) a day meditating and I'm beginning to see some actual improvements. It wasn't really doing much at first but I was pretty desperate so I stuck with it and now that I have some momentum built up I'm actually starting to feel better. I'm still not sleeping (I get an hour or two here or there) but my OCD compulsions have subsided and my anxiety attacks have mostly gone away.

I haven't looked into any of the research recently, so I don't know how much is placebo, but you might want to look into meditation before you take on lifetime medication. (Frankly, the thought of being on drugs long-term fills me with the heebie-jeebies.) But you have to be willing to invest the time. Meditation does not have an instant impact like medication does. It's more like proper diet or exercise. It takes weeks to see results.
 
#13 ·
The idea of being dependent on drugs gives me the heebie jeebies too.

And I know what you mean about the chemically induced OCD episodes. Whenever I have alcohol, my OCD and anxiety becomes twice as strong. Which is weird because alcohol is supposed to be a relaxant.

There's strong research that shows that meditation has positive effects. It's definitely not placebo. Watch this:
 
#14 ·
You can live without meds but trouble is you get addicted to them, like Tamazipan
 
#15 ·
Not actually a med in the true sense but ECT is addictive; especially for me on three sessions a week
 
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#36 ·
@DukeDuck
I'm afraid that what you're looking for does not exist. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against meds, they can and possibly should have a place in your healing journey. If you can't cope, they may decrease the weight on your shoulders and enable you to take steps in your life you wouldn't otherwise take. Fixing your troubles with them forever, I don't think so.

Are CBT and exposure therapy the only things you've thrown at this thus far? If yes, I suggest you look into modalities that address the cause instead of the symptoms. Besides that I highly recommend daily exercise, proper nutrition, meditation and socialising as best as you can. All of it.

I've been on SSRI's and SSNRI's for sixteen years and tried some other stuff here and there. My impression is that they helped me quite a bit in the first years, but after that, I'm not sure. I've been struggling with severe anxiety and depression regardless and I don't take meds anymore.

The chance that what you suffer from is a "genetic thing" is very small. I'd place my bet on an "epigenetic thing". You most likely wouldn't be in this situation without the external factors that scewed the expression of your genetic material in this direction. The existence of genes for SA or OCD don't make sense unless it is a coping strategy. The question on your plate is the coping strategy for what? OCD and SA are associated with an overactive default mode network. To me, it suggest a high probability of some kind of trauma.

You can always try meds, you know. It's not a decision you have to make for the rest of your life. Just don't expect miracles. This is way too complicated to reduce it to a "chemical imbalance". There's a reason there is a mental health crisis going on while the meds that are supposed to fix this "imbalance" have been available to the masses for decades. Why? Good luck making up your mind!
 
#38 ·
@DukeDuck
I'm afraid that what you're looking for does not exist. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against meds, they can and possibly should have a place in your healing journey. If you can't cope, they may decrease the weight on your shoulders and enable you to take steps in your life you wouldn't otherwise take. Fixing your troubles with them forever, I don't think so.

Are CBT and exposure therapy the only things you've thrown at this thus far? If yes, I suggest you look into modalities that address the cause instead of the symptoms. Besides that I highly recommend daily exercise, proper nutrition, meditation and socialising as best as you can. All of it.

I've been on SSRI's and SSNRI's for sixteen years and tried some other stuff here and there. My impression is that they helped me quite a bit in the first years, but after that, I'm not sure. I've been struggling with severe anxiety and depression regardless and I don't take meds anymore.

The chance that what you suffer from is a "genetic thing" is very small. I'd place my bet on an "epigenetic thing". You most likely wouldn't be in this situation without the external factors that scewed the expression of your genetic material in this direction. The existence of genes for SA or OCD don't make sense unless it is a coping strategy. The question on your plate is the coping strategy for what? OCD and SA are associated with an overactive default mode network. To me, it suggest a high probability of some kind of trauma.

You can always try meds, you know. It's not a decision you have to make for the rest of your life. Just don't expect miracles. This is way too complicated to reduce it to a "chemical imbalance". There's a reason there is a mental health crisis going on while the meds that are supposed to fix this "imbalance" have been available to the masses for decades. Why? Good luck making up your mind!
Wow! That was a really helpful reply :smile2:

Yeah I take exercise and nutrition seriously. I'm eager to try meditation. Heard lots of good stuff about it. I'm just not sure how to go about it. Even when I do get down to it, my mind starts to think '' Am I really making any progress or am I just pointlessly taking deep breaths ''. It's one of those activities where its hard to measure your progress and know if you're making any.

My social life is linked to my anxiety. If my anxiety is high, then I can't socialize. But if I don't socialize, then my anxiety worsens because of loneliness. It's a vicious cycle.

I wasn't aware of the epigenetic factor. What you said hit really hard. It doesn't make sense that genetics cause OCD or SA. But I'm wondering if I'm just prone to anxiety (because of a genetic thing), and that anxiety desperately needs an outlet. And my mind has created the outlet. There might be trauma, but what if its because of increasing responsibilities as we grow older? When we grow older, we have more responsibilities and fears that we didn't have when we were children, and so life was easier as a kid. Do you think epigenetic changes are reversible?
 
#40 ·
For me personally, it's very possible to live without meds, but once you start, it's completely impossible to live without. Your brain's been altered and trying to quit is living hell and no matter what it will always have irreversible adverse effects. So for me, once I decided to go on meds I knew I'd have to take them for the rest of my life, being completely responsible with the prescribed dosage. If you do that, you'll be fine.
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#41 ·
For me personally, it's very possible to live without meds, but once you start, it's completely impossible to live without. Your brain's been altered and trying to quit is living hell and no matter what it will always have irreversible adverse effects. So for me, once I decided to go on meds I knew I'd have to take them for the rest of my life, being completely responsible with the prescribed dosage. If you do that, you'll be fine.
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Yeah I've heard stories of how hard its been for people to quit Xanax. Do antidepressants work that way too? I've heard that when people go off antidepressants they just have to gradually ease off of them, and they'll be fine.

I'm only considering them because everything else I've tried hasn't worked. And I've read some miracle stories here of how antidepressants have taken away their anxiety and enabled them to live life.
 
#43 ·
This is a bit late since the OP, but I'll post for the sake of anyone who reads this.

Medication can help for many cases, especially if you had tried therapy and various therapeutic techniques that would not help to keep the anxiety at bay long enough. If you 'manifest' other issues after completing for one, you might have to ask yourself and your therapist if there can be something underlying as to why that pattern seems to happen. Not to be Freudian, but many of our actions and reactions to certain situations can be drawn from something within the past (trauma, neglect - even if it was emotional, attachment problems that may result in failed relationships, etc.). Nobody can determine that other than you and your therapist and see if any events seem to trigger or start off the new 'manifestation' of the problem to start with.

Often times anxiety and other disorders are genetic by nature but can be set off through life events and stress. Sometimes people who go to therapy would need medication while others can handle with therapy alone. I would not recommend on saying to take medicines for the rest of your life unless it is severe and diagnosed by a psychiatrist. In my true opinion, have that as your last resort and see what things you use. I will warn that it takes trial-and-error and you should ask questions for side effects from the medications.
 
#45 ·
Honestly I have been considering meds ever since I found out that getting into a workout routine has had a tremendous effect on the reduction of my anxiety. Which makes me wonder if its really chemical after all. Maybe the workouts are changing my brain chemistry for the good?

But one thing I'm worried about is what effect antidepressants might have on artistic ability. It is my dream to become a successful musician and I sometimes wonder if antidepressants will just numb that artistic ability down.
 
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