If everyone (or anyone) uses the logic, "meds don't work for me, therefore they are ineffective" then YES, they are ineffective, for me. And if a reader of the post find meds ineffective for them, and if they read my non-med advice and receives benefit from it, then awesome.
Please, don't get me wrong. I am not badmouthing meds or anyone on meds. They did assist me with confidence at times in the beginning, by thinking I'm on a prescribed med so I should feel better. If that alters your way of thinking and provides you relief, that's awesome. Just consider not having meds be the only treatment method you use for better long term results as described in my previous post. My doc always said from the beginning, "you should do therapy while you're on the meds". I always blew him off thinking, "naww, meds are my answer dude". Now I know why he said that and now I wish I listened.
I post about my experiences, and if others can relate then perhaps they can use my more recent experiences to find more relief for themselves. I'm here to help by example. Meds for me, similar to Shauna, gave me more problems than benefits. The meds delayed me doing something about the problem (my automatic thought process) which led to secondary disorders, like agoraphobia, claustrophobia, emetophobia other physical pains. These were unnecessary if I treated what was causing my SA, my thoughts, and not by taking meds alone without also addressing my thought processes simultaneously. Now, I'm sort of stuck. I can't rely on meds because they are ineffective for me, I have to do the CBT (which 'for me' is helpful beyond words) but I have to do it without benefit of meds being effective which would have been the case if I did CBT in the beginning when meds were effective.
If you disagree that's OK, perhaps my example doesn't work for you, or perhaps you still fear the non-med methods moreso than you fear having SA. I was there and felt that way for a long time. Now, since for me the meds didn't work after a short while, and I couldn't convince myself anymore that they were effective when they were not, I finally feared my SA moreso than I fear non-med methods to overcome (cope) with it.
I say this positively, and not negatively: I would like to challenge anyone with something to say that is adverse to a post, to leave a reply this is longer than 1 sentence, and to back up their posts with legitimate experience. That is the purpose of the forum. If meds are the answer for you, explain how so and why, then someone who is on meds may be able to benefit from your experience if they cannot benefit from mine.
Who knows, may be in 9 years someone else will remember this post and try CBT if they find themselves in a similar situation I'm in at that time if they are not in that situation right now. If so, I'm glad to have left it so someone can benefit from it later.
