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Mental Health  (Expert Forum)
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Can intense anxiety cause paranoia
Answered by
Roger Gould, M.D. - Mental Health, Wellness
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD), bipolar disorder, dementia, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic, personality disorders, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, stress, transitions, and work problems.
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MedHelp Member's Question

Can intense anxiety cause paranoia

by crazydays, Mar 02, 2003 12:00AM
I have been off medication for about 1 /2 year - I wasn on Zoloft first, then effexor for extreme anxiety and OCD type behaviors.  I got the behaviors under control on meds, but gained a lot of weight, and went off.  I have now lost weight, but I have increasingly become anxious over the last few months, with it leading to a lot of paranoid thoughts.  I cry in the a.m., have to return to my home seveal times to check that things are off when I leave for work, have fear that a car will hit me on the way to work, worry excessively about loosing my job, and recently, my boyfreind has become the focus of my obsessing.  I am plauged with the fear that he is deceiving me in some way, and it is about to ruin my relationship with him.  THis is a new thing for me - I am not a jealous, or possessive person. When I look at the DSM IV-  I fit almost all categories for Paranoid Personality Disorder - this scare me, and I do not believe this is my problem, as it is a new thing, and I am 34 years old.  Wouldn't this have been a problem earlier?  I am a mental health profesional, so of course the thought of fitting in the category of a personality disorder is disturbing.  I have stared Buspar and plan on finding a therapist soon, but please tell me about the paranoia ?
Doctor's Answer

by Roger Gould, M.D., Mar 03, 2003 12:00AM
It doesn't sound like paranoia to me...it is much more fear of being hurt or losing something or something bad happening to you, and that is much more an expression of anxiety than the paranoid form of anxiety.  Remember, paranoia is only a special form of anxiety.



Seeing a therapist and starting Buspar sounds like a good plan to me.
Member Comments (18)

by D-man, Mar 06, 2003 12:00AM
I hate to intrude on this specific question here, but I didn't want to pay the $5 to post a question.

I'm a 24 yr old male and for the past 6 years I have suffered with anxiety, panic attacks, and depression of some sort.

I've done just about every test known to man to see what's going on with digestive tract, and why I'm constantly fatiqued.

I have been on many antidepressents but have only made me MUCH MUCH worse. It seems now that my body is rejecting EVERYTHING, including things like caffiene.

I've been out of work for the past year on disability, and now forced onto unemployement. I go to the gym about 5 x's a week and try to play tennis 2-4 x's a week.

I've seeked treatement from therapists, acupucturist, cranialsacrial docs, massage therepists, and even hypnotherapy.

Since my body had such a horrible reaction from the previous antidepressants (Wellbutrin, Celexa, Remeron, and Prozac...and I think even a few more like Butral) I AM EXTREMELY FRIGHTENED to go back on one once again.

I feel like I'm back at square one all over again. No one has been able to help me at all.



Bottom line is, I don't feel depressed, I just feel really fatiqued all the time and mostly sick to my stomach.

I have been tested for just about everything including Chronic Fatique syndrome, Epstein bar, liver, kidney, etc. I've had about 10 CT scans within the past 2 years, and now I'm at the point in my life when the only one that can help me is ME.



I meditate everyday, pratice Qi Gong and Bac Hu.





Please HELP!!!



Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.



D-man

by crazydays, Mar 07, 2003 12:00AM
Hey Dman - so far I have not had many negative side effects to Buspar -but my anxiety is only a little better, but it is early into treatment with this.  I understand your grief - I too, work out 5 days a weeek and have tried a lot of holistic type treatments from aramotherapy to meditation, and I do think that they help, but not totally alleviate symptoms.   would suggest you give buspar a try, as the side effects a minimal and it is easily tolerated. The only side effects I have had thus far are a small short term memory problem and vertigo about 45 minutes after taking the pill. Have you tried therapy, I know, I hate it too, but maybe you could learn some coping techniques you have don't already know.  I am using a book - Anxiety , Phobias, and Panic by Reneau Z. Peurifoy.  A lot of the information I already know, but some new things are coming to light for me.  What about chronic fatigue syndrone?  ANy Doc's ever considered this.  I know this is a disorder that usually affects women, but maybe that could be it.  At any rate, good luck and I hope you find the answer, just as I hope to find the answer

by Kelp, Mar 08, 2003 12:00AM
It sounds like your anxiety has led to what seems to be OCD symptoms. I was on Zoloft for a time and found it vey poor at controlling  obsessive thoughts. For me Luvox was much more affective at this and I didn't gain much weight with it. It is also more sedative than many other medications so it helps with the anxiety. Xanex is vey good for anxiety but is habit forming so short term use is the best. Intense anxiety is terrible I Know but I found that Xanex provided it is not overused provides some good short term relief. Like a pain killer.

All the best



Kelp

by keeknap, Mar 10, 2003 12:00AM
deffinatly anxiety. keep trying the meds if one doesnt work. yes definatly see a therepist and stick with it. keeknap. if you want to compare my symptoms go to ( ok i need some advice here) tke care keeknap.

by crazydays, Mar 10, 2003 12:00AM
To: keeknap
Keeknap - what meds have worked for you? I have tried Prozac, effexor and Zoloft - which all cause weight gain and sexual dysfunction.  The buspar is working, and I am trying to be patient with that, but I want a back-up plan, just in case.  I have a PRN for Xanax, and I only take them when I feel like I am coming out of my skin, due to the addictive properties with them, maybe I take a xanax 1 time per week. I read you commentary, and I feel better knowing that someone else has experienced the intense paranoia that goes with my anxiety.

by Fairygirl, Mar 11, 2003 12:00AM
I have been diagnosed with chronic anxiety disorder and panic disorder for several years . I started out on Busbar , this did not help my symptoms and had some unpleasant side effects . Then I was switched to Paxil , which was great for the anxiety and panic but I felt very disconnected from society and rather the being anxous , I didn't really care about anything ,  I am usually very passionate person and did not feel like myself at all .Also weight gain ,as well as a large drop in my libido were side effects of these meds. So while trying to dicontinue use of Paxil , I had terrible withdrawl symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, auditory hallucinations, ( which is not a normal thing for me ) and electric "zaps" for a better phrase in my hands and down my arms , because of these problems I was switched to Zoloft 2 yrs ago , which has helped a great deal, with little to no side effects .  ~~~ crazydays - I am also a mental health worker and first my view was that "how a am I going to help people if I am sick too " but I have come to the conclusion that this type of experiance can only help you understand and be more empathetic toward them , as a result of your own hardships . I hope this is informative in some way ~

by keeknap, Mar 13, 2003 12:00AM
hi crazydays, what happened was is that ive had anxiety my whole life and didnt realize that it was a chemical imbalance.(im 33 by the way) i was also mildly depressed which i thought was do to just not being happy with life. the anxiety got worse where i felt like i was going nuts. then a head treamor problem came about turned out being extreme stress. this past summer i was getting worse and didnt know i was sinking into a severe depression. things got really weird. i was afraid of people on the tv so i couldnt watch it for too long. when i stopped at a red light i didnt know if i should go even though the light was green. i was in disbelief of myself. i was etremely overwhelmed with thoughts and constantly worrying and had fights in my head with people that never existed. i went to the movies by myself and imagined that eventhough people were in there, they still might be closed and i would be sitting in the theater by myself.i saw a beautiful mind and couldnt sit through the whole thing because it was about a guy going nuts. i walked out in the middle of the move and cried. i was so scared and my boyfried just coulnt comprehend my fearfulness.well thats just a few things that went on. but ill spare you a really really long letter. what im saying is things got much worse when the severe depression came in. things always felt undone,i became an impusive cleaner, my body felt like lead and didnt know what to do next. i went on wellbutrin because people with anxiety  usually feels some side affects from meds so the doc. gave me wellbutrin as a last resort. there are now side affects only the fear of having a side affect. if you feel anything just shake it off. IT WORKED GREAT.the only catch is if you have a seisure disorder in your family you shouldnt take it.later it caused  hives but they went away. i tried buspar. there were no side affects but it did nothing for my anxiety head tremors. as far as xanex goes, i will never touch it again. i had a bad experince coming off of it because i quit cold turkey like a dummy. I WAS TRIPPEN FOR A MONTH, plus i dont like being addicted to anything. i also slepped my life away. before i took wellbutrin i took inderall. that worked great for my body shakes and lifted my depression alittle. i went off because i wanted to see how the wellb. did alone. wellb. keeps me myself again and there no more spookyness. but i am seeing a therepist for my anxiety. you usually have too and keep trying other meds to find the right one. i am on nourontin ( a mood stabilizer) right now i only take it at night so i can get the medicine in my system without feeling tired or spacey. my psy. told me to do do that. i start with a low dose then go up and up. so perhaps you are experiencing a severe depression and dont know it. i didnt. you may also want to try lexipro, celexa      ( doent make you gain weight) ive never heard of luvox but its in my pill book. and make sure you know what you can and cannot mix. paxil celexa, zoloft, prozac,buspar did not work. i had bad side affects to all eccept to buspar. but that dont meen you will. wellb.took 4 weeks to make me feel better but in 8 weeks and i felt pretty normal again aside the anxiety. sorry so long,hope this helps. take care. im glad you asked. you will feel better. keeknap