Is this the point of anxiety medication?

[xstalkrx]

Let's say someone has mild anxiety brought on by recreational cocaine use.  The anxiety no longer causes panic attacks but the slight anxious feelings are still there.  The patient exercises regularly and keeps a strict diet and also drops the recreational cocaine use but still has slight anxiety.

If a doctor were to prescribe an anxiety medication, does the doctor plan on eventually removing the patient from anxiety medication entirely?  Do most people get to the point where they are "anxiety medication free" ?

Or...do anxiety sufferers have to be on anxiety medication forever?

[JSGeare]

The answer is:

It depends.

If the cause of anxiety either goes away or loses its ability to freak the victim out, then no need for meds -just as you would not take aspirin for a headache you don't have. Frequently, therapy helps resolve the underlying panic and anxiety issues.

But if the anxiety is still there, then so will the meds be there -especially if the anxiety is not pervasive; that is, itm occurs only in particular cases -such as flying, pubglic speaking, etc.

Does the doctor plan on removing. Depends on the doc and depends on how the doc sees the situation: ask the doc.

I was an anxiety sufferer for 40+ years, for the last 3 of which I took meds and therapy. The therapy resloved the panic/anxiety. I have been free of the panic and free of the meds for the past 8 or so years, and expect no recurrence.

Your mileage will vary, dee doctor for details.

[cj29]

My experience has been the same as JSGeare.  After my first panic attack three years ago, I went on medication combined with therapy.  I resolved my anxiety and panic for over two years where I did not take ANY medication at all.  However, my anxiety returned last month and I went to the doctor and discussed it with here and went back on medication and went back to talk therapy.  There is no 'magic pill' to 'cure' this.  An understanding of where the anxiety comes from is the best 'cure' to understanding and dealing with anxiety.  In my experience, the combination of the mediction (medication), counseling and a good support group, like this forum, is a very good way to learn how to deal and thrive with this condition.

[xanweaner]

I don't think casual cocaine usage is good for someone who suffers from anxiety. As you know cocaine is very energizing, but more importantly, you don't know what drugs have been used in the manufacture of the cocaine.
The only cocaine you can be sure of is pharmaceutical cocaine which is used in medicine in ENT practices, for example.

Cocaine usage nowadays is just not a smart move because you simply do not know what drugs you're actually putting into your body.
Re: getting off of xanax - in my personal experience, I was the person responsible for stopping - I would tell my Dr. that I felt it was time, and we worked out the wean-down schedule. I think sometimes the schedule may be a bit too fast, so I slow it down, based upon how my body is reacting. For example, I am now in my 4th week of a taper-down and feel that I need to stabilize here for awhile until I feel strong. I think our bodies have to adjust as our brain chemistry tries to rebalance itself.

Everyone is different, however, but it sure has helped me by joining this forum and reading about others and what they've experienced.
In closing, stay away from the recreational drugs unless you have a chemical kit to check for purity and can do an actual analysis as to what it contains.

[xstalkrx]

I have been free of all recreational drugs for over 2 months now.  I am a lot better than I was...but I can still get slightly anxious and have weird negative thoughts about certain things.

Like...I might look at a picture and something about it might strike me as displeasing and set off a whole slew of negative thoughts.  It's weird..and I feel weird for feeling that way.

I think, since I have gotten so much better, that I should continue on without drugs.

I am wondering why....after going to the gym and running 3 miles....my heart rate will stay at 100bpm for about 20 minutes after the run.  During the run it is about 160-170bpm which is fine..but why the hang up at 100bpm for so long?  Then it will slowly fall all the way down to resting over a period of time.