Advice please

[~MS_GIRL~]

Hi ..I am new and need advice ..
I recently stopped taking Effexor due to weight gain ..I switched to Wellbutrin XR ,As of 2 weeks ago I stopped it due to bad side effects..I was extemly moody ,sick ,shaking ....Anyway ,I wanted to try and NOT take anything ,but I am getting that panicy sick feeling again ..My husband is Military and gone a lot so I get worried ,sick ,stressed, and scared along with the feeling sad ..I have no reason to be depressed and moody but I am ..I don't know what to do ...I dont want the weight gain and side effects of meds ,but that seems to be the only time I can handle my life ....any advice would be so appreciated

[heartfluttersflyawayplz]

hey i know how you feel my dr wanted me to take paxil than lexapro but i didnt want it so i take ativan as needed and it helps me out . it dont last all day about 8 hours and if am really anxiety it takes a while to work but its not a everyday drug that alters your mind.i have come out my stress and it feels good to be normal thinking again getting back to life how long it will last am not sure but i know i can pop a ativan and i will be ok, its saved me from many er trips but am not always anxiety , i go years with no problems ,this has been a stressfull year for me thats why i got so down, but it does get better , see if they can give you a pill that will help right than , it wont last a long but you wont have all the side affects, but if your really bad you miht need both everyday and than something to take the edge off, talk to your dr am sure ya can come up with something that can help you .God bless you .

[Laura Gail]

I've recently come off Buspar (for anxiety) after over ten years, and am in the slow process of coming off of Prozac, after over fifteen years.

For help coming off the meds safely I've been reading Your Drugs May Be
Your Problem by Dr. Peter Breggin. It's been helpful to start sorting out what is the underlying problem, and what is withdrawal. I found this board one night when I felt like I was going to fly out of my skin with ickies from withdrawal.

I've also been working with books on mindfulness meditation, look for stuff by John Cabot-Zinn (I think that's his name, he wrote Full Catastrophe Living....I'm having trouble spelling tonight!) or for books on Mindfulness.

It also sounds like you might be isolated--when your husband is away do you have other people around who you like to spend time with? That's always key. When I went on meds 15 years ago part of what was going on was that I didn't have the friends and support I needed. I have friends and support now all over the country.  I recently posted on a list in my spiritual community about coming off meds and needing support, I got about eight or nine folks come forward to say call me and time of day or night. So what I am doing now is making a list of them in my email, on bad days or nights I can send out simple emails to all of them saying "ARGH!" and they will step in to love me until I don't feel so bad.

Good luck.
laura gail

[el_dave]

I'm not sure I'm doing this right. I need an answer from someone knowledgeable. If a person who hasn't developed a tolerance to xanax consumed 50 mg of it at once, would that be likely to kill the person? And, would it be a suffering, ugly death, or would it be simply to go to sleep and not wake up? If someone could let me know, I'd sure appreciate it. Hopefully, I'll figure out how to get any replies. Thank you.

[el_dave]

First, I'd like to apologize for posting a question of my own as a reply to your question. I haven't been able to figure out how to delete it. However, I also do have a couple of experiences relating to your question. Years ago I used to get those panic attacks, I used to hide in closets or under things, or deep in the woods. My eldest daughter also had the same sort of thing happen to her. Neither of us takes any medications for it.. I never have, but my daughter has used pretty much all of them. What we've both found, though, is that simply accepting it, living through it and standing up to it as well as possible eventually seems to wear it down. At least, it did for both of us. I know it's a terrible, terrible feeling, that fear that something is coming, you don't know what, or from where.. it's hard, but if you let it wash over and through you, you might get lucky as we did. Best of luck to you.