Alternatives to medicine?

[StepKimmie]

Hello everyone,

To quickly introduce myself, I'm Kim and I'm new here. I have pretty bad anxiety and depression. I'm on Effexor XR, 150mg and was on Xanax as needed. I no longer have the Xanax as, for a while there, I wasn't needing it as much. Now it seems like my anxiety is rearing its ugly head again. I can't sleep because I constantly worry and stress over the tiniest little things. I can't relax at all. I'm hesitant to go back on the Xanax. I have a fear of being over-medicated, I guess. What are some of the ways that you all deal with your anxieties, without resorting to medication?

Thanks,
Kim

[Paxiled]

You keep posting the same solutions to everything, being yogic breathing, but these are very hard to coordinate.  I don't know if MedHelp will allow it, but it would be really helpful I think if you could somehow post the pictures  that are found in yoga books.  Even those are often difficult to get the hang of, but I think it would be useful.  Maybe you could post them on your home page if it's not feasible to post them on the forums.

[hava]

Your question is:
"What are some of the ways that you all deal with your anxieties, without resorting to medication? "
The Yog Pranayam (breathing exercises) will  help you relax and also help deal with the anxiety and there are no side effects. You will notice benefits in days.
Build up your timing gradually. If you feel tired or dizzy, stop and resume after 1 minute.

Bhastrika - Take a long deep breath into the lungs(chest not tummy) via the nose and then completely breathe out through the nose. Duration upto 5 minutes.

Anulom Vilom –
Close your right nostril with thumb and deep breath-in through left nostril  
then – close left nostril with two fingers and breath-out through right nostril  
then -keeping the left nostril closed  deep breath-in through right nostril
then - close your right nostril with thumb and breath-out through left nostril.
This is one cycle of anulom vilom.
Age over 15 years -Repeat this cycle for 10 to 20  minutes twice a day.
Age under 15 years -Repeat this cycle for 5 to 10  minutes twice a day.
You can do this before breakfast/lunch/dinner or before bedtime or in bed.Remember to take deep long breaths into the lungs.You can do this while sitting on floor or chair or lying in bed.

Bhramri Pranayam -Close eyes. Close ears with thumb, index finger on forehead, and rest three fingers on base of nose touching eyes. Breathe in through nose. And now breathe out through nose while humming like a bee.
Duration : 5 to 12  times

Once you are better, continue the pranayam once a day.
When you cannot sleep, do anulom vilom in bed.

[Paxiled]

Try reading a book by Hyla Cass called Natural Highs.  She's a psychiatrist at UCLA who tries to use non-medication methods.  Don't know how it works, but it might give you some indication of what's out there in addition to necessary therapy.

[cj29]

There are defintely paths you can take that do not require medication if that is what you choose.  Many people decide not to take any forms of medications and that is ok; taking medications is a personal decision that must be weighed with benefits and risks in mind with your health care provider, however, I believe that the most important step in confronting your anxiety is to seek counseling with a qualified therapist.  Knowledge on the root causes of our anxiety make it much less daunting to confront and can quite often guide us on a path of understanding it and ways to deal with it...keep us posted!