Crawling out of my skin

[BVT]

I have been having severe anxiety issues for the last 2+ years. I tried everything to get rid of it and nothing worked.  I saw my Dr. about it and he suggested Effexor XR.  He told me it had little side effects and that I needed it for Deppresion. I have never felt depressed, just crawling out of my skin anxious. However, he seemed to be right because the Effexor work right away. He told me after a year I could try going off of it. After 1 year I went back to him and he said I needed it and needed to stay on it. I tried getting off on my own and WOW... what a mess. This drug has some horrible side effect to shake. At the recommendation of this forum, I spent 6 weeks getting off of this and it was far better.

Here is my current problem. I am back crawling out of my skin. I want the effect of this drug but I do not want to take a drug than offers all these problems. I have taken several herbal answers with no success. I exercise heavily, I eat well nothing seems to work. Please help my. The happiness of my family and everyone around me depend on it.

[mj2376]

look into symptoms of copper toxicity... everything you described.

[mj2376]

look into symptoms of copper toxicity... it's everything you described.

[lynn57]

I took Effexor xr for a couple of years.  Worked great when coupled w/Klonopin.  The Benzo was initially prescribed because of insomnia. I ended up on just the Klonopin after slowly tapering off the Effexor( on my own )with no problems.  Now I am on celexa and it doesn't seem to give me the same level of insomnia.  I am nearly off the Klonopin, but I take neurontin at night temporarily and Buspar.  I will end up on just the Celexa if the Dr.'s plan works out. I am doing pretty well, but Benzos are not easy to drop either. I'd give the Celexa a real try if I were you. If Effexor helped I bet Celexa would too.

[RubyWitch]

Going back to your second post regarding the merits of Celexa over Effexor, I am totally unqualified to answer those types of questions. You need to speak with your doctor or pharmacist regarding the pros and cons of each. That you want to research the serotonin production in your body is fine, but I THINK that is different for all of us and I would urge you to speak with your doctor about that as well. I don't know if there is a test for that or if there is a certain "range" we all need to strive for.

I am glad to hear that your "uncontrollable and irrational" behavior is limited to "blowing up and overracting to minor problems!" It sounds like you have one hell of a lot of responsibility and if you're feeling burned out, then your reactions sound pretty normal.

I would suggest another visit to your doc and have a frank discussion of your feelings and your work load. Ask for a referral to a good therapist..........sounds to me like you could use a good venting of all the stress in your life. And if it's suggested that a short course of anti-anxiety meds would help you deal with things, along with the therapy, then I'd say, go for it. You do sound like you need something to help get your wires uncrossed.

But I think you're going to be just fine. Just get the help you need and I do hope you  believe there is nothing wrong in needing a wee bit of help now and then. Just makes you human. And smart.
Keep us posted, OK?
Peace
Greenlydia

[BVT]

Uncontrolable and irrational behavior I mean as blowing up and overreactimg on minor problems. I manage large numbers of people and have always been proud og being able to deal with large amounts of problems with minimal impact. Now I feel I overreact to everything. I just feel like I drank 20 cups of coffe and went for a long drive in heavy traffic. Not a pleasant guy to hang around.

[BVT]

Thank you. I can't tell you how much this helps. I really need to do a lot of research on serotonin production in my body. Is celexa as bad of a drug as Effexor? I will never put a drug like that in my body again.

[RubyWitch]

You say that you've been having this anxiety for the past 2+ years. Think back to when you first began to feel this way and what was going on in your life at that time. Find a quiet time and place and write down everything that was going on. (A death, a divorce, a marriage, a car accident, new job, an illness......) You may find the source of your anxiety there. But even if you DO believe you've found the cause of your anxiety, you now need to find a way to deal with it.
I would start with a really thorough physical to rule out any organic reason for these feelings. Your doctor may very well suggest an anti-depressant or anti-anxiety med, but he can't "force" you to take them. I would ask for a referral to a good therapist and begin to work through the anxiety with him/her. You can make your feelings about meds known to them, but they may also suggest that a short course of one of the above mentioned medications may help you NOW to get yourself calmed down. It would be great if all of us could get through our anxiety issues without the need for medication, but sometimes we simply can't and there is nothing wrong with that! Persoanlly, I think a short course of an anti-anxiety med would be very helpful to you right now, COMBINED with the therapy. If you just take the meds and do nothing about the root cause of your anxiety, all you're doing is masking the symptoms, which is the same as running in place.
You say that you experience "uncontrolable & irrational behavior." What, EXACTLY, do you mean by that? If this is putting you or others at risk, I would get to my doctor ASAP and into a psychiatrists office even faster than that!
I wish you well and please let us know how you're doing. Post here as often as you need/want to. You are certainly amongst friends and folks who understand what you're going through.
Peace
Greenlydia

[jdtm]

It seems that I am just missing something that my body wants.- your statement

A friend of ours suffers from severe anxiety.  She was placed on Effexor XR for a couple of years.  She did quite well on the medication but there were a few side effects that were troublesome (insomnia was one).  Her weaning process was not good - I suspect similar to yours.  However, after a couple of months, her body/mind were unable to function.  Today she is taking a a low dose of another SSRI (Celexa to be precise) and she is feeling much, much better (with little to no side effects).  She, too, feels "something" is missing from her body and the SSRI seems to "solve" this problem.  

I believe anxiety is a physical issue; coping methods can help but they do not address the "lack of serotonin" in the brain.  This is where the medication comes into play.   By the way, antidepressants work for anxiety issues as well as depression issues (although I don't know why).  Personally, I would rather take medication and feel well than not take medication and feel crappy.  I wish you the best ...

[BVT]

Thank you for your advise. I have been trying a more holistic approuch, diet, supplements ( including heavy doses of magnesium), expercise (1-2 hrs 6 day per week), I am still unresolved on what is wrong. I am just not confident that I have depression. I take tests on the web that come back negative. I've resisted Dr.'s because they all just want to medicate.

I feel anxious a lot. I go through nearly unbearable waves were I am irrational. I have a stressful job with over 300 employee's as well as 2 young boy's. I have no room in my life for this uncontrolable, irrational behavior. Although it's stressful, I love my job and what I do.

Any suggestions as to how to get a handle on if this is mental or a physical problem? It seems that I am just missing something that my body wants.

[Beewoman]

I copied and pasted the thread I mentioned about coping methods:

cnote wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joWu9CH9NmY


Ways that I cope:

I try to not MOPE around... I try to keep my mind ACTIVE.
I excersise.
I hang out with POSITIVE people, even if it's REALLY hard!
I try to LAUGH as much as I can.
I try to think about SOMEONE ELSE besides myself! B/c it's VERY easy to be self centered when you are having anxiety. It seems to be about YOU YOU YOU.
Look for something positive to look forward to. Like a goal.
And I always tell myself, "IT WILL PASS, IVE FELT BETTER BEFORE, I WILL FEEL BETTER AGAIN."
I also see a psychologist when I have a bad spell. Cognitive therapy.

Tara79 wrote:
as for ways i cope:

i make sure i exercise every single day for 1 hour in the morning. (kickstarts my body, wakes me up and raises my mood levels)
i have a list of 4 positive quotes, situations, memories which i use in turns when i get anxious.
i try and lkeep my mind constantly occupied and every time i catch myself getting into a negative thought process, i distrct myself with an activity
i pray every day
i have my fav songs on my ipod, which i listen to.
i set a goal for each day
i visit my therapist when i need it
i tell myself that i have the strength and i will cope with this
i say to myself, i will fight the fight!

[Beewoman]

On this forum, but I cannot remember which thread, showed various coping methods which I have found very useful.  Also someone once mentioned talk therapy.  Let's face it, the best way to face anxiety is to find a way that works for you.  I also read about www.tapping.com and that was interesting, it did actually work!

Someoone also mentioned how she had let the anxiety wash over her and abandoned herself to it instead of thinking that we loose control it actually disapates it.

Did you try Magnesium Citrate supplements?  After some research this looks to be a good solution.  Sometimes it's a combination that works, but it all cases activity is what pulls us through the spiral, once we stop thinking about how we feel and "forget" about ourselves it's amazing how the feelings lift away.

If I can find the great words of advice from some of the others I will paste them in this thread.

You can do it, you WILL get through this!