[Guest]

i started zoloft and it greatly increased my anxiety, i left work early one day, and called out the last two days, talked to the doctor and he said to stop it. the anxiety is not as bad now, but i am terrified to try a new medication, is there any that could be helpful? ive tried effexor...it worked a couple years ago...but things can change...any advice would be helpful. wihtout working and "distracting" myself from this detachment, i am falling into a dark place full of depression, doubt, and insanity. i am thinking of goin into the hospital to get my meds straightened out. i have been off of them for a year or so, but nowi am more scared then ever. also is it better to do thethings ou want to do, even if you are scared of panic or detachment...or is it better to sit back and watch your life go by? i just want to do whatever will help me recover quicker, even if it takes a long time. i hate being lost.

 

[kchendrix]

As a person who has tried different meds and hadn't been sucessful with them. I will put this disclaimer so we don't have a thread about meds vs non meds. If they work for you great news.... Meds work differently for different people.. I happen to be one who doesn't want to take the med trip anymore and I am looking at alternative solutions.

In any Case ...Even when afraid if you can try to do things that you used to enjoy... it is better then laying in bed with the covers over your head frozen in fear. The more you can do the better... Even if it is just a walk around the block.

Do as much as you can and extend yourself as often as you can.

 

[Guest]

thank you very much for the feedback. it seems to me that the more panic and anxiety i experience, the worse the detachment gets. and if i try to recognize that i am detached and not going insane, i am hit with more anxiety. i have had it drilled into my head that it is only uncomfortable feelings and thoughts and that it will not kill me or force me to go insane. but a part of my mind obviously doubts this and causes the detachment. a couple months ago i was working and leaving the house a lot. now i am in danger of losing my job, and everytime i leave i freak out and go into a panic. i cannot even be comfortable all the time at home. unfortunately i think that meds might be my only hope. one can only push themselves so far. i am seeing a therapist and he suggests going into the hospital to get put on the right meds (the zoloft caused worse anxiety and detachment). effexor used to workfor me but i came off of it about a year ago because i was feeling better. i am scared to be awake, i am scared of going insane. should i keep myself busy? shold i sit and try to figure this out? i really just dont know what to do, i dont want to go on meds but i feel i am losing my mind and i cant stop it. i have suffered from this detachment for 6 years now. with the anxiety being increased the detachment has taken me further away. do you have any ideas on how i can feel better and stable?

 

[[rula]]

phishygrl8,
Zoloft does increase anxiety for the first few weeks, as do most AD's. My GP prescribed Zoloft with a benzo, to even things out and bring the anxiety down. The theory is to take the benzos for no more than 3-4 weeks, by then the zoloft would be working great (hypothetically) I never tried it, but I hear that combo works great for lots of ppl.

Definitely try 'n keep busy, don't try to figure anything out, the cure to this dp thing is to stop looking for a cure 'n relax. Go back to work if you can; being off work for 4 months was the worst thing I could've done to my dp. too much free time to think!

good luck,
rula

 

[kchendrix]

If you think you will gain by going in the hospital then do what you think is best for you..

I know I get those thoughts , that I am going to go insane, and things don't look right, etc... You have gone for 6 years like this, that is a long time to suffer. The thing is for me , I know that detached feeling and it is awful, but when I think about it all this time I hadn't gone nuts, My therapist says it will never happen, that I couldn't will myself crazy it isn't in my make to go psychotic, and too old to be schitz... so here i am , anxious/depressed, dp/dr OCD what a mixture but the less anxt the less ocd , the less anx the less depression DP/DR. I notice the busier I am the less I have time to ruminate...with out the Ruminating hopefully I can reset my brain to do its own thing.

Sitting there thinking about it only makes it worse, we can't control our thoughts no one can... think back to when you did feel normal, did you try to stop yourself from thinking about certain things, You probably had some of the same thoughts pop in your mind, but you never gave them power to scare you.

Have you tried excercise? Even walking.... What is one thing you really love to do. Was there a hobby you enjoyed when you felt normal... Try doing it again, getting interested.

If you think that the hospital is the way for you then by all means go and get treatment... You have to decide what is going to be good for you. If I could tolerate the meds , I would have taken it for comfort so I could deal with the issues causing this feeling.

There is something I heard from someone. What we resists Persists. So if we constantly fight these symptoms, they will stay. I believe and i will say again , I believe that when I can totally immerse myself in other things and loose the self monitoring , I feel better. Now if I can just keep stringing that together and eventually have more time immersed in life that I don't monitor my every thought then I think I will be well.

So you in the end it is up to you it is your life.... Take charge of one little area at a time.... To med or not to med, to go into hospital or not... Make a choice and then let go and let it happen. It is easy to say , I know because i am struggling with it..

 

[Sojourner]

Phish,

If the Effexor worked before, why not try it again??