Help! Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Kathleen Carlson 08 May 2014
Hi Everyone,
I'm posting on here because I really have reached my wits end with anxiety! I've had generalized anxiety since I was 4 years old but it wasn't really recognized or diagnosed until I was 18. (I'm 23 now) I spent a long time with a psychologist talking with her and she diagnosed me with GAD. I was reluctantly put on SSRI's, which do help a lot but I am so sick of feeling numb to everything, it has ruined relationships and I feel no emotions a lot of the time. I have been on Lexapro, Prozac, and Zoloft and typically don't experience bad side effects for about a year. So they work really well (besides the numb feeling) and then suddenly I get hit with the fatigue, insomnia, etc.
Anyways... I would really love to be off prescription drugs but I also live a relatively stressful life (I'm in nursing school). I do my best to exercise at least 4 times a week, eat pretty dang well, and try to relax (yoga, music, breathing)
I take a multivitamin and have tried Theanine with no result that I could notice.
I've been taking 5-HTP before bedtime (low dose) and I take 5mg of Lexapro in the AM (I am educated about serotonin syndrome and have been maintaining a good balance of these so I dont get too much serotonin)
For about 2 weeks the 5-HTP made me feel great, anxiety free, and not nearly as numb as normal. Then it just seemed to drop off to where I felt numb and just dull all the time like I had before. Has anyone experienced this before?
I guess what I'm looking for is any advice on what I can try or change specifically related to GAD, not depression or social anxiety or OCD or any other condition.
tunt01 08 May 2014
I repeatedly tell everyone the same thing that show up here in these boards posting similar issues:
1. Anxiety can be due to a mis-programmed HPA (hypothalumus pituitary adrenal) axis.
2. Excessive flight-or-fight response (due to misprogrammed HPA) can be viewed as anxiety disorder.
3. Beta-blockers (kill adrenaline) interfere with this response and can make a person "flat".
I think there are a lot of other reasons why beta blockers are interesting as an intervention. Beta blockers have been shown to extend life in F1 mouse. They are shown to be protective against a wide range of ailments like prostate cancer (interfering with over-active stress pathways).
If you are looking for an alternative approach to the anxiety issue, I would suggest taking a look at beta blockers.
I don't want to sound like Tom Cruise, but I think a lot of psychologist/mental health people who prescribe SSRIs are idiots and would be better off prescribing cardiac drugs like beta blockers or even Telmisartan (ARB).
Edited by prophets, 08 May 2014 - 03:48 AM.
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mealz13 10 May 2014
I agree with the beta blocker approach if your anxiety is physical-- racing heart, sweating, etc. However, they do shit for mental anxiety in my experience,,, worrying, obsessing, racing thoughts... have you tried being on a very low dose of an SSRI? IN my opinion, pdocs overprescribe SSRIs.. I was able to take only 25mg of zoloft and experienced huge relief, without any numbing effect. That's weird that 5htp stopped working-- it could be not enough is getting to your brain but is instead going to your gut; there's a way to help alleviate that but I forget what it is, some sort of supplement. I'll let you know if I find out. Also, taking collagen with 5htp helps reduce the inflammation it can cause, which also may be why you started feeling shitty again. Good luck in finding something that works!
Major Legend 10 May 2014
Anxiety is one of the trickiest things to deal with, you can read my other posts on my thoughts about treatment.
What about MAIOS? Tandospirone, Amitryptiline etc SSRI's arn't the only hardcore option. How bad is your anxiety? if its only sparingly then alpha GPC or colouracetam can help, these deal well with irritability in my experience.
It depends how bad it is? Have you cross checked yourself with other stuff that could cause anxiety such as ADHD, Autism, or other disorders?
Do you have bad mental habits? I think the thing with psychotherapy is everyone has different things that work for them. For some people traditional therapy works (you do not need to see a therapist, can easily read up on these), these usually center around reframing, changing thought patterns, visual imaging etc. For other people tactile/body methods prove more instructive.
To figure out what works for you, figure out your triggers, the actual feeling of your anxiety, do you lose your thoughts? is it a bodily reaction? is it brain noise? do you wallow in negativity? these will help you identify both the psychological techniques and medications that would be suitable for you? The supplements/drugs you put in your body is about what you want your life to be like, as much as what you wish to prevent. E.g SSRI's make you anxietyless but they make you flat emotionally.
Kathleen Carlson 12 May 2014
I agree with the beta blocker approach if your anxiety is physical-- racing heart, sweating, etc. However, they do shit for mental anxiety in my experience,,, worrying, obsessing, racing thoughts... have you tried being on a very low dose of an SSRI? IN my opinion, pdocs overprescribe SSRIs.. I was able to take only 25mg of zoloft and experienced huge relief, without any numbing effect. That's weird that 5htp stopped working-- it could be not enough is getting to your brain but is instead going to your gut; there's a way to help alleviate that but I forget what it is, some sort of supplement. I'll let you know if I find out. Also, taking collagen with 5htp helps reduce the inflammation it can cause, which also may be why you started feeling shitty again. Good luck in finding something that works!
Hey,
Yeah I should have clarified, I'm looking for alternatives to ALL prescription medications. I've never tried beta blockers but I have none of the symptoms that beta blockers would alleviate (sweating, racing heart). I have the obsessed worrying about nothing and just the general feeling of panic for no reason. It's pretty constant. I'm on only 5mg of Lexapro and have tried the low low doses of Zoloft and Prozac (prozac actually GAVE me panic attacks which is not normal for me).
I just really do not want to be taking any prescription medications anymore, I am sick of that struggle. If you happen to remember the supplement that helps 5-HTP absorb, please let me know because you might be right about it not getting to my brain!
Kathleen Carlson 12 May 2014
Anxiety is one of the trickiest things to deal with, you can read my other posts on my thoughts about treatment.
What about MAIOS? Tandospirone, Amitryptiline etc SSRI's arn't the only hardcore option. How bad is your anxiety? if its only sparingly then alpha GPC or colouracetam can help, these deal well with irritability in my experience.
It depends how bad it is? Have you cross checked yourself with other stuff that could cause anxiety such as ADHD, Autism, or other disorders?
Do you have bad mental habits? I think the thing with psychotherapy is everyone has different things that work for them. For some people traditional therapy works (you do not need to see a therapist, can easily read up on these), these usually center around reframing, changing thought patterns, visual imaging etc. For other people tactile/body methods prove more instructive.
To figure out what works for you, figure out your triggers, the actual feeling of your anxiety, do you lose your thoughts? is it a bodily reaction? is it brain noise? do you wallow in negativity? these will help you identify both the psychological techniques and medications that would be suitable for you? The supplements/drugs you put in your body is about what you want your life to be like, as much as what you wish to prevent. E.g SSRI's make you anxietyless but they make you flat emotionally.
I will go look into your post and see what you have to say, anything helps!
I've went through intense psychological testing before she prescribed me anything and she tested for all those things such as ADHD, ADD, OCD, all sorts of stuff and it wasn't any of those things. I think psychotherapy COULD work for me but I've done the traditional therapy with no luck. My anxiety is incredibly hard to pinpoint besides the fact that stress makes it exponentially worse. It's pretty much a 24/7 general anxious feeling/worrying about nothing in specific, so I have a lot of trouble concentrating. Sometimes it manifests as some tightness in the chest but I rarely have full blown panic attacks with all of the physical symptoms.
The fact that it's so hard to pinpoint is I think why I have so much trouble with psychotherapy because truly where do I start?
Thanks for your post!
Major Legend 12 May 2014
Anxiety is one of the trickiest things to deal with, you can read my other posts on my thoughts about treatment.
What about MAIOS? Tandospirone, Amitryptiline etc SSRI's arn't the only hardcore option. How bad is your anxiety? if its only sparingly then alpha GPC or colouracetam can help, these deal well with irritability in my experience.
It depends how bad it is? Have you cross checked yourself with other stuff that could cause anxiety such as ADHD, Autism, or other disorders?
Do you have bad mental habits? I think the thing with psychotherapy is everyone has different things that work for them. For some people traditional therapy works (you do not need to see a therapist, can easily read up on these), these usually center around reframing, changing thought patterns, visual imaging etc. For other people tactile/body methods prove more instructive.
To figure out what works for you, figure out your triggers, the actual feeling of your anxiety, do you lose your thoughts? is it a bodily reaction? is it brain noise? do you wallow in negativity? these will help you identify both the psychological techniques and medications that would be suitable for you? The supplements/drugs you put in your body is about what you want your life to be like, as much as what you wish to prevent. E.g SSRI's make you anxietyless but they make you flat emotionally.
I will go look into your post and see what you have to say, anything helps!
I've went through intense psychological testing before she prescribed me anything and she tested for all those things such as ADHD, ADD, OCD, all sorts of stuff and it wasn't any of those things. I think psychotherapy COULD work for me but I've done the traditional therapy with no luck. My anxiety is incredibly hard to pinpoint besides the fact that stress makes it exponentially worse. It's pretty much a 24/7 general anxious feeling/worrying about nothing in specific, so I have a lot of trouble concentrating. Sometimes it manifests as some tightness in the chest but I rarely have full blown panic attacks with all of the physical symptoms.
The fact that it's so hard to pinpoint is I think why I have so much trouble with psychotherapy because truly where do I start?
Thanks for your post!
For supplements, what about folate as metafolin, or sam-e? I think supplements are generally weak in strength though.
For general noise, albeit requiring a ton of concentration when you first practice it, this is an exercise that helped me loads:
mealz13 12 May 2014
Hey, so just found out from Bonee on another thread what that supplement is-- it's actually a drug called carbidopa. EGCG also does the same thing it does apparently. Hope this helps!
5ht2a 13 May 2014
The only supplement which gave me some relief from anxiety is inositol. If you look it up, there is plenty of research which confirms that it's in one league with srris in regards to anxiety relief, but without typical mental side effects like emotional blunting.
Edited by 5ht2a, 13 May 2014 - 03:58 PM.
Duchykins 13 May 2014
It's also probable that she is having some anticholinergic symptoms, or just has generally low ACh. This is an avenue that should be explored.
Knowing what's going on with her histamine would also help, either in treating or simply eliminating a possible cause.
For the record I am suspicious of psychiatric diagnoses to children under 5. Even children under 10.
Edit: I'm not advocating the use of benzos.
Edited by Duchykins, 13 May 2014 - 09:22 PM.
Duchykins 13 May 2014
Do some reading about lysine, taurine, magnesium, zinc, P5P, other B vitamins, methionine or SAMe and their relationships with serotonin, GABA, dopamine and histamine. It should help you identify any symptoms you may think are unrelated to your GAD but actually are not, thereby getting you one step closer to a more effective treatment regimen.
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world33 18 May 2014
Read the TREATING ANXIETY SAFELY & EFFECTIVELY post by ScienceGuy in this forum category.
For me the supplements that work the most are:
400mg Rhodiola Rosea extract (standardized to 3% rosavins) in the morning
Propranolol 10mg in the morning (betablocker)
1 teaspoon of l-Tyrosine in the morning (precursor of dopamine)
200mg l-Theanine before bed (it increases GABA)
There are plenty of safe supplements you can try listed in the above mentioned forum post. I would recommend propranolol up to 20mg a day.
It is a question of trying the one(s) that work the best for you. Just avoid benzos. Nothing wrong with a low dose 10mg of SSRI (escitalopram is one of the best for GAD) if really needed when all other supplements tried before do not work.
I would also look at any food intolerance that might trigger your anxiety. Since I stopped eating wheat/gluten my morning anxiety has improved a lot. You can test it by taking the anti histamine hydroxyzine which has also sedative properties and it is prescribed for GAD.