Medication: Pros and Cons
Hi everyone - I'm Maddie. I've been struggling with anxiety for years. I have recently been able to find some respite with mindfulness and counseling; however, at my most recent therapy appointment, the option of medication was brought up to ponder.
For those of you who have been medicated for anxiety, what is your experience? I am hesitant to go along with the recommendation for meds, but I am curious about the pros and cons of this as well.
Thoughts?
Medication changed my life in all of the best ways. I have an as needed prescription for [edit: medication name removed]that I've been taking for about three years. I take it when I feel like I need it, and only when I feel like I need it. For me....it's like being able to breathe again. I take it when I know I'm going to be in a situation that makes me anxious, or when I'm beginning to panic and it allows me to think and behave rationally, even without erasing what I'm feeling (it just makes itmore manageble). Sometimes I don't use it for months, and sometimes my life is full of stress and I'm using it every couple of days. But I love that I control how and when. That said, if I take too much I do get a "high" from it, so that may be a concern for you. It can leave you feeling groggy and sedated, though I don't have that problem with it.
Do you have any idea what type of anxiety med you'd be considering? I only have experience with anti-depressants and as-needed anxiety, but I can help with questions you have about those.
I would be looking for an as-needed anxiety medication, so this is really helpful to know! Have you experienced any negative side effects because of either the anxiety or depression meds?
Thank you!
The anti-depressants I'm on now aren't giving me any negative side effects (though I had to try a couple before I found the one that works best for me). I have zero negative effects from the anti-anxiety meds other than the "high" feeling if I take too much. I would advise not driving or doing anything that could be dangerous until you know how your body reacts to it just in case it makes you extra drowsy. You should talk to your doctor about it, but what I did first was put myself in a situation that I knew would make me anxious (large crowds lots of noise, etc) and then I took it for the first time. It let me do a "dry run" of the medication. I had a lot of test anxiety, and the best time to find out the medication didn't work well for me would not have been in the middle of a test.
The effects of the anti-anxiety meds don't last very long (maybe an hour for me?) so if you do experience something negative it should pass pretty quickly.
Thanks so much, this helps a lot.