Anxiety Support Group
Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...
Hi All-
I successfully started coming off Lexapro this past September after being on 20mg for 2 years. My anxiety and panic attacks were very much under control and my doctor and I agreed I was ready to come off it. I tapered off slowly, and came off it just fine with no horrible side effects.
The week before Thanksgiving, we had a gas leak scare in my house (turned out to be a false alarm) which sent me into a panic attack. Since then, I noticed my anxiety coming back with a vengeance. I tried to stick it out as I did not want to go back on medication. I am 27 and did not want to be on medication forever.
After having a horrible month of anxiety and panic attacks and trying everything under the moon (so it felt like) including starting counseling, essential oils, monitoring my diet, eating 2 handfuls of cashews a day (apparently this is supposed to work as well as prozac?) meditation...I finally went to see my doctor.
He and I decided that I need to go back on the Lexapro. He said that he probably shouldn't have had me come off it right before winter and a lot of peoples serotonin levels are naturally lower in the winter, but I was ready to come off it when I did. So as of January 1st (happy new year?) I started back on 10mg/day and will increase to 20mg/day when I hit the 2 week mark. He said I didn't need to start as slowly as before since I had just fully stopped taking it in October.
Honestly...I feel like a failure. I married the love of my life in May, we have a beautiful home, I have a great job with coworkers I adore, a dog that I love to pieces, a loving supporting family and I truly have more than any 27-year-old could dream of. And here I am, a ball of anxiety and panic. I worry about (in my opinion) THE most ridiculous things. Death, after life, meaning of life, eternity...all of that. Then I get into these spirals of fear that I can't seem to shake (cue the Lexapro.) WHY did the anxiety seem to come back so FAST after I stopped the Lexapro?? I wasn't even worrying about it coming back, just was proud of myself for coming off of it.
Also, is it normal to feel increased anxiety/panic when starting the medication up for the second time? I am on day 12 of 10mg and my anxiety seems to be increasing. I've had panic attacks in the middle of the night 5 out of the last 7 nights. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the novel.
I successfully started coming off Lexapro this past September after being on 20mg for 2 years. My anxiety and panic attacks were very much under control and my doctor and I agreed I was ready to come off it. I tapered off slowly, and came off it just fine with no horrible side effects.
The week before Thanksgiving, we had a gas leak scare in my house (turned out to be a false alarm) which sent me into a panic attack. Since then, I noticed my anxiety coming back with a vengeance. I tried to stick it out as I did not want to go back on medication. I am 27 and did not want to be on medication forever.
After having a horrible month of anxiety and panic attacks and trying everything under the moon (so it felt like) including starting counseling, essential oils, monitoring my diet, eating 2 handfuls of cashews a day (apparently this is supposed to work as well as prozac?) meditation...I finally went to see my doctor.
He and I decided that I need to go back on the Lexapro. He said that he probably shouldn't have had me come off it right before winter and a lot of peoples serotonin levels are naturally lower in the winter, but I was ready to come off it when I did. So as of January 1st (happy new year?) I started back on 10mg/day and will increase to 20mg/day when I hit the 2 week mark. He said I didn't need to start as slowly as before since I had just fully stopped taking it in October.
Honestly...I feel like a failure. I married the love of my life in May, we have a beautiful home, I have a great job with coworkers I adore, a dog that I love to pieces, a loving supporting family and I truly have more than any 27-year-old could dream of. And here I am, a ball of anxiety and panic. I worry about (in my opinion) THE most ridiculous things. Death, after life, meaning of life, eternity...all of that. Then I get into these spirals of fear that I can't seem to shake (cue the Lexapro.) WHY did the anxiety seem to come back so FAST after I stopped the Lexapro?? I wasn't even worrying about it coming back, just was proud of myself for coming off of it.
Also, is it normal to feel increased anxiety/panic when starting the medication up for the second time? I am on day 12 of 10mg and my anxiety seems to be increasing. I've had panic attacks in the middle of the night 5 out of the last 7 nights. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the novel.
People who have experienced anxiety or depression are more prone to experiencing it again when they are in stressful situations. So I imagine this gas leak scare was the stressful situation that triggered your "relapse."
Apparently, CBT is the most effective way to manage anxiety long term. It takes a lot of work and practice. For example, if you had internalized CBT "techniques," you may have handled the gas leak problem in a way that would not have led to panic and a relapse of your anxiety.
Don't beat yourself up over it. Ultimately, you can try your best to increase your cognitive resources in order to handle life more successfully in the future (and to come off of medication). But if you do that, and you still cannot come off of meds, consider yourself very lucky that there is anything at all that can help.
Hugs your way!