Have you been able to identify a trigger for your anxiety attacks? It kind of sounds like you are treating the symptoms rather than going for the cause. Therapy can be a good place to get to the root of what is causing your attacks.

I have suffered from depreshion all my life ...and for many years was bad enough that I schould of been on meds ..but ..dident relize it ...I tried everything to ....I weaited to long insted of taking meds ..I ended up breaking ...and had to go into hospital and get ect ..because I was going dowen to far to fast ....I had shut dowen stoped talking ...you realy don't want to go there ..so befor you get there do your self a faver and take some meds .....you might only need they for a year ....the longer you go untreated the harder it will be to treat it ...if you break like I did it is easer for you to break again ..and easer the third time ...to break ...and that's what has happened to me and now they can't get me to ware I schould be bu i at least have a life worth living ...and when I turned 50 I finaly desided I wanted to be here in this life ....but I will have to be on meds for the rest of my life now .....I just hope I don't break again .....I can't aford to have that happen again ....there is also depreshion that runs in my dads side of the family ...and other mental problems I just happen to have it the worst ...so far .....so you schould see if it is in your family ......and like the other person said try and rember what the triger was ..that sent you into depreshion .....it is good that you come in here and talk ..talking is very important ...we need to get everything that has ever hurt you out ...that's why councling is so important ...you have controll tell the doctor you don't want to be to medicated ...you just need a little help ...that might work for you ..with all the other things you are doing to help your self ...........depreshion is a desease ..like any other and sometimes ....it just has to be treated .....take good care of your self ..God bless

I have tried all of that, and it works, but I have to use the suggestions in addition to my medications. Have you tried the essence oils. I have not, but did try them for chronic pain. They actually work. Like I said, they have one for depression, I just have not used it. If your interested I try and find the site for you. It just seems to me that you are into natural healing. You may want to give it a try. The site also tells you what helps what.

Sometimes one or more of the neurotranmitters in your brain drop below a minimum level and its difficult to restore them without drugs.
I never wanted to be on ADs but finally gave in and am glad I did. Before I started Wellbutrin , I was lethargic, unmotivated , and always tired. Now I have a pretty normal life. I know its the drug that helped because I convinced my doc to let me cut the dose from 300mg to 150mg
a day and within 2 weeks started to feel bad again..went back up to 3oo mg and all is well again.

I really don't want to be on medication either, I am having struggle with the idea. I was thinking of just trying to do the exercise thing for couple of months, but maybe just need to continue taking my medication. I actually had my medication prescribed to me, but did not take it for month thinking I don't need it. Two days ago, I was so bad that I gave in and started taking it.

I was doing o.k. for about week. I was exercising, talking to friend daily, going out and meeting new people. Then I got unmotivated again, and stopped exercising. I guess that's when I started getting bad again. It's just a continuous cycle for me. It has not been that long for me. I wonder if it's just too difficult for some people to get out of without medications. I have only been depressed for two months, but four years is long time! I think if it hasn't been working for that long, then probably more aggressive treatment is needed, and to consult in counselor or psychiatrist.

Oh, someone told me about st. john's wort that they were taking, and he said that helped.

>>I don't want to be medicated,

It is the most common treatment .. world wide. If you have tried it with poor results ... discuss it with your Doctor. There many, many adjustments available.

I think SAM-e and 5HTP are natural serotonin substances. 5HTP did help for me but I have opted for Effexor the last few years. I've probably been on Effexor about 6 years now. I am at the lowest dosage, 37.5 mg. Effexor really helped with my anxiety and depression such that I'm not planning to wean off of Effexor.
It's also something if I wanted, I could take for the rest of my life. It really helped me get my Depression in check. If you aren't responding to the natural methods, I wouldn't count out the pharmaceuticals. At least to get you through the really tough times. You can always stop taking them when you want. I would suggest seeing a Psychiatrist or Dr. for med options.

Errr...that should say I AM planning to wean off Effexor soon.

I didn't want to go on meds either. But I did, for anxiety and it helped
a lot. Surprisingly it also helped lift my depression. I had depression
for years. Start with a low dose and build up. Try another drug if
the first one is not good. One of my pills I have to take a half or quarter
of it because a whole pill makes me sleepy.

Barbara

I know there are so many medications out there and a person can feel so inundated with what will work and what won't. I found the two that don't make you feel out of it are Prozac and Wellbutrin. Do you have anyone you can talk to, like a Therapist? I think you are doing all the right things as far as exercise and eating right. Do you eat any foods with sugar in them? I have found that when I eat sugary foods, it not only makes my depression worse, but it causes me more anxiety. There has to be a connection to that. There is a site that might help if you don't already know about it. A DS friend shared it with me. It's: 1-800Homeopathy.com
Try that site and see if you can find something that might help. But make sure to talk with your Physician if you are on ANY kind of medication before taking a homeopathic medication. Hugs GB