Getting lost

[Newgirl48453]

Good morning. I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I'm still learning about what that means or how it is supposed to feel or how other people with GAD feel or deal with it. I'm not on any medications as my counselor wants to use exercises to deal with this. Sometimes when I'm at work, I stare blankly into space and completely forget what I was doing. I have a lot of memory problems like this. I'm afraid someone's going to catch me doing this. Does this happen to anyone? Is this what GAD does to You?

[BonnieSue]

Yes, sometimes it does that to me. Sometimes I fall asleep or find I wasn't tuned into what was going on around me. Sometimes I just forget things. Because I've taken a mild tranquilizer for 29 years, I believe this is what has caused me some memory problems, both short and long term. It's frustrating. But I couldn't have done so well all those years without the drug, so I'm fine with that decision.

I've taken myself down from 4 mg per day of a benzo to nothing except for an occasional 0.25 mg as needed of clonazepam. I had no difficulty tapering off of it. I have no sympathy for Doctors who avoid taking care of patient's anxiety levels shooting through the roof who won't prescribe a benzo to take care of their anxiety because I know how I got off mine without being told to do it and I know the antidepressants are just as tough to taper off or worse. These drugs they prescribe instead of benzos are totally inadequate to handle the anxiety that many of their patients are having. There's no excuse for the suffering of these patients that these doctors are allowing because they won't prescribe a benzo based on false information which is evidenced at their fingertips. Rant over!

[Joam]

I too have GAD and panic disorder. There is a difference between anxiety over money issues or speaking in front of a crowd. With Generalized anxiety it is always there it seems with no reason. I could be sitting on the couch watching my favorite show, getting a massage and eating lobster but the GAD will always be there. I was afraid to take medicine in the beginning because I had never been sick and the most I had taken medicine-wise was an aspiring or ibuprofen. I agree with Bonnie Sue that medication is needed in extreme cases and once GAD escalates you need something to help taper that anxiety off so that you can function. I take half of a .5 mg tablet of Lorazepam to stop GAD from escalating into a full on panic attack. I can tell when I need one and if I feel I can do relaxation I can avoid taking the meds. Its a balance We're in this with you.