Anxiety and depression advice

[Pug_Power]

Hello all, I'm new to the site thought I would put this out there and maybe someone will find it helpful. I've suffered from bad anxiety and depression over 10 years now. It has put me out on disabilty as I'm not able to work from it. I have tried over 40 medication combinations in that time. I am currently on xanax daily 1.5 mg for anxiety and lamictal for depression 300 mg and ambien for sleeping 10 mg. I still struggle like all of us but for me this has been the best combination or at least I'm stable to a point. We all know it's a lot of combination experimenting. With that said never give up !!! 2 of these 3 drugs are controlled substances in which even if they may help someone many doctors dont want to prescribe them which a shame if they would help someone. Sorry for the babble , I feel everyone's pain and again always have hope and never give up .

[Salma2289]

Thanks so much for this encouraging post, thanks for giving hope. I hope you have a peaceful day.

[Blackearsandabow in reply to Salma2289]

I am new as of today and your post is very similar to my life and the reason I joined. It’s very nice to see that I am not alone. I don’t want mental health problems to continue to be what defines me or rule my life. I also want to stop the behaviors of myself that bring me backwards. I also am on disability due to my mental health & now also my poor health conditions. Thank you very much for sharing your story.

[designguy]

That is a lot of different meds you have tried, good for you for being persistent. I also tried numerous meds without much success and finally did a psychopharmacological test from Genesight which used my dna to determine which meds were best suited for me genetically. The test was covered by my insurance. I started on one it recommended (Pristiq) and it has worked well. The test helped take a lot of the guesswork out of the process and confirmed that the meds I had tried before were not right for me.

[Pug_Power in reply to designguy]

Thanks for the info , I have heard of that testing but never tried it. It's great that it worked for you after struggling with many other medications. I'm going to look into that further for myself , especially if insurance covers it

[designguy in reply to Pug_Power]

It had to be prescribed by my mental health/med person so start with them about it, although mine was done a few years ago so they may be providing it direct now.

[Zhangliqun]

Medications are very important and I take duloxetine day and trazadone at night. Both help quite a bit. But it's also important to actively take control of your thought life and develop other coping skills which make a HUGE difference and pave the way for the medications to be much more effective.

What follows is an excerpt of some advice I gave somebody else in here a while back that may help you or someone else reading:

***

The most critical thing is to never, EVER give in to the idea that your mental illness is anything like a reliable indicator of the truth about the world outside your head. Once you understand that it's a lie, it becomes far less powerful because you become much less afraid of it. Fear that it will come again will often make it come again.

In my view, the people at greatest risk of suicide are the ones who start to believe that the whole world is hopeless and pointless, not just their own situation, meaning that in their minds, there is nowhere for them to escape the rising floodwaters even if they can get out of their heads for a moment. At that point, you're in a tailspin that's hard to pull out of. I almost ate a pistol in '94 because of it.

Something that really helps me is remembering that the moods do come -- and go. Just remembering that largely de-claws the lacerating despair that may be slicing and dicing me at the moment because I know from long experience that it will go. Yes, in the moment it feels like I have been in this nightmarish mood from eternity past and will be in it forever, but it will go. In remembering that I immediately feel significantly better. But again it is absolutely critical that you believe that there is goodness and worthwhile-ness in the world outside your head. Because it really is there.

Another thing that may sound stupid but really works for me is that just scrunching up my shoulders or allowing my face to sink into a grimace is a trigger. I start to get anxious and my stomach starts to boil. (Your physical posture really does make a big difference in your mental state.) But if I force myself to relax my face and shoulders, the anxiety will go away almost every time. Subconsciously I'll start to scrunch and grimace again and the anxiety returns, but again I force my face and shoulders to relax.

You may have to repeat this process about 50 or 100 times until it goes away for an extended period, so DO NOT be discouraged if it doesn't work right away. After a while this and other 'tricks' become second nature and you're able to judo this thing almost absently, like flipping a light switch or flushing the can. There will still be bad days but there will be fewer of them and on average, they will be less severe.

Some have said to focus on things that produce good feelings in you to push out the bad. You have probably heard this a lot but again, this is solid advice. Different things work for different people but I love looking at pictures of fall foliage, just hypnotizes me. In person is ideal but you can do that any time of year on line, lots of great fall picture sites. Maybe a favorite restaurant or some happy memories. Or going to the hardware store and feeling the constructive atmosphere -- positive things you can do with tools and parts and nails etc to fix something at the house or maybe a hobby or project -- that runs so contrary to the sense of futility this illness stuffs down your throat. Anything that gives you even 5 minutes away from the bad thought patterns is a point gained; it's 5 minutes you weren't feeding this snake. That matters. Once again, it will be difficult at first, but once again it will become second nature after a while.

Last but not least, these things and all the other solid advice I've seen in here are coping skills -- or more to my point, weapons. DO NOT be passive and hope this illness will go away on its own, it won't. You must stomp the head of this snake day in and day out, because you are in World War [poster's name], a war for your soul -- and the souls of others (more on that below).

This means you must be willing to fight and fight hard, which means you must believe you have something to fight for. You do. Friends and family and -- get this -- others who are as sick or sicker than you and me, who you don't know yet but who will die by their own hand if you give up now because they will never get encouragement and advice from the voice of experience -- you. God will put you in the path of people new to this illness for this reason, as he has done with me. He will make this illness, yes, worthwhile...

If I sound like Patton in front of that big flag, so be it. When you're up against an enemy as cunning and deadly as mental illness, you need to be a rabid rottweiler with stars on its shoulders. FIGHT!!!

[Pug_Power in reply to Zhangliqun]

Very well put , you have to use all the tools in your tool box. Positive thinking and keep your mind busy with good things and thoughts is helpful and as said when your in that state depression takes over your thoughts and it's hard to even realize that's what it's doing. So knowing that is important. I will suggesting any of the following or all 3 , cbt, dbt, and emdr. Plenty of info on the web about them. A trained therapist in these areas can help . I have tried so many different things and will never give up. Hope is key so always keep that alive !

[qru55 in reply to Zhangliqun]

Thank you for sharing the great therapeutic advice greatly appreciated.

[autumnmarie5]

Hey there and thank you for the encouraging post. I love to see encouraging posts in the midst of all the others it's very kind hearted. I am so sorry to hear that your mental health was so bad for you to deal with, however you said that you have tried quite a few different medication and combinations of them. What do you feel has worked the best for you? I suffer from GAD and my doctor put me on Zoloft which I take everyday and then Hydroxyzine which is on an as needed basis. Have you taken these medications and what did you feel when you were on these? I am a firm believer on sometimes we all go through things differently and sometimes we can use our knowledge to help support someone else struggling as well. 😊

[Pug_Power in reply to autumnmarie5]

Hello, I agree knowledge and others experiences is so helpful to us so that's why I believe it's important to share. As mentioned I've tried over 40 med combinations and many off label . I did take zoloft it didn't help my depression I also tried most every SSRI and snri and we came to the conclusion they just dont work for me, that's how I got on lamictal which was the only medication that helped the depression . Its unique in that it is a mood stabilizer but has strong antidepressant effects with little side effects. It's worth a try if you and your dr feels it appropriate and zoloft isn't helping much. Most of the antidepressants are SSRI and they just dont work for some people. There are older tricyclics for depression and those work a little different and work better for some people. The xanax is the only thing that has helped the anxiety and ambien for sleep as sometimes the anxiety would break through and wake me up. That has helped..

[Pug_Power in reply to Pug_Power]

Oh and there are some advanced techniques that may help. Dbt cbt and emdr. Look them up , trained therapists can help you with these . I have tried all 3 and have had some luck with all of them.

[qru55]

You probably have bipolar depression , that’s why you’re maybe on lamictal.

[Pug_Power in reply to qru55]

Hello, no bipolar, just major depressive disorder. Lamicatal is used to treat many things . Bipolar 1, seizures, mood stabilizer and depression. Works good for some has helped me.