• TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | Eligiu | deficiT

Mental Health Meds for social anxiety (I'm so angry right now)

I suppose the reason I am "angry" is that I asked him because I have a big speech to do in a weeks time, and because he said "this prescription" will work "right away". There are two lies there: 1) It doesn't work right away, it takes several weeks (I read), and 2) it doesn't work at all.

So when the big day comes I'll be as nervous as always, and will look like a retard and get low status in the group... And I won't get lyrica - which I doubt anyway - until a few weeks, by which time the damage is done... Why couldn't I have gotten a few benzos to take right before necessary moments?

(PS: I'm not even sure I want to take Buspar before the next presentation as it makes me shake a lot for some hours after taking it...)

Oh, that I COMPLETELY understand. He could have prescribed even a single dose of a benzo for your upcoming speech and shouldn't have told you buspirone would work right away. When it (rarely) it seems to take about 3 months.
 
Oh, that I COMPLETELY understand. He could have prescribed even a single dose of a benzo for your upcoming speech and shouldn't have told you buspirone would work right away. When it (rarely) it seems to take about 3 months.

Thank you! Too late for that though.
I doubt I'll even take the damn pills before the speech, since they just make shake and sweat like hell.
 
Question though: If the electric zaps, extreme shakes - especially on my hands - nervousness, mind numbness and genereally spaced-out-ness, lasts longer should I call my doc or just stop taking them? It last for about two hours after I take the pill in the morning and evening....

(He could have given me lyrica or propranolol...)
 
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I have been in your shoes and it is not fun. I have a gang of problems resulting from being in the military, from PTSD all the way to a dying pancreas, from trying to treat my mental problems with booze. I will say if you can try to stay off the Benzo's, I have been on them for far too many years , yes they do work but so highly addictive even if used in the right amounts. I can not go more then two days before I start to withdraw. I have had to run the gambit of trying different drugs they threw at me before I found the ones that did work, well they at least keep me somewhat sane, I still do not go out really, just to go to the Dr.s or to get admitted to the hospital. I do go to school myself, going for my second degree now but I do it online as I could not handle being around so many people. I wish you luck and hope things get better for you, and you do find what works for you just be careful of getting addicted to the Benzo's
 
I have been in your shoes and it is not fun. I have a gang of problems resulting from being in the military, from PTSD all the way to a dying pancreas, from trying to treat my mental problems with booze. I will say if you can try to stay off the Benzo's, I have been on them for far too many years , yes they do work but so highly addictive even if used in the right amounts. I can not go more then two days before I start to withdraw. I have had to run the gambit of trying different drugs they threw at me before I found the ones that did work, well they at least keep me somewhat sane, I still do not go out really, just to go to the Dr.s or to get admitted to the hospital. I do go to school myself, going for my second degree now but I do it online as I could not handle being around so many people. I wish you luck and hope things get better for you, and you do find what works for you just be careful of getting addicted to the Benzo's

I really don't care about the addiction. My life couldn't get any worse (and I've been through heroin withdrawal, and that was a doddle). I just want _something_ that will make me forget my fear and my inability to talk to people and be "a human".
This course I'm taking, just saying my name and some small piece of information makes my hand shake, make me stutter and mumble and I have to take ten second long breaks between each word because I can't breathe properly. I'd do ANYTHING to have some relief from this.
Eventually I'll probably become a shut-in, but I really want to avoid that.

I've been offered to double my subutex dose, but I really dont want that yet...
 
"Buspirone in general takes at least one to two weeks to have an initial effect and generally can take up to four to six weeks to actually have its full clinical effect. So it's not really the best medication to use if one is trying to manage anxiety symptoms rapidly or urgently"

Which defies the point. I needed it for this speech and for a six week course I'm taking from monday... *sigh*
 
I have past drug abuse that my doctor knew about from my psych testing and I was still able to get prescribed xanax. It took some time and a lot of persuading on my part but it's not impossible. Like someone else said tho it's normally not a first go to for doctors because of the potential for abuse which is unfortunate for people that really need it. You could always change doctors. I will say tho if you take it for a long time like me the effects will start lessening and you'll become addicted. I'm only on 2mgs, but I can't just stop taking it or I feel like shit.
 
Which defies the point. I needed it for this speech and for a six week course I'm taking from monday... *sigh*

You know that NO drug is going to magically fix all of your problems right? Like I said, I take xanax but lately have been having bouts of anxiety when out in public. I'd recommend maybe trying to work on your self esteem and confidence in the mean time which trust me I know is easier said than done.
 
You know that NO drug is going to magically fix all of your problems right? Like I said, I take xanax but lately have been having bouts of anxiety when out in public. I'd recommend maybe trying to work on your self esteem and confidence in the mean time which trust me I know is easier said than done.

I agree.

My therapist gave me an interesting view on panic/anxiety attacks- she said to think of them as a self esteem attack. It may sound cheesy but it really helps me at least. Often times the root of our anxiety, especially in public, comes from fear of judgement which is linked to self esteem. Make sense,? Kinda? It's late so I'll probably re read this in the morning and edit it :p
 
i have panic attacks that come from feeling lonely but at the same time i don't want anyone around for the most part and the only thing that helps is xanax but it only helps i still deal with anxiety it's just not as crippling
 
I just want _something_ that will make me forget my fear and my inability to talk to people and be "a human".

All of what you said makes me certain that you are "human" in every sense! Most people have social anxiety, some more than others. If people see you shaking through your speech, then they will probably gain a new respect for you, because of your courage! If they don't, then it's their own small-mindedness getting in the way, and not your problem :)

edit: I myself have never mustered the courage to give public speeches (not that I ever had the opportunity) :\
 
I don't know mate; benzo addiction can be pretty grim (if that's something you're looking into), with serious anxiety rebound effects and WD's lasting for months.

I'm on 12 mgs of suboxone, and one drug I find perfect for anxiety is phenibut. It's cheap, legal, and many SA sufferers (myself included) have had great results with it. It will make you feel very calm without being intoxicated- you feel clear-headed. However, you'd want to cycle your use, as a lot of people are forming dependencies to it.

Edit: meds alone are not going to fix this issue; they will only help the symptoms -it's a very good idea to do a course of therapy; it's important to identify the underlying causes for your SA. (It is possible to get past SA).
 
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I think it would be a good idea to give picamilon and phenibut a try, keeping in mind they're just as addictive as benzos. Use sparingly.
 
OP have you thought about getting a second opinion and maybe a third or fourth if necessary. I have had panic attacks and anxiety my whole life and the only thing that worked for them were benzos. Clonazepam was the one I ended up on and it turned my life around and I was able to go to school and date much easier.

I spent years being prescribed every psych med for anxiety that was not actually meant for anxiety because I had a shitty psychiatrist. Every medication was worse than the last until I was finally prescribed one that worked.

Once I got that I stopped taking all the other medications and my psychiatrist dropped me. Really I am glad he did.

So I went to another shrink and he wanted to take me off of it and write me some shit off label just like the last asshole. Then I went to another and he pulled the same shit. Went to one more and he upped my dose and then a couple months later asked me how I would feel about getting off of the medication and I said no and he dropped me.

So I went to my GP and he had no problem writing me a script for the medication that worked and eventually upped my dose. I told him I never wanted to see a psychiatrist again and he said he didn't blame me.
 
Thanks for all the new replies, guys :)

First of all: I know that my social anxiety is - in fact - self-esteem anxiety. It's the fact that I feel inferior, afraid and ugly or stupid and just want to hide away to spare people my horrendous presence. (This is all signs of avoidant personality disorder, which I wanted to be treated for but was denied because of sub-use.)
I know the reasons for the anxiety.
I know the "tricks" and solutions. I've been in therapy and groups.
Problem is: When the anxiety hits me, all my ability flies out the window and I am frozen.

As for the benzos:
I haven't been able to find out online whether it is or is not "physically possible" to use sub and benzo at once. Some sites claim it's dangerous and can cause death or respiratory failure.
Other claim that countless addicts take sub and benzo for decades.
Of course they are more "experienced" and have higher tolerance... They could take "anything", s'pose.
BUT... I can't figure out either whether being on 2mg sub a day means that the dose is low enough to make additional benzo not dangerous, or whether the fact that I'm on 2mg and get high off it, means that my tolerance is so low that I would get in trouble with benzo added.
In my defence I have taken benzo - illegally - while on sub without any problems except a few hours with no social anxiety...

Apart from the medical license being revoked if the doc writes benzos for people who shouldn't have them, are there any definitive answers here? Is it physically impossible?
 
Taking a sub with a benzo , i really could not tell you if that is safe or not. I will say that Drs will throw all sorts of bullshit meds at you , just to see what happens if one of them will work. what does not work for somebody does work for another, we are all wired differently.If you stay with this guy just stick to your guns if it is not working, its not working, he may throw a few more meds at you , but eventually if it is safe to take both of those at once he will more then likely finally give it a shot after having you try different meds with no effect or help for you. That is just my two cent though , it is just what I went threw many of years ago.
 
Bupe is a partial agonist. It's probably safer to take benzos with bupe than it is to take them with conventional opioids(morphine, oxycodone, etc). People on here talk about taking benzos with their bupe all the time. The catch in this is, are you tolerant to bupe? If you're not, I'd be really careful mixing it all up.
 
I am tolerant to bupe myself, and I'm occasionaly using pyrazolam; I havn't had any adverse reactions. It's just something you have to tread lightly with, as some medical sites say it's a bad idea to mix the two.
 
Bupe is a partial agonist. It's probably safer to take benzos with bupe than it is to take them with conventional opioids(morphine, oxycodone, etc). People on here talk about taking benzos with their bupe all the time. The catch in this is, are you tolerant to bupe? If you're not, I'd be really careful mixing it all up.

Depends what you mean by tolerant... Fact is, I've been on 2mg for over two years now. By the evening and before ingestion in the morning I feel ill, meaning my tolerance is fairly high. Like I said, my doc is more than willing to up my dose after two years, and I prolly need it. But I'm waiting. So, in brief, I still get a tiny "buzz" from the sub the first hour, but nowhere near the beginning "high".
 
The short of the matter is that we haven't yet developed medications for anxiety that retain efficacy with regular use in the long term (and with social anxiety, use of medications begs to be frequent: everyone encounters social situations most if not almost every day); current, medications either don't work very well or are subject to tolerance and habituation. Luckily, as a specific phobia, social anxiety is highly amenable to cognitive behavioral therapeutic techniques, so I'd find a therapist who specializes therein. This road will not be easy: such techniques involve insertion of yourself into contexts in which you feel uncomfortable (but not unbearably so). Luckily, such therapy is highly effective, even after surprisingly short time spans (you'll notice a world of difference even just within a month). You might have to shop around a bit to find a therapist to 'clicks' with you though.

There are two main exceptions to what I said about medications:
1. Benzodiazepines may be used as adjuncts to facilitate exposure therapy. The trick is to employ such only temporarily and sporadically, and you need to teach yourself that you are becoming more comfortable in social situations, not that a drug is 'fixing' what ails you. Sparing use is necessary for the benzos to retain efficacy w/o increased dose. Also, benzos neuropharmacologically hinder the ability to learn new associations in one's environment (this is a mild manifestation of the blackout amnesia seen with high doses), so benzo doses must be quite limited. All this is empowering: it's great to know that you are mastering engaging the world healthily and comfortably, rather than requiring some 'exogenous shock' to do so.
2. Beta-blockers tend to be mildly to moderately effective. They suppress the physiological correlates of anxiety, which play a role in the body-mind feedback loop of self-monitoring that undergirds much of the experience of anxiety. They tend to retain efficacy and are not habituating.

This is what worked wonders for me.

ebola
 
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