Social anxiety + mild panic attacks?

[Siccness909]

Was sup guys, for awhile now I've diagnosed myself with social anxiety, as I get real anxious around new people at times. I have panic attacks mild ones through out the day whether I'm on drugs or not, CONSTANTLY checking my pulse...for like 6 years now I've been this day mainly caused by all the drugs I done since the beginning. PCP opiates speed dxm mainly but its transfered to my daily life even sober. But anyway, what's an effective med for this? I'm pretty sure benzos but a specific one maybe? I thought they were all pretty much the same aside from potency could be wrong though.

Its gotten so severe it affects my work responsibilities & I'm suffering from social problems with people. Sometimes I don't like to go out cause I'm so anxious about random shit my pulse etc. Its hurting my life now & I need to fix it.

I don't drink often don't like to I don't use benzoz don't do anything for me recreationally, and I plan on using them correctly not through abuse. I know it may sound weird being that I abuse so many drugs habitually, but I genuinely want to get this resolved. Any opinions on a fitting medication?

 

[monkeyemergency]

All the drugs in the benzodiazepine class are very similar apart from potency by weight. But there are also other differences in their therapeutic profile. Benzos can have hypnotic, sedative, anxiolytic, muscle relaxant and anti-convulsant effects. Each drug has a combination of some or all of these effects. They also differ in half-life and duration. You want a benzodiazepine with mainly anxiolytic effects such as lorazepam, clonazepam, alprazolam or diazepam.

The other factor that determines which benzo would work for you is whether your anxiety is present throughout the entire day or only during certain social situations or when you're having a panic attack. If your anxiety is present consistently throughout they day, i would recommend clonazepam. IME clonazepam's anxiolytic effect lasts around 12 hours, I also found it to be an effective anxiolytic with few memory and sedation related side effects. Lorazepam or diazepam could also work but in my case i might need several doses per day.

If your anxiety is only present in certain social situations along with panic attacks then lorazepam, diazepam or alprazolam may be effective. Alprazolam is particularly effective for panic attacks; it has a quick onset, is short acting and is a very powerful anxiolytic that can stop a panic attack in it's tracks. Diazepam and lorazepam may be better for the social anxiety situations as they tend to have a longer duration than alprazolam.

 

[SteeleyJ]

Perhaps a benzo to use on occasion if you think you can resist daily dosing.... they're far more effective on a PRN basis.

 

[monkeyemergency]

You should also consider non-benzodiazepine solutions. Benzodiazepines are very effective anxiolytics but they also carry a heavy risk of tolerance, dependence and rebound effects. Benzos are not very sustainable as a solution for chronic anxiety, tolerance builds fast to their anxiolytic effects and so does addiction/dependence. You may be required to continue increasing your dose in order to get relief from anxiety and when the drug wears off your anxiety may rebound at an even more severe level. In addition to these risks, physical dependence to benzos can develop in a matter of weeks. Resulting in withdrawals that i would rate far more unpleasant than opiate/opioid withdrawals. When withdrawing from a relatively long term (6 months or more) benzo addiction - seizures and delerium tremens can occur and possibly result in death.

Although i say all this, it is my belief that some people do require benzodiazepines daily on a long term basis to be able to have a life worth living. Just be careful, and do some research before deciding whether to go on benzos.

With regards to other options for treating anxiety, it is unfortunately slim pickings. One option is try an SSRI or SNRI. Some SSRIs have more anxiolytic effects than others. I take sertraline for my depression and anxiety and i find it definitely helps my anxiety. Escitalopram is also meant to be good for anxiety. Unfortunately it tends to be a trial and error process to find the SSRI that works for you and can take a while. But SSRIs have significant advantages over benzos in terms of sustainability, they don't have the same tolerance/addiction potential (although they can cause 'discontinuation symptoms') and can be very effective. IMO the biggest downside to SSRIs is that unlike benzos they do not take effect immediately, they can take up to 3 months to start working.

Buspirone is a drug unrelated to benzos ans SSRIs that is used to treat anxiety. I am not sure of its effectiveness but IIRC it hasn't been particularly successful. But perhaps it is still worth looking into.

And as posted above, benzos are much more effective on a PRN basis, perhaps you can try an SSRI which is particularly anxiolytic along with a script for a benzo as needed while you wait for the SSRI to start working. And then depending on how well the SSRI works you could continue with the benzo PRN

Good luck man. Suffering from anxiety is horrible, i hope you can find a way to treat and/or manage it.

 

[Siccness909]

First off, Thank you for your responses^^


Yeah I agree with that, though I heard most SSRIs give sucidial thoughts? Which I don't understand if their prescribed for depression? Anyway I just hope my doc will understand I'm being genuine & not drug seeking. As I lied to him about being never doing drugs he's a new doctor for me and I don't wanna be looked at as that. Haven't had one in years, but I hope it'll work out. Benzos do calm me down the few times I've tried them so I hope I can get a script. I really feel like this could be so possibly groundbreaking I might even wanna stop doing drugs if I can just calm down and stay focused on my job.

Not trying to switch addictions and be contradictive but again I don't see benzos like that. Just the way I've been, I hope I can find something long term well to make me feel right again.

I can admit I think I do need a benzo or whatever alternative at this point. Feels weird saying I need another drug to stop doing drugs and to feel normal in the end? Lol but you guys get me, I'm an addict that's lost it all and lost his mind before, has been In cardiac, rehab..etc & I can admit it and understand its my own actions that led me here. I hope to overcome this soon. Thanks guys

 

[Bman2]

Some of these symptoms could potentially be from your drug-use(Even if you are sober at the time). To really know, you would need to lay off drugs for a while. Before you go to benzo's, you should try pretty much everything else possible. I also feel nervous around people I don't know, but I've gradually learned to get through it. I usually never see 'new people' again anyways, so if I make a fool of myself, then fuck it. Just be yourself, people gonna like you or not. I used to be so concerned with my image that I let it effect my behavior, and I probably still do a little bit. But when you do that, how is anyone ever gonna really know you? Even if this isn't related exactly to your situation, these are just the kind of things you can say to help yourself mentally. A drug is usually only a temporary fix in these kind of situations. I have been clean off opiates and pretty much everything besides weed for nearly 30 days, and I'm noticing a big improvement in my ability/desire to be social and just be myself. If you do decide to go the benzo route, I'd say kpins.

 

[Siccness909]

No trust me I don't care what people think, but just the anxiety comes naturally n it bugs me hard to explain?

I get nervous I don't care though really I don't know if it makes sense.

Its really just being anxious some thing bads gonna happen to me health wise depending on things in eviorment etc.

Hey quick question if I smoked a .1-.2 heroin decent quality about 7-8 hours ago is it weird to STILL feel numb, not as strong as when I was high but still I can pinch myself and I don't feel it as much lol...durations WAY to long for smoked H its all I've done all day

 

[Bman2]

Its really just being anxious some thing bads gonna happen to me health wise depending on things in eviorment etc.

I had that same issue when doing a lot of drugs, kinda like I said. You feel bad and like your body is slowly deteriorating from the drug use and you start being a hypochondriac. That's what happened to me anyways. Especially since you're smoking H.

It's hard to gauge from our perspective how 'numb' you are still feeling to really tell you. I wouldn't worry about it, you can feel some slight effects for quite a while. If you said "I smoked some 8 hrs ago and still just as high", then I would worry. OR should I be jealous?

 

[Siccness909]

OK I'm thirsty, and numb..my thirst has been all day. I have been doing meth well I did yesterday morning and didn't drink much yesterday. I don't think its H I mean opiates could have been a small factor. But I'm.pretty sure I'm dehydrated to an extent. Not severe but slight trouble swallowing numb slightly but still breathing and can move

Not severe right? What should I do? Drink water like crazy. Not drown my brain though

 

[Bman2]

Hydrate, fuel, and rest your body is really all I know to say. Lay off stuff for a while, if all this other is really bothering you.

 

[Siccness909]

Whats an average glass of water? Its not really I just drank like 3-4 cups real Quick and my numbness is going away slightly and i can swallow a little better but I don't wanna drown my brain at the same time and over do it... I heard water intoxication only happens at a gallon+ an hour?