Anyway to treat severe anxiety w/o medication, I have lorezpam but I am really get sick of taking medications and the cost of medications, my script will run out soon-only have like 8 left.
Are there any other techniques to getting rid of anxiety? I used to be able to will it all away by tricking my brain into thinking everything will be okay, but it doesn’t work anymore (not since my dad died about a year ago).
PS–background info: I was on paxil for 10 yrs, starting getting BAD anxiety, hyperness, sleeplessness–so they took me off & said I had bipolar depression and associated it with me taking SSRIs –basically I am only bipolar when taking SSRIs–so I went off of it, I tried different mood stabilizers & hated them- My mind felt muddled and I STILL had anxiety attacks.
Now, I am off of all of those drugs besides lorazepam. I get the tightening in my chest, feel like I can’t breathe, feel like im suffucating, & my stomach does cartwheels many times over.
PS, i stopped going to my psychiatrist(s). I got tired of "testing" drugs and I got tired of the side effects of the drugs–and they wouldnt relieve my major issue– ANXIETY. (I tried lamictal, depakote, seroquel)—and couldnt tolerate the side effects. My brain isnt foggy anymore, so i DO feel better drug-free but I do still get anxiety!!! Help! anyone have any tricks to do—or herbs u use to calm yourself down?
Veronica, I am sorry. I have never experienced what you are talking about– "I get some weird sensations around my mouth and cheeks. It feels like a numb/tingly/weak feeling"

I do get the tingly feeling sort of through my entire body but I don’t recall it ever being by my mouth. My arms and BODY get tingly, hairs standing straight up–type-thing.

I really only had a few mini-panic attacks before my dad passed away-and now i get these major attacks often. It is miserable when it happens. I had always heard of people getting this, but I had NO clue how terrible it is.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I guess I will just have to try and find something to work for me. I do have some lorezapam left, so that will help me for awhile. But after that I just really want to learn to deal w/it on my own. I don’t want to get addicted to any medications!

Take care everyone, thanks. Veronica, hope you can figure it out. Your doctor probably knows best, Id trust her/him.

I have severe anxiety, mild panic disorder, ADD, and my mind is always racing with thoughts.

I don’t want to take any prescribed medication since I have heard of all the nasty side-effects. I’ve been researching natural remedies such as kava kava and GABA. Anyone have actual experience taking a supplement that helped or didn’t help? Give details please!

Okay so I have a heart condition, I’m not sure what it is but I’m seeing a cardiologist sometime in the next month. I take seroquel at night, I actually just changed from 500 mg to 400. I used to get horrible palpitations on 500 mgs, to where I couldn’t catch my breath, I felt faint, lightheaded, and had to sit down for a minute, and they were started by even minute physical activity, like climbing a short flight of stairs. It’s better on the 400, but I still get the palpitations. When I run, my heart goes spastic and my face gets really flushed and warm and I break out in a sweat and I can’t catch my breath. Today I ran more than I usually can and I (discreetly) collapsed for a few seconds because my legs were too weak.

Also, I have severe anxiety and depression problems, and I’m very prone to panic attacks. Lately, with going back to school, being a senior, having a VERY heavy caseload, and having some stressful stuff going on at home, it seems like my heart issues have been more prominent. Just a bit ago, surfing the internet I found some articles saying anxiety and stress can make heart problems worse, and I was wondering: if I get medication to treat the anxiety (which I’ve been meaning to do for a while anyway), would my heart problems decrease? I know that it’s an underlying condition and it won’t totally make it go away, I just want to know if it will even affect it.

I suffer from severe anxiety and panic attacks whenever I have to give presentations or public speaking. I have been receiving information about the one move technique but everything I look at says you have to purchase. I really can’t afford to purchase anything, but I need to get over my anxiety because it is taking over.

My anxiety attacks started around when I was 7 or 8 and they just seem to keep getting more severe as I get older. I’m 20 now and I’m having the hardest anxiety and panic attacks that I’ve encountered so far. They started to get worse after I found out my boyfriend of 5 years had an affair while I was pregnant. I was not happy with the idea of having an abortion, but he reassured me that this was what we needed for our future and wedding we were planning. Because I felt so iffy about the whole situation my anxiety started increasing, which created conflict in our relationship. It’s something that I couldn’t, no matter how hard I tried, control. I found out the day of our abortion that he was cheating and since then, I’ve had at least one panic attack (sometimes 2) in one day. It’s been a month and I cannot handle it. I break down in tears randomly throughout the day. The panic attacks leave me catching for air and my body isn’t in my control when I’m experiencing an attack. My daily routine and life has been completely altered and there’s not a moment that an irrational thought isn’t running through my mind. It’s making me anti-social and cut off from the world. How can I take care of this? Is there any medication that treats severe anxiety well? I know that there are some anti-depressants that can actually make you more anxious and irritated, so I just wanted to hear some of your advice on this.

-Thanks.

I have some severe anxiety attacks when I procrastinate on getting things done, but if I get things done too early, then I still get anxiety attacks as if I still need to do something. I’m quite panicked and it’s getting to the point where I don’t want to be around too many people. I am at my wits end, and I’ve isolated myself away from people. Also, my anxiety causes me to overeat and I am about 70 lbs. overweight and don’t have a grip on anything. I especially get anxious the day before I have to go to work. I work in healthcare and am especially anxious the day before. It is affecting my life. Does someone have some fool-proof advice? I’d prefer not to take meds (I’m already on some meds), but maybe a clue as to a different way of thinking might help me emensely. Thank you…

Over the past several months I’ve had severe anxiety attacks and my stress is constant. Every time I pass out it’s during a severe anxiety attack and I was wondering, if anxiety can make you go pass out and go into into some sort of shock? I’ve fell down the stairs twice and tonight I passed and fell in the bathtub and after the incident was over my stress went through the roof and I was wondering if anyone thinks stress could be doing this?

I suffer from severe anxiety. I always think that I am dying and wake up in the night feeling scared. I am on medication but obviously it isnt working properly. Please help.