Anxiety and seeing doctors?

Discussion in 'Stoners Lounge' started by ☉rtus ♉, Apr 14, 2013.

  1. ☉rtus ♉

    ☉rtus ♉ Waffle

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    I've always thought the best way to cure anxiety would be by yourself, but i'm at the point where its actually becoming nauseating and physically draining, plus I get more than a few panic attacks every week.

    So I thought, maybe I should see a doctor... But i'm wondering, what can they really do? or what will they do? Looking for someone who has had experience with this, especially in Canada...

    I heard they don't give you any pills such as xanax or anything for like a year or something? Then what do they do?

    I'm also not wanting to get my parents involved, I don't want them to know about it... Is that possible at 18? or should I wait another month until i'm 19?
     
  2. SpacemanSpiff

    SpacemanSpiff Visitor

    im pretty sure after 18 they have no business divulging anything to parents...especially if you make sure they know you want it that way
     
  3. MamaAfrica

    MamaAfrica Banned

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    You could go see a doctor, any general physician, and he can prescribe you something like xanax based on general symptoms.

    These are the white man's devil pills though, so take them at your own risk. They are meant to crush the true warrior spirit.

    The best cure for anxiety, imo, is ganja and Peter Tosh.
     
  4. Snyfin

    Snyfin surfing the astral plane

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    if weed helps your anxiety, just do that. if it adds to it, stop it.

    you could see a doc and get prescribed meds if it's bad, just watch out for SSRIs and don't get addicted to benzos :cool:
     
  5. ☉rtus ♉

    ☉rtus ♉ Waffle

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    Weed doesn't necessarily help or make it worse, usually. On occasion if i'm in the midst of a panic/anxiety attack and smoke weed it'll just enhance it... but usually nothing. I took a little break from weed too, saw no changes, it may have even got a little worse... but not much.

    I was under the impression that doctors wont prescribe anything for quite some time... especially to a person my age, so I never really bothered going. Plus the thought of going to a doctor gives me even more anxiety... Don't even know if i could alone
     
  6. CherokeeMist

    CherokeeMist Senior Member

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    i don't know about Canada, but doctors in the US are usually happy to give out prescriptions on the first visit

    however, there are many treatment options for anxiety besides meds. CBT and DBT come to mind... cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy. in any case, if you see your GP, they can refer you to a therapist OR psychiatrist (they are not the same), or both if you wish. in the US, we have confidentiality laws preventing therapists/doctors from be able to speak to people about your treatment without your consent.. unless your life/someone else's life is in danger, or if child or elderly abuse is made apparent

    i would suggest not going directly for medication off the bat, see what you can do in a few months of therapy, and if nothing gets better, consider medication. they are not all evil... but shouldn't be a first choice save for an emergency or severe condition, IMO.

    like i said, see your GP, they should be able to refer you and give you ideas about all the medication AND non-medication treatment options out there
     
  7. newbie-one

    newbie-one one with the newbiverse

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    if you can, join a meditation group

    also, try to do meditation every day, ideally for an hour

    a 1/2 hour a day of gentle, aerobic exercise may also help you

    try giving up processed foods. also anything served cold. fresh, lightly cooked whole foods served warm may help you a lot. good luck.
     
  8. ☉rtus ♉

    ☉rtus ♉ Waffle

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    Sounds like good advice, but a huge part of my anxiety is social anxiety... Hence why I've been putting off seeing a doctor for so long, and don't want to talk to my parents about it, I doubt i'd even be able to talk to a therapist... I'd freeze up, not know what to say, or just feel embarrassed... Plus I don't have money for that, unless it doesn't cost anything in Canada with a doctors note or whatever? I don't know..

    Same with meditation group... being with a group of people, i don't know... I try to meditate myself but sometimes it gives me worse anxiety... like i think so much about how this should help me that it ends up having the opposite effect, i feel my chest getting tighter and harder to breath and feels like a build up to a panic attack so i just stop
     
  9. roxynotes

    roxynotes Member

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    Hey, I deal with anxiety too, so I know how truly awful it is, I hope you're okay. Lately my anxiety has been manageable so I haven't seen a doctor about it yet, though if it gets really bad again I definitely intend to. I'm from Canada too so I might be able to provide some helpful information. One of my friends here also has anxiety and her doctor gave her a prescription medication that either is Xanax or is closely related to it, and I'm pretty sure there was no waiting period at all. She said it really helps, but she only takes it when her anxiety becomes really unbearable. Once you start taking medication your doctor will probably want a follow up appointment at some point.

    For me personally meditating on my own and reading 'The Power of Now' by Eckhart Tolle has helped quite a bit. But if your anxiety is really overbearing and nothing you can do on your seems to help you might as well try medication so that you can get a break, just be careful with it. A doctor can also refer you to a psychologist/therapist and depending on the province you live in a certain amount of sessions should be covered by insurance. Running can help too, as well as spending time in nature, and taking those omega fish oil supplements. Once you're over 18 in Canada your parents aren't allowed to know any of your business with a doctor or any kind of therapist due to confidentiality laws. This confidentiality can be broken however if you admit to planning or actively doing serious harm to yourself or another person. Besides that your parents or anyone else wont be told anything.
    I hope that you're able to get help and relief very soon <3
     
  10. Driftwood Gypsy

    Driftwood Gypsy Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    My medical marijuanna is for my anxiety; it's a huge help. Also try yoga and chamomile tea.
     
  11. hahaha04

    hahaha04 Whatevers Clever

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    Workign through anxiety witha therapist, meditation, and even just struggling through on your own has worked for me. Its super hard. My anxiety has led me to dangerous drug use, lots of missed oppurtunities in life, and a lot of awful situations, but im working through it and feeling far better about things.

    I dont know for sure, but there is going to be at least some level of confidentiality when you go and see a Dr. I have also heard that in Canada they are less likely to give benzos straight off the bat, but still do in many instances. I dont think you should go directly seeking that either, but taking them for a short amount of time, coupled with therapy can be very beneficial.
     
  12. newbie-one

    newbie-one one with the newbiverse

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    if you can tell the meditation instructor that you have social anxiety, and maybe let the other people in the group know about that, it might make life easier.

    I think with social anxiety you feel tense to begin with, but it gets worse because you worry about how people might be reacting to your tension.

    If everybody knows that you have social anxiety and is ok with that, it may make things a lot better.

    learning to breathe into your belly rather than your chest might help too.
     
  13. CherokeeMist

    CherokeeMist Senior Member

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    meditation advice is great- i've been doing it, and it's helped my own anxiety/depression a TON

    also, to your point on freezing up with a therapist- that's what happens sometimes. it's all a process... even if you freeze up for the first several weeks, or even months, the idea is that you gradually begin to see what's happening in a way that makes it possible to change. it's not easy... i've been there and am still there... but it's a process

    also, there's something called exposure therapy... it's basically exposing yourself to what makes you anxious, in an attempt to, as wikipedia says, "break the pattern of escape that (which) strengthens the fear response" you can even do this on your own... say, if you always leave the house and you're careful to comb your hair, try going out one day with messy hair (just an example) and you'll see (not just vaguely be aware) that life still goes on... i know people who have done stuff like this and it's helped their social anxiety a ton
     
  14. calgirl

    calgirl Senior Member

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    I use lorazepam. I believe it's valium. I'm much older than you though, and that is important, because I understand my anxiety more.

    The thing with social anxiety is that episodes can worsen as you remember how you last felt when being in a social setting. It's a tough condition. A good point about going into talk therapy is to find the origin of your anxiety. They can help with tools and techniques. There is need to differentiate a condition from a paranoia.
     
  15. RooRshack

    RooRshack On Sabbatical

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    I don't think you need numbing pills, I think you need a good grip on reality and your feelings, and why you feel the way you do, when you do.

    Don't try to squash anxiety, try to understand and accept, and thereby, beat, it. If you try to crush or "beat" it, you will only compress it, and it will explode later, which is what's currently happening.
     
  16. wetsocks

    wetsocks there's no one driving

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    everyone throws the word "anxiety" around but i don't really know what they mean when they say they have it. what are you anxious about? is it just a general feeling in everything you do? or are you anxious about something specific?
     
  17. calgirl

    calgirl Senior Member

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    It's a nervousness around normal situations that raise your heartrate, make you sweat, bring fear, sometimes hyperventilate. Sometimes it can be managed.
     
  18. Driftwood Gypsy

    Driftwood Gypsy Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    this. I've tried psychiatric meds, and they're bad news. just brain washing, brain numbing.
     
  19. wiccan_witch

    wiccan_witch Senior Member

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    Best step is to get to the doctor, first. No one here has so far mentioned counselling. I don't know how it's done where you are from, but here most doctors won't reccommend prescription medications without reccommending counselling, too. The two usually go hand in hand.

    I personally wouldn't reccommend marijuana if you are suffering from anxiety. I used to smoke a lot of weed and it gave me major panic attacks. It got so bad that I didn't leave the house for three months.

    YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Anxiety is awful, I have been there and I understand. Talking to the doctor will help you to get a bit of perspective on the situation. Some wonderful advice I got from this site almost ten years ago from lucky stripe, was that anxiety can be a sign that something is not right in your life, that something needs to be changed. You may want to think about your life situation, and if anything is causing these feelings.

    You doctor should NEVER be breaking doctor patient confidentiality by discussing this with your parents.

    Good luck!
     
  20. jo_k_er_man

    jo_k_er_man TBD

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    There is nothing worse than riding the anxiety medication train... So many different pills out there to cover so many different sides of this problem... I went 6mo of trying to find something that worked aside from the Klonopin... Finally I just said fuck it... Told my doctor I would deal with it myself and that I was going to stop taking all the medication... Coming off of Klonopin after being on it daily for only 6mo was a horrible and unpleasant experience... Never again do I want to be on any of that crap... I'd rather just have my anxiety
     

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