social anxiety

Im a big believer in the 'nibble method' (heh) but its the idea of weaning yourself off dosages by literally 'nibbling off' a percentage of each tablet each time.
Well.. I mean you can use a little knife I suppose.
The good news is that pretty much everyone can get off benzos.
I think I went wrong by stupidly taking them until the bottle was gone and then right cold turkey without knowing or expecting withdrawals.
That was Lorezapam which is actually pretty powerful stuff.

I know one lady who was taking them every night after work without fail. She started doing a home exercise routine and told me she was actually 'shocked' at how she even forgot to take her sedatives after a workout she felt such effects.

But yeah, if you do take the advice of the Linden Method (which is expensive imo) they will advise you to consult your Doctor about removing yourself from the drugs and how best to do that.

Heh... my last Doctor was one of the millions who almost cannot wait to throw you boxes of Paxil/Prozacs or whatever the latest.
He hates giving out benzos but did give me some Ativan and then warned:
"and do not drink alcohol at the same time or trust me.. you will become one cheap drunk!"

 

I took xanax for around 5 years and it is totally addicting. How long've you been on them? I finally quit and haven't taken anything since (mainly because they started frying my nerves and I started gettting tremors from them) but the withdrawal is terrible and does make you more nervous, I wish I could get that thru drs head.
Everything in my life reverted back to the pre-med ways afterwards so all this overcoming mental illness sounds great and probably makes a real feel good book but if you can't handle stress it's going to be a problem. I used to exercise and that helps get the endorphins and everything up but I got overwhelmed and stopped and things just fell apart.
I thought I could take meds forever and live a life that I otherwise couldn't handle, but the drugs stopped working and now I'm back where I was. The thing is so what? does everyone have to do everything? A lot of people like staying home and being isolated, it's just a lifestyle choice that won't make me be living in crisis, or getting in such a freak out that I kill myself because I'm too mixed up to think straight.
And yes, if you mix benzos and alcohol you are opening a real pandoras box. They actually can increase the desire to drink and will make you a stupid drunk.
The way I quit was to take the smallest amount, like a quarter of a pill w' some b complex, those for stress ones, and tried not to jump out the window for a couple of weeks then I got real manic, lost my apt and ended up living in my van out in the desert...now after 4 years I'm living indoors again, w/o meds and I had plenty of time thinking this all out. Avoid the Crazymakers!

 

Yeah and i've noticed that it seems to really be addicting if they actually help take off stress. Before i was like this i hated benzos. They just weren't that great at all.

I've heard enough. I'm just going to quit them all together. I haven't even been taking them that long, but i can already see that it's making me more nervous when i'm not on them. Fuck xanax.

 

"The way I quit was to take the smallest amount, like a quarter of a pill w' some b complex, those for stress ones, "

The 'Alpha Method' heh. I like how you wittled it down but also added a supplement to go along with it.
I know the whole exercise aspect is such a key in this. Remember the body is dumping adrenalin and everything else in that blood.
Its amazing how much of that can clean out thru a vigorous walk or lifting some wieghts!

btw.. Doctors here in Canada dont like giving anyone Xanax anymore. It will be Ativan or the newer 'Klonoptin'.
Xanax only if its a 'legacy' prescription, that you had from before.
Even then they try and switch you from Xanax.

From everything Im hearing from you guys here - Id say get off that Xanax, it sounds like trouble heh.

Desert..please keep us posted as you come off it.

 

Hi,
I'm new here..I just think there isn't really any point to existence..I mean mine of course (maybe yours if you piss me off)..*joke*..i think.

Anyway, I don't go out and the internet, my venus fly traps, my tv and my desire but inability to end it all is all i have.


Love,

Simon

 

Uhhh.. one of the best little tricks the mind pulls on the obsessive worrier:
#3 on the list
'Unanswerable Philosophical/Spiritual Dilemas'.

The very point of this is to have you running a looping 'unanswerable' question about your life and death.
"Whats the point.. whats the point... whats the point... whats the..."

Its a trick question in order to run a loop and a consequent distraction from reality in your mind.
Over and over.

 

Yes, thats true, i do worry sometimes but there's the other side of me that doesn't care when things get me down.

In 50 or so billion yrs the earth will be consumed by the sun and even if we do manage to colonize another planet its a race against time there too because everything has a sell by date.

Even throwing morals out the window wont matter, the universe has no conscience.

PS...REALITY SUCKS!!

 

Klonipan is more of an antiseizure medication I think; it has side effects too, maybe that's why they prescribe it, it's nasty. The paxil might be a good one to look at if it works for you; I took it for a long time and initially there's nausea but it goes away after a day or two, the sexual side effects are an issue but...I didn't have any other side effects, not like zoloft so...
I've read that trauma victims will likely have anxiety and depression I know that's my case.

 

I don't think i'll have to tamper down. I think i'm just going to quit cold turkey cause i haven't been taking it that long. I'll keep in touch.

 

I think humans will be long gone in 50 billion years for sure. I mean look at all of the other animals over the years. In general they usually last no more then several million or so. Though i could be wrong.

But i definitly see what you mean about that part about life sucking. I get like that a lot, and i think it has a lot to do with the fact that i'm agnostic. I wise i could just be religious, and not be depressed all of the time, but i'm afraid it's much to late for that. I can't be ignorant toward logic, no offense. Though i've learned that the more you keep thinking that way the more you're just going in the direction of putting a gun to your head and pulling the trigger. So if you're going to think that way you might as well kill yourself. If not and you want to be happy just try not to think about it and if you can do that you'll be happy. It's hard, if not impossible, some times to stop thinking that way i know. But still try.

I think this, ironically, is whats caused my anxiety to be so high.

 

I think you're you're right about humanity being long gone before 50 billion yrs too..There are so many possiblities regarding our own destruction but i won't go into them all.

As for mine i'm sorry to say i'm one of those labeled "tried but didn't try hard enough" regarding suicide atempts and other things too..yuck!!..sounds like one of my old school reports( not that i ever attended school.)

I'm in agreement about "The Thoughts"..but, for me, that's all they are most of the time..just thoughts. The way i avoid these thoughts is to continue my pretence and carry on the way i am, just existing and staying in my room downloading horror films and watching tv. I tried pills and also stopping my asthma meds..ALMOST did it but once again, i didn't try hard enough..Even the doctors said if i really, really wanted to do i would have by now..For me it wasn't the fact i didn't want it to happen, it was the fact i wanted an easy way out..Give me cyanide and tell me i'll die painlessly and i'll do it.

Regarding religion, and this is just my view. Don't let it fool you, its just another form of denial in my eyes. But, to some its their saviour so the bottom line is you can accept it and if it helps you go for it if you want.I mean, it's helped others.

PS..I like your drawing.

Simon

 

Yeah sounds like you have been having worse depression then i have. It definitly sucks. I wise i could just be happy all of the time, but unfurturnitly that can't be. I'm probably going to end up killing myself someday, but then again who knows.

I agree with you completey about the religion thing. It definitly helps people to be happy, and think there is a meaning to life. I use to try to smear my agnosticism in peoples faces to try to make them see my way because i really did think it was the way to go. But now i don't push people into it. I try not to even talk about it unless people ask or something. I wish i could have just forced myself to think there is a god without even thinking about it, but i pushed it too far into logic and came out like this. With logic you don't always come out a happy camper.

Thanks about the drawing. I've got a shit load more too. It's what i like to do.

 

I have Social Anxiety Disorder. And I can tell you that it's not fun to have.

I feel it all started from a bad case of rejection from a best friend I used to have. He moved to a different school district at the end of 6th grade and we exchanged phone numbers to keep in touch. I called him but he never once called me. Two years later I met him again and he was with a new group of friends. When he saw me, he displayed a clear case of disgust and ran off with his friends.

I have never been the same since that rejection. I pretty much stopped actively trying to make friends after that and since then I've had a lot of difficulty in getting along with people my own age. These days I get along better with people much older than myself.

I also have the problem now that I don't like hanging out with friends. That stems mostly from the fact that I grew up in the countryside away from most of my classmates and never had a chance to be with the friends I had. A lot of negative things have also taken place since I moved to my first apartment, which makes my SAD worse.

Having Social Anxiety Disorder really bugs me. I don't like to have visitors anymore, I don't like to be around people my own age, I often don't like to be in crowds of people, I prefer to be alone most of the time, and so on.

I have Asperger's Syndrome as well, which makes it hard for me to want to make friends and know how to properly act around them.

 

Hey desert nightmare,
I just turned 40 last month and that sucks too. Although, it sucked when i reached 20 and 30 too..I like to add a bit of humour (if you can call it that) to serious subjects so forgive me all.

You've still got your youth and one talent (which is one more than me).
So, try not to fuck up your life like i did. I know it aint easy and its easy for someone else to tell you that but if you let it fester like i've done it only gets worse.


Hey sherlock,
I'd never heard of Asperger's syndrome until you mentioned it.
I think finding true friendship is difficult..Rejection is horrible..For me it went way back when i was a kid, my younger brother was the cool, popular one and me, well, you know how it goes. Lets just say i was bookish and boring And now, it gets to a point where i expect it to happen most times.


Take care all.

 

Yeah i just hope i have time for my talent in the future. I will if i deside to make a living from it, but i wouldn't get payed much. But atleast i'd be doing what i liked. Right now i'm trying to take advantage of it because i don't have a job, but we'll see how long that lasts. I hope i don't lose my talent during the time between having a job, going to college, and getting out of college because i'm not going to have that much time, if any, to make art.

 

Think of it like this: Most artists seem to get more recognition when they die..I know, bad joke but thats me..No artist here but i did dream up an invention once.."The solar-powered Vibrator".Might be useful, especially in hotter climes..It can take batteries too of course but they aint included

Even those those in the global warming thread would see the benefits..Any takers?


Seriously though, i hope things work out for you and your talent.

 

There is a small percentage of the population who'll have recurrent withdrawl syndromes for years, actually.

 

Yeah thats a pretty fucking interesting invention. Especially since i have all those memories of my neighbor fucking her kid with a gas powered dildo. That was fucking horrible! So i'm down for the solar powered one. That sounds much more quiet.

And thanks again.

 

I know I phrased it 'pretty much everyone can get off Benzo'z' but I would agree with you that everyone can,
however some small percentage might experience longer term withdrawals.
Not necessarily long term agonising though.
I know with Morphine, it does indeed take a long while for some of us to fully get it out of the system.
6 months here.
and I hated Morphine.

There are some pretty cute little psychological tricks the mind can play which can give people the impression that previous drugs are still affecting them.
Basically, when disassociation occurs, the mind tries to find a 'reference point' for the sensations.
Often this is referencing drug induced states (since thats all they know for)
Then its not unusual for someone to believe, for example, that they were feeling 'high on marijuana' even when it had been years since them smoked it.
Anyways, thats sorta another topic unto itself.

But yeah, Benzos are definately beatable but as long as people do realise there might be a kick in the ass withdrawal too.
....and I have known a few who quit and breezed right through like nothing to it hehe.

 

I'm considering getting back on meds, I dont even leave my apt except to walk my dog and get groceries.