Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Hello Everyone, I came to Canada to pursue one year diploma course after graduation from India. After doing the course for 4 months, I had feelings of irritability and fear of uncertainty. I went to doctor and then was diagnosed with GAD. I had not much anxiety problems in India. 1 or 2 times I had depression bouts. But after coming here, problems got intensified. Then doctor gave me paxil CR 12.5 mg. It's working good from last 2 months. I want to know how much time I have to take this drug. If my problem can ever be resolved. After completing my course, I would be living in Canada only. Please give me some suggesion

I have started exercise, I was going gym for 2 months. But now I don't have much time. So I do some basic exercise for 15-20 minutes. And I am going to one professional psychiatrist also every weekend

Even my uncle was facing the same issues when he moved to Canada in 2015, he is also taking 7.5 mg mirzatapine. How much is CBT going to cost me?? Doctor said that your situation can be resolved with time. It will take time and when your parents will move here then the problem will go away. Back at home, I lived away from my parents for around 6 years. Sometimes I got anxious, but it was not a big issue

Medications completely changed my life. I again started living my life with courage

ISM,

CBT is not inexpensive...as all therapy can be costly. (at least here in the US) If you are covered by insurance, check and see if your policy includes mental health treatment.

If not, you may be able to find lower cost counseling through your local health clinic, or hospital...

...and of course we have the free on-line help material in our Resources here...be sure to check it out thoroughly.

Keep up the good work and posting!

S.C.

One thing more, I live here with my cousin's. They came here one year before me

One thing more I want to know if I have to suffer it my whole life? Sometimes I feel bad that I have to take this med in a young age. Also I made some changes in my diet. I have left cold drinks, tea and coffee consumption. I take daily 2-3 cups of green tea.But I drink alcohol on some occasions only that is too beer. I drink wine only on my friends birthdays only. I have asked about this with my doctor. He said if you I am drinking rarely then there is no problem.

You asked:

"One thing more I want to know if I have to suffer it my whole life?"

As a bipolar myself, I think that's a good question. I didn't start taking psych meds until I was about 28, and so skipped those 18-27 years.

The bad thing is, since I wasn't taking any meds during that time, at about 28, I had a nervous breakdown, so it would probably be best if I had been taking some meds.

And I had some rough times in the 18 to 27 range where medicine would have probably helped.

At about 32, I started taking an anti-depressant, and have never gotten off of it in many years.

You say, "Sometimes I feel bad that I have to take this med in a young age" Yes, there are disappointments in life. But as you said in an earlier post, "I knew that this problem will come in my way. But I didn't want anything to stop living my life."

So, you yourself see the good sides of these meds. That's the positive side. You could ask your doctor about this, and with his or her help, if you do slow down your meds sometime in the future, notice what effect it has on you. Then you may be reminded more than anyone how much you need them.

Or, remember what you were like before you started taking the meds: a mess, like the rest of us.

Reducing or going off meds without your doctor's advice/help, I did that when there was a mixup on both my part and the doctor's, and I paid a price. You don't want to do that.

Your grandparents may not have had meds, and might can tell you some stories about going without medicine.

As for drinking with meds, you'll be the best judge of that, for it will be your system that will or will not be affected. I had a health problem, and drank on meds, and it so negatively affected that health problem, I never drank again.

I wouldn't advise it, but you'll be the one who knows if it affects you.

I think you are very smart to reach out for help.

You're never going to find the perfect med, in my view.

I think I've heard that Lithium can cause weight gain.

But whether I gain weight is not my main objective.

Being able to function is my main objective, compared to where I was prior to taking Lithium for the main part of my bipolar.

I'm not going to say, "Oh, right, I'm functioning with the Lithium, whereas before I was all over the place with my life," but I've gained a few pounds in the last few months. So I'm getting off of this medicine."

No way I'm saying that. They all have side effects, in my view.

I'm thinking, if you get of this med that's doing you well with anxiety, but causing problems in another area, and you're going to have side effects in another area, and may not improve the side effect situation you are trying to correct.

And may not work as well on the anxiety. I could be completely wrong, these are just my opinions. You should go with your views after getting information.

Again, I think you should compare yourself now to the way you were before you first took the medicine, a complete mess, not the ideal state you envision once on meds, which all have side effects. think.

The reason they don't give meds to people who aren't sick, is because all meds have side effects. It's just a game of getting on one that helps you and has only minimal side effects. Ones you can tolerate.

If you can't tolerate the one(s) it gives you, then that's your decision.

At some 20 years old, you are an idealist, perfectionist, you thnk medicine is like water, no side effects, yet you want it to in effect save your life, which it is doing. But it's so strong it has side effects.

If you have a 20-year-old doctor, he or she may see things your way. But your doctor is not 20 years old, but instead has seen numerous patients who do not respond to medicine at all. To see you doing so well, he or she just wants to jump and down with happiness.

Some relatively minor side affect does not concern him or her. I ask my psychiatrist a year ago about my getting off of Lithium for some other stabilize for bipolar. She said in effect, "No, you've been doing so well on Lithium I want you to stay on it." I haven't asked her again.

Read stories about searching for the right meds for years, and they haven't found them. Yours is not an easy road at 20. And slowing down on part of your life is not easy, the party part.

But maybe moderating things to give yourself a chance to have a good education and social life, might be possible. You've come a long way from where you were, and perhaps the country that you came from.

It's still your choice, and perhaps you can talk to your doctor about this, and see what you two can come up with.

Oh, sleep six hours. I've heard 8 is better, but maybe you can get by with six.

And, "I was good at studies back at home. I got scholarship for pursuing my masters."

You sound world class. That is, you can compete against anybody in the world. What field of study are you in?

Post Edited (Tim Tam) : 10/18/2017 1:10:23 PM (GMT-6)

This medicine you're taking, Paxil, which "treats depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety," says the net, maybe you can look at it as the new normal.

In that, it is better than normal in some ways, in that, because, before you took it, you were very anxious.

It also has some drawbacks, some side effects. So to get the good effects, you're going to have to accept some of the bad, in my view.

It's going to require some work from you, it's not a super pill, it's going to take some effort from you.

You said "I had done electrical engineering back at home." I told you that you were world class.

Then you say, "Sometimes I think why I am not normal like others."

As a sensitive person, I'm like that, also. But sometimes these differences we have are strengths. It may take us awhile to realize that, but they are.

Would you give up your strengths to be like a lot of other people? No.

"Then again go through the way and enjoy my life." That's good.

I know when I was a lot younger, my sensitivity, my mental illness of bipolar, etc., would cause me a lot of trouble. As I got older, it didn't bother me as much and I appreciated my strengths more.

"Sometimes I think that this might cause problems in my marriage also."

I had the same concerns. I thought I had to fit in, as I get older, I realize I don't have the same goals. I don't have to fit into any mold, I can just be myself.

As a bipolar, I have some obsession, also. But I can make it work for me in some ways. It's not all bad.

You say, "When I am alone I think about it a lot."

So, when you're alone you think about your anxiety, your troubles.

I think that's part of the mental illness. I was just recently thinking about my mental illness, bipolar, and realizing that I was still bipolar even when I wasn't having an episode of some sort, or having difficulty.

That is, even when things were going well in my life, when I had the feeling that there was nothing wrong with me, there was something wrong with me. That is, I was still sick, because I had bipolar.

That is, in difficult situations, I didn't do as well as others who did not have mental illness.

But I would block that out, and think that for the last hour or two, or day or two, things were going well, so I was OK, but I'm just now realizing that I wasn't OK, even when things were clam. My life still had bumps in them, which I was blocking out.

For instance, when I'm watching TV, and I'm not in a pressurized social or work situation, I'm just seeing the TV program and I don't see my mental illness. Where is it? I don't see it, so I took that to mean it doesn't exist.

But let there be a problem of some kind, the TV, phone and computer quit working. What am I going to do? I can't call repair for the phone doesn't work. I can't e-mail repair cause the computer has quit working.

That's when I feel my mental illness that "wasn't there" when I was watching TV. It was there. I just didn't see it or feel it, but it was there.

Well, I could walk to John's house and ask, but I don't feel comfortable around John. See there? My mental illness is raising it's head.

I'm saying this because I didn't see this, myself, until about a week ago.

Why am I bringing this up? Because you said, ""When I am alone I think about it a lot," meaning you think about your mental illness a lot when you're alone.

I think about my mental illness a lot, also, when I'm alone. Think about the difficulties in my life when my defenses are down.

I'm just saying, I don't think we can think that we are OK, compared to people who don't have mental illness. We can't completely give up, but I think we have to be aware we do have a major mental illness.

In my view, we can't start at the top thinking we are OK, and work down to a few of our problems. I think we have to start at the bottom and work up.

That is, because a pill makes it where we can function, we can't say, oh, because it has a side effect we don't like which would make us perfect, I'm not taking the pill.

I think we have to take the pill which makes us where we can function, rather than not take the pill because the pill causes a side affect.

We are never going to be perfect. There is no perfect pill. We have to toughen up to realize the pill improves us but does not make us perfect.

OK, here's another one. Would you give up one of your strengths to be like someone who doesn't have mental illness? Would you give up your engineering skills so that you could party down!!!!!

No, and those who can party down probably can't balance their checkbooks. So why would we really want to be like them?

You say, "How was your marriage life then?" I am not good socially or good with females. And those who are have 3 kids in the suburbs, with a high mortgage payment and a wife who either wants them to mow the lawn or get a bigger house.

Right, the ideal life. That's what you get if you win.

So hold on to those engineering skills. The alternative is worse.

Of course, if you don't marry, you live by yourself and your neighbors harass you. I've looked at life from both sides now, and both of them are tough.

Try to be satisfied with what you have.

ISM,

You can absolutely get married and have a family!!!

Your sexual s/e's will likely phase out...

...or you can look into an add-on med to combat the issue (Wellbutrin for example)...or even alternative Rx if need be.

Even if it continues to be an occasional problem...an understanding and open minded wife will realize that intimacy and even sexual satifaction comes in varying forms besides traditional intercouse.

Do not despair...things are going to get better!

Keep working with your coping skills...and you'll see the progress.

S.C.

First of all, I want to complete my studies and then I will try to wean off my meds slowly. Then I will see what happens