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I have been suffering non stop anxiety for 3 months Please HELP ME :( !!

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Posted 6/2/2013 5:56 AM (GMT 0)
I have Pure OCD harm / going crazy type and I think I also have GAD. I was taking cymbalta until february then I began to have problems sleeping and panic attacks. I quit cymbalta I had the worse withdrawal with panic attacks and Extreme anxiety and OCD for one month and half. Then because my OCD and anxiety wouldn't go away I tried Prozac because I heard is good for OCD. I felt weird and high and very nauseous my stomach couldn't handle it after 4 weeks I stopped it. I am college student I almost lost the semester because of cymbalta withdrawal, I couldn't even stand for 4 weeks I couldn't even walk straight. Right now June I am still having really bad anxiety problems but I don't have panic all day. I have anxiety and really bad OCD, and since I kind of know what I have I try to not obsess and do what I learned before with my psychologist , I try to not do any compulsion for example if I am afraid of hurting someone clearning something in the kitchen , I do not run away from my fear I stay there doing what I have to do with anxiety and panic but I still do everything . My OCD jumps from being afraid of going crazy, of hallucinating having schizophrenia , of being a bad person, of hurting somone, getting depressed and hurting myself ( I am terrified of getting depressed) or any thought that scares me it could be anything. Its a constant worry about all my stupid intrusive thoughts I know I have nothing but OCD makes me doubt and when i doubt I panic . I am not taking any pill right now for OCD , I have tried Luvox, Prozac, Lexapro , Zoloft and Cymbalta. The one that worked was Lexapro for one year and half I felt normal , still with OCD but normal then after some family and school problems. I got panic attacks again, I then I began cymbalta. I really don't know what to do I only take xanax a night to sleep when i need it because in the day I never take anything I try to take the panic and stand it. I try my best to control myself but the more I try the more my mind keeps analyzing everything I think over and over. I am just really afraid I want my life back , I want to be calm I think cymbalta really hurt me because I never experienced anxiety this bad for such a long time.

Thank you for all your help and opinions.
Posted 6/2/2013 3:27 PM (GMT 0)
Hi luna.

I am sorry to hear about your frustrating experience with the Rx troubles. It sounds like you have bee through a lot these last few months!

Have you considered this? You could ask your doctor about going back on Lexapro, since that was the best choice for you thus far. When and if you had acute anxiety or a panic attack, you could then use your Xanax.

Many people find the combination of an SSRI with a benzo taken only as needed, a good treatment plan.

You may also want to consider re-visiting therapy for a boost in your skills, in regards to shutting down an attack.

I wish you the best in dealing with this...keep posting with us for support. We understand and care, so let us know how you are doing soon.;)

S.C.
Posted 6/2/2013 5:55 PM (GMT 0)
for my severe anxiety it tooks years and many medications and finally the only one that helped for a long time was Seroquel. Then my anxiety started to creep up a bit so they upped the Seroquel and added Gabapentin. The two seems to work well for my anxiety. I am on Cymbalta for depression and OCD but also for my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Some meds can take 4 weeks for your body to adjust and also it takes 4-6 weeks for SSRIs to really start working and then at that point it should be being increased until you reach the maximum dose. All in all this can take months.
Posted 6/3/2013 5:26 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you so much , I took cymbalta for 6 months i kind of started to feel better but when I did I got really bad sleeping problems, I couldnt sleep at 5 am in the morning. I had a high feeling all the time and also I had memory problems. I was doing fine with lexapro then I got panic attacks. I usually dont care about ocd , the problem is when I am anxious I get a lot of panic and anxiety and that makes the OCD worse. Most times I even forget I have ocd when I feel good.
Posted 6/3/2013 5:32 AM (GMT 0)
I don't know if I should go back to lexapro because I feel maybe if I take therapy maybe I can learn myself to control it. I had it since I was like kid. I never knew I had it , or panic attack problems. I think I was scared of saying anything. For years I forgot about the problem but whenever I am under a lot of stress it comes back :/.
Posted 6/3/2013 7:43 AM (GMT 0)
Luna

CBT is as effective as any SSRI, numerous clinical studies have shown this to be true. CBT in combination with an SSRI is exceptionally helpful to those with acute anxiety.

Either way you look at it, CBT is massively effective in overcoming anxiety of any magnitude. I started out with a self test about about 2 months ago that defined my anxiety as moderate to severe. I had to force myself out the door in the morning, massive IBS, terrified of going to work, living from benzo to benzo when I started a self help book on CBT. I took the test last week and it is now mild. Still working on eliminating it altogether, but therapy takes time.

Drugs are good, the Xanax helped me get started on CBT but I'm proud to say I haven't had a Xanax since about 3 weeks ago. I feel better and stronger every day because of CBT.

Please look into it, the moment you start working to help yourself is the moment you start chipping away at your anxiety.

Joshua
Posted 6/3/2013 8:21 AM (GMT 0)
Joshua,

Which CBT book are you reading? I was just curious as I am SLOWLY putting together positive steps tp help with my anxiety.
Posted 6/3/2013 9:04 AM (GMT 0)
It's called The Feeling Good Handbook, David Burns. It's got some workbook attorney activities and easy reading. I read the kindle version sucks cause you can't write in it obviously so paperback is what I bought and its very good.
Posted 6/3/2013 4:29 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks. I will check it out.
Posted 6/5/2013 5:41 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you Joshua!Thank you everyone ! I bought a book about OCD a self help book. I just wonder if CTB works with OCD. I know that OCD is pretty much caused by anxiety. I don't believe it is the other way around because my OCD disappears when I am not anxious. Sometimes I even forget I have it, some people say OCD causes anxiety. I actually believe that when my anxiety is bad for any reason , anything that is happening in my life OCD comes back. I have never had any really bad obvious compulsions, everything is mostly mental like. When I worry about some thought or anything , i go over and over on my mind about it trying to make reason my thoughts. Then I get racing thoughts . Then I think "OMG what I am thinking !!" I think I must be really crazy. Then I start panicking and thinking on a catastrophic way like I never going to get better, what if I get depressed and I can't live my life normally. Then I get a panic attack fortunately I don't have much panic attacks like once a day. But racing thoughts and anxiety very bad anxiety. I feel like I should go running and scream outside. But I never really do anything :(
Lately I am really Irritable , because I am really anxious.I cry sometimes but I don't think I am depressed I actually fear to become depressed and hurt myself. When i think is even a possibility I get really horrible panic attacks like someone please help me. Do any of these symptoms happen to anyone here? Please if so share because I really FEEL like I am a crazy person.:(
Posted 6/5/2013 5:42 AM (GMT 0)
I have really no way of saying thank you. It really helps to vent ! I just want to be like I was before february :(
Posted 6/5/2013 10:34 PM (GMT 0)
I just have this feeling that therapy with your current med will bring you around, ask your doctor.

Larry ***
Posted 6/5/2013 11:31 PM (GMT 0)
Yes CBT is effective in the treament and management of OCD, so keep pursuing help in that!

We have some CBT worksheet to download...some are specifically for OCD, so you may want to check them out.;)

Here is the link:http://www.get.gg/freedownloads2.htm

S.C.
Posted 6/7/2013 6:25 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you ! I am just waiting for my appointment. I will do those. I am not taking any pill right now only xanax for when I have a terrible panic attack. Most of the time I just try to be calm or I drink linden tea. My OCD is weird most times I really don't have any visible compulsions, just like 100000 worries and images of bad thins happening. I have read about OCD that is mostly obsessions is called "Pure O ". I have heard many people say CTB doesn't work with pure O. But I think its pretty much the same, in the end is all OCD , and all OCD is all anxiety. So I really don't know. When my OCD is really bad I do have some washing compulsions but never so bad that I can't continue with my life. Does anyone here have Pure Obsessional OCD ? Is there such thing as that ?

I just feel I need to accept I have OCD and embrace it . I feel like Why I have this ? I hate it so much because it really is annoying. It is really hard when you have this intrusive worries about so many things, I love my life and I love my family , I just want to be back to normal.
Posted 6/8/2013 2:15 AM (GMT 0)
All I ever used was xanax and therapy, I Pray it works for You as well as it did for me. Peace!

Larry ***
Posted 6/10/2013 6:28 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you everyone. Right now I am having the worse panic attack ever. Last two weeks I had some OCD issues as usual. But right now My anxiety is again on its highest peak. What I currently obsess about is. Harm OCD with my family and myself. And going crazy then hurting someone. Well this happen after I watch a lot of news, and every time see some news about someone going crazy and hurting someone I get it. my appointment is on a week. I however when I see some news or whatever that has to do with harm I try to watch it because I feel if I run away from it my OCD gets worse. Thank you Larry I took therapy for like 1 month and i started to feel better and because my insurance didn't cover it ! I stopped going :/. So I think what I need to do is really have therapy for a while and work on my OCD. And also I want to learn to drive , I have not learn not because of my OCD but because of different reasons. But then I think OMG what if I get harm OCD :S!!! Thanks for your help. I think is time for me to really take care of my OCD.
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