stressedout,

Your reply, your post is excellent. Thank you

Nephro

I take 5 mg of Valium. It is a good drug if it is used properly and I agree that we need to keep on a low dosage.

Valium has been a life saver for me. I am border line asthmatic and when I feel that air hunger and cannot take a deep breath Valium is more effective than allergy medication.

My family Dr after 12 years has finally prescribed Valium and 30 mg of codeine for my pain. I refuse to take anything stronger. I am lucky his nurse had a talk with him.

I do notice if I take a Valium I have very vivid dreams and even some nightmares. My old Dr told me he had noticed that too when he was on it. I don't take it but once a day . It makes me very sleepy.

Streesed out I agree that was very good information.

You are welcome. "Walk a mile in my footsteps" would be a good way to look at this.

I wish there was a healthy way to get rid of stress, nervousness, anxiety, uncontrolled brain firing, but without insurance, buying drugs online or on the street is our only option. sad isn't it?

There are things you can do, but when you've tried them all (properly) then one cannot be blamed for looking for medication.

That is not your only option. I refuse to pay my ridiculous co-pays once a week for therapy for my anxiety and panic. So I bought the workbook that my therapist suggested - "Managing Your Anxiety and Panic", and luckily enough, the place I bought it from gave me the therapist's guide for free. So now I am my own therapist, and am working through the workbook. It's been very good for me, as I use less of my klonopin to get "outside" activities done now. That's just ONE example of how you can help yourself.

There are doctors and therapists Psychiatrists and Psychologists in particula) practicing in mental health hospitals, that also provide outpatient care, that will allow you to see them and pay by a sliding scale fee.

Perhaps calling around to the hospitals, clinics and even therapists in your area you may find a doctor and a therapist that will take you on as a patient and allow you to pay according a sliding scale fee.

It's not easy. It starts with therapy as well as seeing a Psychiatrist to diagnose what is the underlying cause of stress. You can't just walk in and say "Hi Doc, I'm stressed, hand me some benzos." It's not quite that easy. It's a long path and sometimes they never quite figure out what is wrong although they have some pretty good ideas.

One thing I would mention is be careful of your family history. I have noticed if you mention that a relative has a certain disorder they will look for a way to see if you too have a disorder. Granted mental health issues can be genetic, but I find all to often they misdiagnose a patient because they feel if one relative has it, chances are the patient has it. Try with a clean slate first.

With regards to "talking therapy", I had the incredible good luck to fall into the hands of a retired psychology professor, who was trained in the "old school" in Germany and went on to get a masters and then a PhD-Ed from Duke.
Plus, he had 30 years of teaching under his belt.

He is the only talking therapist who ever did me any good and I had the good fortune and money to see him for ten years.

Every other talking therapist I have seen has left me cold, and I now realize how lucky I was to find the old "Professor".

The odds of finding someone with this kind of training and experience are slim to non, in the US, at least.

While advances have been made in the understanding of brain chemistry, I am sad that the old fashioned, "One on One" type of therapy is now going the way of the covered wagon.

During the ten years of seeing the professor, I took no medication, but made great advances in my journey toward mental health.

Talking therapy did not completely rid me of anxiety and I spent 12+ years with a Psyciatrist who handed out benzos and SSRI's and fancied himself to be a top level talking therapist.
In the end, my MD. turned out to be quite mad.

Today, I am lucky enough to have found a young Asian MD. at a public clinic and have reduced my level of valium use to 15mg per day.
At the rate doctors move around, he may not be there next visit and I will be left to my own devices again.

The struggle for true mental health is a journey and not a destination, But as I grow older, I find less to fear and could care less what others think of me.
That change has helped :>)

Whatever path one chooses to try, expect no sudden miricles (but possible sudden insights ?)
It's a life long struggle for everyone and do not believe the people who appear to be happy as all get out, all the time, as they have their own private demons.

Good Luck to all of us.

Wow, you've really been through a lot. I wonder if it's just easier for Dr.s to hand out drugs, or if there is a shortage of good Drs. so they get so busy they don't have time for one on one therapy?

your'e right Ballerina59 ,thanks

I would try a beta-blocker. I use metoprolol and i'll say anything. Just read my posts.

Paxil works for me.

I also use a beta blocker called Inderal and klonopin. Have you been to see a psychiatrist? Because of my insurance, I had to go to one and it was his idea to use the klonopin long term. We would talk some each visit but it really didn't do that much good. After a while, I was able to get my family doc to prescribe these two maintenance meds for me and no longer had to see the shrink. Over time my social anxiety has improved. It *will* get better but you just need to do some exposure therapy and the meds will help you enter the situations.

xxx off topic deleted xxx

May I ask why you use metoprolol and not inderal, and do you know the differences between the two?

Metoprolol is a blood pressure medicine. My husband uses it. Didn't know it could be used for anything else.

From reading on the web it seems they're very similar medications, I'm just wondering which works better for social anxiety and which is prescribed more for it.

Metoprolol can be used off label for social anxiety if it does not lower BP too much. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_blocker

Metoprolol is more selective on cardiac function than some of the other beta-blockers and has less effect on bronchial receptors, meaning less airways resistance, so may be safer for those who suffer from certain respiratory conditions.

Propranolol is the classic beta-blocker prescribed for physical symptoms of anxiety, and is licensed for this use in the UK.

When I was younger and had to give a speech in class or a presentation at work, my heart felt like it was pounding. The Inderal stopped the pounding.

Speaking from my own personal experience with extreme anxiety, especially in social situations. I used to start sweating profusely and feel like my skin was crawling off when strangers started a conversation with me. Most Recently I have been using a 45mg Remeron/10mg Valium per day combo. Remeron at night and 5mg valium twice per day. I know everyone responds differently but this seems to be the magic formula for me. Tried Celexa, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, and they only increased my anxiety. With this current combination I just feel level and smooth. Once again, this is just what is working for me. You may have to try multiple combo's as i did before finding the right cocktail. Best of luck to you

Giving a speach or presentation or being talked by strangers are, in my opinion, natural reasons to feel anxiety and to be nervous. It is normal and most people feel some level of anxiety, sweating, trembling, palpitations, and other side effects... which do not really require medication... the strange thing would be not to feel any anxiety and not to have some reaction... that is how humans evolved...
If you start taking anxiety medication to fight what most people live with or solve with practice... you may only ad to the problem...

True, very true. I am working with my primary to get off of my xanax that he has had me on for 18 years. I'm doing this for myself. I feel better by just taking the steps of talking to him about it. He wants to get my other medical issues in tact before we do this, because I also have a heart condition.

I agree with Admin that the biggest part of the battle is training yourself and facing your fears. I worked for a while at a men's recovery center as a counselor and that experience in itself brought me a long way out of my shell. Standing in front of 20 men and trying to encourage them to stay the course was absolutely frightening everytime i did it. At that time I was on no meds, but the whole time I felt like I was literally floating. Like I would pass out at any minute. After facing my fears for months though I still suffered way too much fear. Sometimes I would have to excuse myself to the restroom and rinse my face with cold water and get my breathing under control.

I guess it is a personal decision to use something responsibly just to level the playing field. I myself use a relatively low dosage of tranqulizer. 1 10mg split in two doses throughout the day. I was handicapped for so long by my condition that I am extremely grateful for a medication that keeps me from hiding in bathrooms throughout social gatherings, trying to gather my strength for another forray into the lion's den.

Yeah that is pretty bad. I completely understand where your coming from. A lot of us here do.

Taz if you don't mind me asking what specific heart condition. I am in nursing school and I'm such a nerd that I get excited talking and learning about people's conditions. Totally understand if its too personal tho

I have cardiomyapathy. I got damage to the muscle in my left ventricle when I was in labor with my son 18 years ago.

I am sorry to hear that Taz. Weakened heart muscle fibers are a tough one. No issues with your mitral valve as of yet? Just maybe a decrease in the ability of that ventricle to deliver systemic blood flow. Weak contractions? What specific issues is this causing you. Poor circulation?

I have about 35% blood flow. I take lynoxon, lasix, and potassium. Oh I retan fluid everyday. My heart enlarges. Hard to breath sometimes.