At what point should medication be considered?

[Nelkitty]

I'm having a bad, bad anxiety month. I'm the sort of person who is super resistant to taking medication- nothing against meds or other people who take them, they just make me nervous because I don't know what they'll do to me- but recently with this flood of anxiety I've been contemplating talking to my doc about it. I told my therapist I wasn't interested in medication when I started seeing her, so I don't know if she'd have suggested it by now. I start my last year of uni in three weeks, and I know my anxiety is going to skyrocket.

(due to failing classes last semester, I have to pass every class this year or I'll be kicked out. No pressure!)

I'm frightened of side-effects and I need my mental clarity when I can get it (I'm pretty intensely dissociative on a good day) so I'm really torn about asking about meds. I don't know if I can handle much more anxiety. I don't know what to do.

So, it has me thinking: When do you think is a good time to look into medication?

Your answers and any advice is hugely appreciated.

[hagar]

In my opinion, it's a good time to consider medication when your symptoms are having a considerable negative impact on your ability to function and on your life (whatever you would consider that to be). I can understand being wary of meds, but you deserve to not have this awful anxiety, and meds could help make that possible. Maybe you and your doctor could have an open dialogue about the risks/perceived risks of meds versus the possible benefits you could get from them?

[melissaw72]

I remember the stress of college.  I think I would start out school, then see what degree of pressure/stress you are under, and go from there.  Maybe you only need a really low dose of a benzo (if anything) to calm your mind so you can concentrate better.  Part of me wishes I had that when in college, but for the weekends only so I could relax.  If you do start a med though, my advice is to try it on a weekend or something so you can anticipate any side effects.

 

Maybe if you do decide to try something now, you can start it within the 3 weeks before school starts to get an idea of what it feels like.  Then if you don't like how you feel being on the med, you can stop it before starting classes.

[fya13]

I can identify with the med anxiety.  I dont like starting new meds either. If your symptoms are impacting your life, its worth some thought. A good doctor will work with you on your fears, and let you start slow with very small dosages, if you decide that you want to try something. 

[San]

Some people do have med anxiety. What about trying CBT for your anxiety? No side effects, but there is homework.

[kateislate]

I think the threshold is different for everyone. For some people it's a last resort. Others are much more comfortable with Meds. And I don't think there's really a right answer.

But there's no harm in just talking to a psychiatrist about what the options are. It may be that some of your anxieties are exaggerated, and there are always options like trying a very small dose and titrating up very slowly. And some medications are less likely to create the side effects you're worried about than others.

And it may be that they have other ideas of what may help. There are many different strategies for tackling anxiety.

[jt07]

I, personally, consider meds when the anxiety is so severe that it is impacting my life. I could try therapy and hope that eventually I could combat the anxiety successfully without meds, but in the meantime, why suffer when I don't have to?

[tamagotchi]

I don't know what kind of therapy you are doing, but some people get a lot of relief with CBT / DBT techniques.  Personally I do use DBT techniques and sometimes they help enough, other times I am still not able to function and it really helps to take an ativan also.  I don't take it very often, only when the symptoms are severe.

 

I was afraid to take benzos at first, but ativan is short acting and therefore pretty easy to try.  If you are trying something short acting like this though, if you take it when you're not feel extremely anxious or whatever, you may not get a good idea of how it will work for you, particularly how it may affect your mental clarity.  You'll need to try it in the mental state you're planning to take it in, if that makes sense.  

 

For me it is a little sedating if I'm only feeling mildly anxious to start with, but in a real situation when I need it, it isn't sedating in the least, I actually feel more awake and alert, because it calms me down just enough that I can focus and think more clearly.

[Nelkitty]

I'm currently doing CBT and sometime this year I'm going to be transferred into a two year study on BPD where I'll either undergo DBT or Schema Therapy, but in the mean time I have a life I need to control, just for this year, or I'll lose a good four years hard work. Medication really is a last resort for me, so I'm trying to weigh it up. I don't even know if I'm allowed medication when I start the study....

 

Ugh, everything is hard and upsetting. Thank you for your responses guys, I appreciate it. I'm definitely going to talk to my therapist about it on Tuesday, but I don't know how much good that'll do.

[Rowlena]

For me medication helps to keep from drowining again, and not going a 1-10 every other month. When I was first starting I was very concenred and google told me that some anti-depresents had diet reulations like no chease! (I was so ill at that time I was devestated about this fact, I love chease and still do)

Also being influenced by my mother that psych drugs where bad and that you had to be on them for life had scared me away from them for many years.

I started out on just a few rx's then added as needed. I see a NP who is both argressive and conservitive when it comes to treatment.

 

I also had/still have anxiety when I was in school and my epiosde was 4.5 weeks before the end of the spring semester. I did not want to toss that hard work, so I figured i'd have to do the hard work to keep myself level for those next 4.5 weeks.

 

Also the Benzo, just having the blister pack made me feel calmer becuse I knew I had a back up.  Therapy helped me a lot as well and I think rx's should also require therapy.

 

Best Wishes