Meds, Weed, Or Time

[iwannadeletethis]

So I wake up with anxiety more and more frequently. I always thought I had trust issues, but I think I've just been directing my anxiety at others. Usually I wake up with something to be anxious about, but last night I woke up with a clear head and anxiety. It took away half a nights sleep and I realized I may want some chemical help to help me as I heal. Hoping to hear some opinions!

 

[The Albatross]

Sorry I'm not following. "I woke up with a clear head and anxiety... it took away a half a nights sleep..." Waking up is more frequent... but anxiety is the core issue... what have you tried other than chemical interventions or waiting it out and hoping it changes?

There are other ways to deal with anxiety than the title of your post. Not intended to offend, just trying to understand.

 

[hodge]

I would definitely go with meds. An anti-anxiety and an anti-nightmare before bed really help, even though I usually wake up a couple of hours later. Then I usually do a little work than take another anti-nightmare med, then go back to bed. I sleep better in the morning.

 

[BlueDream]

I use weed to help with my anxiety. I use to take Xanax, after 13 years I had to quit. I think the pills pushed down all of my feelings, including the need to help myself. So my advise....MJ!!

 

[The Albatross]

Hmm... I preferred tools/skill sets over chemical insulation... til just a couple weeks ago and that's just cuz my doc insists I quit smoking cigs.

 

[Neverthesame]

Meds are not a terrible place to start, though I always suggest that you research everything you are prescribed. Especially if you are looking into medication as a more short term band-aid approach.

A lesson I learned the hard way this last year, the technical definition of "addictive" apparently only applies to chemicals that cause damage to you (or something semantically rubbish like that). Either way, having to face weeks of withdrawal symptoms when you weren't expecting to is not fun, amusing or helpful for building a trusting relationship with your physician. (Now I'm projecting, sorry. Still a bit bitter about that.)

Anyways.
Prazosin is one of the anti-nightmare meds commonly prescribed, works pretty well. It is an "off label" use of that drug. It is normally prescribed to treat hypertension (high blood pressure). Can make you very lightheaded, dizzy and prone to fainting the first few times you take it. Stand up slowly. can also cause tachycardia (rapid heart beat).

The med I used to swear by, untill it inexplicably stopped working (no idea why).
Amitriptyline is a tricyclic antidepressant. Has the added bonus of being quite sedating, apparently also works to supress nightmares. I never found it did that very well, but when it worked for me I slept well. Also made me hungry as anything, I put a fair bit of weight on with that drug. Went from being emaciated to human, not bad for me, but something to note. Also (this is definitely different for different people.) I could quit the stuff on a whim, without any noticable side effects other than, rebound insomnia. Made it my go to band-aid drug of choice.

Weed? Makes me nervous and paranoid. No idea how that would work, don't use it myself.

Time, while your immediate upleasant anxiety symptoms may decrease as external stressors lessen around you. PTSD is a wound time does not heal, sadly.

A couple of ideas, hope you find some use in them.

 

[joeylittle]

Another vote for prazosin.

The action that causes prazosin to eliminate night disturbances is (as far as is understood) very similar, if not identical, to the reason cannabis eliminates night disturbances. Both will keep you from spending as much time in REM sleep, which is understood to be the active, dreaming phase of sleep. They also affect the quality of REM sleep (making it less REM-y, literally - your eyes move less).

Now, cannabis has all sorts of other cool actions that we don't totally understand...but it is understood that you are risking the efficacy of those actions long-term through continued use. Simply put, the more you use it, the more of it you will need to use.

Prazosin doesn't have that problem - although I'm curious, @Neverthesame, if you have any theories as to why it stopped working for you.

But overall, prazosin is very straightforward. It is not an option for everyone, but it has zero addictive potential, and it's consistent in its dosing.

 

[Neverthesame]

@joeylittle Oops. I didn't make that as clear as I should have. My apologies.

It was the Amitriptyline that stopped working, probably due to age related physiological changes. As it's the only thing I can think of that has changed, since last it worked.

The Prazosin was working fine, but I was unable to keep taking it as the tachycardia didn't lessen after the normal adjustment period, or even a few weeks after. I was holding a steady 120-140 bpm resting. Other than feeling like my heart was trying to escape my chest, it worked quite well.

 

[Anarchy]

Skills - something that meds cannot teach you.


Ignore the word "depression" in the title and try listening to ten or twenty minutes of this, and see what you think https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mindful+way+through,+full+audiobook . (it's the 5 hour plus audio you want, when you find one, download it as an mp3, as it keeps getting taken down from youtube due to copyright issues) edit: its free!

Incidentally, as @Neverthesame has pointed out, some of the supposedly non addictive meds can take you months to get off again, and can come with some really shitty "side effects" like long term trashed sex life (one friend lost the ability to have multiple orgasms and permanently lost the ability to lubricate).

 

[iwannadeletethis]

@thealbatross there are other options, but until I'm more stable I can neither afford those or get to stability. I've been waiting it out for 20 years. My life needs stability to get there. Can't afford counseling without stability. But I need something just to get me to the next step.