Lots of people try anti-anxiety medication and give up in the first few weeks due to severe side effects. I found this post on a blog which shows one person’s experience of giving up medication. I should stress that when altering a dose of medication, starting or stopping, you should always speak to your doctor. That said, if you don’t persevere with it for at 3-4 weeks you are unlikely to know if it can help you or not. Side effects should always be discussed with your doctor.
from: http://anxiety-be-gone.blogspot.com/2006/08/tryin-to-chill-out-on-rainy-sunday.html
“I’ve decided to quit taking this anxiety medication after only five days. I hate the side effects, and when the side effects are worse than the actual ailment I think quitting the medication is the best choice. So last night I missed my dose, and I am waiting to feel the withdrawal symptoms – even after being on this medication for a few days I hear that the withdrawal process can be quite awful. I’m hoping it’s not much more than a slight headache or something, because I would really like my old self back, anxious energy and all.
The medication did help with my anxiety, but only because it made me absolutely numb to everything. I just didn’t have the energy to react to anything, so I couldn’t be my high-strung normal self. I noticed that I “coasted through” some situations that may have made me anxious without this medicine, and I didn’t once have the urge to throw up my food. All positive things, to be sure. But the debilitating exhaustion added to the insomnia, added to the non-stop hunger, was just too much.
I really think that for me, at least, the best idea would probably be to go to therapy on a regular basis, but being abroad may make that difficult. I knew before going into this “experiment” that I hated prescription medication, because I have always had weird side effects when I’ve taken something (this is also something that runs in my family, apparently) but I was willing to try something out since my parents insisted that I really had a problem and sometimes medication does work for problems like mine.
So what have I learned after all this? I still hate prescription medication (even more than before) and I will never again be pressured into asking my doctor to prescribe medication for me when I don’t really feel I need it. Some good lessons to learn, I think.”
Tags: anxiety, doctor, side effect profile, insomnia, celexa, citalopram, anti-depressant, ssri, GAD, Venlaflaxine, effexor, panic attack, phobia, stress management, agoraphobia
