Depression and Weight Issues - Anyone with Generalized Anxiety Disorder/Panic, etc.

Hi. I have been coming to 3FC for years and I love it here. I was just wondering if anyone out there deal with Anxitey. I have anxiety problems for about 10 years. Recently they have been worse because I am in the process of building/buying a house and I worried about that and worried about affording the higher mortgage. I worry about most everything though.

I have succeeded in losing 20 pounds this year, but sometimes my anxiety causes me to want to eat more which is ironic since a lot of my anxiety has to do with my health. I still need to lose about 100 pounds.

Melody

i take paxil for anxiety and depression. been taking it for 3 or 4 years now. i used to worry about all kinds of things and things i thought would happen but didnt. the medicine has really made a diffence in my life!

Oh yeah, anxious nelly here. I can't tell you the amount of sleep I lost when I was planning my DH's 50th birthday party.... I felt so stupid b/c I knew it was just me being anxious/worried but the feelings were oh so real.

I don't take anything for it but I'm thinking of going back to my doc and getting something. I always feel on pins and needles.

Social anxiety with reactive depressive episodes. Paxil for me too. I actually only take 1/2 tab evey night now and sleep pretty well. Well .... I do alright until DS crashes DH's truck :) Even that is going better than it could have.

Count me in as well. I have severe anxiety with situational depression. With my fiance gone right now, trying to plan a wedding and being in the military stationed in Germany by myself, the episodes have become more interuptive in my life. Sleep was not even a word in my vocabulary for about 2 months. Could you imagine the face I was walking around with? Ugh. Getting better slowly though. Meditation and thoughts of the future get me through today. Living one day at a time, but in my time.

Yeppers, add me too!
I started taking paxil about two or three years ago. It helps me to be able to leave the house now and it quiets my head down at night, but I still worry about a lot of things. I'm suppose to take 20mg a day, but I usually only take 10mg. I find when I take the 20mg consecutively I sleep almost continuously. Yes the anxiety was gone, but so was my whole life! I was hinting to my dr about something else that would help a little more with the depression and all he suggested was upping my dose of paxil:dizzy: But at least with the paxil I'm able to live a little instead of being constantly paralyzed with fear.

Take care,
K

:wave: hi there, me too!

I take Lexapro and Klonopin. The Klonopin is what works for me. I typically take it at night, otherwise I wouldn't sleep. Sometimes I have to take it during the day - especially if I'm in what I consider to be a stressfull situation, which could be just about anything in my personal life.

Professionally, I'm in my element, cool as a cucumber... don't ever have to take meds during the day. Going to bed at night is hard for me. Hate to have to slow down, etc.

Just moved into a new house, love it and hate the boxes at the same time. I had some weird episode of anxiety for a couple of days but it eventually passed. I just wait it out usually, take a walk, take a bath, play with my nephews, let my wife hold me if I can sit still long enough... just depends.

Good luck to you and you are NOT alone!

Me Too!

I suffer from anxiety and depression. I talk many drugs for the two of them (effexor and welbutron in the morning; tryptaphan, clonozapan and zyprexa at night; atavan as needed).

I seem to go in spurts with the atavan (and the increased anxiety). I will have maybe two weeks of no uncontrolable panic attacks and then all of a sudden I am just overcome by them.

I too have trouble going to sleep. I have always been one who didn't want to sleep because I was afraid I would miss something so I know that is part of it. My son had pneumonia and so was up every four hours to give him meds. After he got better I got pneumonia. I too had to have meds regularly so I would stay up later so I could take the meds and maybe sleep through the rest of the night. It is really taking a concerted effort to get back into a regular sleep pattern because I know that is a big component.

As for what sets me off - it varies. It can be anything from something my husband says going into an uncertain situation.

Hi. I am glad to know that I am not the only one... I am not on medication right now, but I think I am going to go back to my doctor and try meds again. I have taken Paxil and Lexapro in the past. I gained weight with Paxil and had headaches with Lexapro. I think I would like to try Wellbutrin since it causes weight loss instead. I hate living with anxiety. It overshadows every aspect of my life.

Hi there,

i have anxiety, and sometimes, like the period i'm going through right now,
i'm depressed too, you aren't alone,
YEAH it makes losing weight harder.
God Bless you

MEEEEEEEEEE TOOOOOOOOO! I haven't had anxiety in over two years and now it has just crept up on me in the past two weeks. Chest pains, snapping at everyone, and scattered thoughts. Sleep is my only refuge and even that is disturbed with bad dreams. I'm trying to keep my cool and do what I can to manage it until the 20th when I go to the Doctor. I'm not on any meds right now and I know it's bad but I have had to at least drink a glass of wine to take the edge off everyday this week. Not good for the diet but good for my family to handle me LOL! Definetly DON"T feel alone in this. I am so glad that I have people to talk to about this now. It's kinda hard to discuss this with someone who has never experienced it! Hope you feel better too Melody!

I've had bad anxiety for the last couple years. I'm taking lexapro now and it helps. I was taking Klonopin for a while but weaned myself off because I was afraid of getting addicted to it.

I still have trouble sleep sometimes. Last night I woke up at 3am in a panic and took 4 valiums. I was still so groggy when I got up for work.

Anxiety is hard. It's a constant battle.

Anxiety is something I've been dealing with for a very long time. My mind would often get overwhelmed with racing thoughts about what could go wrong - it gets especially bad when I have big things coming up at school and it was horrendous when I was planning my wedding! When I would lie in bed wanting to go to sleep, DH would be snoring next to me and I would toss and turn, not being able to get the rest that I needed. I would tell myself that my worries were silly, that i needed to get over them, but it never really worked.

I eventually decided enough was enough and I went to a psych for a consultation. I ended up going on Lexapro - 10 mg daily - and it has done wonders for me, even after taking it for only two months. My mind feels a lot quieter and I can actually focus on things like work and my hobbies without getting bogged down with worry. Anxiety with me is definitely a constant battle. It will never completely go away, but I'm happy that I have found something to help me handle it better.

You're definitely not the only one.

Hi.. add me to the group. Horrible anxiety, with panic attacks, generalized anxiety disorder along with low grade depression.... I have had wonderful periods in my life where I was anxiety free.. some on meds.. other times not.. I have to say zoloft did wonders for me but it stopped working...
right now i'm on lexapro and wellbutrin. I feel more depressed lately than having anxiety... it is a constant battle... the meds add weight.. but I think it is what you put in your mouth that matters..

I have anxiety disorder and also OCD but I don't take anything for it..(though the doctor had prescribed Zoloft and Lorazepam..I only took these for a month but I just didn't want to become dependant on it).

I have an anxiety disorder as well, which I'm trying to manage without medication. It sometimes coexists with depression, sometimes by itself - been struggling with it for just over 5 years now.

Sucks, doesn't it.

I know that this is old, but i wanted to add to it as well. I have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder and OCD ( i am more obsessive than compulsive though) The OCD has been going on since i was in High school ( i am now 25) I take paxil and xanax. i also take klonopin at night when my mind is going nuts and i cant sleep. otherwise i am up till like 4am. it is hard to lose weight when you have anxiety and panic. but the excercise is actually GOOD for this problem. I see a therapist, but really I think that the excercise has been the best thing. i also reccomend
THE ANXIETY AND PHOBIA WORKBOOK by Edmund J. Bourne, PH.D
a friend recommended it to me and i am so happy that she did! look it up on amazon and you can see everyones opinons on this book. I recommend it to anyone that has problems with anxiety, panic, phobias and OCD.

Hello everyone!

I don't know if I have a chemical imbalance or whatever but my mother is bipolar and a drug addict, don't know if she was bipolar before she became a drug addict but it just makes it worse. And my father was a alcoholic and now is a drug addict. So growing up i was scared constantly cause bad things just kept on happening, and I never knew when my mother was going to go off and get violent. And sad because the my father made it clear that I wasn't wanted by him and even more sad cause i watch my mother fall apart and couldn't do a damn thing to stop it. And she was an amazing mother, so loving and caring, made me feel so beautiful and wanted and when she got into drugs i ended up taking care of her at age 10. I use to think about suicide a lot, I use to be a cutter, I hardly slept, I use to have panic attacks ALL THE TIME and of course be depressed and didn't leave the house in 2 years.

Then I moved, the depression and panic attacks are almost completely gone. With some people it's definitly environment and being expose to horrible things at such a young age. Doctors gave me meds when i was younger but the side affects are worse than the depression sometimes. So i haven't taken anything since I was a teenager. (and of course now reserach shows giving teens antidepression meds makes them want to die even more)
I still have mild panic attacks. But thank god they aren't as bad as they use to be and i go out a lot more!

I have social anxiety, OCD, depression, and am currently taking Fluvoxamine and Seroquel (as my "sleeping pills" though I'm trying to get off Seroquel right now). Sigh.:(

Ok... Wellbutrin increased my anxiety episodes. It increased the severity of my anxiety attacks. However, as with any drug, it works different ways with each of our body chemistries.

I've had anxiety attacks all of my life, but they increased after my father died. I was a victim of severe childhood abuse, and suffered from many phobias. After my father died, I took wellbutrin, paxil and lexapro. Paxil worked the best for my anxiety. However, I still lost a lot of sleep. I used Lunesta to make me sleep because I wasn't getting enough sleep to function.

Adavan, Xanax and Valium were all perscribed to me in the months after my father died. The problem is that they are only meant for short term use. They are schedule 4 drugs and highy abused. I worked for a pharmacy for a while so I'm familiar with these drugs. I didn't want to be dependent on drugs. So I tried a different approach.

What has helped me the MOST has been counseling. In certian situations behavior modification is required. In other situations the pain has got to go somewhere. Your body is going to deal with the traumas in life.... It doesn't matter if you want to or not! I started seeing a counselor at Church, but continued my meds. Slowly, I weened myself (with DR's approval) from all medications. I don't know how many of you are believers. However, I know that my healing has come from the Lord, and for that I am thankful! That is what has worked for me.

However, we all have different circumstances, and body chemistry. There may be a time where I need medication again. Just play it by ear because.... It's a daily battle that we will have to fight for the rest of our lives.