Completely cured my anxiety, but now I have another problem!!

[WackyJacky29]

Well, about 2 years ago I suffered a death in the family.. my brother who I grew up with my whole life died of cancer at the young age of only 35... after this happend I became what I like to call "Terminally depressed" .. I ended up losing my job because I didn't want to leave my bed and be out in the world, I just wanted my brother to come back... Sooner or later I started forcing myself to get up out of bed and by this time I was still very depressed but not enough anymore to make me completely immobilized, I also found myself to be INCREDIBLY anxious dealing with severe anxiety all throughout my days dealing with CONSTANT panic attacks.  Especially in social situations...  So a friend of mine convinced me to go see a psychologist who eventually referred me to a pyschiatrist who I began to see regularly...This doctor must have put me on and I must have tried every drug out there from zoloft to paxil, prozac, celexa, buspar, klonopin, and most recently xanax which I'm still on.  

NONE of these meds worked for me... the depression, anxiety, and worst of all-panic attacks continued.  Eventually, desperate, I began scouring the web for answers and I eventually came across this site .. http://www.anxiety.pcti-system.com .. which is this program to cure anxiety/panic attacks for good all naturally.. To make a long story short, it worked incredibly for me.. my anxiety is gone, depression as well almost all but gone, and I haven't had a panic attack in over a month.  I do though from time to time still feel sorrow over my brother.  However, this is my problem:  I'm still taking my xanax because I'm completely ADDICTED.. when I try to stop taking it I start going through incredible withdrawls mentally and physically... If I would have known of this addiction problem I would have never allowed my doctor to put me on them.  Has anyone else suffered from benzo addiction and if so, know how to safely get off it with minimal side effects??  Please any advice/comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

P.s- For those of you on SSRI antidepressants, I would really recommend taking a look at this site: http://ssristories.com/ .. From what I can tell looking in hindsight, these are potentially very unhealthy dangerous drugs.

[cnote]

So sorry to hear about your loss. But am so excited to hear about you overcoming your anxiety and depression!!! =) Good for you.

As for the xanax... I totally agree with the people above... you need to talk to you Dr. about a weening regiment. It is doable. And it shouldnt be that hard if you do it slowly and right. I watched my brother go cold turkey on a Oxyconton addiction... that stuff is like synthetic heroin pretty much... but he MADE IT. =) He laughs at me when I'm scared to come off of .05mg of ativan.... haha.

So I would advise talking to your Dr. about weening.

Also, I know there are a lot of people out there who don't agree with SSRI's... but this is an anxiety forum... and people here, as myself, have been, or are just now taking our 1st SSRI or anti-depressant.

Some of us need it to get through our episodes. So posting that link might freak a lot of people out about taking their SSRI's.

All you mostly hear about is the bad.... and not the good.

It's the same in marketing... people take more time to complain than to praise. It's just the way it is.

Good luck to you. I will check out http://www.anxiety.pcti-system.com. Sounds interesting. =)

[MissTiaraz82]

Hey Jacky.. I'm sorry to hear about your brother.  Congradulations on overcoming your anxiety and panic attacks... It's always good to hear positive stories from people.  I also for the most part am over my anxiety.. coincidently as a result of the same program from the very site that you mentioned.  It has worked very well for me as well... As far as your addiction problem, I'm not sure but I would say the way to do it would be to probably slowly ween off of it just like you would with any other drug.. Have you told your doctor about this problem???

[theotterone]

What a tough thing to go through!  And congratulations on finding something that works for you!

Talk to the doctor about tapering off the Xanax.  You should be able to work out a schedule to get you off it.  It will be hard, but it can be done (talking as a former Xanax addict myself)

That said, while I respect your point of view, please realize that SSRI's can be helpful to people.  I am not saying all the answers lie in medication, and I am constantly reminded of that being on ADD medication and noticing my ADD tendencies even with it.  But, they can be a helpful tool when used in combination with talk therapy.  So when used properly, they may not be unheathly and dangerous.  All medication has risks, regardless of the type.

Again, it is GREAT that you found something that works!  I sincerely hope this helps to give you a great outlook on your future.  Work with your doctor, and you can get off the medication. (Also, there are other people here who have a really good idea about tapering off medication,  but a doctor is good to monitor your progress and address any medical issues if they arise)  Hope you have a great holiday weekend!