Should I get on medication for anxiety?

[kuku_but_not4u]

So for the past 6 months I have been taking Zoloft for my depression, and so far it's doing an okay job at keeping suicidal thoughts and strong urges to harm myself or start bursting into tears at bay. However, I also have anxiety and the Zoloft is doing nothing to help with that, not that I really expected it to. I freak out over the tiniest of things, I suspect things are bad or I'm convinced of the worst case scenarios. Mostly the things I worry about are if my parents still love me, if my friends care about me, or if my partner is cheating on me even though there's no evidence to support any of those claims. I'm scared that my anxiety is sabotaging relationships and the such and I can never be relaxed, the thought of being totally relaxed and calm makes me think something's wrong.

Point of this question however, is that I'm wondering if I should take another medication for my anxiety and if there's any anxiety medications that work well or don't counter interact with Zoloft. I'm 20 so i'm hoping I don't have to stay on these meds for a long time, but I feel like I need something to calm me down.

Thank you for listening. :)

[Paxiled]

"Not that I really expected it to."  Bingo.  Zoloft is actually one of the better meds for anxiety, but we all have different reactions.  For me Zoloft was like drinking water -- I had no effects or side effects.  But these drugs don't cure anything, they suppress symptoms, and if you're strong-minded enough you can create a problem stronger than the med.  If you're going to bother taking a med, expect it to work.  What you don't mention is if you're in therapy to try and get past this unhappy thinking; that's how you get to where you can stop taking the stuff.  There are other meds you can add to the Zoloft to see if that helps -- it's called augmentation, and you're a candidate because the Zoloft is helping, just not well enough.  But then you'll have to deal with stopping more than one drug when the time comes, so you do have to weight that in.  Anti-anxiety drugs, usually benzos, are hard to stop taking if you take them regularly, but if you only take them when you absolutely need them you can avoid addiction.  There are also natural remedies that can be taken for anxiety as long as you don't take ones that target the same neurotransmitters as the Zoloft is targeting -- that's another way to augment.  You can bring anti-anxiety lifestyle changes into your life if they're not already there, which besides therapy for anxiety would include exercise, relaxation techniques such as meditation, breathing exercises, and the like.  Or, you can decide the Zoloft isn't doing the trick, taper off of it as slowly as you need to so you avoid withdrawals, and try a different antidepressant that might work better for both problems.  So yeah, you've got lots of options out there still to try.

[Paxiled]

And one other thing -- you mention "should" in there.  There are no shoulds -- there are steps, different steps for different minds.

[Countrymorninggirl]

I can't give you any info on drugs because I don't know enough about that subject. So, here's my experience so far, I've only tried Wellbutrin and Zoloft for Depression and anxiety, as of now I still take the Zoloft but stopped the Wellbutrin after 3 weeks of giving it a try, I was having bad side effects. Everyone is different though what doesn't work for some, will work for others. Anyways, I just wanted to say, I know what you're going through, and hope you find what you need. I'm still in the process of trying to find something that works better for me. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

[TheEducator]

In South Africa we have Cilift/Cipramil. Ask your doctor about whether you get this in your Country. Very good meds for both depression and anxiety relief.