social anxiety

  Is there anyone here that started these meds for social anxiety. This is the reason I did, xanax (biggest mistake yet of my life) and then did a detox in 2 weeks (bigger mistake), I know that stress, any stress makes you feel alot worse, I allready had the intrusive negative thoughts and extreme anxiety and its like I almost cant see going through this much longer, especially a year or more, its been 4 months, has anyone been in a similiar situation, all day long the ONLY thoughts I have are whether if I do make it through this, Im going to have an even more sensitive cns than had, and i was allready having a ROUGH time, i feel like i just literally destroyed my life.

believe it or not, many times when people come off, they discover that many issues disappear. It's hard to explain.

So please dont' think you will be the same or worse, cuz you might actually be better and stronger! It happened to me and it has happened to many others.  Your cns will recover from wd, and you may even find that your social anxiety has improved. 

How much to you take daily now?  Unless you are on a really high dose I don't know why it should take a year for you to get off it. Within reason, the quicker you are off, the quicker your cns will heal.  Have you had any windows of feeling half-way okay since you started your taper?  When I started to get them it was easier to remind myself that the bad times would pass.  You will not always feel the way you do today.  Promise.

  I would just welcome with open arms the old me, it funny that going through this, now you find all the things that are natural or things you can learn to do differently, I know we'll all be stronger in mind after this I just hope the body can recover fully, xanax is great for OCCASIONAL use, but everyday is bs, my prick docter, I cant blame her fully, but any WARNING at all would of been nice.

 

 

  I dont take any now, I tapered in two weeeks from 3mg, only took it for a month total, and the first 3 weeks was only 2mg

  and yeah, I definetly have windows alot feeling 75%, but like it is with this social issue, i mean, you guys ever have your chest get so tight and just feel like its going to blow up

Mine feels more like I can't breathe but I know what you mean.  I definitely avoid gatherings of people because of my anxiety.  I've been that way as long as I can remember although it's certainly gotten worse in recent years.

 

So glad you are mostly doing well. Man, that was a fast taper but I know you are glad to have it behind you.  Sometimes I think about speeding mine up but I'm too chicken.  Anyway, the end is in sight and I don't intend to blow it now.

  and yeah, I definetly have windows alot feeling 75%, but like it is with this social issue, i mean, you guys ever have your chest get so tight and just feel like its going to blow up

 

It makes me feel like I am going to throw up.  Until recently I couldn't go anywhere where I had to socialize, it was horrible but it's much better now.  I had it to some extent before but I could keep it under control but during wd I couldn't handle it with everything else so I didn't go out.  After going through all this I'm stronger and it doesn't matter so much any more, I feel more free to be.  Once you get through this I think you will see things have changed for you, too. 

I wasn't put on Xanax because of social anxiety...but I sure do feel your pain!  I tell everyone at work that I'm socially retarded...LOL  I do not know how to mingle.  When I won the customer service award, I knew I would have to attend the awards ceremony & dinner.  The first hour or so was for MINGLING!!  LOL  In the past I definately would have popped a xanax to get through that one..BUT I DID IT ON MY OWN!!  I probably walked around looking like a complete idiot, couldn't think of much of anything to say, have no idea what the names are of people I met because my brain never stopped going AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...but I did it and I did it without drugs!!  You will get there too.  It's amazing how strong you feel after battling and winning the fight against benzo withdrawal!!  You have not destroyed your life.  I fully believe you will be stronger once this is over.  If you can beat benzos...you can do anything!

 

Love,

 

Jen

I wasn't put on Xanax because of social anxiety...but I sure do feel your pain!  I tell everyone at work that I'm socially retarded...LOL  I do not know how to mingle.  When I won the customer service award, I knew I would have to attend the awards ceremony & dinner.  The first hour or so was for MINGLING!!  LOL  In the past I definately would have popped a xanax to get through that one..BUT I DID IT ON MY OWN!!  I probably walked around looking like a complete idiot, couldn't think of much of anything to say, have no idea what the names are of people I met because my brain never stopped going AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...but I did it and I did it without drugs!!  You will get there too.  It's amazing how strong you feel after battling and winning the fight against benzo withdrawal!!  You have not destroyed your life.  I fully believe you will be stronger once this is over.  If you can beat benzos...you can do anything!

 

 

It's amazing what we will do on our own to never have to go through this again!!  Jen, I can feel what you went through right now and I'm thinking OMG!!  I would have been sweating it before I had to mingle! 

  Socially retarted is a great way of putting it, I cant stand the word anxiety anymore, after this xanax bs, everything is anxiety, fear, sensitivity to anything, enough seriously.

 

Tropicalsoul you c/t 6 mg klonipin, as in overnight? How are you doing these days, that takes strength, thats intense really, I was at 3mg and not for very long, you feeling a little better these days.

 

 

  

 

Tropicalsoul you c/t 6 mg klonipin, as in overnight? How are you doing these days, that takes strength, thats intense really, I was at 3mg and not for very long, you feeling a little better these days.

 

 

 

I was in tolerance and very sick, the drs. were not helping and deep down I knew it was the drugs so I quit on Oct. 15, '07 and never took another one.  I don't know if it was strength or insanity but I did what I felt I had to do.  I really thought I was dying and for the next 3 months most days and nights were straight out of a Stephen King novel. I had some days that I could function but I had to really, really push myself and it was only 2 or 3 that I can remember.

 

 

I'm now 8 months out and I still have some symptoms and dark days but much, much better than back then. I just got back from vacation and my depression lifted while I was gone.  It was wonderful.  I'm looking forward to the day that I can say I'm 100% healed!  Compared to where I came from just a few months ago I do feel 90% better but I'm looking for the whole deal.

 

I was in tolerance for a long time so in reality I'm better now than I was a year ago.  The only thing I take now, and very rarely, is a Tylenol pm, Tylenol, and daily an Omega 3 supplement.  I was a walking pharmacy before, I was taking meds for the side effects of the meds.  It was crazy.  I was spending $$$ each month in co-pays for meds.

 

Everyone will heal, it takes time and a whole lot of patience.  If you're not strong when this starts you will be before it's over!!

 

  Ive got omega 3s, b-viatamins, amino acids but dont take any of them, I know right now i cant handle the B's, are the omega 3 helpful

I don't know if they help with w/d but I've been taking Omega 3 for years for other conditions.  I'm fairly certain it can't hurt and I've seen it recommended.

  Ive got omega 3s, b-viatamins, amino acids but dont take any of them, I know right now i cant handle the B's, are the omega 3 helpful

 

The Omega 3's are supposed to help with depression and they have other health benefits.  They help me and I've never heard of anyone that can't take them.

Omega 3’s do help. I took them while I was withdrawing from Klonopin, and my impression was that they worked quite well. I haven’t been taking them recently, but thanks to reading this thread, I have become newly inspired, and have just purchased some online.

 

The brand I was using is made by Metagenics and is called “EPA-DHA Complex”…. They have a great website, and free shipping!

 

trustmark.org

 

As for the Social anxiety… I am in the same boat as you. I was originally put on Klonopin about 4 years ago for social anxiety that was pretty serious as far as I am concerned. It is a difficult thing to deal with, and I felt that it was time to find a medication that could help me live my life. Klonopin did help. I felt better immediately, finally able to come out of “hiding’. I think what happened to me over extended time however, was that I started to become immune to the dosage that I was taking, and began to mix other benzo’s on top of Klonopin… what a haze that put me into. So my social anxiety became relative to that as well. In other words, I had social anxiety still, and was trying hard to find the right dosage/combinations of benzos to completely cover it up (this never worked, of course).

 

Now, after being relatively benzo free (with one brief digression into the world of Lorazapam about a month ago), I feel relatively good about my social anxiety. I do things socially now, that I wouldn’t have thought possible when I was still on klonopin. There are times where I feel more confident than others, and maybe it has always been that way, but I try hard to resist the urge not to socialize, and just move through it; whether or not I feel anxious.

 

Good luck to you! And I hope you try the omega-3’s

 

 

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