Anxiety Support Group

I've come off of all anit-depressant drugs. Be careful. I think it was Paxil, that was awful for me to come off. I ended up in the ER, thinking I was having a heart attack from the withdrawl. No anti-depressant has ever helped with the anxiety. Maybe Prozac at the very, very beginning...otherwise, I can't even tell I am taking one...so I do not thake them. Only Klonopin. Best wishes to you...I hope you have no symptoms. I never did while going off the others. ((hugs))

im not coming off suddenly, ive gone back down to half a tab, been on them since march, 1/2 - one now back to 1/2 again= mirtazapine im on, so im going to come off them slowly
im expecting some withdrawal symptoms, but hopefully i can be strongenough to come off them
thanks hugs xx

Hang in there. I've come off both Paxil and Xanax and I am back to normal and not feeling a lot of anxiety. At least none that I can't handle by myself. Every day will be better, you'll see.

I just came off lexapro and having a hard time with anxiety. However, I have had a lot of stress in the past year so it was probably a bad idea to stop taking them. Unfortunately, you never know how you will be without them until you are without them. All the time I was on medication, I did not specifically train in meditation, breathing, visualization, coping strategies, etc. So now that I'm off meds, it's very hard...I'm considering going back until my life becomes a little more less eventful and until I have learned some stress-management tactics!

It's probably a good idea to have a steady practice of coping strategies and excercise before you consider tapering off the meds. Good luck

I am in the final days of my celexa withdrawl. Today is day 6 and it should be out of my system today or tomorrow. I have come off many antidepressants and it is horrible. I can't really say I have felt better because I don't think they ever really helped my anxiety much, they normally give me a high heart rate and make my anxiety worse. They do keep my mood better though. I have currently changed from xanax 3x a day to klonopin 3x a day and for the last 2 weeks I have only taken 2 klonopin a day and I have noticed I have been a bit more anxious then normal because there is less in my system at all times. I try to space them 11-12 hours apart but I seem to get withdrawals if I try to space it further. I know everyone wants to be off of meds and I have completely before been off xanax and all antidepressants but found that I just functioned better with a benzo for everyday life and to just hold the edge off of my anxiety with is with me all the time. Even when I worked 70 hours a week last year for 9 months straight I I had almost no anxiety but I was on my benzos.

I think success stories for us are just ones where we can live a normal life regardless of if we are on meds or not. If I have to take a benzo for the rest of my life to function in society as a person then I am completely happy with that. I will still do my exercises and counseling and everything else I do and one day I hope I can go med free but if I don't I just want a decent quality of life for my family.

Good luck and God Bless

thanks for your replies
ive been taking 1/2 tab for 10 days now dropped down on myown, andmy doctor said that was okjust to keep an eye onit, im stopping smoking at the mo too so rying to do one thing slowly at a time, imfeeling ok so far but im monitoring myself and i have my exercise programme and my counselling in place,
thanks again for your responses
xxxxxxx

I've tried coming off before but I think I picked bad timing in my life, After 10 yrs of taking (first paxil and now effexor with busporin) I've decided not to stress myself about quiting the meds..I'm not having any bad side effects, but coming off of something depending on how long you have been taking it can be real hard. The key is "slow" to come off those meds and as long as you don't have a chemical imbalance you can do it!

I have come off Tranxene after being on it for 7-8 years. I was also on Propanolol and Chlomipromine. Quite a concoction!

Anyway, there is light at the end of the tunnel, although it does take a while. I came off all meds last May, had an awful summer, went back on to something called buspirone, came off that in May of this year and life has been better, but still tough at times.

I had bad side effects, largely fatigue, with meds. I do sometimes struggle, but I dunno, I would like to think I can cope better on my own.