Joined: Feb 18, 2005 Posts: 9 Location: United States of America
Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 8:57 am Post subject: My introduction...
Hi,
My name is Dave. I have determined that I have some anxiety problems and some social ones specifically. My symptoms are most commonly situational. Like shaky hands, (my left more than my right) and stuttering. I grew up pretty normal but can remember having very slight hand trembling as early as college (I am 31 now).
I get the most anxious when eating and drinking publicly and it is almost impossible for me to use two utensils at once (like eating and cutting a steak) without major trembling in my left hand. I tend to order meals that just require eating with a fork so I can just use my more steady right hand. Drinking out of glasses (especially without straws is very rare for me in public. And drinking with my left hand is out of the question. The only thing that gets me through family dinner outings and social situations is to have some alcohol. It usually only takes me about 1-3 beers to feel pretty confident again (and in turn I am much more relaxed in conversation).
While I don't consider myself an alcoholic per se, I am getting tired of having to "booze myself up" for social gatherings so I finally decided (after about 8 years of dealing with this) to see a doctor. I saw a general DO and he tested my reflexes and talked to me a bit. My reflexes were whacked and off the charts as he put it. He said I had a number of options including prozac, paxil, etc. I told him a friend of mine that has major anxiety takes xanax and it has really helped him. So he prescribes me 30 tabs of 2mg xanax to be taken once daily. Not the time release kind.
Day 1: I take my 2mg dose and in about half an hour am asleep for 3 hours. When I wake up I feel very relaxed. I make some hot tea and am pleased to see that I am drinking dangerously hot liquid from a small mug with NO TREMBLING!!! YAY!! I stay pretty relaxed the rest of the day and just kind of bask in the my new found calmness.
Day2: I take a half a pill (1mg) and again conk out for about an hour or so. Wake up feel relaxed. Go about my daily routine and 7 hrs later take the 2nd half of the dose. Fall asleep again for a bit. After waking up I go about my business and have a very good nights sleep.
Day 3: I again take a half pill and proceed to go out and eat in a public restaraunt. I feel very relaxed. I drink from a cup (no straw) no signs of trembling. Everything is good. I come home and type on my computer with no trembling (which is normally a problem for me) and am starting to feel very good about this new medicine. I decide to not take the other half (1mg dose).
So then I decide to checkout some more info on xanax (and other meds online to see what the dealio is. I begin to get pretty concerned as I read over and over how addictive it can become and how most people dont take it regularly for very long. The image I have of my life starting to turn around for the better starts to crumble as I realize I am about to get addicted to a very powerful drug.
You should know that I have (up until recently) been a heavy pot smoker and have done my fair share of LSD and mushrooms in my ealry twenties so some of my symptoms might be hardwired into my nervous system by now. Before seeing the doctor I took it upon myself to quit smoking pot so I could at least give my brain a chance to start clearing up. And I wont ever do harder drugs again.
So my main question is: Should I be taking xanax regularly? Situationally? Should I just stick to having my few beers before social events and not worry too much about real medication? Is there a better or more natural remedy for what I have? I don't want this intro post to be much longer than it already is, but I can provide more detail if needed. Please if anyone can offer some guidance here I would really appreciate it.
I wish i could help you, but im at a loss myself on this. i tried a lot of medications. I was actually thining of taking beer. (once a day) is it good idea? to take a 1 beer once everymorning before i leave for school. Ill try this for the rest of the semester. Maybe beer is a good natural cure. And just 1 can, i dont think it'll affect my thinking at school. but will make me more relaxed with my peers. what do u think?
Joined: Feb 18, 2005 Posts: 9 Location: United States of America
Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 9:19 am Post subject:
marcovich wrote:
I wish i could help you, but im at a loss myself on this. i tried a lot of medications. I was actually thining of taking beer. (once a day) is it good idea? to take a 1 beer once everymorning before i leave for school. Ill try this for the rest of the semester. Maybe beer is a good natural cure. And just 1 can, i dont think it'll affect my thinking at school. but will make me more relaxed with my peers. what do u think?
That is a good question, marc. I often wonder that if I start drinking early in the day if I will essentially become an alcoholic. The key would be to keep it under control I guess. But anyone would tell you(us) that this is not healthy and there are better ways of treatment I would guess.
I mean when I take this xanax there is no way I am gonna go drive right away. What's the difference with alcohol? Is it worse to be addicted to a benzo or alcohol?
Joined: Apr 07, 2004 Posts: 339 Location: United Kingdom
Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 9:41 am Post subject:
Are you actually anxious, or are you just anxious about your hands shaking? I think you should look for other options, like anti-spasmodics, or... whatever it is that epileptics take, which I forget the name of. I don't know if they would work in your situation, but it's worth finding out. If alcohol helps, you should drink red wine rather than beer, because it's good for you. It takes your liver one hour to get rid of one unit of alcohol, so if you don't drink too much, I don't see how it could do much harm.
Joined: Feb 18, 2005 Posts: 9 Location: United States of America
Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 9:45 am Post subject:
Crimefish wrote:
Are you actually anxious, or are you just anxious about your hands shaking? I think you should look for other options, like anti-spasmodics, or... whatever it is that epileptics take, which I forget the name of. I don't know if they would work in your situation, but it's worth finding out. If alcohol helps, you should drink red wine rather than beer, because it's good for you. It takes your liver one hour to get rid of one unit of alcohol, so if you don't drink too much, I don't see how it could do much harm.
I think it's a combo of both. Problem with drinking wine is that I would spill it as I tried to drink it...lol. I am pretty limited to drinking beer from a bottle in public. Like a big ass baby...needin a bottle.... .
What are anti-spasmodics? I will google also to see for myself. And thanks for the reply .
Joined: Feb 18, 2005 Posts: 9 Location: United States of America
Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 9:52 am Post subject:
Also,
Growing up as a kid I suffered from really bad stage fright. I performed in concerts and recitals and always had the butterflies and trembles. I beleive most of my current condition might stem from this early childhood stress. It was always so embarrassing to practice so hard and then lock up and not even be able to play correctly in performance because of nerves.
As time went on these symptoms could have developed into full on (social) anxiety disorders. Ironically enough I am a pro musician today. Fortunately I play in a rock band where drinking before and during the show is encouraged...lol.
Joined: Apr 07, 2004 Posts: 339 Location: United Kingdom
Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 10:19 am Post subject:
Anti-spasmodics are used by irritable bowel syndrome sufferers, to relax the muscles in their intestines. I don't know if they work on the whole body or just the intestines.
The other thing I meant was anti-convulsants. They're used by epileptics and people with certain mental disorders. I just thought I'd mention it in case it would help. Doctors often don't tell you everything.
Try putting wine in a beer bottle? No one will tell the difference. lol.
And you said "what the dealio" in your original post. I like you already.
Joined: Feb 18, 2005 Posts: 9 Location: United States of America
Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 10:31 am Post subject:
Crimefish wrote:
Try putting wine in a beer bottle? No one will tell the difference. lol.
And you said "what the dealio" in your original post. I like you already.
The main problem with that is that the left hand would be shaking too much to make the transfer. I might be able to do it alone, but in public....shaky shaky. Well I am going to bed now. Looking forward to getting up tomorrow and havin a mg of xanax.
Joined: Jan 02, 2005 Posts: 461 Location: Australia
Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 12:04 pm Post subject:
marcovich wrote:
I wish i could help you, but im at a loss myself on this. i tried a lot of medications. I was actually thining of taking beer. (once a day) is it good idea? to take a 1 beer once everymorning before i leave for school. Ill try this for the rest of the semester. Maybe beer is a good natural cure. And just 1 can, i dont think it'll affect my thinking at school. but will make me more relaxed with my peers. what do u think?
Alcohol is definately not the answer. Firstly, the effects of alcohol wear off fairly quickly, the rate of about a beer per hour for an adult male, so having a beer or even three will have no beneficial effect. Secondly, once the beer wears off you will end up feeling worse than you would if you had not had the beer in the first place. Thirdly, your breath will stink of beer - you might not smell it but most other people will - and this is not good.
On the matter of the xanax use, I would recommend that they be used very sparingly. If you keep them for special occasions like the family functions of which you spoke, than you will get good benefits from the drug without forming a dependency. Thats alright although it would be ideal to pursue use of relaxtion techniques and maybe therapy as well.
_________________ Two men look through the same bars, one sees mud the other sees stars.
Joined: Feb 18, 2005 Posts: 9 Location: United States of America
Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 12:31 am Post subject:
Update:
Talked to a good friend over AIM today and he strongly recommended I give paxil a try. So my new doc even agreed to buy back my $20 bottle of xanax and give me a prescrotion for paxil.
After spending a lot of today researching paxil on the internet I am very excited to be getting some tomorrow. The fact that it treats both depression and (social)anxiety is very appealing to me. The fact that a couple people have mentioned that their doctors say it is OK to drink alcohol (very mildly of course) is also very comforting to me.
Anybody here taking paxil? I would love to hear some stories and experiences...
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