I already go frequently to therapy and take SSRIs (for over 10 years now). I guess they kinda help as antidepressants, but anxiety wise I haven’t had any luck if it’s not Benzos or Weed (but weed creates money anxiety on the comedown)
Should I try to meditate? I’m thinking on reading anxiety books but am worried the usual tips (go exercise, eat healthier, sleep better, etc) won’t exactly work out since we think differently. I know they are all good advice but they are extremely hard to stick to.
Stimulants help but I get extremely anxious on the comedown after they wear out, so I decided not to try them anymore.
Non stimulants ADHD meds were not helping, but I might have not given them enough time to work.
Idk, I’m confused right now. Too much bruxism lately, muscle cramps and trouble sleeping. Gabapentin helps to sleep but I don’t take it daily, afraid I can get “addicted”. I usually skip weekends.
For bruxism I take 20mg of magnesium (bi)glycinate daily, and that has helped tremendously with my muscle clenching and quality of sleep as well. If you decide to take magnesium make sure it is labeled “glycinate” as other ones can have laxative properties!
I also have GAD and ADHD and have always been prescribed a SNRI that is secondline treatment of ADHD. I am currently on a combo of Straterra and Vyvanse, and when I hit the 5 month period of being on it, my anxiety disappeared overnight. It was miraculous actually.
My psychiatrist believes that people with GAD and ADHD need combo therapy with stimulants, and stimulants side effects will amplify the GAD. That belief has been a tremendous relief for me regarding my symptoms, as I never went through the heightened anxiety so many other ADHD patients seem to talk about when going through stimulant therapy.
I can only speak for myself, but what I do seems to help.
Firstly, while I don’t/can’t really meditate, I do try to be more mindful of my emotions. In particular if I feel something negative, instead of immediately reacting to it, I try to take a moment to investigate why I’m feeling that way. Often times it ends up being something that someone has unwittingly done to me that has broken some internal rule that I keep, and ultimately my anger won’t change anything. That has helped me to chill out enormously.
Something else that seems to be really helping me at the moment is that I’m trying to massively reduce my sugar intake. I’m pretty overweight, and am an absolute fiend for chocolate, so have been going through another of my phases where I’ll eat three or four chocolate bars a day if left to my own devices. This makes me snacky, so I want to eat more, leaving me feeling like shit. Cutting out excess sugar altogether removes that urge, and after a few days I become a lot more calm and feel better about myself.
I havent been going to gym or meditating for few months and my anxiety is now the worst it has been for years so there’s that.
Look into vortioxetine, it’s not quite an SSRI but a multimodal antidepressant with a similar safety profile as SSRIs, it basically functions like an SSRI but is rather clear headed as opposed to the slight fog that traditional SSRIs induce. Generally less anxious with it than I was with sertraline.
Other aspects are, vape your weed, don’t smoke - it’s sooo much cheaper and healthier.
Cut out tobacco, and try reducing caffiene, if applicable
YMMV and I’m not a doctor but personally since I started taking Strattera (spelling?) my anxiety levels have gone way down.
I went from a couple panic attacks per month to zero after the first month and I haven’t had one since starting 7 months ago.
My first few weeks with Strattera were pretty hectic but after that and boosting my dosage it’s been mostly smooth sailing.
One thing I would recommend though is definitely looking into ways to manage your anxiety in general: square breathing, cutting back on caffeine, and getting exercise helps me a lot. It’s basically how I brought my panic attacks from once a week or more to twice a month initially.
Also environment changes can help immensely but that’s much harder to take care of.
