Anxiety

[Santa]

Hey,

Recently I had a bad expierence after smoking weed (posted a thread on it). I'm getting better day by day, but it seems I have Anxiety.

I get the anxiety by worrying about the anxiety mostly. I am able to go fairly long period without having an anxiety attack now, and when I do they arn't that bad - I can just kind of ignore them.

I've seen a few docters etc, and they want me to take Beta-Blockers to help break the cycle, although I feel like I am gradually getting better anyway. The Dr said taking the beta-blockers will speed up the recovery (by eliminating the physical side, thus taking the fear away), but if i don't take them I will still recover, just slower.

I asked about the side-effects of the drugs, and he told me I wont get any, bar maybe cold fingers/toes. However, I read on the box/internet that they can cause other side-effects. Are these things safe or not?

Also reading on here/the internet it seems like people don't recover from anxiety

So basically, can you recover from anxiety? And will these beta blockers do anything to me?

 

Thanks!

[Clementine orange]

Google "Cognitive therapy" or "cognitive behavior therapy" and look into that. Don't let the word "therapy" freak you out.

Anxiety and depression are pretty common for people who have quit smoking pot. Sometimes there is a self-medication side to things. Not in all cases but in some. Some people smoke once in a while, casually, for fun or whatever but chronic use is usually a sign of something wrong.

 

I was on an anti-depressent for a while and I couldn't handle the side effects so I quit. Quitting that wasn't easy either. I'd being doing for research if I were you.

[Santa]

Sorry I didn't make it clear... im not quitting pot, I had a bad expeirence on pot. I have quit pot but wasn't addicted before/didn't take it much.

The anxiety caused because of the fear of the bad expeirence I had (feeling like i was going to die, intense panic and paranoia).

The question is, can anxiety be cured?

And are Beta-Blockers safe?

[bebecole]

ive had a bad case of anxiety disorder and im most positive it stemmed from my addiction to pot. I got so high one time i freaked myself out and had a anxiety attack. a few years after that i quit and thats when my disorder came. ive have never heard of beta-blockers, and i dont know what it is. But the way i got rid of my anxiety was therapy. i was in regular therapy and i did some congitive therapy also. it took about 3 months of therapy for me along side working out (exercise helps anxiety) to get rid of my disorder..

believe me, its 100% percent worth it. my life is so much easier now with out anxiety. i knoe how it feels to have that disorder and its a horrible feeling. theres no easy way out of this disorder, if you want to get rid of it you have to put in the time and effort, but it CAN be done.

good luck

[Bethany]

Don't be scared of a natural reaction. Everyone suffers from anxiety, it can't be avoided. It's our body's reacting to worry, stress, FEAR etc and we would have to be dead not to have at least some.

 

And don't go getting scared of this 'second fear' that arises when you feel the 'first fear' coming on. The second 'fear' will die down on its own and so will the first without you having to do anything, so why worry?

 

Relax and let it wash over you while getting on with your day. Sounds to simple?....it takes time for it to work but it really IS that simple and it really does work. Good Luck.

[Santa]

cheers for your replies.

I took some beta-blockers today and it worked really well (heart beat slowed down for the first itme in a week), so hopefully when I come off i'll be fine.

Beta blockers work by stopping your body releaisng adrenaline. Anxiety is when you release too much adrenaline (fight or flight mechanism), and this speeds up your heart and all the other stuff, so makes people worry they are ill etc.

It's a vicious cycle, but the theory behind the beta blockers is if you stop the attacks happening, you will learn to forget about having attacks, and thus hopefully be cured.

Thanks for your posts guys!