# My new meds have made my life easier



## readytoliveagain (Apr 17, 2006)

Klonapin and Lexapro are the 2 drugs that were prescribed to me 6 days ago. 

It was the first time I saw a psych. It took me 2 days of worring about it before I called to get an appointment.

I think the problem people and myself have with calling a psych is that once you do, you truly believe you have a mental issue. Which my whole life I tried to tell myself that I dont and that I am normal. 

Well for some reason it was so refreshing for a profesional to tell me that in fact do have a form of social anxiety and depression and he said you will be cured and you will feel 100% better when you are done with the treatment

I was so excited and was already thinking about how much better my life can be!

Heres a small list of some things that caused me stress or I couldnt do before the meds:

Meeting at a bar with friends 
Going inside a grocery store 
picking up the phone at work 
talking to someone I dont know 
Talking to a girl that I like 
going to a basketball court and playing ball with others 
going for a jog outside 
walking outside 
whenever my cell phone rang 
driving my car 
thinking about flying in an airplane 
going into an elevator
going to the mall
going to the beach
and on my days off just wanting to stay in bed or in the house and not talk to anyone.

Now after a few days on the medication I feel everything is manageable and not worth stressing over. That weight I was caring around in the form of pressure and anxiety has been less and less. which in turn allows me to do more and more.

Im not great with words, but it's like now I am trying to figure out what I want to do with my life now that I can manage life and not run away from life. 

I am starting to understand that I will have to go through CBT, cognitive behavioral therapy(?) because my brain for the last 15 years has been programmed to run and hope problems go away as a response to most things in life. Now that the anxiety is suppressed I want to be proactive and need to learn how to think that way. Now that my brain and body are allowing me to have the ability to solve problems and talk to people without my body and brain locking up with anxiety at the first sign of a problem.

Thank you SASers for sharing your stories and letting me realize that I wasnt alone and that I needed to go see a doctor. And that there are a lot of us suffering from SA. I hope this is the start of a new beginning and if I can triumph past SA I will seek to help others. As I didnt know what I had for almost 13 years and that is way to long for someone to suffer when there is a cure or at least a manageable cure.

I dont like taking medication for anything but after research I hope everyone who needs help will consider going to see a psych and looking to go on meds. It is a scary thought but well worth the risk vs reward.

What I am able to do now and not feel anxious and start sweating.
Meeting at a bar with friends - no sweating
Going inside a grocery store - very little anxiety
picking up the phone at work - able to pick up the phone now
talking to someone I dont know - so much easier
Talking to a girl that I like - havent had the chance but feel more confident
going to a basketball court and playing ball with others - havent had thechance
going for a jog outside - less anxiety
walking outside - no anxiety
whenever my cell phone rang - no anxiety
driving my car - no anxiety
thinking about flying in an airplane - less anxiety
going into an elevator - hadnt had the chance yet
going to the mall - havent done yet
going to the beach - havent done yet
and on my days off just wanting to stay in bed or in the house and not talk to anyone. - Now I want to go out side and meet with friends



:banana


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## Veggie1 (Jan 12, 2006)

Congratulations, readytoliveagain! 

When I was younger, I didn't want to take meds, either. Had I, though, I might've retained the few good friends I'd made back then. 

I wish you continued improvement and success! :yay :clap


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## limited (Apr 3, 2006)

Your post is inspiring (making me want to the make that phone call)... i hope things continue to improve.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

Alright, ReadyToLiveAgain :boogie :boogie :boogie!


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## readytoliveagain (Apr 17, 2006)

Thank you everyone for your support! 

Limited, have you made that call yet? It took a lot of energy, mentally and physically to make that call. I wish you the best in trying to do it! 

Things are still going well for me. The only major side effect I have been having is fatigue. Does anyone have any reccomendations for trying to deal with fatigue as low energy in the work place isnt helping. 

The great thing is that I no longer am having chest pains from anxiety. I have been worring about that for the past year when it started to become more frequent. 

Still going strong and trying to live a better life. Now I need to get out of bed and go to work! 

:cup


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## guitarik (Apr 18, 2006)

Your lucky,When I went the dr. He said I should try CBT counseling and try an SSRI but absolutly no benzos because he said they are very addicting and not really the answer in the long run. Just a band-aid that in the long run are addicting ,dependency issues, withdrawal issues.ect.. He said CBT is the Gold Standard therapy for s.a today.{This coming from a pdr.} I said but I'm suffering from anxiety all the time and need help with my s.a. It's been a life long problem! He said I'll Rx an SSRI but that's it. I got up and said thanks and left. Going to try another dr. This sucks.


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## readytoliveagain (Apr 17, 2006)

guitarik,

Im not a dr, but when I talked to my psychiatrist(sp?) it seemed he knew exactly what I needed. Right now I sweat less in public and dont have panic attacks in heavy social situations since taking the drugs.

As for every day anxiety, it is still holding me back from everything I want to do. I still have that inferior feeling.

I am only going to be on the meds for about 2 to 6 months and with CBT the Dr said I should be close to 100% clear of anxiety.

I cant wait to start CBT


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

Im starting CBT for SA soon too. How much klonopin are you taking?


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## readytoliveagain (Apr 17, 2006)

I wanted to add a quote to the mix as I think it pertains to my Social Anxiety and my life directly. 

I am a Tampa Bay Buccaneer fan and I remember a quote by head coach Jon Gruden, "You either apply pressure in life or pressure is applied to you." 

This is the message and meaning I get from that quote. 

The quote has to do with being "pro-active" IMO 

Say you are an office worker, if you get all your work done first, you apply pressure on your co-workers to work as hard as you. 

Say you procrastinate and everyone is working harder then you at work. They are applying pressure on you to work harder. 

Having SA it is hard for me to be proactive because it takes a lot of energy in the day to do simple tasks like going to the grocery store or hanging out at the club or answering calls from clients. A lot on needless pressure is being applied to me every day and most of it is generated in my mind. 


Having the ability to call a client 3 times to make sure something gets done will take pressure off of me and put it on them. Being able to ask questions to strangers when I need help takes pressure off of me and on to them for the answers. Being able to preform my job at 100% puts pressure on the company to pay me more money. 

It seems since I have SA and feel inferior to others, I seem to give in to people and feel pressure to much. I am ready to apply pressure on others. Not bad pressure but, like asking a friend to meet up for a cup of coffee instead of a friend asking me to go out for a cup of coffee and feeling bad(pressure) If I say no. 

Its from a football coach so it could be said better like your either proactive in life or reactive in life. A proactive life will be a happier life. Its being able to reach that goal and maintain proactiveness is a long journey that is a dream of mine. 

This has been another rambling from Readytoliveagain opcorn


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## readytoliveagain (Apr 17, 2006)

Noca said:


> Im starting CBT for SA soon too. How much klonopin are you taking?


 1.0mg and only once before bedtime everyday.


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