Posted by Racer on June 19, 2005, at 12:23:31
In reply to What's the best anti-anxiety medication?, posted by stresser on June 17, 2005, at 22:23:03
Sounds flip, but it's true, too. For instance, Phillipa likes Valium, but I find that the benzos do leave me depressed, and don't reduce anxiety effectively if I"m already upset -- I'd have to take the benzos before anything happened, in hopes that it would stop me from getting upset in the first place.
On the other hand, I quite like the beta blockers. In fact, it was after taking a beta blocker for the first time that I realized how anxious I had been for how long, since the feeling of relaxation was so entirely unfamiliar!
Part of the difference is what sort of anxiety symptoms you get. I don't get a lot of the racing thoughts, or catastrophizing, or any of that. I just get physical stuff: tense muscles, difficulty breathing, etc -- and then, once I realize that that's going on, I often have to stop and think about what's happening in my life that might be causing it. So, for me, something like a beta blocker that stops the physical reaction is fine, and then I can address whatever it is that's causing the stress.
Hope that helps a bit.
poster:Racer
thread:514666
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050617/msgs/515511.html