"You'll always have to take meds."

[lilchrissy]

Great job Mary/medicine woman. You have the right attitude to succeed

[KRISTEN]

Sad but true for most of us anyway. Its a lifelong battle. Its been 20 yrs.for me Longest time off meds has been about 6 mos.

[shellfishstudios]

I think the decision to take meds is a very personal one between patient and doctor/therapist. We really are prisoners of our own thinking. When we tell ourselves we may never come off of the meds our self-talk (as Lucinda describes it) becomes negative with no real chance of hope. We are setting ourselves up to fail if we keep walking out of the therapist's office with a prescription. So one thing I have done that is a positive is changed my self talk from "meds all my life" to "meds today." I find taking my life one day at a time right now only asks me to have a 24 hour window of expectation and that's all I can do right now. The course is making it better each day though. After all we're not guaranteed tomorrow so why waste today worrying over what may or may not happen. I have changed my self-talk from "wow, I',m having to be medicated all my life" to "just for today I will take my 4 p.m. meds." Tomorrow will be here soon enough and I will deal with it then.

Hope this helps.
Warmly ~
Mary

That's a nice way to think about it, thanks! I'm on Paxil and want off. Hoping I will be able to after this program. I've tried in the past, withdrawls were bad and depression came back- ugh! But I feel spacy and gained lots of weight on it, so I'll keep hoping! Thanks for the motivation!
-Michelle

[egriff]

I would like to come off meds but because of my doctor telling me I might be on them forever I also feel discouraged. Your not alone. I am trying a naturopath now and she is giving me great hope to go the natural route and come off meds permanently. We'll see.

I was told I would be on meds the rest of my life too and I believed them. Happily once I learned how to use the CBT exercise called the TEA form I trnasformed my thinking and my anxiety slowly dissipated and I got off of all meds and feel better than ever now and I know others with the same story. The mistake most people make is trying to get off meds before they learn coping skills necessary to get off of them. Most of our anxiety comes from our improper processing of our thoughts, so if you learn to process them objectively rather than reactively the anxiety disappears. Meds for anxiety are like treating a cold. All they do is alleviate symptoms without attacking the cause of the problem.

[NHWS]

I was on Effexor XR for 9 years, and recently switched to the generic (Venlafaxine). My family Dr. moved away a couple of years ago to start a new practice in another state, but before he left he basically told me, (in a polite and semi-nurturing way) that I'd always be on these meds. So I kinda took it for granted. A year or so passed and I was talking with my current Dr. (the replacement to the one who moved away) and he said pretty much the same thing, that anxiety wasn't combatted with simple will power. I don't know if I will be able to accompish my goal of being med free with these nay sayers constantly feeding me thier pro medication stance. My therapist says she likes the idea of me trying to get off them, or at least drastically reduce the amount I'm currently taking. But she did say that without the proper structure to support me through med. detox and stressfull life thereafter I was sure to be setting myself up for failure. So I'm taking this one easy, feeling things out. My plan is if I'm able to rid myself of the anxiety attacks and Agoraphobia, and stop using the Lorazapam all together, I'll consider it a little bit more closely. Right now it's time to fill my tool box, so to speak, and kick the living $h*t out of this anxiety! I WILL TAKE NO PRISONERS!!! LOL

[JR5]

Great attitude NHWS I was stuck in the med trap for too long also but feels great to be beyond it now. YOu definitely need tools and some effort but I can tell you the payoff is soo worth it. I still do the TEA form exercise and the Counter exercise from the CBT book by Sam Obitz and the transformation in my attitude and life has been remarkable. I have no doubt you will feel the same way too

[Paisleegreen]

Glad to hear the news, JR5! I'm off of meds except for Temazepam to help me sleep at night. I would like to go off of it. I mainly take it because I have a snoring husband and a young adult son that works late and night and comes in at the wee hours of the morning and isn't being careful to be quiet. Or I'm just very sensitive and can hear everything! LOL! And that is while I'm still on the sleeping aid. paislee

[Arlenez]

That's really funny Paislee, I may need that sleep aid Nice to meet you, I have read a few of your posts here already and they are really good and helpful

[Arlenez]

Great attitude NHWS I was stuck in the med trap for too long also but feels great to be beyond it now. YOu definitely need tools and some effort but I can tell you the payoff is soo worth it. I still do the TEA form exercise and the Counter exercise from the CBT book by Sam Obitz and the transformation in my attitude and life has been remarkable. I have no doubt you will feel the same way too

I agree JR5, the TEA forms have helped me immensely. I didn't use the counter exercise as much and have not used it since I first read this book, but I am still using the TEA forms and they are a blessing.

[egriff]

Great attitude NHWS I was stuck in the med trap for too long also but feels great to be beyond it now. YOu definitely need tools and some effort but I can tell you the payoff is soo worth it. I still do the TEA form exercise and the Counter exercise from the CBT book by Sam Obitz and the transformation in my attitude and life has been remarkable. I have no doubt you will feel the same way too

I agree JR5, the TEA forms have helped me immensely. I didn't use the counter exercise as much and have not used it since I first read this book, but I am still using the TEA forms and they are a blessing.

Give yourself a pat on the back Arlenez
Keep using the TEA forms and you will continue to feel great if your experience is at all like mine has been with them!