The Return Of Anxiety

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just1primate

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About 10 years ago, right after my son was born, I began to have violent intrusive thoughts about harming him. I suffered through these for a while before finally seeing a Doctor. I also at the same time suffered from panic and anxiety, likely due to the obsessive thoughts. Long story short, I ended up divorced, which caused even MORE anxiety/depression. Went on Lexapro 10mg for about 8 years at that point, which helped a great deal. I stopped the Lexapro about 8 months ago, and have also since quit smoking (About 3 months, on the patch). The last few weeks my anxiety and panic has returned with a vengeance, so much so that I have made a new appointment with a Psychiatrist. Is it normal to have the return of symptoms like this?, after what seemed to be a resolution? Is it the quiting smoking? Do I maybe really have a chemical irablance that will keep me on the meRAB forever just to have some relief? My son is 10, I have joint custody and dont want these issues affecting our relationship. Please help...
 
My anxiety and major panic attacks are much better after seeing a therapist and realizing what they were but anytime I stop my medication they come back. I'm dealing right now with changing meRAB to counter some of the unwanted side effects like low libido but I have a feeling I will be on them forever. I don't think that is uncommon. I have also started seeing a therapist again after 10 years and that is with being on meRAB the whole time.
 
Something strange I have noticed, is that 10 years ago when this started, I was taking Allegra-D at the time for allergies, for a month or so. After stopping them, the problems subsided, even though i WAS on lexapro by then, not sure which was the reason for them abating. However, these all started again, after 2 weeks of Claritin!!! Any coincidence here??
 
Yes, go see your doctor for sure. Tell them everything.

Anxiety can return, especially after quitting smoking and medication. A few things you could do: get back on your medication for now and then look into alternate remedies to wean off of it.

There are also other alternative supplemental options you could research such as L-Theanine, 5-HTP, GABA, etc...

Meditation is helpful as well, check to see if you have a 'Mindfulness Meditation' course near you. Acupuncture, yoga can help as well. Don't be erabarrassed to try everything. Your mental health is worth it.
 
Maybe the allergy medicine has some kind of stimulant that makes your anxiety worse. I am not sure just a thought. Good luck friend hope you find an answer and feel better.
 
Hi just1primate. I think wlftn had some really good advice to give you. Yeah, definitely don't be afraid to try different things. When I had anxiety, there were things I tried that worked and others that didn't until we found the root cause as a food allergy! One thing that worked was biofeedback therapy and I highly recommend it. Even though I no longer suffer from anxiety, I still use the things I learned from that therapy sometimes when I feel stressed out about something.

Also, have you had your adrenals and thyroid checked? I would recommend you go see a good naturapathic doctor who can check for this. The naturapath may be able to give you supplements too that can help the adrenals and thyroid go back to their normal levels if this is the case. These issues are common in people with anxiety. The doc can also be helpful in identifying the causes to why you are suffering from this. I hope you find these things to be helpful. Good luck and let us know how you are doing.
 
no, no "D" or sudafed. Just plain loratadine, or allegra... Though I read alot about the claritin and it has TONS of people reporting the anxiety/depression effect...
 
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