Social Anxiety Disorder Medication

[mike72]

Hello,

I am a young man in my twenties and have Social Anxiety Disorder. I avoid social situations because my heart rate increases, can't look people in the eye when talking to them, begin to shake, and are extremely shy. I do not have any depression, and i'm a introvert and enjoy every second by myself, which isn't good, but doesn't bother me.

My question is, I need to start to change this anti social behavior so I can find myself a job and a career. My first SSRI i've taken is Zoloft and its been 6weeks and I haven't noticed any difference, I also take Xanax 1 MG a day and it just helps with the heart rate, but not the social part of it.

Can someone recommend a good medication to help with my symptoms listed above for social anxiety, I know it's tough for most of us with SAD, but I want to get rid or atleast help this problem because I refuse to let this problem control my life.

Thanks
Mike

 

[lurknomore]

Welcome to SPW, Mike

My advice is to talk to a doctor about this. No one here is qualified or able to properly diagnose and treat you- any medication recommendations are just from people's own personal experiences and should be discussed in person with a professional before you try them.

 

[mike72]

Thanks for the welcome. I do see a doctor. I am curious to find out what others have taken to help with SAD.

 

[Enialis227]

Well, if it is the case that you are simply curious about the medication others are taking then:
I take Paxil 20mg daily and Xanax .5mg PNR. I would take 40mg of Paxill, because when I did it helped more, but t aggravates my Bi-polar condition.
This, for me, seems to put down the majority of my anxiety problems.
However, the medication I take for being Bi-polar has some use in treating anxiey as well, so it is probably the case that the relief that I feel from social phobia is in part due to mood stabilizers on top.

 

[SilentType]

Medication is not a miracle. One of the biggest factors in overcoming your social phobia symptoms is going to be simply facing the situations that bring on the symptoms as much as possible. It's called systematic desensitization, and it puts your recovery iny your hands instead of trying to rely on pills to get better. The fact is that a pill alone will never cure an anxiety disorder. You must be willing to change your behavior as well, even if that means facing the fears that come along with anxiety disorders. Slowly, as you face these fears, you'll feel less and less anxious in these anxiety-provoking situations. The pills (especially benzodiazepines like Xanax), are simply a tool to help you face these situations. As you described, it helped with your rapid heart beat, and it helps with all of the other physical symptoms as well. The idea here is that the without the physical symptoms, it's easier to deal with the mental side of things and start thinking about your anxiety in a different way. Slowly, through this process I've described, all of your negative thoughts will fade and positive thoughts will replace them. You will find that you will slowly gain confidence if you keep up this process and before you know it you won't even need the meds anymore. A good therapist is always an excellent tool to have in this process, as they can be there every week to talk over your feelings about facing your anxieties. I hope this helped...

Peace

 

[Noca]

My question is, I need to start to change this anti social behavior so I can find myself a job and a career.

I think what you meant to say was "asocial behavior"


A combination of medication and therapy is proven to be the most effective at treating anxiety/depression.

 

[Kustamogen]

my advice is do ALL you can without medication. Therapy/Diet/Exercise/Pushing yourself. If none of that helps then go to medication.

IMO medication should be a last resort.

 

[Elenwen]

^Agreed. Also, as SilentType said, medication is NOT a miracle. You have to be willing to work through stuff as well, not just pop a pill and expect everything to be fine and dandy.

 

[music10]

I take clonazepam for my anxiety. Really helps me.

 

[SilentType]

I take clonazepam too. It helps the physical symptoms of anxiety, such has sweating and rapid heartbeat, but the mental aspects of the anxiety are still there. The racing thoughts and negative thinking remain. These are the hardest parts of anxiety to overcome, and once they are resolved, the panic attack symptoms will stop altogether. Unfortunately, it's much easier said than done, but the best way to overcome this is to keep facing your fears, getting out as much as possible, and adding as much social interaction to your life as you can. If you stick to it, you'll experience less and less anxiety as you progress through your recovery. The best part about it is you can tell if it's working, because the symptoms will slowly disappear as you get more acclimated to socialization. It sounds simple, but as someone who has struggled with panic disorder for years, I challenge all of you to this desensitization technique for beating anxiety and a year or less later you can come back and thank me because of the positive changes you will see in your life.

Peace

 

[DillJenkins]

Medication is a cure.

A short term cure but a cure nonetheless.

For instance, I was on Celexa (40mg) and it was a miracle pill for me. The problem is that it lasted only aboot 6 months before I grew "tolerant". I was also on Klonopin for awhile and it was a cure until I became tolerant and dependent. Xanax has been the same way for me.

Another interesting tidbit is that I have smoked reefer for aboot 7 years or so and it helps me with social anxiety. It doesn't necessarily help directly with the anxiety but rather changes the thinking patterns that lead to anxiety. I approach my problems from a different perspective. It fixes my "stinkin' thinkin"....lol

If you want a long term cure than exposure therapy and CBT is the way to go. It is the only thing to have been proven to permanently change the brain pathways that reinforce anxiety. If you live in USA like me, it is a very expensive treatment option however.

 

[SilentType]

You put it well Dill. My definition of a miracle pill is one that cures a problem forever. And I agree with everything that you said, except for the fact that CBT is expensive in the USA. Most CBT therapists will teach you some relaxation techniques (which arent really needed if you're taking benzos), then lead you out into the real world to solve your problems by systematic desensitization. This means they slowly make you go out more and more until the social situation that bother you slowly stop bothering you so much.
Everyone has a different start, based on how bad their panic and anxiety problems are. For instance, in extreme circumstances, if someone can't leave their house, the first step would be to step out of the house and push themself as far as possible. That's a positive step in the right direction, as long as they keep going out of their house. The next steps would be to go farther and farther from the house, going to shops, and eventually being comfortable living a happy, functional life.

I'm in the midst of this systematic desensitization, and I was able to go do things, but avoided social contact by all means. I'm now getting comfortable sparking up conversations with strangers. Next will be to get me into college and back on the track I was on when panic disorder struck.

The funny thing is, I go to a counselor who is very up front, swears a lot, and just tells it how it is. He doesn't accompany me on these outings, and his reason for this was "I can't ****in' drag you out of the house to do this, you have to want to do it for yourself!" He's funny like that...lol. But I think it's more comfortable for me to do it on my own anyways. As long as you challenge yourself to achieve a new goal every day or even every week, you'll make progress and eventually become a productive member of society. Isn't that all we want? Anyways, just look up systematic desensitization on google, and do it on your own. It's free CBT. If you have any problems, come back to SPW and we'll get those negative thoughts out of your head and replace them with positive ones. It's really that simple. The hardest part is taking action and facing your fears.

Peace

 

[lef09012]

xanax was a magic pill for me.
I took it for first time when I had to give a presentation.
And I could give a great one which I got 99 point!!

Since then, I've been taking it on and off for 2 years.
But it's not working as effective as before. Also I have really irritating side effects which are blurred thinking and memory impairment.

Those side effects come up perfectly when I talk to others. That makes me feel myself stupid and more nervous.