I havent been going to gym or meditating for few months and my anxiety is now the worst it has been for years so there's that.
this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2023
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Look into vortioxetine, it's not quite an SSRI but a multimodal antidepressant with a similar safety profile as SSRIs, it basically functions like an SSRI but is rather clear headed as opposed to the slight fog that traditional SSRIs induce. Generally less anxious with it than I was with sertraline.
Other aspects are, vape your weed, don't smoke - it's sooo much cheaper and healthier.
Cut out tobacco, and try reducing caffiene, if applicable
Thanks for the reply.
I'm already on 20mg of vortioxetine, I quite like it as an SSRI and I feel tons better after trying out Venlafaxing (effexor), Probably the worst SSRI I have ever tried.
Vape vs smoke? Will need to research more into that. I know most of the benefits, but wasn't aware of an anxiety being worse when smoked.
Yeah I ready cut almost all nicotine out of my system, only smoke when I'm out drinking which doesn't happen to often now. And only one cup of coffee in the morning.
Vaping your weed likely won't make you less anxious. I get mad anxiety if I vape in public (unless I've had some alcohol, then I'm generally fine). But it is way more efficient and your lungs will improve a lot. I can make 7g of flower last me 2mths now. When I was smoking it, I could use 2x that in a week if I had a heavy week when smoking. It's also a much cleaner high than smoking, you're not getting CO and other combustion prodcts making you all foggy. I'm not going to say it's healthy to do this, the only thing you should inhale is country air (that city air is full of pollutants), but vaping it and how my lungs have cleared makes me feel confident in saying it's healthier than smoking it.
You're spot on about everything you've said, the only bit I'd like to say is that my reasoning for the reduced anxiety is the reduced CO2 inhalation, as increased CO2 levels will generally increase anxiety.
Also my goodness I am so much more outgoing now that I vape weed as opposed to smoke; when smoking it back in the day I wanted to be atleast 100meters from people (or better yet in some woods) due to concerns about the smell etc, nowadays I will confidently walk down the street vaping, or go to social events not too worried about it, ironically my friends who still smoke are so much more anxious about going out.
I've only ever had someone comment on the smell when we were both in the same room.
(Also unrelated but seriously fuck my countries culture of smoking weed with tobacco)
To be clear, I ment CO, not CO2. Two very different chems.
Believe me, I'm quite aware they're very different chemicals, just was pointing out one aspect for the reasoning regarding the reduction in anxiety might be too do with CO2. I would attribute the reduction of inhaling carbon monoxide has possibly helped reduce the amount of lightheadedness I used to get when smoking
My working theory for the increased anxiety from smoking Vs vaping is to do with increased inhalation of the combustion products as well as both CO and CO2; increased CO2 inhalation is known to increase anxiety (or atleast the symptoms of it).
Plus with vaping my consumption of cannabis went from 1oz a month to 1oz every 6months.
Interestingly cutting out caffiene helped massively with my anxiety, but I noticed I was unable to effectively multi task, as such I've switched from coffee in the morning and through the day to a single strong cup of tea, and then 1-2 cups of coffee between 3-5pm, with very little negative effect (though my coffee is half decaf and half regular)
The main bit of caffeine coming towards the end of (but not after) my meds functional period appears to be much less anxiety inducing, but still allows me to function in the evening.
Venlafaxine is an SNRI, it not only messes with serotonin but also norepinephrine. Made me anxious (likely because of the noradrenergic fuckery) and the withdrawal was a fucking BITCH.
I’m a genuine believer that meditation and self-reflection should be a part of everyone’s daily routine. Know that it won’t produce a targeted improvement in any one area, though. Meditation is more for general well-being.
I feel you on the muscle cramps and jaw clenching. I hear exercise is great for stress reduction, but I also have a terrible time sticking to it. Stimulants don't help with that. I feel like I only get relief from a hot shower.
For bruxism I take 20mg of magnesium (bi)glycinate daily, and that has helped tremendously with my muscle clenching and quality of sleep as well. If you decide to take magnesium make sure it is labeled “glycinate” as other ones can have laxative properties!
I also have GAD and ADHD and have always been prescribed a SNRI that is secondline treatment of ADHD. I am currently on a combo of Straterra and Vyvanse, and when I hit the 5 month period of being on it, my anxiety disappeared overnight. It was miraculous actually.
My psychiatrist believes that people with GAD and ADHD need combo therapy with stimulants, and stimulants side effects will amplify the GAD. That belief has been a tremendous relief for me regarding my symptoms, as I never went through the heightened anxiety so many other ADHD patients seem to talk about when going through stimulant therapy.
I'll research more into magnesium, thanks. I'm already on SSRIs so I might give Strattera + vortioxetine a try
Another +1 for magnesium glycidate before bed, and another suggestion for you to speak with your Dr about is propanol; it's a blood pressure medication used to treat anxiety, it's often used in combination with ADHD meds. I personally didn't like it, but it can be very effective for some people.
Good luck! Internet platitudes are cheap, but for what it’s worth I hope you do find something that works for you, and don’t get discouraged!
It took me 10 years from adult diagnosis to find the right combination of meds and lifestyle for me. But once I did it really is life changing! I may not have a neurotypical life, but my quality of life is just as good as my peers.
I can only speak for myself, but what I do seems to help.
Firstly, while I don't/can't really meditate, I do try to be more mindful of my emotions. In particular if I feel something negative, instead of immediately reacting to it, I try to take a moment to investigate why I'm feeling that way. Often times it ends up being something that someone has unwittingly done to me that has broken some internal rule that I keep, and ultimately my anger won't change anything. That has helped me to chill out enormously.
Something else that seems to be really helping me at the moment is that I'm trying to massively reduce my sugar intake. I'm pretty overweight, and am an absolute fiend for chocolate, so have been going through another of my phases where I'll eat three or four chocolate bars a day if left to my own devices. This makes me snacky, so I want to eat more, leaving me feeling like shit. Cutting out excess sugar altogether removes that urge, and after a few days I become a lot more calm and feel better about myself.
YMMV and I'm not a doctor but personally since I started taking Strattera (spelling?) my anxiety levels have gone way down.
I went from a couple panic attacks per month to zero after the first month and I haven't had one since starting 7 months ago.
My first few weeks with Strattera were pretty hectic but after that and boosting my dosage it's been mostly smooth sailing.
One thing I would recommend though is definitely looking into ways to manage your anxiety in general: square breathing, cutting back on caffeine, and getting exercise helps me a lot. It's basically how I brought my panic attacks from once a week or more to twice a month initially.
Also environment changes can help immensely but that's much harder to take care of.
I'm curious, are you also taking an SSRI with Strattera? I'm thinking of giving non-stimulants another chance.
No, I was diagnosed with anxiety years ago but due to financial reasons I never took anything for it.
My current doctor prescribed me a couple different anxiety meds (that I can't remember the name of as I'm not taking them) and when we started addressing my ADHD it mostly became a non-issue.
Even though my PTSD still kicks up sometimes, I've noticed that when my ADHD meds are working I can avoid the "mentally circling the drain" thing that leads to panic attacks for me. And due to avoiding that it usually allows me to pull my mind back together enough that even in the evening when I'm trying to sleep it's a lot easier.
I would talk to a psychiatrist who specializes in ADHD, but I had a lot of success dealing with my anxiety on Strattera and Lexapro. Depending on your state, psychedelics may also be a treatment option.
any reason to not just occasionally take Adderall with some benzos for the come down? you certainly don't want to do that everyday, but if you did it like twice a week you would at least have windows of super productivity