Any of You on Anything Else for Anxiety?

The one thing TRT hasn’t fixed for me is the lifelong anxiety. It’s seldom crippling anymore, but it sure ain’t helping me. I’ve become a big believer in fixing the lifestyle causes of things like that, but it hits a point where I could use a little help.

Lately been exploring the idea of getting something else for that specifically.

I won’t touch benzos, SSRIs are junk, I’m allergic to Wellbutrin. Years ago I was on an MAOI and it was pretty great, but that’s some pretty powerful shit.

Anyone here take anything for anxiety specifically?

-I’ve read the anxiety post over on EM which is pretty focused on Zoloft and Wellbutrin, so it wasn’t much help.

I believe that most of the anxiety meds have a bunch of bad side effects, many of which are sexual side effects. I also feel that they would just prevent me from actually addressing the root cause of the anxiety.
Cognitive behavioral therapy has helped me a lot. I also decided not to let myself get away with avoidance of certain anxiety triggering situations - which definitely improves your reaction going forward. Meditation may be helpful as well, but I never really tried that.

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CBT has helped me a ton over the last 2 years, I’ll say that. Meditation helped a bit but was tough to stick to (I put a few years in).

There’s still a huge lingering component that’s usually focused around work, money, and the future that I can’t beat. It’s frustrating.

I’m almost 36 and unmarried…starting to find joy in other things besides dating and wondering if it’s worth the trade off/investment in myself.

Buspar. And it’s good for libido.

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I’m on sertraline, it works well for general anxiety reduction though I still get regular anxiety attacks.
I’ve also had CBT but I didn’t find it to be effective.

Sertraline didnt do much for me. But it made my hair curly which is the weirdest side effect I ever experienced with any medication.

Zoloft made me pretty angry somehow. Was taken off in a few days.

I tried this for a few years! Never noticed much of a difference though

My anxiety is better with Buspar, I don’t snap as often, but am still mostly anxious. I’m also on 400mg of Quetiapine for PTSD, Depression and works as a sleep aid.

Quetiapine is single handedly the strongest med I have taken for sleep, my initial dose of 12.5mg had me waking up outside in my yard,LOL. Serious, toke dose went out for a smoke and woke up the next morning on my deck.

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It’s one of those meds that either works or doesn’t, with no middle ground from what I’ve seen and read.

I’m not surprised, that stuff is crazy I’ve heard

I love it! After 2-3 hrs (with an occasional 5hrs) sleep a night for 18 years, I get a solid 6 now, sometimes even 7!

I will second the CBT as being a good treatment option. General mindfulness also helps, along with reducing expectations of myself and others. I’ve found that a lot of people who deal with high anxiety also tend to be very hard on themselves and others. It has its upsides, but peace and longevity aren’t among them.

Also, good routine is anxiolytic. If you build a disciplined routine that addresses what you need to address in your life, then you can go to sleep and wake up day-in day-out with a fair bit of comfort knowing that at least your bases are covered.

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Read up on a peptide called PE 22-28.

I had severe anxiety for years. This is what I did to eliminate it.

Quit Caffeine
Trazodone for sleep
TRT
2 alcoholic drinks / week limit
Quit social media
Quit reading politics

And this podcast really helped me a lot. And helped me change my attitude.

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I take two draws of a Sativa joint, once a week. The first 15 minutes usually brings on anxiety but it allows me to focus on it and deal with the fact that I did it to myself. But after that I feel calm as heck for days. If I get anxious, for no reason, Im able to chill out faster, and probably from practice. Lol

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I was prescribed Benzos, hated them, have used weed sparingly for years and it has made a world of difference. But we have to be careful prescribing the drug that probably has the most widely varying range of reactions out of all the popular drugs. Some people get slow and lazy, others are hyperactive and productive. Some people giggle uncontrollably, other people freak out. Some people can smoke it for years and you can barely tell, and some people can smoke it for a year and they seem like someone’s running them at .5x speed for the rest of their lives.

I would strongly suggest something CBD-related long before you add in a psychoactive element like THC. Not a flame at you, middleages, just a caution for the OP - I have seen weed calm people down, but I have seen people have such bad anxiety attacks that they never go near the stuff again. I do consider it less dangerous than a lot of other medications and pretty much all other drugs, but if it’s not something that you already do/have done, be careful with how you approach it.

MOST IMPORTANTLY - if you have not dialed in your eating, your sleeping, your external stressors, and all the things directly under your control, do not add a single other outside substance to your body. Crowdsourcing these things is likely a bad idea in and of itself. I still struggle with depression and anxiety, and likely will for life, but there are ways to begin to find a balance. Good luck, dude.

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Im gonna go out on limb here, and say that the whole point of weed is the THC. CBD is a joke. Weed is simply a recreational drug, with therapeutic potential, great for chillin…not magic or a life ruiner. Let’s not liken it to a maxi dose of acid that leaves you permafried. One good point you made… is dial it all in.

I smoked a LOT of weed as a college kid and for many years later.

I completely believe it’s made me more paranoid. Social anxiety. More self conscious.

Wish I’d have never touched the shit.

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I’ve backed off on social media and that’s helped too. I’ve tried backing off on the news a little, but it’s tough as I stock trade (which in itself is high stress).

Ideally I’d make more at my day job - I’ve had a long awkward climb to where I’m at now, and I don’t think that’s helped.

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