Can i ever truly get over this anxiety without taking SSRI’s?

[u/theamythestbed]

I’m 17 years old and i live in the uk and im starting CBT soon. a lot of people are telling me i should get on medication, but the serotonin sickness scares me a lot. my anxiety has pretty much consumed my life and i really just want to feel okay again, but i fear that i wont ever unless i take medication

[u/Similar-Community-97]

I am 99% recovered from a severe anxiety disorder, including debilitating panic attacks, without use of SSRIs. I maybe have one small anxiety episode -- which I can get under control very quickly, not turning into a full blown panic attack, every few months now -- usually triggered by a stressful event. This is a drastic improvement from having daily, near constant panic attacks only two years ago where I was essentially housebound and needed help to look after myself.

I am confident that I will continue to improve.

What helped:

Giving myself time to work on the feelings, without medication, knowing that if needed I could take medication eventually (I even went and got a prescription, but never used it)

Accepting the anxiety rather than trying to make it stop.

The book, "Help and hope for your nerves"

Using the Unwinding Anxiety app

Learning to refocus my attention away from bodily sensations of anxiety

Believing that my body and mind could heal - telling myself this repeatedly until I believed it.

Self compassion

Daily exercise, healthy eating, proper sleep and getting out in nature to support my nervous system

[u/tjlikesit]

My life is 200% better since I’ve been on them. Trying to get off felt like a death sentence. I should have been on them since I was a teen. Been on 7 years now (36m). Have a $150k+ job, wife, awesome house, 2 kids. I was insane before and ruminated and lashed out constantly. All that stopped with them.

[u/South-Nothing6599]

Health anxiety was taking over my life, I went to my doctor and explained I don’t take medication unless I really need to and I always avoid it, she started me on 5MG of lexapro and it’s changed my life, I feel like I can breath and enjoy things, I totally understand not wanting to try but if you are at the point your anxiety is completely consuming you it’s worth it, I wish I started it years sooner, good luck

[u/Adventurous_Note3043]

Serotonin sickness scares you? Bro you gotta be taking large doses and doing meth and heroin to get serotonin syndrome. If youre worried about that then you Def need the SSRIs. Trust me I had irrational fears medical shit happening to me that consumed my life until I started taking effexor. Shit helped so much.

[u/Unlucky-Assist8714]

Maybe. Maybe not. I was unable to implement any holistic anxiety measures because my life was non functional before paroxetine. I'm a lot older than you and wish I'd tried it in my 20s when my mental health first became unmanageable.

[u/Sad-Elk-7291]

I think you can but it’s through a lot of hard work that can feel never ending. 😭 Currently there! 🥲 Therapy, recognizing your thinking errors that got you here to begin with, and actually practicing the newly learned thinking patterns. Super hard! But trying.

[u/PristineBathroom2339]

I agree with the comment above. You will find ways to cope the more you go through it. When you’re going through it, it seems like it’s never going to end…but it always does. It comes and goes. I tried to take SSRIs and personally they did not work for me, not because of serotonin sickness or anything but it just made my anxiety way worse for the first week and I just truly couldn’t take it and had to stop, but you could be different. Good luck!

[u/Reasonable-Camp-6218 → u/PristineBathroom2339]

This was exactly my experience. The bright side was that the SSRI making my anxiety worse actually gave me the push I needed to start taking therapy and coping skills more seriously. I still feel anxious sometimes, but the main difference is I am confident in my ability to manage it when it happens (which is also way less often). ACT was most helpful for me

[u/Kooky-Copy4456 → u/PristineBathroom2339]

Could’ve been that particular SSRI!

[u/lutheranian]

You don’t have to take an SSRI. For my health anxiety specifically I take Buspar (in the US) and it has saved my life. Health anxiety is a form of OCD and I was already on both an SSRI and NDRI antidepressants for my panic disorder and depression.

Regardless, it’s very rare and the best way to completely avoid it is to get a daily pill reminder.

[u/grindstone85]

I took Viladozone for a year and it really helped re wire some stuff for me personally, mixed with therapy, journalling, podcasts and being kinder to myself. Now off them, my health anxiety isn’t as bad for the first time in my life. I promise it gets easier

[u/Anxious_Plantain6792]

medication in combination with therapy is the best possible solution. ocd symptoms managed through SSRI’s; would recommend

[u/vallzy]

I did, but it felt extremely weird and confusing. I basically decided to ignore EVERYTHING I was feeling. Mind you my health anxiety had turned full physical and my body was acting tf up. I one day got up with the feeling of my heart stopping and decided that I was going to the hospital. On my way there I stopped and opted to walk 3km back home instead. My reasoning was that if I genuinely was dying I would never manage to do that. I made it and decided I was going to Ignore everything from now on. My symptoms lasted 2 full months but eventually I got freed. It’s possible it just takes a lot of resolve.

[u/MyProfileMyOpinion84]

I have agoraphobia which I'm sure tops all anxiety orders lol. Never been on meds, CBT really worked for me and so did exposure therapy. One step at a time and you've done the biggest step already... accepting you need help!

I thought i was doomed forever. I now live a nearly all OK life. Still a few bumps here and there

Good luck :)

[u/messeboy]

Well, I learned something new today. I've never heard of that side effect. (Just did a quick google, and indeed, it sounds scary) That said, I've been using SSRI for years.

Could you combat the anxiety without it? Absolutely. But i also think meds can help boost your success.

And I was terrified of taking it at first. Mostly, i thought about how it would change my perception of reality.

My "logic" was, that if it helps remove anxiety (which are essentially just thoughts), it's also going to change how I think and act about other things in my day to day life. I didn't want meds to make me someone else.

But it didn't. What it actually did for me was helping me be calmer. So, while i still have some anxiety provoking thoughts, I never have panic attacks anymore. It helps me brush it off and move on.

And honestly, I wish I had gone on meds sooner. Because I think I could have had more success, working on my anxiety before it evolved so much.

I'm not going to say "you should" take meds. But i want you to consider it. Talk with your doctor about your fear, and see what he says.

Likely, he'll explain that you'd start on the lowest dose possible to negate any side effects. And slowly (over weeks or even months), you'd increase the dosage until you get the desired outcome.

You're at the same age I was when my whole world seemed like it was falling apart. Wasn't until I was about 25 I tried meds. And as mentioned, I often regret not trying them faster because I could have had such a different life now.

But good luck. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[u/theamythestbed → u/messeboy]

thank you, this is very nice to hear. the advice in these comments have really quelled my fear about medication and i think now it might be a good option if im offered, but ive heard that it can take 4 weeks to see any noticeable change?

[u/messeboy → u/theamythestbed]

That's true, but I'd say its in part due to the slow buildup. You'll be instructed to start on the lowest dosage of whatever ssri you get prescribed (i use sertraline), so that you get as few sideeffects as possible. It's been some years now, but as far as I remember, I was prescribed 50mg at first. Then after a couple of weeks we upped it to 100mg (200mg is max for setraline), which is when I started noticing a difference.

But the real trick is meds + cbt. (Not necessarily proffesional therapy, but at least an effort to challenge your anxiety). You want to challenge your anxious thoughts, which is a whole lot easier if your not constantly having panic attacks. Hope that makes sense.

[u/manintights2]

From my experience, you never "get over" anxiety. You learn to live with it, face it, and deal with it. It doesn't go away.

I was on SSRI's but stopped almost 2 years ago now. The anxiety is still there, but I'm much better at dealing with it now.

To me it's almost like you've got to brainwash yourself, intentionally, with the belief that in spite of your perceived reality, that you are fine, things will be fine even if they aren't.

It doesn't make sense, and it never will, but that is quite literally what non-anxious people think like I believe.

It's an unfounded confidence in yourself, otherwise called faith in yourself.

[u/Capeverde33]

If you’re someone with anxiety then the likelihood is it will always ebb and flow throughout your life. It’s not always going to be as bad as it is right now, but this might not be the only time it’s this bad.

Remember that every time you go through a period where it is particularly bad, you’ll come out the other side with more coping mechanisms which will make it more manageable next time.

That being said, I have to say SSRI’s have been a life saver for me, best decision I’ve ever made

[u/spiiderss → u/Capeverde33]

I’ll say too, that I was on a low dosage, I think 10mg of lexapro for about a year, to get me through a really rough patch of anxiety. It taught me that I don’t have to react to things the way I did in the past, and that truly, that anxiety is temporary. I’ve had anxiety my entire life, so it’s just a factor of it for me. I did end up coming off of lexapro with much better and effective coping skills. 

OP, you don’t have to be on medication for life! If you end up trying it, with the intention of coming off of it, take note of how you respond to triggers with the medication, what steps you take, etc. use it as a learning experience. It is never a bad thing to give it a try, especially staying on the lower dosage side!

[u/Kooky-Copy4456]

It’s honestly so hard to get serotonin syndrome. Just start with a low dose of 5mg. You will feel SO much better. I was on it for many years.

[u/TheMarmo]

Everybody's journey is different. Medication also doesn't need to be a long term fix either, nor does it need to specifically be SSRIs, there's other types that work too. If you feel you're in crisis mode or close to it, I'd urge you to at least consider options for now. I stuck with meds for a good 6 months or so then weened of them once my mind settled. I've been off them for 7 months now without any issues.

[u/Anfisa15]

You can, people have don’t it before I’m trying without meds I have ocd, panic disorder, anxiety disorder and dpdr and I’m still here lol

[u/Random3014]

Therapeutic doses of SSRI's cannot cause serotonin syndrome. You need to either overdose or take it in combination with other serotogsnic drugs

[u/Available_Ad2661]

I battled anxiety from about the age of 6 to 35y/o now, until a little over 6 weeks ago when my partner pressed me to get on ssris (sertraline) along with an excellent clinical psychologist . She was right. It’s not overnight change but give it a solid 6 weeks and I’m sure it will be night and day difference for you. I regret not starting them sooner before it got to the stage it was. The first few weeks I did react to them until it stabilised. Looking back 6 weeks ago I could barely function. They are amazing and if I have to be on them for life, so be it. All the side effects have now left also. Feel more like myself now than I did when I was riddled with anxiety.

[u/johnnypork2002]

i think you can. you're 17, i would start with the things you know are worsening it for you. it comes down to the most basic things. even what you eat, music you listen to, people you talk to, youtube vids you watch, this all affects you in a certain way. at least this was my case. you got this.

[u/AmbitiousTower5906]

serotonin syndrome is not gonna happen from taking an ssri. thats your anxiety talking. you can try other things, but for me i never got full remission from HA until I got on prozac

[u/MallCopBlartPaulo]

It’s extremely rare. Remember, you can always come off them if you don’t like how they make you feel. I put off taking them for years and it’s one of my biggest regrets.

[u/kayak739]

i’ve gotten over about 60% of my anxiety by essentially giving myself exposure therapy, am i cured? absolutely not but im way better than i was a couple of years ago. if you really don’t want to go on meds you don’t need to but i wouldn’t worry about serotonin syndrome- its not at all common if your taking them at the right dosage.

[u/NoctysHiraeth]

You can, but also even if you do have to get medicated serotonin syndrome is rare if you’re taking your medication as prescribed. Most likely you would be started on a super low dose to minimize any side effects and make sure you’re able to tolerate the medication. I’m on 60mg Prozac but most people are started on 10 or 20, for example. A lot of the time when you have someone that develops serotonin syndrome it’s not because of the SSRI itself but because they took other stuff with it that interacts with it and raises the cumulative risk of serotonin syndrome. I’ve accidentally taken Mucinex DM for congestion before when I had Covid not knowing that dextromethorphan poses a risk when taken with Prozac (I don’t remember if it was a risk of serotonin syndrome or something else though) and I was okay, though I had my girlfriend check on me periodically to make sure I was okay until it would have been out of my body. You can always check with your prescribing physician or a pharmacist if you are concerned about interactions.

CBT helped though, as did some impromptu exposure therapy as a result of a couple health scares I went through during which I was too focused on doing what I could to get better to really have the time or energy to stress about hypotheticals.

Hope this helps, happy to answer questions. I’ve been on SSRIs since like the second grade, soon to be 25 next month and I’m still here.

[u/WranglerComplete7920]

Well, I am in my early 50s and have been on an SSRI since I was in university (30 years ago).  They are life giving.  I have attempted to go off on a few occasions, but my anxiety is manageable with the help of meds.  No shame.  We would never tell a diabetic not to take insulin.  Needing an SSRI means tgat a chemical imbalance needs to be addressed.  

[u/Angel_Readings_444]

Yes anyone can get over anything. The way to do so is to fully feel & release your emotions. I’ve been doing so the last 5 years & my life is changing as I’m changing. Depression for instance is the repression of emotions. There’s lots of information available if you’re interested. Good luck 👍🏽

[u/Ok_Comb8684]

SSRIs do nothing for anxiety. You have to find the root cause. Anxiety is a type of learned behavior, not a chemical imbalance. Therepy and finding coping skills are the answer to healing. SSRIs do work for depression, and sometimes mask anxiety which will be temporary relief at best . Give the cbt a chance. Maybe try writing or listening to some music ? Something relaxing. I wish you the best and you'll get through it. Takes time . 🙏

[u/AmbitiousTower5906 → u/Ok_Comb8684]

Untrue.

[u/AdAccomplished9705 → u/Ok_Comb8684]

You are clearly young, if not your blabbering nonsense. I agree to tackle the issues, but they help mask the rumination and fear!