Something For Anixity

[JDOOKIE]

i was wounding if anyone else has a simular problem. i am doing alot better, but for some reason when i get into a car or go out in public it all changes. work & home i can go 3-4 hrs with out going, but out i have to go every 1/2 hr & have a constant feeling. i am looking for something natural that could help with this anixity,or panic mode my body goes into. i was thinking about trying st johns mood enhancer. any other suggestions would be very helpful.
thanks
jessica

[SandyRN]

Before you take anything herbal you need to check with a pharmacist if you are taking other meds to make sure they are compatible. The St. John's Wort can cause other medications to increase blood levels which can be dangerous. Probably the best thing to do is talk to your doctor and see what he/she recommends. Maybe an herbal treatment or a low dose of zanax or valium to take when you need it.

Sandy

[Briza]

St. John's Wort doesn't seem to be as highly spoken of as it was in years past. I wish I could recommend something natural, I know it always seems to sound better to take something natural, but often Rxd meds are the way to go because they have been studied and tested and approved and proven to work for anxiety. Often an antidpressant can be very successful in relieving anxiety, and they are easier to get prescriptions for than anxiety meds.

I do take xanax for anxiety, and it also helps with some of my IC/VV symptoms. Often doctors are more willing to Rx ativan than xanax and ativan can be very efffective. I have taken it with success in the past but because of high stress levels and panic attacks in the past few years, xanax is the only thing that works for me at this point.

I also have a lot of social anxiety. It sucks. Antidepressants can help with that, too, but they usually take 3 weeks to a month to start working and sometimes a doctor will Rx an anti anxiety med for the first few weeks til the antidepressant starts working. They prefer to prescribe those for the longterm over anxiety meds, because of dependence issues. But then there are some of us, like me, that haven't found an antidepressant that also controls the anxiety, but many people do.

Most GPs are willing to help you with this, but some don't want to deal with it or feel that's not their area of expertise and would rather have you see a psychiatrist to start you on a treatment plan and then once you find something that works your GP will probably be willing to take over treatment after communicating with the psyhciatrist. Seeing a therapist, counselor, or psychologist is also helpful not only for you, but to show your doctors that you are willing to try things other than meds to get you back on track.

Best wishes. :)

[JDOOKIE]

thanks for the responses. as of right now, i'm not on anything at all. and seem to be doing good- knock on wood, other than outtings. and the reason i'm looking for something natural is because when i was trying to quit smoking, the doc. put me on welbutron & well i completely flipped out on it & my doc. took me off it. i dont handel meds to well, natural things seem to be less trama on my mind &body. so again thank you for your help and suggestions, just a mess up situation i'm in, with the limits i have. and also, i never had this prob. b4 i took the welbutron, so i'm think that might have messed up some chemicals in my brain & now thats why i have this problem- dunno, just think out loud.

thanks again,
jessica

[meme]

Maybe you could try a really low dose of Elavil. I was having the same trouble last year where I was getting better but anytime I went out somewhere I'd get all stressed out and end up getting major frequency and urgency. Uro put me on Elavil and not only did it help my anxiety but within 2wks I was feeling so much better bladder wise. I considered hypnotizim once, since I knew that I was actually getting better, it was just the stress of going out that was making me flare. Never tried it though....

[n2fotography]

thanks for the responses. as of right now, i'm not on anything at all. and seem to be doing good- knock on wood, other than outtings. and the reason i'm looking for something natural is because when i was trying to quit smoking, the doc. put me on welbutron & well i completely flipped out on it & my doc. took me off it. i dont handel meds to well, natural things seem to be less trama on my mind &body. so again thank you for your help and suggestions, just a mess up situation i'm in, with the limits i have. and also, i never had this prob. b4 i took the welbutron, so i'm think that might have messed up some chemicals in my brain & now thats why i have this problem- dunno, just think out loud.

thanks again,
jessica

A high quality coral calcium worked wonders for my anxiety.

[ads]

Jessica,

Just a simple thought, but getting into a car from even slight bumps in the road can cause IC to flare. Lifting groceries flares me for a half day or more. It can be simple things that sets off IC, but aniexty is also one of them. Chronic illness is a difficult challenge to sort thru.

Best wishes,
ads

i was wounding if anyone else has a simular problem. i am doing alot better, but for some reason when i get into a car or go out in public it all changes. work & home i can go 3-4 hrs with out going, but out i have to go every 1/2 hr & have a constant feeling. i am looking for something natural that could help with this anixity,or panic mode my body goes into. i was thinking about trying st johns mood enhancer. any other suggestions would be very helpful.
thanks
jessica

[Sally939]

I am glad to see that lifting heavy bags hurt you. I thought I was crazy. I lift a 25 pound generator at work and I swore it gave me much stronger urgency when holding it and a bit after.

As for anxiety. I have suffred for a long time with general anxiety discorder. Right now I am actually not using anything because I am new to IC and trying to figure out what is hurting me. At first I thought I was sensative to anxiety meds before getting to my IC diagnosis. Ok so just to list some ideas. Elavil sounds like a great idea. I personally am scard of weight gain. But alot of people on here say that the low strenth did not make them gain. Also, alot of axiety meds make you gain a small amount. I know you said you tried welbutrin but that is not in the right drug familly for anxiety treatments. I think that is used for quiting smoking and bipolor. I think it can make anxiety worse. There are so many ssri's and it is trial and error. You should talk to your doctor. I have a script for xanex (very light .25) and try to use it sparingly. Lots of docs do not like to prescribe it becasue it is addictive. It works in like 20 min or so and only for 4 hours I think. It is actually best to take an ssri and have xanex for break through anxiety. Another idea is cognative therapy. That means teaching your mind to deal with breathing techniques and ect. It sound "crazy" but is suppose to be really good. I am actually considering doing it. I think it might be good to go talk to someone becasue I am having a hard time with the life changes IC causes. But righ this second I am so sick of doctors. Not a great thing becasue I work with them . Haha. Those are just some ideas. GOOD LUCK! You will be fine in time. Anxiety gets worse when life gets hard.

[JDOOKIE]

thank you all for the replies, i went on vacation, so sorry for the response time. yup i deff. agree with the anixity when life gets rough. the bumps also may have something to do with it as well. guess this is another mystery that needs to be solved. i did try the st johns for a few days, didnt help, so back to the drawling board. the breathing thing sound like a good idea. hope you all a great day.hugs

jessica

[izazen]

I have GAD and have found that, for me, except in extreme cases, no RX can help me nor do I want to become dependent on one.

I use traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese herbs (both administered by an MD) 1/2 hr of meditation daily (count natural breaths (inhalation and exhalation) to 500 and one hour of outdoor exercise either a light jog or a fairly brisk walk.

Think positive thoughts as much as possible and pray for God's help if you feel inclined to do so. Best to you.

[OrlandoP]

I have GAD and have found that, for me, except in extreme cases, no RX can help me nor do I want to become dependent on one.

I use traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese herbs (both administered by an MD) 1/2 hr of meditation daily (count natural breaths (inhalation and exhalation) to 500 and one hour of outdoor exercise either a light jog or a fairly brisk walk.

Think positive thoughts as much as possible and pray for God's help if you feel inclined to do so. Best to you.

What is GAD? Could you let us know who your doctor is that administers chinese herbs? Maybe I could find someone in NY. I am like you, find no relief in standard medicines, only problems. I do yoga therapy, and deep relaxation. I'd like to know more about your Chinese practitioner.

[Sally939]

I am not the person that first mentioned it, but it stands for General Anxiety Disorder.

[izazen]

Hi, yes I have self dx'd GAD and my western med internist agreed with me.

So I worry all the time and its very hard to ever relax. I'm almost always "tensed up" muscle-wise but I just have to deal with the hand Mother Nature dealt me. I think my mom was very tense when she was pregnant with me as that's about the time that she and my dad were really having a hard time financially and in their relationship plus he was drinking more as he got older. I was born when my mom was 41.

My internist, traditional Chinese medicine practitioner is Dr. Charles Lo in Chicago. He is the best and has many "bladder problem" patients.

[windwalker]

I can tell you I read a little on valerian root and passionflower, they are said to help w/anxiety, maybe do a search on them but also let your doc know if you are planning on trying something herbal to make sure it wont interact w/anything you may be taking and so he knows "just in case". Good luck to ya.