Posted by Sabina on January 31, 2004, at 13:19:49
In reply to CHRONIC NERVOUSNESS...can you relate?, posted by Lainy on January 30, 2004, at 21:22:55
you didn't mention if you'd tried an antipsychotic (typical or atypical) to address your symptoms. the reason i ask is that what both you and shadow describe pretty much sums up my life until about eight months ago. i have always been nervous and suffered trauma as a child. some days it was unbearable and my tolerance level seemed to decrease the older i got. i was afraid of everything, both rational and irrational fears. i had a visible tremor and was hypervigilent to the point where i would become exhausted and sick. i reacted violently to ssri's and benzos only dulled my senses.
i was looking for something to just take the edge off my nerves without knocking me out. in my case, the miracle drug was an atypical antipsychotic. i'm currently on an extremely low maintenance dose but it is still enough to keep the demons off me, plus i sleep better than i did before. i no longer jump at every little sound (and i don't *imagine* sounds anymore!), i'm not so nervous about trying new things, and i'm not afraid that i'll never see my husband again when he leaves for work (every day!), etc. i will tell you that lots of people hate atypicals, just like a lot of people are anti-benzo, but this is what worked for me. there were side effects at first, but i will say that sticking with it was one of the best decisions i've ever made, due to the peace i have now that i thought would never be possible. mind you, i'm not talking about sedation *or* mania. i mean that i'm simply not nervous, jumpy, and scared anymore.
i couldn't stand to read about your pain without posting to you about a class of drugs that completely turned my life around when i had previously resigned myself to being that way for the rest of my life. i only wish that my grandmother would have been able to have taken something like this. her entire life was consumed by worry, fear, and nervousness. i hope you guys find some relief. i know that feeling like that all the time is truly a living hell. i did it for thirty-five years.
poster:Sabina
thread:307532
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040131/msgs/307738.html