Posted by Vincent_QC on January 25, 2009, at 10:30:52
In reply to Re: Social Phobia » brthst, posted by Phillipa on January 22, 2009, at 11:07:59
> This won't be helpful for you but low dose benzos for me. I didn't and don't abuse them. Don't work as well as used to. Sometimes thyroid conditions can cause anxiety have you had yours checked just a suggestion. Love Phillipa
The thyroid is often cited as a problem in social anxiety and phobia...I had it checked often and everything was fine...I just think that social phobia is the worst psychological disease to treat...Addiction with benzo often occur, they stop working, the withdraw from them is horrible...a nitghmare in my case...I can't do it...have to take 20mg/day of Valium even if I feel nothing from it...I double the dosage also someday because I feel more anxious...make me feel guilty because I know i'm addicted and that'S not good to up the dosage like I do but I have no choice...i'm addicted...so what I can do??? Nothing...
I really think that treating co-morbidities, who will help to make the social phobia to be more tolerable, is the only one solution avaible now...but just one drug to treat the social phobia don't exist, even if the FDA claims that some SSRI's or SRNI's are on-label use to treat this disease (Effexor, Paxil, Zoloft...)...In my case, they worst my state everytime I take them...so that's not true, nothing exist to treat the social phobia as a primary disease, even the Nardil or the Parnate...they help for the reduction of the co-morbidities disease like depression or general anxiety but not directly for the social phobia...The best way to treat it is a good CBT...mean a lot of time of social exposure, learn to change your thoughts in social events and try to deal with the anxiety...go to a public space, wait until the anxiety return to the level who it was at the begining of your social exposure....and increase each time the time of exposure you do...until you are able to go somewhere without feeling any anxiety at all...or a minimum level and acceptable level for you that not affect your life...
Easy to write but not to do...i'm doing a CBT now and I can't do my exposure in social situation because i'm not stable on a good "drug"...I have to wait another 10 days before I see my PDoc again...we plan to import some Marplan in the Canada, but before being able to have it, I will ask for the Nardil...who is by far, the most tolerable drug for me and who help at least to reduce my Valium intake....but not my social anxiety...That's so complex...I mean people with resistant depression can at least find some relief of their depression symptoms on MAOI's drugs...but people with social phobia have a limited choice of drugs...The benzo drugs are just like a patch..I mean they don' treat the disease, they just reduce the social anxiety...but people with depression get cure sometimes of their depression....
PAnic disorder and agoraphobia can be cure more well with some SSRI's, TCA's or SRNI's...the reduction of the number of panic attacks occur often with the use of these drugs, but the social phobia always stay there... I don't know a person who was cure of the social phobia directly with a drug...Social phobia is there and will stay there...I don't want to be negative...but that's what I think...all you have to do is to learn to live with it and to accepting it...But you can definitly work on it and make it more tolerable in your life and succeed to live a normal life even with this disease...
That'S my point of view...
I wish you good luck ok...and take care of you!!! Try to forget the people around you that are not important in your life (when you expose yourself in a social situation), try to think about the fact that a lot of people you see in social events are not important in your life and probably don't care about you...it will make you less anxious...I know, we live on a society where everything is about the physical look you have, the money you have, the body image and all the materials things that surrounded this...but the most important is to be someone good and try to make the best you can in your life...and forget the others...
Another time, take care of you!!!
Bye!!
Vincent ;-)
poster:Vincent_QC
thread:875427
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090104/msgs/876041.html