Are there any good alternatives to SSRIs for anxiety? I've been on a handful of different serotonin-based medications...

You can't really lose asking your doctor. Unless you have some history of drug hunting he will probably let you give it a go, start you off at a low dose of course. I have been at my doctor for 3 years and to get Ritalin I just had to ask and explain why I think it would help me ( I had been very fatigued and anhedonic at the time ). To treat anxiety you get a direct line, on the label and obvious treatment with Benzos so nothing can look fishy or have your doctor question you.

Bupropion. It works on dopamine, not serotonin. It works for my girlfriend, but there's a possibility for worsening anxiety.

This is an NDRI, the same as ritalin but more long term oriented ( need to take for weeks to "kick in" ). From experience it could help OP, benefits of probably not causing tiredness.

I had my doctor get visibly mad when I asked for this stuff by name, completely ignore me, and give me divaproex. Would you know why?

Weed actually makes me worse. SSRIs work for me OP, so I wouldn't know an alternative, sorry.

Shit doctor.
Drop him.

My psychiatrist usually convinces me in a very calm manner.

No idea. It's not like a drug you are going to abuse. Sounds like he has you down as some sort of bipolar, my doctor has me on Lamictal which is another epilepsy med, but these are off label mood stabilizers. He supplemented an antidepressant for the low moods, he had me on 2 SSRIs before putting me on Bupropion ( Wellbutrin ) though. The SSRIs gave me morning sickness and made me completely impotent. Point is bupropion isn't unreasonable as a med for you.

This. He should be able to explain anything you ask that's half his job.

You're probably smoking sativas. Try a good indica instead. Or, even better, just use a CBD extract. No anxiety, no paranoia.

Great advice buddy thanksssss

that's what I thought.

>yeah doc I'm just going to take 5 bupropion pills and get wicked stoned lol haha im a college age male radical gnarly pokemon

The guy prescribed me Ritalin when I asked. I don't know what his deal is with this stuff.

I had been 'diagnosed' as bipolar, but the counsellor pretty much said "tell me what you think is wrong" and I said "bipolar maybe?" and she said "ok" without any input. I told him how my counselling session went, as well as why I thought bupropion was good, and he refused to look at me, the prick.

Unfortunately, I live in a small town and work too much to go out of town to talk with better people.

Thank you for input.

I was on escitalopram (and also bupropion) for a couple years for anxiety. worked pretty well.

honestly, OP, bupropion might work. if you're a big guy like me, you might have trouble getting a high enough effective dose for it to work well (they're leery of giving anyone high doses due to risk of seizures), but it helped me a lot. ask your psychiatrist.
I concur with be cautious about benzos. they've got more risk of abuse, worse withdrawal symptoms, and more risk of interactions with other drugs.

>The guy prescribed me Ritalin when I asked. I don't know what his deal is with this stuff.
Ritalin is low risk if taken appropriately and not abused but whatever risk Ritalin has Bupropion has an order of magnitude less.

Actually, it is great advice.

>Are there any good alternatives to SSRIs for anxiety?

>inb4 weed lmao

Hey guys, I'm hungry, what should I do?

inb4 eat lmao

Benzos ard great for short time solutions

Better thrn anti psychosis crao

You need a-PVP OP

Been taking daily Prozac and Xanax as needed since I was 17. 19 now.

Don't know why there is so much fear around Xanax.. never felt any sort of addiction or unusual symptoms. Then again my body is pretty drug-resistant so this may be why.

Take the xanax daily for a month, maybe two. Then quit coldturkey.

benzos, but you can't use them err day.

Luckily I only have to take it every few weeks..

..Which I guess is why I'm not addicted to it

Well you can, but you shouldn't. They will deteriorate you're brain

Benzodiazepines. Bottom line talk to your psychiatrist. If you don't have one get one.

Hmm, I get more of the depressive side but I had to switch from SSRI's cause it was causing intrusive suicidal thoughts that were frankly quite annoying. I'm on welbutrin now but it makes me have a little trouble sleeping at night and I have to work on anxiety a bit more.

Weed + SSRI = bad

Long term weed use messes with serotonin sensitivity so it can fuck up your SSRI's in the long term. I'm a fat stoner but I've read the research.

I know everyone's different but last year I was on 20mg of paroxetine(still am). I started working full time and was buying like 140-160 dollars worth of pot (forgot how much it weighed out) every pay check.I was smoking that shit in like 8 days and let me tell you it made me into a fucking schizoid. Seriously I was getting really irritable, I felt uncomfortable around people I knew pretty well. I started to seclude myself more and more. Then I figured out what the problem really was. Stoped smoking pot, sold my pieces. And even just a day after discontinued use there was a seriously a huge difference in how I felt. Social anxiety was gone, stopped being so damned irritable, could focus and pay attention a lot better without zoning out every 10 seconds. I blame the pot for how it made me feel, but I do wonder if my SSRIs had anything to do with it.

What's happening is an interaction between the SSRI and pot. Pot elevates levels of seratonin and makes you feel all sorts of good things but it can make the reward center of your brain become desensitized in order to compensate for the massive over stimulation. This is why most stoners are all calm and get burnt out, but when you are on a serotonin reuptake inhibitor it prevents the desensitization from being able to protect your brain. Hence the twitchy irritation and desire to isolate from other stimulus.

At least that's what I gathered. I did the reverse of you, was on an SSRI and smoked then switched to a dopamine based antidepressent and the aforementioned problems started to fade.

Interesting mate. Thanks for sharing.

This sounds like pot+ssri is neurotoxic?

I'm not gonna say anything like that but I wouldn't be surprised if I found out that prevalence of serotonin syndrome in pot smokers on SSRI's was drastically increased.
No problem. Best of luck.

Have you tried exercise?

I'm not being a smartass. Lots of things in the body can't regulate themselves without enough physical activity, and anxiety and depression are two of the most common results of that dysregulation. You've got to run your metabolism at more than an idle for everything in it to get done properly..

Exercise will yield significant improvement in more cases of depression or anxiety than any drug, while being less expensive and generally beneficial to physical health, rather than having harmful side-effects.

Doctors have mostly given up telling patients to exercise. They say that the patients don't comply and stop coming back. But how do they know the patients haven't complied if they've stopped coming back?

Been suffering with anxiety for years till I started turmeric. It's helped me quite a bit. I won't waste your time listing tons of half baked anecdotal evidence. If you're interested use google and do the research yourself. It's worth the effort.

Benzos are good for anxiety attacks and stressful situations. If you take them every day you're memory will go to shit and you'll get Alzheimers.

Helps but not a permanent or long term solution. Speaking as someone who does the full on fit fag experience with similar condition as OP.

Same experience as me.
Did this no sweat. It's really not that bad unless you have had a past of abusing drugs.

calling bullshit, real xanax withdrawal is worse than heroin.

I had panic disorder and anxiety disorder and dissociation problems...tried everything from kratom to effexor benzos fucking kava kava valerian horse cum. The only thing that worked was changing my life style.
>exercise regularly
>eat healthy (cant stress this enough)
>consistent sleep schedule
>cups half full attitude in every situation

If you can do this for 6 months to a year you will be cured im proof and i was pretty fucked up

If you eat like 10mgs a day for like 5 months straight yeah
>i take xanax prescribed

Oh and holy basil...shits a fucking wonder drug i dont know why everybody doesnt eat this shit

Yeah cause max 0.5mg to 1mg per day to start will do that to OP.
You've confirmed never been prescribed it, don't pretend to know something you don't.

Nice meme. I have bipolar and exercise does me in worse but I still do it ( 5 splits of lifting per week and top nutrition etc ). It totally zaps me. So for your example you have me as a counterexample. I still only do it cause of my physique.

>I dont know what the fuck doctor is giving you SSRIs for ANXIETY of all conditions...

Because you're not a doctor and have no idea what you're talking about, clearly. SSRI's are very helpful for anxiety in some cases, and unlike Benzo's, can be used long term without serious side effects (potential sexual dysfunction isn't a serious side effect) and potentially lethal withdrawals, as tolerance does build and you will need to increase dosage to the point where your withdrawals are going to be fucking terrible.

Any doctor that just goes "yeah here's some benzo's" to any anxiety patient that walks in should have his medical license revoked.

OP, assuming you're already in therapy, throw yourself at it fully. It's the only real solution for anxiety disorders, and it really does work. Exercise is always helpful too.

check out lindenmethod.com/ . i can say that it has saved my life. probably. most likely. your mind is more powerful than you think.
give it a try if you want. i'm sure it's going to help you.

Snake oil. Fuck off you shill.