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Suggest Treatment For Severe Anxiety
Question: Hello, I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California. I was assaulted by a client and I have been experiencing (sometimes) severe anxiety. I have been taking Xanax .5, 3 x per day for 1 year. My doctor wants me to take Lexapro. I am very medication sensitive and I am concerned about side effects as I am still able to work and do not want to feel worse.
Brief Answer:
It would be wise to do so
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query.
I have gone through your question in detail and I can understand what you are going through.
The symptoms that you have mentioned state that you may be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or some other major anxiety disorder. Xanax may make you symptomatically feel better but at the end of the day, its not an effective anti anxiety drug and will not cure the anxiety.
Lexpro, the drug which your psychiatrist has suggested is a very good and safe drug for anxiety. It has minimal side effects if any. I use it in many patient in my day to day practice. Only 1-2 percent have reported benign sidde effect like drowsiness or anxiety after taking the medications. Rest all have tolerated this drug very nicely. You may go ahead with the plan of lexapro.
You may even continue taking xanax along with lexapro and you would like to combine cognitive behavioural therapy with your medications to improve the chances of recovery.
Hope I am able to answer your concerns.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for me, so that I get a good feedback.
In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:
bit.ly/dr-srikanth-reddy
Wish you good health,
Kind regards
Dr. Srikanth Reddy M.D.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Does increasing available serotonin actually reduce symptoms of anxiety? It is difficult to convince physicians that I am drug sensitive. I dont want to be. I became very ill and felt worse on Inderal. What would I do If I was one of the 1 to 2 percent that expereienced increased anxiety on Lexapro?
Does increasing available serotonin levels actually reduce anxiety? Or is it possible that it would increase feelings of anxiety? It is difficul;t to convincr physicians that I am medication sensitive...I have nothing to gain by this. What would I do If I am the 1 to 2 percent of patients who do expereince negative side effects and increased anxiety?
Brief Answer:
It will help
Detailed Answer:
Hello
Thanks for the follow-up query.
Yes, increasing available serotonine already available in the brain will improve the anxiety. It may generally not cause any increase in anxiety. But please try to understand that the adverse drug reactions with lexapro is very rare and even if they occur, they are completely reversible and have an early remission. So you should not bother about them at all.
If you are averse to the drug therapies then there is also an option of cognitive behavioural therapy. This therapy is taken by either a psychologist or a psychiatrist in which the therapist identifies impaired cognitions (Thoughts) and try to correct them. They are 15-20 min weekly session and there should be around 8-10 sessions to help you with your illness.
Regards
Dr. Srikanth Reddy
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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