Recommendations for therapist, meds for anxiety

[Anonymous]

I would really appreciate any suggestions for DC/MoCo-based therapists who have helped other DCUMs with anxiety. And if a prescription has helped, I'd love to know that too. I'm a typical middle-aged DCUM with two crazy kids, a FT job, and a few other things that keep me up at night (sick parents, dilapidated house, etc). I've always been neurotic but over the past month or two I've come to realize that it's a real problem - I basically made myself sick (and made everyone else miserable) during our first vacation in a while because I was so stressed about work, and I generally spend every waking moment in a state of panic. As my husband pointed out to me, my life is actually pretty good by most objective standards. My job is not truly stressful; my sick parents have lots of support; my kids are crazy but they will probably be just fine in the long run. So instead of feeling miserable about my life, I need to change my responses... but I don't think I can do that without some assistance. Anyway, thanks for any suggestions or recommendations!

[Anonymous]

Karen Prince in Kensington was super helpful to me. She is on the corner of knowles and CT. She is a LCSW, so can't prescribe, so I get my prescription from my GP.
Good luck. Anxiety is very hard.

[Anonymous]

Barbara Byers. She's a psychiatrist who recently relocated from NOVA to MD (Bethesda, I think?)

[Anonymous]

That was me a year ago. I waited too long to get help and was a wreck all through the winter. Finally got on Zoloft and it changed my life.

[Anonymous]

Buspar was the only med that helped my anxiety. All those SSRI ones made me feel super weird/off, and the narcotic ones made me loopy.

But cognitive behavioral therapy worked the best for me - I am med free. See Dr. Laura Primakoff in Cabin John. She's really wonderful.

[Anonymous]

If possible, please avoid medication. Those that work hook you for life and ruin your life. Few if any ever get off them. Others are as effective as sugar pills. You're doing great by sharing. Perhaps support groups and talk therapy. But it sounds like you've got enough self-awareness already to be regaining proper perspective on your life. I just ran into yet another friend I hadn't seen in years who was turned into a virtual shadow of herself because of these meds.

[Anonymous]

Thanks - I appreciate the names. I'm not a meds person by nature, PP, or even much of a therapy person (never done either before). But being a nervous wreck all the time is not a good way to be. And I think I'm basically self-medicating anyway - on a bad day I literally feel like I must have a glass of wine to calm down. I don't want to be a zombie, but right now I'm not sure I can get to a calmer place on a regular basis without help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If possible, please avoid medication. Those that work hook you for life and ruin your life. Few if any ever get off them. Others are as effective as sugar pills. You're doing great by sharing. Perhaps support groups and talk therapy. But it sounds like you've got enough self-awareness already to be regaining proper perspective on your life. I just ran into yet another friend I hadn't seen in years who was turned into a virtual shadow of herself because of these meds.

This is ridiculous. Plenty of people (myself included) struggle with depression/anxiety at various points in their lives and need medication to help them work through issues in therapy and other supportive settings. It's hard to make any headway if you're brain chemistry is off. OP, I have been on and off Lexapro 3 times in my life with no ill effects while on it or while weaning off. Medication is not the devil.

[Anonymous]

Lexapro != benzodiazepines

OP, some of the older anti-depressants can help with anxiety. For me, it was far more helpful to get help addressing the patterns and mental loops that made me anxious in the first place. If you are given an anti-anxiety med in the benzodiazepine class, please consider using it as sparingly as is possible. They're highly addictive, and a benzo addiction is a miserable thing to have to fight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If possible, please avoid medication. Those that work hook you for life and ruin your life. Few if any ever get off them. Others are as effective as sugar pills. You're doing great by sharing. Perhaps support groups and talk therapy. But it sounds like you've got enough self-awareness already to be regaining proper perspective on your life. I just ran into yet another friend I hadn't seen in years who was turned into a virtual shadow of herself because of these meds.

This is ridiculous. Plenty of people (myself included) struggle with depression/anxiety at various points in their lives and need medication to help them work through issues in therapy and other supportive settings. It's hard to make any headway if you're brain chemistry is off. OP, I have been on and off Lexapro 3 times in my life with no ill effects while on it or while weaning off. Medication is not the devil.

+1. Please stop shaming people who need medication. It has changd my life for the better in a way that traditional therapy never could.

[Anonymous]

Lexapro isn't a benzodiazapine. You need to check your facts before spreading incorrect medication information. OP should find a therapist to work on her anxiety, then consult with her therapist about referrals to MD's to discuss medication options. The type of medication that will work best for her will depend on a number of factors and should be determined by a medical professional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If possible, please avoid medication. Those that work hook you for life and ruin your life. Few if any ever get off them. Others are as effective as sugar pills. You're doing great by sharing. Perhaps support groups and talk therapy. But it sounds like you've got enough self-awareness already to be regaining proper perspective on your life. I just ran into yet another friend I hadn't seen in years who was turned into a virtual shadow of herself because of these meds.

This is ridiculous. Plenty of people (myself included) struggle with depression/anxiety at various points in their lives and need medication to help them work through issues in therapy and other supportive settings. It's hard to make any headway if you're brain chemistry is off. OP, I have been on and off Lexapro 3 times in my life with no ill effects while on it or while weaning off. Medication is not the devil.

+1. Please stop shaming people who need medication. It has changd my life for the better in a way that traditional therapy never could.

Thank you, Zoloft! You changed my life. Hey, if a simple pill is what it takes to live a normal life, I'm all for it. I went from one continual panic attack (nearly back to back...felt like one giant one) with agoraphobia, an inability to eat properly, insomnia, etc. to being mentally and physically healthy. Talk therapy doesn't work when your problems are purely hormonal and chemical. Tried that,too.

[Anonymous]

Lexapro is an SSRI, not a benzo. Please stop spreading misinformation.

Not true that you will be on meds for life. I took effexor for 9 months for anxiety and it "rebooted" my brain, had no problem going off of it and the anxiety didn't return. It gave me my life back. Its always best to work with a psychiatrist because this is specialized knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If possible, please avoid medication. Those that work hook you for life and ruin your life. Few if any ever get off them. Others are as effective as sugar pills. You're doing great by sharing. Perhaps support groups and talk therapy. But it sounds like you've got enough self-awareness already to be regaining proper perspective on your life. I just ran into yet another friend I hadn't seen in years who was turned into a virtual shadow of herself because of these meds.

This is completely false.

[Anonymous]

What's the going rate for therapist these days? $200 per hour? $150 per hour?