Thank you all for your advice,as my Dr. does not answer my questions,he says iys all anxiety?

Question

Im having a very rough time,I think Im depressed,but my Dr. says just take my xanax even though he knows its not helping me,thats why Im trying to taper off it.For years I have had a pain on the right side of my head,and it affects my right eye,but when they did the MRI of my brain they just found the cyst on my pineal gland, I live in a very smal town,and we only have the one Dr. I aam unable to work so getting to a different Dr. is hard,thats why I ask so many questions on here.Is there somrthing natural I could take for depression that would work with the xanax. My label on my xanax says alcohol might intify the effect,it has never said not to drink beer,so for 5 years I have drank beer too, I never knew. Any advice is great for me

Answer 1

Xanax could easily be increasing your symptoms of depression. That is a common side effect of drugs that slow down the Central Nervous System (valium [also used for anxiety]and phenobarbitol are examples of other drugs w this unfortunate side effect).

Regardless of anyone's advice to do so: Do NOT attempt to taper off Xanax yourself. It is medically unsafe. Severe withdrawal symptoms could occur and often it makes the anxiety worse. You need to leave your small town in search of another doctor. I would see a general practitioner / family doctor first.

That doc may or may not give you a referral to psychiatry. If there's pineal gland involvement you may need to see several specialists, including a neurologist. Best of luck to you.

Edited to add: The person below means well, but behavioral therapy may or may not be indicated as the best treatment modality for your anxiety. It depends on the severity of your problem. For severe anxiety, studies generally show the best treatment is a combination of both drugs and therapeutic intervention. In some cases the drugs are only used short-term.

Someone else below suggested St. John's Wort. But 'natural' anti-depressant remedies can have a negative interaction with pharmaceutical drugs (including Xanax), depending on the person's chemistry. Don't mess around with it. See a doc first.
Also, you mentioned drinking alcohol. Just remember that alcohol increases depression.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

You need to get yourself to a therapist in an office that has either a Psychiatrist or Nurse Practitioner who can prescribe you anti-depressant meds. If you are seeing an MD or a Primary Care Physician (PCP)-same thing, they don't have enough hours of training in Psychiatric issues and therefore cannot help you.
Basically, it's all trial and error with an MD.

Xanax doesn't help anxiety and depression. This was originally prescribed as an anti-anxiety drug when it first came out, but it doesn't help depression.

There has to be a way that you can find someone else to help you. Call your local hospital and ask for the Behavioral Health department or office and see if you can't get in to see someone there.

If this doesn't work, you must have a phone book where you can look up Behavioral Health centers or Psychiatrists, or even Nurse Practitioners in your town.

Good Luck finding better treatment-there is no reason why you need to be feeling like this.

Answer 4

I agree - to see a specialist in the field would be helpful for you.

However, I would also recommend you do a little homework and find out for yourself what sort of things you are dealing with.

In my opinion, you are doing right to try and taper off the Xanax. It is not actually fixing the anxiety issues, but it just makes life easier to bear for the time being.

Any of the benzodiazepine medicines (Valium, Serepax, Mogadon, Rohypnol, Xanax and all those) are very good relaxants, but they are not fixing what is making you anxious.

The cyst on the pineal gland is a red-herring. I don't think it is contributing to your issues (although I can understand you may be becoming anxious about it).

The best cures for anxiety are actually NOT drug related, but behaviour related. They involve Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. You might go to your local library and ask to see if there are any books pitched at about your level which might be helpful (there should be a fair few).

If you are still at a loss, try some of these likes below.

Oh yeah - you shouldn't drink alcohol when you are taking Xanax. The combination is bad. Many people still do and they survive time and again, but you still shouldn't.

Answer 5

Yes you might benifit from another doc.but...
They have an o-t-c supplement that called St. John's Wort. I have heard it has helped some people with depression, although it has never ben proven, thus it's a supplement; can be found in lots of drug stores; stores like Rite-Aid, Walgreens,probably anywhere they sell o-t-c vitamins and the like.
I also take Xanax=my prob. is that I like it but it IS for anxiety & panic attacks, phobias; which I suffer from.Depression and anxiety sometimes go hand in hand ;sooo my doc gives me Paxil CR with thee Xanax.
One more thing ANY kind of alcohol is not good to drink when you are medicated.Plus drinking used to make me more anxious, restless and I couldn't sleep well.

If you have other questions or would just like to talk to some one, you can e-mail me at _= [e-mail]

Answer 6

It sounds like you really need to see a psychiatrist . . . find some way to get out of the small town for a few days and schedule an appointment to see one.

Answer 7

Try gingko biloba or St.Johns wort they help.

Answer 8

tell him that you want to see another md