Help! My Anxiety Medication Stopped Working

I couldn't get on with any meds, trialled many over 11 years. Eventually I worked very hard for years to come off of SSRIs and anti depressants. The side effects always outweighed any benefit in my case and I had multiple health issues to battle. In the end, it was a long journey thru CBT and ACT that I finally manage my chronic GAD without meds (tapered sensibly with specialist's help) . I did have prescription cannabis which helped greatly, but I had to stop it during pregnancy. I also did meditation boot camps to help build resilience over long time. I'm not against meds at all, but I do urge people to seek alternatives, esp. talking therepies and herbal remedies.

Personally I rather do the holistic method better. I think you should change your psychiatrist if they're not listening. I take supplements like magnesium, ashwagandha, vitamin c, and of course try to eat better.

It's a herb. The brand I use for a big dose (for when I'm having or planning to have a particularly stressful day) Is Solaray 400mg. Thankfully I'm at the point now where I don't need to use it much so I use olly brand chillax on a more regular basis. It's for kids but I like it better than their stress formula because gaba makes me tired.

Have you ever tried lemon balm? I have never tried any medication for the fear of how I would react to them but after finding lemon balm I don't even want to because it works so well. I know everyone is different but if you haven't tried it before it might be worth a shot.

Klonopin is best as a daily medication and not as needed. It should also only be used as a short term solution as long term use has been linked to dementia <—- per my psych who was furious I was prescribed it on an as needed basis by an NP. My panic disorder had flared and as needed use was just aggravating it. After my psychiatrist changed it to daily use I was on it for between a year and a half to two years while we perfected my long term meds (Lexepro, which was wonderful except the discontinuation syndrome was so fast and severe I had to switch for lifestyle reasons) and I did sooooo much better. Was a similar experience when I was on OCD meds

I use propranolol for my anxiety and it's amazingly helpful. And occasional cannabis use if anxiety is extra bad.

I always wondered does the marijuana calm down anxiety?

Try cognitive behavioral therapy

Medication isnt going to fully stop the panic and anxiety. You have to combine it with coping skills and whatever else your Dr recommends. SECONDLY, and this is the most important. YES. Propel with anxiety disorders and PTSD type disorders OFTEN have a change on medication. Even after being on them for YEARS, they can stop working and you may need to change up, or even after a few months.

Diazapam is similar to clonezapam

I ditched my anxiety mess my senior year of high school when I discovered and did my senior project on dance therapy and other art therapies. It has helped me so much. I don't dance in front of others, I just go into the woods behind my house with my phone and dance for just myself. Idk if alternative therapies is something you would be interested in. But I'm always here if you want to talk about it.

This happened to me so dr switched to diazapam such a relief to have no more panic

Just don’t stop taking them. The withdrawal is life-threatening and can cause a seizure. Maybe switch to a new doctor if you feel like you’re not being heard. I know exactly how you feel. Stay strong!!

Deep breathing and exercise

I know it sucks. I have bad anxiety I have diabetes I’m afraid of diabetes. It sucks.

this has happened to me, sometimes it’s just a matter of your body building a tolerance to a medication! maybe you could bring it up to your provider and suggest going up on your dose?

This happened to me with alprazolam (Xanax) and it was actually a living nightmare to adjust back to a semi normal life without panic attacks. I still take about 0.25 mg of it daily that’s how dependent my brain got to it. It’s honestly so discouraging, and I wish doctors warned more about it making your anxiety worse in the future and the dependence your body creates w it, even in the smallest doses if you’re already anxiety prone (ironic huh). And this is the case for all benzo medications too. Anyways tho….what helped me go from around 2.5 mg daily to what I am now and hope to be at 0 soon… 🥹…. Is quitting smoking (I know I know) tapering off the medication week by week down in doses and told my family and friends I’m sorry if I’m not around or irritable….started taking so many supplements which, consult your dr., not every supplement is right for you…but I took, GABA-pharmaceutical grade, ashwaghanda, and l-theanine and just good old time and patience and tears haha. And finally eliminating people in your life that add stress if possible. I know those are all hard and scary but I feel SO much better not relying on that med as much….not being scared that my tolerance was going up and being scared that it was making me worse

This happened to me when I took hydroxyzine. After a few months, it stopped working and my doctor said that it’s not uncommon for anxiety medication to stop working for some people. You should ask your doctor if something else might be better. Sometimes finding the right medication for you is trial and error! I hope you find something that works for you :)

I tried four different medications for my Tourette Syndrome. One stopped working after a few years, and the other three stopped working from within a few weeks to a few months. As someone else said, sometimes the body grows immune to medication. I know you don't want to talk to your psychiatrist, but that's unfortunately the only way I know you can change anything. And you've got to change something if you want your anxiety to go down. If it is safe for you to do so, you could talk to your psychiatrist about increasing your dosage. My first medication was increased several times until it wore off again and I couldn't increase the dosage any more. This may help with your anxiety better, but it also has the potential to make any side effects worse. Keep this in mind before increasing. Another thing to consider is if anything is different between the time it hasn't been working and the time it has. Have you experienced a life change? Have you been eating differently? Exercising more or less? Getting more or less fresh air or exercise? Different work load at work or school? These and other things may influence the effectiveness of your medication. Say you have a higher work load. Consciously, you may feel like it's nothing to worry about. But since it's more work, and therefore more strain on your body, your anxiety may be worse and harder to treat with your medication. I find that my anxiety is always worse when I don't go outside enough, even though I take meds for it. So, perhaps it's less to do with your medication and more to do with things in your life. So what can you do about it if it's life circumstances? My advice is to minimize stress where to can. You only have so much energy, and it should only go to your top priorities. Otherwise, find activities that reduce your stress. I like to brain dump in a journal so I can get all my feelings out of my head. Maybe you can go on unplugged walks. I do that as well. Whatever it is, I believe in you to do you what you need to do for your health.

Unfortunately sometimes our body just adjusts and diminishes medications at certain doses after awhile (sometimes months other years down the road) but know this is normal. It could be it's just time to adjust it till you hit the magic dose again or try something else (as scary as that is honestly) but we will constantly be adjusting body wise. I would tell them it's no longer working and if they try and gaslight you keep in mind they work for you not the other way around and can be "fired" by you. It may be time to play hard ball and or seek a different doctor. Some steps you can try is: if they refuse to change the dose or medication you say "I want it noted in my medical chart you are refusing treatment/medication for me after I have expressed concerns" if they try and dismiss this you keep insisting they personally write in your chart they are refusing you MEDICAL CARE. Some will change their tunes pretty quick and if not it's time for a new doctor. You hold the power in this scernio. Now I would also recommend if your insurance will cover it and you can get the doctor to do it a special geneic test that they do now that will see what medications will work for you or may work. It can save time in the long run of the constant trial and error of the medication world for you. And it's great actually knowing options your body will respond to. I've found it to be a priceless tool in my medication journey, maybe it can help you too.

Have you ever had your strength increased? If so, how long has it been. I just had to do a raise on one of mine because my body simply got more used to the meds. I take effexor (the one increased), buspar, and minitab in an off shelf use.

Anxiety and high cortisol aren’t good for our brain chemistry either. It’s hard, I know- I have the same concerns about being in alprazolam but if your quality of life is suffering it’s worth talking to a different doctor about. suffering sucks- I battle anxiety each day too.