Anxiety meds not working, what should I do?

Anxiety is tricky. As I've come to understand, the fight/flight response being triggered at an "inappropriate time" is what usually causes anxiety. So, effective treatment comes down to the trigger. I take propranolol to help with one specific form of panic attack I get. I've got chronic tachycardia and POTS, and sometimes I'll start getting terribly anxious simply because my pulse is too high and begins to drive other physical signs of anxiety, like hyperventilation. It's very helpful for that. But I've also got C-PTSD, and sometimes what triggers my anxiety is in my head, not my heart. Like, say I hear a baby crying at a store, one of my known PTSD triggers. Propranolol won't help me at that point. What helps then isn't even meds, it's stuff I learned in trauma therapy, like mindfulness exercises, meditation, and seeking a good friend to listen and help me get back to earth. Another anxiety thing for me is OCD popping up when I feel like life is a bit out of my control. I'll catch myself getting too into my rituals and magical thinking, and I know that's when I need to smoke some weed, because it forces me to chill out and see things in perspective. Weed is also my go-to for another source of my nerves: severe chronic pain. Once my pain levels go down, I feel less frenzied and frantic. Mastery of anxiety means getting out of your head and pinning down where you feel your anxiety is coming from a mental trigger or your body trying to tell you something. A journal might help. Once you can recognize "this is anxiety because I had an argument with a friend" vs "this is anxiety because I haven't eaten yet today," you can begin addressing each trigger accordingly, and it becomes a lot easier to manage overall.

I've had so many times of overwhelming anxiety. One thing that helped me is telling myself this will end. Sounds too simple, and its not instant, but I was told by my counselor that part of the issue is the out of control feeling, and your body thinks it won't end. Try self talk, telling your self this is temporary, the anxiety attack will end, focus on breathing. For me my trust In God also helps. It took several times of trying this before I noticed much change but after a little bit, the attacks would be shorter and eventually I could often stop them before they got full blown.

something that has actually worked for both my anxiety and depression has been Cymbalta. it turns out that antipsychotics are just not for me, and were making everything worse. i know you probably weren't looking for a med rec, but Cymbalta has been life changing

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Have you tried a genome test? Maybe a lot of meds dont work for your system or need a supplement, a test might see possible ones that might help (outside of *normal anxiety meds*)

I recently went through this while on Effexor. I had to max out my dose and it took about 3 months for it to start working. In the meantime I had Ativan and propanolol on hand and I really just white knuckled it through. I’m not gonna lie it was really bad. But, I’m in a really good place now and effexor is working for me like it always has before. If you’ve already tried upping your dose with no success, maybe talk to your doctor about adding in another medication. That was the next step my doctor was thinking of doing with me. I’m so sorry you’re having a crappy time, hang in there ❤️

I'm in the exact same boat as you. my anxiety medicine has completely stopped working. I've spoke with my phycatrist about it before I plan on speaking to him again about it Monday but I can not deal with this my anxiety is so so so bad ! What medicine are you on if you don't mind me asking ?

is there a possibility you’re becoming resistant to your meds and need to try a new one or a higher dose for a little while?

When my anxiety meds don't work, I try to distract myself by doing other things, such as listen to music or white noise, or engaging in a hobby. Journaling helps too.