It’s been almost 4 weeks since I cut my anxiety medication dose in half. I have to say that I do recognize my anxiety more the I was before but I’m trying to keep it controlled. Many times I’ve feel like I need to pop a pill for relief but I haven’t. God is the ultimate healer and I love having Him to lean on.
While I’m in no hurry to drop the medication completely at this point, I’m looking into alternate ways to help the anxiety feeling. I’ve come to the realization that I’m going to survive my attacks but I just hate having the feeling itself. The feeling of “fear” for no reason is not welcome in my life. I don’t have the time for it Plus! I will never let my kids see it.
I’m doing a lot of research on Serotonin levels and I’m learning how to keep them high enough naturally to keep me happy :). Serotonin appears to be my main problem because low levels of it are what causes depression, anxiety, hopelessness and more. Research studies show that up to 80% of people in the United States have low Serotonin levels. Most of these people are women!
I found a wonderful article by Mary Ann Copson who is a Mood and Brain Chemistry expert about how to increase your Serotonin levels. Your Serotonin level can be increased by a combination of exercise, diet and relaxation. If your interested in learning more about how to do this, check out her Easy and Natural Ways to Raise Your Low Serotonin Levels article.
I don’t personally know Mary Ann Copson or have any affiliations with her. I love the article she wrote and really want to try some of her suggestions. I’ll keep you up to date on my progess :)!
If your interested in learning more about my anxiety, you can start from the beginning by clicking this Anxiety Disorder link.
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Maura
June 6, 2012 @ 11:54I have read all of your updates and am curious how your process will go weaning off. It's interesting for me to read about someone who went on meds prior to getting saved, and then the trial of potentially getting off of them after getting saved. I had the opposite - have been a strong Christian for 10+ years, then had a baby and got blind sided with post partum depression/anxiety. I felt so guilty for going on meds, and felt like a failure because my faith wasn't strong enough to see myself get better without them. I re-stabilized, and weened off of them again, only to fall into a horrible relapse that was worse than the first bout. So I've come to the place of being ok that God is using these meds to heal me, and it's not because of my lack of faith that I need them. So whether you find out you still need them or not, or can do ok with a smaller dose - don't kill yourself with guilt if you still need meds. I'm just so thrilled and thankful that these exist because I've never felt so free, and have never trusted God more now that I'm not constantly fighting anxiety!! Praying for your journey - I know it is not an easy one!
Tammy
June 6, 2012 @ 17:01When weening off of it, you have to give it time. The worse thing you can do for yourself is to try to hurry up the process.
Toni @ A Daily Dose
June 7, 2012 @ 03:10You are doing wonderfully by slowly weaning yourself. That is key right there. Praying for you and for God to give you peace where there was anxiety.