has anyone got any advice on how to stay positive with pssd?

[Guest guest]

firstly i would like to tell you guys a little about my experience. i

have generalised anxiety disorder which used to culminate in bouts of

panic attacks every few months. i was able to work with a bit of time

off here and there when things were bad. i was referred to a

psychiatrist and asked for some diazepam to get me through the hard

times. this was in 2001. she told me that they don't prescibe

diazepam much anymore but that the treatment for anxiety was now an

ssri. so, feeling desperate i agreed to take paxil. three years

passed and i was still having bouts of panic attacks every few months

and felt that the paxil was doing little to alleviate any of my

symptoms. in 2004 i stopped taking it and when i next saw my

psychiatrist i was in the midst of a bout of panic attacks. as far as

pssd was concerned, at that time i didn't know of its existence and

if any damage had been done it was surely negligible - i really don't

remember having too many problems in that department. anyway, the

psychiatrist spent a good half an hour arguing with me and trying to

convince me that i would be better off re-starting paxil, which i was

determined not to do as i really didn't think that it had helped.

however, in my desperation and thinking that she should know better i

agreed to go back on it. again i spent three years feeling that it

was doing nothing, if anything it was having a detrimental effect on

my anxiety. i was, during this period not having regular appointments

with a psychiatrist and the previous one had told me that to combat

the sexual side effects some people took drug holidays i.e. skipped a

dose every now and then and this is what i did during this period and

it seemed to work. i had few problems until the last year that i took

it. i decided to stop taking it in 2007 and since then have had pssd.

as you can imagine i really do feel that i have a right to feel angry

with my psychiatrist even if she didn't know about pssd she should

have listened to me when i told her that i didn't think that the drug

was helping my condition. since discovering what is going on i have

been absolutely devestated. my main concern obviously being - is it

going to get better? and having seen little improvement in the past

16 months i seem to be feeling pschologically worse and more and more

negative. i have become a virtual recluse, no longer work or have

much of a life at all.

after reading some recent posts i gather that some people have seen

improvements over the course of a few years and a lot of people talk

about remaining positive and sociable etc as possible contributing

factors to their recovery. so, finally, my question to you all is -

how do you do this? how do you remain positive and sociable, some of

you even work from what i understand. i can only seem to cope with

spending time with a couple of close friends and only in the comfort

of my own home. this experience has been so devestaing that i get no

enjoyment out of any of the activities that i would be able to before

and am sliding further and further into a deep depession. and i am

constantly thinking that the only thing that will restore perhaps a

little positivity is if i see a little improvement in my condition.

but i wait and wait and nothing occurs. my symptoms are - no response

to visual stimulation, ed, numbness and pleasureless orgasms. i have

some to-ing and fro-ing with regards the first three, occasional

times when they are not so bad, in fact sometimes the numbness is in

fact completely the other way i.e. i am overly sensitive and climax

very quickly, but everytime i climax it feels like nothing. i feel

like i have been robbed of the most wonderful natural pleasure that

is bestowed on a human being and i cannot bear the thought of never

feeling that again. so please, please if any of you have any advice

on how to be a bit more positive with regards this heinous condition

please respond. the anxiety and terror that i feel now is far worse

than the condition that i was originally prescribed paxil for. back

then i would have better days, hours or even minutes. with this

hanging over my head i don't have a second of any given day when the

anxiety abates.

[Guest guest]

hi, keep in mind that you are not alone, and all of us are fighting this together and every single day someone is trying to figure out a way to solve this. also with time people seem to improve, even people that were at point zero for some time. and lets not forget that maybe a new drug will be found that will speed up the proses.

I just wonder, if you were telling your psychiatrist that paxil wasn't working, why didn't she change it to effexor for example. still the same shit, its an SNRI and does cause PSSD, but atleast would have given you a few years anxiety and worry free?!

[Guest guest]

The brain can't heal when under a lot of stress. Cortisol, a stress

hormone, damages brain cells and down regulates receptors. Your only

hope is get get yourself happy and relaxed for a number of years.

It's terrible I know, but you have to start somewhere so try starting

a hobbie. It's no good having loads of spare time on your hands to

think about distressing things. Also, learning something new causes

brain cells to regrow.

You could also go to a meditation class and learn relaxation and this

will also give you a chance to meet new people. Childhood trauma

damages the brain - due to high cortisol again - and learning to love

and be loved can undo this damage. Even if people feel fine at this

moment childhood trauma - the route cause of anxiety and depression -

leaves cortisol levels chronically too high. This causes low

serotonin and low confidence and repeat depressions/ anxiety (because

of harm to the brain). So you need to heal this inner pain if you are

to recover. Brain scans have shown how the brain recovers when you

learn to love yourself and be loved by others.

You could buy The Happiness Trap by Russ which is considered

the handbook of the new Acceptance and Commitement therapy (ACT) and

is based on meditation and mindfulness. Another good book is Feeling

Good by Burns a leading CBT therapist and his book Panic

Attacks is good for people with anxiety. Another good book is Radical

Acceptance by Tara Bach, which is a buddhist approach to self love

and happiness.

http://www.amazon.com/Get-Your-Mind-Into-

Life/dp/1572244259/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8 & s=books & qid=1229886033 & sr=8-3

It's a long hard struggle I know (the ACT motto is 'stop strugling

and start living') but you just have to orientate yourself towards

getting well and getting a life. Get out and about, get exercise, and

start making life happen again, but do it with 'non striving' (a

buddhist and ACT term) and be gentle with yourself.

Best of luck.

Kavy

>

> firstly i would like to tell you guys a little about my experience.

i

> have generalised anxiety disorder which used to culminate in bouts

of

> panic attacks every few months. i was able to work with a bit of

time

> off here and there when things were bad. i was referred to a

> psychiatrist and asked for some diazepam to get me through the hard

> times. this was in 2001. she told me that they don't prescibe

> diazepam much anymore but that the treatment for anxiety was now an

> ssri. so, feeling desperate i agreed to take paxil. three years

> passed and i was still having bouts of panic attacks every few

months

> and felt that the paxil was doing little to alleviate any of my

> symptoms. in 2004 i stopped taking it and when i next saw my

> psychiatrist i was in the midst of a bout of panic attacks. as far

as

> pssd was concerned, at that time i didn't know of its existence and

> if any damage had been done it was surely negligible - i really

don't

> remember having too many problems in that department. anyway, the

> psychiatrist spent a good half an hour arguing with me and trying

to

> convince me that i would be better off re-starting paxil, which i

was

> determined not to do as i really didn't think that it had helped.

> however, in my desperation and thinking that she should know better

i

> agreed to go back on it. again i spent three years feeling that it

> was doing nothing, if anything it was having a detrimental effect

on

> my anxiety. i was, during this period not having regular

appointments

> with a psychiatrist and the previous one had told me that to combat

> the sexual side effects some people took drug holidays i.e. skipped

a

> dose every now and then and this is what i did during this period

and

> it seemed to work. i had few problems until the last year that i

took

> it. i decided to stop taking it in 2007 and since then have had

pssd.

> as you can imagine i really do feel that i have a right to feel

angry

> with my psychiatrist even if she didn't know about pssd she should

> have listened to me when i told her that i didn't think that the

drug

> was helping my condition. since discovering what is going on i have

> been absolutely devestated. my main concern obviously being - is it

> going to get better? and having seen little improvement in the past

> 16 months i seem to be feeling pschologically worse and more and

more

> negative. i have become a virtual recluse, no longer work or have

> much of a life at all.

>

> after reading some recent posts i gather that some people have seen

> improvements over the course of a few years and a lot of people

talk

> about remaining positive and sociable etc as possible contributing

> factors to their recovery. so, finally, my question to you all is -

> how do you do this? how do you remain positive and sociable, some

of

> you even work from what i understand. i can only seem to cope with

> spending time with a couple of close friends and only in the

comfort

> of my own home. this experience has been so devestaing that i get

no

> enjoyment out of any of the activities that i would be able to

before

> and am sliding further and further into a deep depession. and i am

> constantly thinking that the only thing that will restore perhaps a

> little positivity is if i see a little improvement in my condition.

> but i wait and wait and nothing occurs. my symptoms are - no

response

> to visual stimulation, ed, numbness and pleasureless orgasms. i

have

> some to-ing and fro-ing with regards the first three, occasional

> times when they are not so bad, in fact sometimes the numbness is

in

> fact completely the other way i.e. i am overly sensitive and climax

> very quickly, but everytime i climax it feels like nothing. i feel

> like i have been robbed of the most wonderful natural pleasure that

> is bestowed on a human being and i cannot bear the thought of never

> feeling that again. so please, please if any of you have any advice

> on how to be a bit more positive with regards this heinous

condition

> please respond. the anxiety and terror that i feel now is far worse

> than the condition that i was originally prescribed paxil for. back

> then i would have better days, hours or even minutes. with this

> hanging over my head i don't have a second of any given day when

the

> anxiety abates.

>

[Guest guest]

The link did not work in my last post. Go to amazon.com and type

Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life.

Kavy

> >

> > firstly i would like to tell you guys a little about my

experience.

> i

> > have generalised anxiety disorder which used to culminate in

bouts

> of

> > panic attacks every few months. i was able to work with a bit of

> time

> > off here and there when things were bad. i was referred to a

> > psychiatrist and asked for some diazepam to get me through the

hard

> > times. this was in 2001. she told me that they don't prescibe

> > diazepam much anymore but that the treatment for anxiety was now

an

> > ssri. so, feeling desperate i agreed to take paxil. three years

> > passed and i was still having bouts of panic attacks every few

> months

> > and felt that the paxil was doing little to alleviate any of my

> > symptoms. in 2004 i stopped taking it and when i next saw my

> > psychiatrist i was in the midst of a bout of panic attacks. as

far

> as

> > pssd was concerned, at that time i didn't know of its existence

and

> > if any damage had been done it was surely negligible - i really

> don't

> > remember having too many problems in that department. anyway, the

> > psychiatrist spent a good half an hour arguing with me and trying

> to

> > convince me that i would be better off re-starting paxil, which i

> was

> > determined not to do as i really didn't think that it had helped.

> > however, in my desperation and thinking that she should know

better

> i

> > agreed to go back on it. again i spent three years feeling that

it

> > was doing nothing, if anything it was having a detrimental effect

> on

> > my anxiety. i was, during this period not having regular

> appointments

> > with a psychiatrist and the previous one had told me that to

combat

> > the sexual side effects some people took drug holidays i.e.

skipped

> a

> > dose every now and then and this is what i did during this period

> and

> > it seemed to work. i had few problems until the last year that i

> took

> > it. i decided to stop taking it in 2007 and since then have had

> pssd.

> > as you can imagine i really do feel that i have a right to feel

> angry

> > with my psychiatrist even if she didn't know about pssd she

should

> > have listened to me when i told her that i didn't think that the

> drug

> > was helping my condition. since discovering what is going on i

have

> > been absolutely devestated. my main concern obviously being - is

it

> > going to get better? and having seen little improvement in the

past

> > 16 months i seem to be feeling pschologically worse and more and

> more

> > negative. i have become a virtual recluse, no longer work or have

> > much of a life at all.

> >

> > after reading some recent posts i gather that some people have

seen

> > improvements over the course of a few years and a lot of people

> talk

> > about remaining positive and sociable etc as possible

contributing

> > factors to their recovery. so, finally, my question to you all

is -

> > how do you do this? how do you remain positive and sociable, some

> of

> > you even work from what i understand. i can only seem to cope

with

> > spending time with a couple of close friends and only in the

> comfort

> > of my own home. this experience has been so devestaing that i get

> no

> > enjoyment out of any of the activities that i would be able to

> before

> > and am sliding further and further into a deep depession. and i

am

> > constantly thinking that the only thing that will restore perhaps

a

> > little positivity is if i see a little improvement in my

condition.

> > but i wait and wait and nothing occurs. my symptoms are - no

> response

> > to visual stimulation, ed, numbness and pleasureless orgasms. i

> have

> > some to-ing and fro-ing with regards the first three, occasional

> > times when they are not so bad, in fact sometimes the numbness is

> in

> > fact completely the other way i.e. i am overly sensitive and

climax

> > very quickly, but everytime i climax it feels like nothing. i

feel

> > like i have been robbed of the most wonderful natural pleasure

that

> > is bestowed on a human being and i cannot bear the thought of

never

> > feeling that again. so please, please if any of you have any

advice

> > on how to be a bit more positive with regards this heinous

> condition

> > please respond. the anxiety and terror that i feel now is far

worse

> > than the condition that i was originally prescribed paxil for.

back

> > then i would have better days, hours or even minutes. with this

> > hanging over my head i don't have a second of any given day when

> the

> > anxiety abates.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Have you tried Xanax? of the few people I know that have general axienty disorder xanax have worked fine in a month time.

Adil

Subject: has anyone got any advice on how to stay positive with pssd?To: SSRIsex Date: Sunday, December 21, 2008, 6:06 AM

firstly i would like to tell you guys a little about my experience. i have generalised anxiety disorder which used to culminate in bouts of panic attacks every few months. i was able to work with a bit of time off here and there when things were bad. i was referred to a psychiatrist and asked for some diazepam to get me through the hard times. this was in 2001. she told me that they don't prescibe diazepam much anymore but that the treatment for anxiety was now an ssri. so, feeling desperate i agreed to take paxil. three years passed and i was still having bouts of panic attacks every few months and felt that the paxil was doing little to alleviate any of my symptoms. in 2004 i stopped taking it and when i next saw my psychiatrist i was in the midst of a bout of panic attacks. as far as pssd was concerned, at that time i didn't know of its existence and if any damage had been done it was surely

negligible - i really don't remember having too many problems in that department. anyway, the psychiatrist spent a good half an hour arguing with me and trying to convince me that i would be better off re-starting paxil, which i was determined not to do as i really didn't think that it had helped. however, in my desperation and thinking that she should know better i agreed to go back on it. again i spent three years feeling that it was doing nothing, if anything it was having a detrimental effect on my anxiety. i was, during this period not having regular appointments with a psychiatrist and the previous one had told me that to combat the sexual side effects some people took drug holidays i.e. skipped a dose every now and then and this is what i did during this period and it seemed to work. i had few problems until the last year that i took it. i decided to stop taking it in 2007 and since then have

had pssd. as you can imagine i really do feel that i have a right to feel angry with my psychiatrist even if she didn't know about pssd she should have listened to me when i told her that i didn't think that the drug was helping my condition. since discovering what is going on i have been absolutely devestated. my main concern obviously being - is it going to get better? and having seen little improvement in the past 16 months i seem to be feeling pschologically worse and more and more negative. i have become a virtual recluse, no longer work or have much of a life at all.after reading some recent posts i gather that some people have seen improvements over the course of a few years and a lot of people talk about remaining positive and sociable etc as possible contributing factors to their recovery. so, finally, my question to you all is - how do you do this? how do you remain positive and

sociable, some of you even work from what i understand. i can only seem to cope with spending time with a couple of close friends and only in the comfort of my own home. this experience has been so devestaing that i get no enjoyment out of any of the activities that i would be able to before and am sliding further and further into a deep depession. and i am constantly thinking that the only thing that will restore perhaps a little positivity is if i see a little improvement in my condition. but i wait and wait and nothing occurs. my symptoms are - no response to visual stimulation, ed, numbness and pleasureless orgasms. i have some to-ing and fro-ing with regards the first three, occasional times when they are not so bad, in fact sometimes the numbness is in fact completely the other way i.e. i am overly sensitive and climax very quickly, but everytime i climax it feels like nothing. i feel like i

have been robbed of the most wonderful natural pleasure that is bestowed on a human being and i cannot bear the thought of never feeling that again. so please, please if any of you have any advice on how to be a bit more positive with regards this heinous condition please respond. the anxiety and terror that i feel now is far worse than the condition that i was originally prescribed paxil for. back then i would have better days, hours or even minutes. with this hanging over my head i don't have a second of any given day when the anxiety abates.