Will medication help with an aspie's anxiety? Input please.

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I've been on 4 different anti-depressants. none of them were much help as far as I can remember but I haven't been on any for about 3 years. Is anyone on any medications that help control anxiety and obsessions? Those are the main things that trouble me. I am afraid trying new medications will just be a waste of my time and money since I know there is no cure for Asperger's. I am not sure if I'm feeling this much anxiety because of Asperger's or if this can be helped. Please share your suggestions.

Klonopin worked for my panic attacks.

No medicine helped me, every medicine I took made me even worse. I took st johns wart which I would suggest to people when I was younger to help ease some of my anxiety and depression, it didn't completely stop the anxiety and depression but defintely helped me alot and didn't change my moods or my eating habits or anything.

Medication is one of those things that you just have to try and see if one works. If one medication works great for one person's anxiety issues, there's no guarantee that it will do as much good for someone else, even if they have the same diagnoses.

Ask yourself if you know what obssessing and anxiety is(I hope you can).

What causes the Obsessing? Is it just the way that you are? Are there triggers?

Sedatives like klonipin and ativan can be temporary releif but people don't really want to reccomend it long-term because you can build a tolerance to them. I don't know what its like to be addicted to them: if its like nicotine or worse to be addicted to them then it must be pretty bad. Severe withdrawl symptoms from long-term usuage can lead to really bad insomnia or even hullucinations and paranioa.

I don't know what SSRI's do either. I thought that they might make one dreamy a lot but maybe thats just my expectation... But there is no addiction profile for them like the narcotics valium, klonipin, and ativan... The SSRI's do not make you "high" so thats why they don't have that potential for abuse thing, you know...

What if you can replace the obsession with something else that you can better deal with?

Well here are the things I want medication to help me feel waaay less of:


nervousness, feeling stressed and anxiety.

obsessions with things I can't find and not able to relax/get them out of my mind until I find them.

feeling guilty about things I did wrong in the past/not able to let go of them.

not able to concentrate on reading, watching something, etc. even when I love the thing I'm reading or watching. My mind drifts into a daydream or worry.

trouble making decisions, and after I make them I worry for a long time wheather I made the right choice or not.

gets angry easily and feels trapped/overwelmed over small things, then I'm not able to let go of it for a long time. (some examples; a bug in the house = panic attack, a song that I hate comes on the radio = anger, someone says something mean to me = worry and anger)


Is this a realistic goal or should I just not try the medication and try to deal with them on my own some more? I'm really torn about what to do, and as you can see from this list making decisions is one thing I have extreme trouble with.

Well here are the things I want medication to help me feel waaay less of:


nervousness, feeling stressed and anxiety.

obsessions with things I can't find and not able to relax/get them out of my mind until I find them.

feeling guilty about things I did wrong in the past/not able to let go of them.

not able to concentrate on reading, watching something, etc. even when I love the thing I'm reading or watching. My mind drifts into a daydream or worry.

trouble making decisions, and after I make them I worry for a long time wheather I made the right choice or not.

gets angry easily and feels trapped/overwelmed over small things, then I'm not able to let go of it for a long time. (some examples; a bug in the house = panic attack, a song that I hate comes on the radio = anger, someone says something mean to me = worry and anger)


Is this a realistic goal or should I just not try the medication and try to deal with them on my own some more? I'm really torn about what to do, and as you can see from this list making decisions is one thing I have extreme trouble with.

Medication should never be seen as a complete remedy. It should always be paired with some sort of counseling or therapy. Just like medication, counseling may take a few tries before you find the right fit. Just as some medications work better for some individuals and not as well for others, a counselor / therapist / psychologist's general style or approach may or may not be a good fit for you.

Dealing with it "on your own" is likely an appealing alternative. That doesn't mean it will necessarily be a successful one. It may seem more likely to work, but what if you simply can't "get over" or "get past" something on your own? I can think of any number of reasons why I personally wouldn't want to go to a shrink, but there's also reasons one should consider going, even if they don't necessarily feel comfortable with it. They're supposed to be well-trained to deal with these kind of issues. (No, not all are, like I said, may take a couple tries to find the "right" one.)

I never liked thinking that a psychdoctor could say that I am normal or not. I don't think that your brain is damaged unless it really is either. A diagnoses and therapy seems to me like there is always a biochemical imbalance or something that goes with it.

I was mentally abused by a psychologist when I was 15 because she was just rambling on and on and on about disorders and stuff and she didn't help me. I felt stupid because my parents pushed me to go there so I did.

Anyways, I respect your decisions that you made in the past. You tried the treatments. There was nothing wrong with that.

Its just that I don't have anything to tell you how medicine can objectively help. It makes you feel different when you take it but that doesn't mean that it makes you normal. Its meant to suppress symptoms. And, yes, maybe something could influence you to feel less tense etc..

People who obssess appear to me to have a lot of energy and that is released as tension in the form of anxiety and OCD. When energy levels are lower, maybe it will be less tense of a form of anxiety and OCD. Usually this is true.

I hope that you could accomplish a way to relax somehow. Find something that requires your immediate attention. Changing your habits of where you are and what your surroundings are is how to be influenced by situations so that you can distract your attention away from anxiety and stuff. This is my two cents.

I never gave them an opportunity.

I knew I had a problem, difficulty, issue, whatever you want to call it, before I even went in. From there I basically said "what do I do about this?"

It has helped me. Was a long road finding the right one. probably because of unknown PTSD and they were going at (and still are till I striaghten his act out) from a Bipolar view

Melody - Usually, with the kind of issues you're dealing with, a combination of med/s (not necessarily long-term) and therapy can be very useful, if you find yourself good docs. If you don't like a doc, find another one - many people have fallen into the trap of feeling they couldn't make a change, but you can, it's your choice.

Every med works differently for each individual. I've tried a lot of meds that didn't work for me, but unlike some I've been on a low dose of Klonopin for 15 years and it helps me a lot with panic & anxiety.

postpaleo - Just trying to clarify; are you currently diagnosed with bipolar? I am, and am waiting to get an appt for an Asperger's assessment. I wonder if I actually have both, or if it's Asperger's that's presented very similarly to bipolar. I didn't even know about AS until recently, and then found how many Aspie traits I have (very, very many). I'm not sure I have it, but there's definitely something going on besides what I've been dx'd with . . . .

Exactly.

For the record, what worked for me was Prozac for depression and obsessive behaviour and also Xanax and Oxazepam for anxiety.
What has really helped, much to my surprise, was taking L-Glutathione supplements. I took this in the hope that I would feel physically healthier, but oddly, it has really helped my anxiety to the extent that I don't take my tranquilizers as regularly as I used to. And when I run out of L-glutathione, I really notice the anxiety increasing.

As for therapy, you need to find someone who has a good understanding of AS and who has experience of working with aspies as I know from my own experience (and that of others) that general counselling tends not to work for aspies and can actually be quite damaging as you are being forced to think about things in a way that just doesn't apply to aspies and doesn't really make sense.

I found a non-Freud worshipping pschyologist who was also a trained hypnotherapist. He had a good understanding of AS and worked on making me feel more relaxed *now* rather than making me recount the details of my childhood for the umpteenth time.

It might also be good to look at some coping mechanisms for yourself. I know this is easier said than done, and sometimes it's not enough and you just need help. These are my coping mechanisms, in case they might be of help to you:

I always take earplugs wherever I go as I have sensitive hearing and get sensory overload (I use the squishy soft foam ones as the other kinds hurt my ears).

I always bring sunglasses in case of visual sensory overload.

I always make sure I carry my tranquillizers with me. I often end up not taking them - but the fact that I know they are in my bag if I need them really helps.

I don't know if you have any blood sugar issues, but I am hypoglaecemic (or however you spell it!) so I tend to carry around corncakes and cereal bars and a bottle of water, just in case.

I plan all jouneys well in advance to try to avoid problems. If I need help I ask. If staff are awkward, I know the relevant bit of disability legislation to quote to make them help (although I don't have to resort to this often).

I aim to go to bed early - the later I stay up, the worse my depression gets and the more likely I am to self harm.

I sleep with the light on. (I'm phobic of the dark, okay?! !! !)

I always schedule in periods of rest after social interaction.

I don't fight my OCD - I just try to confine it to certain times of the day and to certain activities - that way, I know I can get it out of my system, and I allow myself to do that, so I am not constantly hating myself for having obsessions or trying to supress something that is just part of who I am.

This is just me though, these suggestions may well be useless to other people. I just wanted to help, that's all.

It's a very individual thing. Prozac really helps me with anxiety. I've been lucky. Keep trying!

yeah prozac.
alcohol, weed and opiates help too, valium and other tranqs.

Zoloft has help me with my anxiety and depression. I tried other meds some didn't work for me or had bad side-effects.