Anxiety

First of all, let me just say that having an anxiety disorder really sucks! I have been on medication to alleviate my anxiety and panic symptoms since I was 15 and am now, 9 years later, weening myself off the meds. Honestly, it hasn't been going well. The first two weeks of the six week process went well, but since then I have been going downhill. So, I gave in and called my doctor to make a plan. Unfortunately, one of the withdrawal symptoms people experience is "extreme heightened anxiety"......how lovely! Basically, as the medication leaves my system, my body starts to crave it, so my brain creates a need for the medication by sending me into massive panic attacks. My doctors suggestions were to increase my dosage and ween off at a slower pace, or since I only have one more week weening left, I can just tough it out. As soon as the medicine is 100% out of my system, the anxiety should subside again, so Dan and I decided that we would take a deep breath and fight through my last week of pills. On a side note, Dan has been amazing through all of this - holding my hands when they shake, wrapping me in a hug when I cry and soothing my anxieties with words of encouragement. Dan (and my parents and brother) are an amazing support system and I couldn't do this without them!