medication for anxiety!

Hi I'm 21 forgot to mention that!

I've not gone through the proper indepth test but from doing the one online with a specialist (took forvever to get that appointment!) he said there is enough evidence for the diagnosis of aspergers so its on my records and I have a fab social worker who is helping so much!

Before all this there was just a diagnosis of anxiety/depression and I had mirtazapine and fluoxtine but said they weren't working because it wasn't taking all of the problems away now I understand that they weren't going to do that.

Now i'm going through lots of changes in order to make my future better so reconsidering medication to help me cope with it all!

Hi Meg. I was diagnosed 14 months ago aged 23. I had suffered all my life with bullying and other obvious issues but nobody ever questioned them. At 17 i was shoved in a psychiatric hospital and have been in several more times. I have been on anti depressants/anxieties since i was 16, but was mis diagnosed twice by psychiatrists in the mental hospital. I have been on my current mix of 4 different sorts of meds for almost a year. I'm not saying everyone on here has meds or agrees with them but i know for the past few years and forseeable future (according to my GP) i am comfortable on mine and would not cope without them.

I don't have any support from professionals and struggle but have a brilliant mum who is my voluntary carer.

My confidence has soared since my third lot of meds were introduced. Mum says they are truth tablets. Haha.

I wish all of you lots of luck with your diagnsois' as mine took a few years to be sorted.

Hope i have helped and not hindered or moaned.

Annie x

Hello Super-Meg

You don't say how old you are so I will just tell you a little of my story and you can decide if it helps. I am in the middle of a diagnosis process and although my psychiatrist thinks on balance I don't show enough elements for an AS diagnosis (mainly to do with Theory of Mind, I think), she is prepared to go the extra mile and speak to my partner to see how I function day-to-day to make sure. Do I think I have AS? A qualified yes but only qualified because I find it hard to go against a professional's opinion.

I finally managed to finish a degree at uni when I was 34 but I was completely hopeless at engaging with people so my mental health began to deteriorate in first year. By fourth year the doc put me on Fluoxetine and I have to say it did help break a cycle of total misery. I had become so joyless and consumed with my own troubles. However, the first three days on it were absolutely awful and I felt worse than I had done previously. I persisted with it though and after about two weeks I noticed I was starting to get little 'flashes' of pleasure at things and gradually I seemed to come out of my mental funk. I only took it for four to five months and I came off it by myself (which I would not advise) but I had one weird day and then I felt OK about things. I would say though that if you begin to take an anti-depressant make sure you have family or friend support around you...these pills often make people even worse so take care!!!

Now I'm 45 and having real troubles with anxiety for a number of reasons. Lately it got so bad I was finding it hard to read and would forget what a paragraph was about when I'd gotten to the end of it. My new doc prescribed Diazepam and it didn't kick in until about three to four days but it really did the trick. Warning time again! This drug makes you feel really sleepy at times and I often feel really dopey when I wake up. The box says I can take three a day. I started off on two and was down to one after those initial days. Sometimes I don't need it but right now it helps me sleep and so I don't wake up during the night with the terrors. The medical profession are very wary of long-term diazepam use and my doc will probably try and find something else for me if I continue to need something.

So whether AS or not...this is how I've gotten through some depressive times and some anxious times. If the world was more predictable I would always, always manage but there's too many pyschopaths running everything at the moment, so it's anxiety each and every day.

I would echo the last post as well. Exercise definitely helps most people burn off some anxiety but with me only up to a point.

I hope this helps a little.

Just posted on another thread. My son started on fluoetine last February - he was 18 then. It has done him so much good and really helped his depression and general anxiety levels. It helped him break a pattern. He is so cheerful now, the GP is considereing weaning him off next febraury after his exams.

I agree with what others said about the later teenage years being very tough. My son wasn't diagnosed with aspergers until he was 17 and had sunk into depression which raised our concerns yet again.

Now he is not depressed keeping him busy with a regular routine is the key to keeping him happy. He's now found that sport gives him a natural buzz. He pays football with a special needs group, goes indoor climbing once a week and does football at college.