Is increasing your dosage for your medication for anxiety a bad thing?

[Lauren1992]

I have been taking my medication for about 3.5-4 months now. The last 3 months have been the best 3 months since i had anxiety which started back in January 2015.

Recently i have felt a little anxiety coming back. I don't know if this is because my body is immune to the medication OR if it's because of my personal issue which has come back into my life (my ex-boyfriend) in the last month.

I am going overseas to work next month for 6 months and i finally felt as though i was in a happy place and everything has come together and i was finally better.

I don't know if i am thinking about it too much. I don't know whether to increase my medication or just see how i go. I am no longer speaking to my ex-boyfriend as it just creates anxiety for me. 

I am scared if i increase my medication that i am not getting better and i will forever be on medication which makes me upset.

If anyone can please give me advice about increasing medication and if it's a good or bad thing. My doctor is wonderful and she is really positive about it. But i feel like she is just being positive so i don't worry.

Thanks guys xxx

[JessF]

Hello Lauren, I'd like you to re-read your last paragraph and have a little think about it. Your doctor is your medical professional, who knows all your history, knows exactly what you are taking and why, and has suggested you increase your medication. She is best placed to offer this suggestion, there's nothing that non professionals on an internet forum can do to answer this question for you, and I'd strongly advise against using the internet to look for answers of this type. 

It sounds like, though, you have a lot of anxiety around taking medication generally. It sounds like you feel defective in some way for having to take it, and that having to take more of it is a bad thing.  Would you feel this way if it were a physical health condition you were experiencing?  For example, if you had asthma or allergies and had to increase the dosage of your medication to have attacks less frequently? 

Why would being on medication forever be such a bad thing?

I think it's worth having a reflect on why you feel the way you do about being on medication in the first place, as it sounds as though you have not fully accepted that your anxiety is simply a medical condition, it doesn't change your value or worth as a person.  Am I right?

[blondguy]

Hi Lauren

Thankyou for having the courage to post. I think you having a great GP is a huge Bonus for you! Anxiety is really no different to a physical condition where medication is concerned. If you had an infection, bad toothache or diabetes you would take the suggested medication required. Anxiety is no different. The chemicals that give you these feelings of anxiety are physical in nature as well...adrenaline..hormones etc.

Even with meds the anxiety can try to come back and may do too. The medication or even an increased dosage will let you build a platform on which you can heal even more than without meds 🙂

Good News: Anxiety does decrease in severity overtime Lauren. The meds will only help you heal

Your doctor would never prescribe additional meds if you didnt need them...Be 'Kind to Yourself' and take them. You wont look back Lauren 🙂

Kind Thoughts for You!

Paul

[geoff]

dear Lauren, maybe for you to work overseas could be a factor why you feel more anxious, and of course it would be scary, but obviously the company has choosen you, that is if you do have a job, and even the worry that your ex may cause trouble just before you leave could also be a worry, but to increase your medication then only your doctor can advice you on this.
You know we all worry during the day but to take another pill isn't really the answer.
The medication is supposed to help you through these extra anxious days as well as to keep on a regular path-way, because they can be very overcoming, especially when we don't know anything about them nd that's why our doctor prescribes them to us.
Geoff. x