Hey everyone,
Just got back from the gym and had a great workout. But first, I want to mention my meeting with my therapist. Today we set up a schedule to taper me off of Xanax! I’m excited. I’m going to take .25mg once a day for 6 days (breaking a .5mg tablet in half) and then will take .25mg every-other-day for 6 days and then will go off of it completely.
I’m pumped to be trying this but I’m not placing any pressure on myself to get through this smoothly. If I happen to have a setback, I’ll take it in stride and move on. The doc also prescribed some sleeping pills for me to take if I continue to have trouble sleeping on the nights I don’t take Xanax. He seemed to think that I was having trouble sleeping b/c my body wasn’t used to not having the Xanax. Once I begin the tapering process, he thinks my sleep patterns should return to normal.
As for my workout, here’s what I did today:
Sets: 3
Reps: 15
Rest: 90-120
DB Lunges: 32.5 (up 2.5 pounds from last week)
Standing Calf Raises: 180
Good Mornings: 75 (up 10 lbs.)
DB Bench Press: 60 (last week only did 60 for last 2 sets)
One thing that was hard for me to accept when i tapered off the klonipin was there may be some days where you just need it. You do more damage to yourself suffering all day with anxiety then to just take half a tab and shut it off. Most days i am OK but when i start to feel the wave come over me i will still take the pill as opposed to just suffering with it which just starts the cycle all over again.
[quote]morepain wrote:
One thing that was hard for me to accept when i tapered off the klonipin was there may be some days where you just need it. You do more damage to yourself suffering all day with anxiety then to just take half a tab and shut it off. Most days i am OK but when i start to feel the wave come over me i will still take the pill as opposed to just suffering with it which just starts the cycle all over again. [/quote]
You’re absolutely right. I realize that there might be days when I need to take a pill and that’s why the doctor wrote me out another prescription for Xanax, kind of like something to have just in case I feel jittery or feel an attack coming on.
Like you said, no sense suffering all day with it.
Morepain, is that you in your avatar? If so, awesome job.
-Dan
Hey everyone,
I was bored this morning so I decided instead of taking another day off, I would get in a home boxing workout. I worked out for 40 minutes and feel great. I think I might keep this as my new schedule and make Wednesday a day from sprint work.
I’ve also decided to incorporate CW’s 100 reps to bigger muscles into my current routine. I’m focusing on forearms and calves. Pretty cool stuff and hopefully will see some good results there.
Well, we’re supposed to get a snowstorm Sunday night, so I’m definitely hitting the gym early tomorrow morning before that nasty weather arrives.
[quote]Djwlfpack wrote:
Ragoo, thanks again for that tip, it really came in handy last night. I’m meeting with my doc this week and I’m going to ask him about this and see if he wants me to do something to what you’re doing, and that’s not take anything during the day and then take a pill if I need to at night when I’m struggling to fall asleep.[/quote]
No prob man. I have been able to not take it during the day for over a year now, which had allowed me to stay active a nd focused. I still take it every now and then to get some sleep, but even that is lessening. I don’t know if/how I’ll get away from the Paxil, as I take it twice a day, because, well, the shit helps me so much. Thing is one doc says I need to taper as soon as I can, and another says that I can stay on it indefinitely. What to do?
[quote]BIGRAGOO wrote:
Djwlfpack wrote:
Ragoo, thanks again for that tip, it really came in handy last night. I’m meeting with my doc this week and I’m going to ask him about this and see if he wants me to do something to what you’re doing, and that’s not take anything during the day and then take a pill if I need to at night when I’m struggling to fall asleep.
No prob man. I have been able to not take it during the day for over a year now, which had allowed me to stay active a nd focused. I still take it every now and then to get some sleep, but even that is lessening. I don’t know if/how I’ll get away from the Paxil, as I take it twice a day, because, well, the shit helps me so much. Thing is one doc says I need to taper as soon as I can, and another says that I can stay on it indefinitely. What to do?[/quote]
I would go with whatever makes you feel more comfortable. If you feel like you need to keep taking the Paxil, then by all means, keep doing it. I know a guy who’s been on Paxil for years that had anxiety attacks and hasn’t had one in a long time. I’m actually going to dinner with him tonight so I’ll ask him what his doctors said and I’ll get back to you.
[quote]Djwlfpack wrote:
I would go with whatever makes you feel more comfortable. If you feel like you need to keep taking the Paxil, then by all means, keep doing it. I know a guy who’s been on Paxil for years that had anxiety attacks and hasn’t had one in a long time. I’m actually going to dinner with him tonight so I’ll ask him what his doctors said and I’ll get back to you.[/quote]
Please do. I’m looking for info from people that have been on it longer than five years. It’s almost three for me, and shit, I feel great, but there is a part of me that is feels guilty for “relying” on a med. Ya know?
[quote]BIGRAGOO wrote:
Djwlfpack wrote:
I would go with whatever makes you feel more comfortable. If you feel like you need to keep taking the Paxil, then by all means, keep doing it. I know a guy who’s been on Paxil for years that had anxiety attacks and hasn’t had one in a long time. I’m actually going to dinner with him tonight so I’ll ask him what his doctors said and I’ll get back to you.
Please do. I’m looking for info from people that have been on it longer than five years. It’s almost three for me, and shit, I feel great, but there is a part of me that is feels guilty for “relying” on a med. Ya know?[/quote]
Just got back from dinner and the guy is still taking Paxil and has been on it for 7-8 years now. He said he tried to taper off but his anxiety came back right away, so his doctor put him back on the meds. He said that it is common for people to be on it for the rest of their lives and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. He’d rather take a pill that has no adverse side effects for the rest of his life and be free of anxiety than not take the pills and be at risk of an attack.
Couple of things to mention: creative activities that are 100% absorbing can be useful in countering depression (painting, building things, even strategy type computer games). Also be aware that some people are pathogenic so if there is someone who drags you down mentally change your life so you don’t have to be around them (get a different job, different set of aquaintances etc.).
[quote]Djwlfpack wrote:
Just got back from dinner and the guy is still taking Paxil and has been on it for 7-8 years now. He said he tried to taper off but his anxiety came back right away, so his doctor put him back on the meds. He said that it is common for people to be on it for the rest of their lives and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. He’d rather take a pill that has no adverse side effects for the rest of his life and be free of anxiety than not take the pills and be at risk of an attack.
Hi,
Today I started my tapering-off plan for Xanax. I took .25mg this morning and so far, feel fine. I had a bit of trouble falling asleep last night but after leaving the bedroom and reading for 30 minutes in my office, I was ready for sleep and got in 7-7.5 hours, so that’s good. Will be interesting to see what happens tonight. I’m going to try and not take any melatonin unless I feel I need to. It’s good that the last 2 times I’ve struggled to fall asleep I’ve been able to do other things to make me sleepy and haven’t had to take any medication.
My boxing workout went well. I threw in some extra ab workout at the end, as now that I have a stability ball and a medicine ball I can do a lot of different exercises.
Basically the same workout boxing-wise as before. Did 3 rounds of punches/combos, 3 rounds of max punches and then 3 rounds of shadowboxing. I’m trying to work up to a full 12 rounds and think I should get there pretty soon.
I’ll let you guys know how the tapering-off goes. So far, so good.
I have really appreciated this thread. Like so many others, I thought I was somewhat alone in this experience. My “attacks” have not been nearly as bad as most, but it still has been a very scary experience at times.
Woke up in the middle of the night unable to breathe. Thought I was having a heart attack or about to black out and had to have my wife call 911. Having the paramedics rush in at 3 a.m. with two small children asleep in their beds was a humbling experience.
[quote]wcbird wrote:
I have really appreciated this thread. Like so many others, I thought I was somewhat alone in this experience. My “attacks” have not been nearly as bad as most, but it still has been a very scary experience at times.
Woke up in the middle of the night unable to breathe. Thought I was having a heart attack or about to black out and had to have my wife call 911. Having the paramedics rush in at 3 a.m. with two small children asleep in their beds was a humbling experience.
Anyway, thanks for sharing. Good thread.[/quote]
wcbird,
Glad you’ve found this thread and that you are getting something positive from this. Like I’ve said many times, just knowing that there are others out there going through the same things you are can provide you with a lot of comfort.
The first attack seems to always be the worst one and more often than not, we wind up in the ER b/c we don’t know what’s going on with our body. It’s especially puzzling if you’ve been in good health and exercise regularly. To feel like you’re having a heart attack just doesn’t make sense and I think that panic sets in and then boom…a full-blown attack happens.
Hopefully you are doing things to help you manage your anxiety like deep breathing or relaxation techniques. If you ever need to talk, don’t hesitate to send me a PM.
So I’m looking for progress pics and I see nothing - WTF? This thread has shown some amazing progress and some damn good attitude; need the pics to go along with that.
[quote]Flower217 wrote:
So I’m looking for progress pics and I see nothing - WTF? This thread has shown some amazing progress and some damn good attitude; need the pics to go along with that.[/quote]
Hey guys,
Man, I had another rough night of sleep. Don’t know what’s going on. I’m tired at night and feel sleepy, yet when I lay down and turn off the lights, I can’t seem to fall asleep. Maybe I’m thinking about it too much or something, I don’t know but last night I hardly slept at all and today I feel like crap. I tried taking some Melatonin last night but I probably waited too long for it to have any real effect.
This is so frustrating b/c I feel fine during the day and at night yet for some reason I can’t fall asleep.
I’m going to try and take the Melatonin about an hour before I go to bed tonight to see if that will help.
As I said these photos were taken a week ago. I still have 11 more pounds to go before I hit my goal of 205. I think my arms are developing well and my chest, back and shoulders have filled out some, too. Quads are looking okay but need some more size. Problem areas right now are traps, calves and forearms. I’m trying to bring them up and they are progressing well (using CW’s 100 reps program).
I’ll take pics again in another 6-8 weeks and we’ll see how I’ve improved.