Hi i'm really struggling about medication right now and could use some unbiased advice. This might be long because I'm going to try and explain my whole situation but please bare with me and offer some advice. I'm 17, and have had sever anxiety for the past year. I've worried about everything from heart disease, to cancer, to HIV. I get panic attacks, get severely depressed, and always thing i'm going to die. i'm sure many of you know the feeling. when this initially started, i was put on lexapro 10 mg a day. i think it was effective because i loosened up and was less worried, but started to laugh spontaneously and sing to myself. my parents thought i was going crazy, so they reduced me to 5 mgs a day, which was uneffective.

Now, it's taken me 9 months to get back on medication and it's clear that i need it. I did physchological testing which has proven that I have GAD and hypochondria, and my physchiatrist wants to put me on an antiphyschotic called Abilify. He says this will help me puts thing in perspective. My concern is the possible side effects of antiphyschotics - .02% get NMS, where your body temp rises and can be fatal. People have had heart problems, it can cause diabetes, and something like 1% will get permanent muscle twitching for the rest of their life. In short, i am VERY uncomfortable with this medication and have a lot of anxiety about taking it. I don't think the risks of overheating, heart problems, and hypoglycemia are worth the benefits in my situation.

I would be much more comfortable taking an SSRI because their side effects are low, and in addition to reducing my anxiety, I could get a little happy boost. My doc won't prescribe me an SSRI because he thinks it would cause me to have a manic episode and commit suicide. i think he thinks this because during a physcho test, i had thought about suicide before but only because I was scared out of my wits of having heart disease - and it's never something i would actually carry out. he also may think this because of my response to lexapro the first time on it - where i was overly giddy. he called than an abnormal reaction - but to me that seems typical of people on antidepressants, and i was only on the meds for less than a month so maybe i didn't have time to adjust. It seems to me the risk of having serious side effects on an antiphyschotic are much greater than suicide with Lexapro or Zoloft. But now my doc's got me scared that i'm going to have physchotic epsiodes on SSRIs. I need a solution and would appreciate anyone's advice.

Quote from hotscotch:

Hi i'm really struggling about medication right now and could use some unbiased advice. This might be long because I'm going to try and explain my whole situation but please bare with me and offer some advice. I'm 17, and have had sever anxiety for the past year. I've worried about everything from heart disease, to cancer, to HIV. I get panic attacks, get severely depressed, and always thing i'm going to die. i'm sure many of you know the feeling. when this initially started, i was put on lexapro 10 mg a day. i think it was effective because i loosened up and was less worried, but started to laugh spontaneously and sing to myself. my parents thought i was going crazy, so they reduced me to 5 mgs a day, which was uneffective.

Now, it's taken me 9 months to get back on medication and it's clear that i need it. I did physchological testing which has proven that I have GAD and hypochondria, and my physchiatrist wants to put me on an antiphyschotic called Abilify. He says this will help me puts thing in perspective. My concern is the possible side effects of antiphyschotics - .02% get NMS, where your body temp rises and can be fatal. People have had heart problems, it can cause diabetes, and something like 1% will get permanent muscle twitching for the rest of their life. In short, i am VERY uncomfortable with this medication and have a lot of anxiety about taking it. I don't think the risks of overheating, heart problems, and hypoglycemia are worth the benefits in my situation.

I would be much more comfortable taking an SSRI because their side effects are low, and in addition to reducing my anxiety, I could get a little happy boost. My doc won't prescribe me an SSRI because he thinks it would cause me to have a manic episode and commit suicide. i think he thinks this because during a physcho test, i had thought about suicide before but only because I was scared out of my wits of having heart disease - and it's never something i would actually carry out. he also may think this because of my response to lexapro the first time on it - where i was overly giddy. he called than an abnormal reaction - but to me that seems typical of people on antidepressants, and i was only on the meds for less than a month so maybe i didn't have time to adjust. It seems to me the risk of having serious side effects on an antiphyschotic are much greater than suicide with Lexapro or Zoloft. But now my doc's got me scared that i'm going to have physchotic epsiodes on SSRIs. I need a solution and would appreciate anyone's advice.

I have seen the side effects of SSRIs in patients and they are very worrisome.
However, Abilify is not a drug that is usually prescribed for generalised anxiety disorder. Even though a lower incidence is claimed, it's still a powerful atypical antipsychotic and as such, has all of the classic side effects. Remarkably, I have had to prescribe an antipsychotic to treat psychosis induced by Paroxetine (Paxil).
I sincerely doubt you will commit suicide while taking an SSRI. If you say you would never be able to carry it out, coupled with your G.A.D. which basicaly is caused by a fear of dying, it should be enough.
They teach us to look for tell-tale signs in patients; basically dressing in black would already suggest suicidal tendencies. This is rubbish, I have being dressing in black most of my life and I'm still here ;)
If your psychiatrist is reluctant to prescribe an SSRI, I would get a second opinion, and predict another practitioner will not suggest an antipsychotic for the treatment of G.A.D.