YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

Hi,
Dealing with anxiety/panic issues,for past 3 or so years been taking Lorazepam so I'm interested in others who also take it,and what they think about long term use.The smart part of me says,"listen you have anxiety for over 3 years,what does that tell you,,YOU LIVED!!!!..everyday you had it,the other part senses bad things coming real soon..

Welcome to the forum; sorry it took so long for anyone to reply! I know I had to wait just about the same amount of time to get any welcomes. Try not to take it too hard as you quickly realize, not to anyone's shock or surprise, most if not all people in this forum are dealing with their own issues. Sometimes people get anxious if they don't know how to respond; I know I do. Sometimes people are just busy trying to put their lives back together or just hanging on. I also know for my own case, it takes being in a particular mood to come back to the forum. So try not to be disheartened by the lack of activity on this forum--not to mention, this style of forum is becoming "passe" in the era of large global social networks, so that's another reason why it's kind of dead/empty around here, it's just not as convenient for most people to wander into when they have Facebook/twitter/etc to get in contact with people.

I'm not taking any medication right now but I hope it works out for you! If not, definitely start working with your psychiatrist/doctor to see what works best for you. It can often be a challenge to find the right medication. Keep taking it for the appropriate amount of time it's supposed to work (your doctor should have told you how long it takes to have an effect; I usually hear 2 or more weeks for most drugs) and if you still have anxiety or have debilitating side-effects, switch meds. I don't think you're necessarily supposed to STOP taking the meds unless you have something really serious like suicidal ideation until you get switched to the new medication, though. If you're not sure about anything, contact your doctor/psychiatrist, since it's their job to tell you what to do about all of that.

Good luck and welcome again!