Medication for anxiety seems to cause anxiety

@emmygirl Hello Emmy and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing problems tapering off medication prescribed for anxiety. and that you're now experiencing heightened anxiety. That must feel awful. I'd like to find out more about this.

You mentioned you had also been withdrawing from two other medications. Zoloft is prescribed not only to treat anxiety but can be useful for treatment of social anxiety, depression, premenstrual dysphoria, depression, obsessive-compulsive cisorder, panic disorder, and/or post-traumatic stress disorder. Clonazepam is frequently prescribed for panic situations.

Reducing medications prescribed to treat any of these conditions requires slow tapering, under the recommended guidance of a qualified medical professional. Otherwise it coud result in symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, "brain zaps," flu-like symptoms, and anxiety such as you described.

Are you attempting withdrawal from all three medications at once? What is the name of this third medication that is causing increased anxiety, prescribed at a 17.5 mg three times per day? Is the same medical provider who prescribed it the same one who prescribed the others and overseeing the dosages of the other meds and your withdrawal attempts? And most importantly, have you sought and been following the advice of the prescribing medical health practitioner? This information would help to know in assisting you to feel better.

@grammato3. It’s a long story. I had been on Zoloft for over 25 years. When we retired and moved to Florida both my husband and I agreed there was no reason to keep taking it. It’s not good to be on an Ssri for that long. I was also
still using Clonazepam at the time. My psychiatrist said “good luck” and that was it.

With the help of my general doc, I tapered off quite easily of the Zoloft. After about 8 months symptoms starting returning on the OCD slightly including insomnia. The new doc (not psychiatrist yet) figured it was just from the time I had been on Zoloft so he put me back on the same dose of 25mg right away. After one week, I was in the er with severe anxiety that I had never had in my life. They cut the dose in half in one week, then in half again. My old psychiatrist from Texas said get off of it now.

In the meantime my new psychiatrist added hydroxyzine, buspirone and lorazepam. The lorazepam was to replace the Clonazepam that was no longer working but with no taper. All three were supposed to help with anxiety.

I went thru 4 months of withdrawal of Zoloft and she finally reduced that to 1/2 lorazepam and 1/2 diazepam to start following the Ashton taper method while still taking hydroxyzine and buspirone, has been going on since last October. While all that was happening I also did TMS which is supposed to help with depression which I also never had and anxiety. They felt it would ease the withdrawal symptoms.

It helped. It wasn’t until I was off Zoloft and lorazepam and diazepam combo withdrawal and fully on diazepam that we discover I am paradoxical to both buspirone and hydroxyzine. Both make me highly anxious. We are now tapering off the mid day dose of the hydroxyzine to remove that dose of 2.5 and a very small taper on the diazepam of .75 spread across all three doses every day. I was told this was the best way to handle this.

I tried to do all three but was told that really wasn’t a good idea. Once the hydroxyzine mid day dose is gone, the remaining two doses will be divided evenly between am and pm by 12 hours to help relieve some of the every week 4 day withdrawal.

Now my OCD is worse as well.

It’s been a long journey and a lot of research by us since no one would have guessed that I would be one in 100k+ people that both of these drugs reacted backwards and to find out now when it’s necessary not only taper Diaz but hydroxyzine and buspirone.

If anyone else has any better ideas I would love to hear them.

Thank you Susan for caring enough to reach out. It’s been a long road so far and will continue for several more months. 🙏😔

I currently take propranolol as needed to help with the hydroxyzine and buspirone until I can safely taper off of those.

I caution anyone given Hydroxyzine or buspirone to make sure that if they do take it, taper! These are both nasty drugs.

@emmygirl: You've come to the right place for caring! It's hard when you're going through something like this, in your situation dealing with polypharmacy, which means the the simultaneuous use of mutliple meds in the same general class to treat an underlying condition. These medications belong to a general class of anxiolytics - used to treat anxiety and related symptoms. You are 100% correct, they do need to be tapered when coming off to prevent withdrawal symptoms which can be as severe as seizures and, yes, rebound anxiety.

It's important to note that everyone responds differently when tapering off these meds. This variability is due to factors such as how long a person has been on the medication, the dosage, what other meds they've been on, their metabolism, current symptoms, etc. That's the reason it's essential to have medical oversight.

While others may share their experiences, they can vary tremendously from person to person and it might cause additional anxiety to hear what their reactions have been so I want to be sure you're okay with that. For instance, if someone reports they did have a seizure it might be upsetting to hear but it may very well be because they didn't follow the tapering recommendations. It sounds like you're knowledgeable on the subject so does this sound acceptable to you?

I have never used any anxiety or depression medications, however every doctor has tried to make me feel better.
I found a therapist that prescribed me a FDA approved device called an Alpha Stim. Insurance does not cover it so out of pocket is $850. I use it for anxiety, but it can also be used for depression and insomnia.

The question I have is, what causes the anxiety? An experience, a memory, etc.
Depression is thinking of the past and anxiety is thinking of the future.

Other than Alpha Stim, I also do neurofeedback sessions. Having both anxiety and ADHD, meditation does not work, unless my brain is calm. Being outside help and not carrying my cell phone.

@grammato3

Hi,

I would really just like to know how long withdrawal symptoms such as increased anxiety last. I thought I could handle a 5-6mg drop but my system is too sensitive. This is also per day, not per dose.

@emmygirl: Wow, that's a tough question. I'd be wondering the same thing, and probably causing some anxiety in itself, wondering how long those symptoms are going to last.

Again, I'd imagine much depends on how long you've been taking the prescription(s) and your body's metabolism, but in general if you were to look at "typical" cases it would be a matter of a few weeks, keeping in mind it could potentially last a few months - perhaps four or so. If you're discontinuing all meds,, may I ask if you're in or considering treatment like cognitive behavioral therapy to address the underlying anxiety that may remain?

@malebreastcancer47 : That's an interesting concept about the origins of depression and anxiety. From my own understanding, anxiety can be future-oriented as well as things perceived as threats, past experiences, bodily sensations or a sense of lack of control. Depression can be ruminating about the past, and can also be about worrying about the future, current intense emotions or extremely poor self-concept.

In treating depression, anxiety and/or attention deficit disorders, it does help to have providers who respect an individual's wishes to avoid medication intervention and offer alternative treatment, such as CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) as well as the neurofeedback and Alpha Stim you mentioned. Have you found that they have helped you? Howoften do you use these methods?

@grammato3

I bought the Alpha Stim in April 2025 and use it now daily. I should use it twice a day, morning and before bed. Used often, the effects are lasting.
Neurofeedback, this will take time. Sometimes I feel placebo effect but know that NASA uses neurofeedback to train astronauts. Its mostly used for children but slowly being used by adults also. I have seen the research data but it also depends on person.
The first 5-10 sessions is to assess a baseline of your brain waves. My experience took 1 session because I use the Alpha Stim daily. Without it, changes to my sub-conscious would take longer.

@malebreastcancer47: thank you for sharing. That sounds like it’s been very helpful to you.

As to your earlier question as to what causes anxiety, the root cause varies from person to person. Helping to identify the underlying cause can usually be determined through therapeutic counseling. If you need assistance finding a provider, you can check resources listed here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists

Is that something you have or would consider looking into?

@grammato3
I read a posts and response on this site daily. Its intriguing so many are needing anxiety or depression medications. I like to understand what someone’s root cause is to needing anxiety.

I have had ADHD, anxiety since childhood. Though I have a therapist, however finding the Alpha Stim helps more than a therapist as it keeps my mind present. Even I have researched and learned where my anxiety comes from, my mom. She is on meds full time, and warned me to fight vs settle with medications.