Does CBD oil help you with your depression and/or anxiety?

@annedodrill44 sorry to hear your dealing with heightened anxiety over holidays. Try to enjoy the time you will have with your family. The only family I have now are my husband, daughter, son and granddaughter. So holidays are not too stressful. We really don’t even get together anymore due to work schedules and I just don’t care for the holidays since my mom passed last year. My anxiety has been pretty constant on a daily basis. Still waiting on cbd oil to arrive.

To everyone on this site: Is anyone experiencing heightened anxiety and more bouts of nausea/diaherea during this holiday season. As much as I enjoy the family gatherings, I feel ill at the thought of the effort. It seems as if all the challenges of life have worn out the parts of me that allow me to roll with flow. Maybe at 73 I can’t expect to respond with the same resilience I once enjoyed?

@annedodrill44 Hi Anne, I think you hit it on the head with your idea that you don’t have anymore energy for the holidays! I’m 61, disabled, and live with my brother. We don’t have anyone to share the holidays with so I’ll just try and pretend that Thursday is another day. He doesn’t care, but I do! I’m divorced with no children and no other family. I guess i should be happy that I won’t have to expend energy hiding how I feel! I’m sorry, Anne, this is YOUR post-not mine. I guess I just had to let it out!

To @summertime4 and @annedodrill44: I would like to share my experience with you, in the hope it would be of some help. I have suffered from severe anxiety and depression for more than 25 years. During this period I have been prescribed several drugs including Elavil, Lexapro, Pregabalin, Effexor, and several different Benzodiazepines. I have suffered several relapses, as my illness has become more severe with increasing age. It is a bit of a miracle I am still alive, and doing well on a cocktail of drugs. For the last three years, my condition has been stable and the quality of my life has been good.

Switching gears, I can tell you how the various drugs have affected me and my illness. First, Elavil has been of great help, though it has several unpleasant side effects at the dose I am taking. It is very effective for severe depression and anxiety. So if it suits you, it may be a good idea to continue it, if it's OK with your doctor. Second, Lexapro, which, too, I am taking. It is one of the best drugs for anxiety and depression. It has almost zero side effects, which is a great help. Third, Effexor. My doctor prescribed it to me about four years ago. I was on it for only three weeks, at the dosage of 75mg for 2 weeks, and 150 mg for 1 week. Those three weeks were probably the most horrible weeks of my life. I suffered unbearable anxiety and restlessness, to the extent that I became suicidal. I stopped it against the advice of my doctor, who still wanted me to continue with it. It was the right decision, which saved my life.

But even the withdrawal from Effexor was extremely severe and continued for about 2-3 weeks, during which the doctor tried various anti-anxiety drugs to control my suffering, including Seroquel and Klonopin. Seroquel had a negative reaction and severe side effects of its own. In the end, only 2 mg Klonopin worked, and my condition came under control. I still remember that day, four years ago, which I see as the day when I was born again, or as the day God gave me another life.

After that, my condition started improving steadily, and by the end of 2015, I was in a good shape. Since then the quality of my life has been improving steadily. About a year ago, I added 150 mg of Pregabalin [ Gabapentin is an older and less effective version of this drug ] to the cocktail of my drugs. It has had an extremely beneficial effect, and the quality of my life has improved further. Now I travel around the world, play sports with my children, enjoy food, movies etc. My mood, appetite, exercise, and sleep are very good.

I don't know how long this will continue, and whether I might suffer another relapse in the future. But, then, who can say what will happen tomorrow? I am trying to live life one day at a time, and not think too much about what might happen tomorrow [which is one of my bad habits!]. Hope my experience will be of help to you. I will pray for you and may God bless you.

Hi pankaj Thank you so much for your input. It is helpful in several ways. One is you give me optimism. I also get caught up in the "I don"t want to take all these drugs" Listening to you I am not thinking of them as drugs, but rather medication for my illness. Yes, depression and anxiety are medical issues and need to be treated as such. I am taking Elavil 50mg, Klonopin .05 mg. at bedtime, and Effexor 37.5 mg morning. I also have prescribed Percocet when needed. I have been on the Percocet for 2 plus years because of severe pain with osteo arthritis spinal stenosis and some other disk problems. I look at these medications and see that all but one is prescribed for mental/mood disorder. I then think Damn I must be crazy. I was a Certified Addiction counselor for 30 years so taking the Percocet really disturbs me. I fought against my clients being criticized be support groups for taking prescribed medication for mood disorders. I believe that depression, anxiety and other mood disorders are real medical conditions that need to be treated if an individual is to stay sober. I need to share that reality with myself. I will more than likely be on mental/mood condition forever. That is ok. I am concerned about the Effexor as I hear so many negatives. The doctor started me on a higher dose and after 2 weeks I did not feel it was working and I heard so many negatives that I stopped. Even only using 50 mg for 2 weeks I began experiencing withdrawal. I contacted my doctor and I went down to 37.5 mg and it doesn't seem to be having any negative effects. I am still struggling with depression and anxiety but to a lesser degree. I believe I will continue because I am grieving the loss of my husband who died on Jan. 7, 2018. There isn't a magic pill that will take away that pain and I must be very careful that I don't seek that out. To finish off this boo I seem to be writing I will thank you and all our members as I feel understood and accepted. I wish all a peaceful Thanksgiving and my prayers go out to all those who alone or feeling alone during the holiday and I include myself in that prayer. I will be with family, I am thankful for that, but still feel alone without my husband.

To @summertime4. I am happy that you found my post useful. It makes me feel good. Whatever I have written is from my own, first-hand experience.

Let me now mention a few other things. I am alive today because after becoming ill more than 25 years ago, I decided to read as much as possible about my illness and the different medications used to treat them. When my illness began, the internet was not widely available, so I read as much printed literature as I could find. But from the year 2006, I had access to the internet, and then I began intensive research on my illness and the medications. In a few years, I learnt a great deal. That was what saved my life.

I was able to figure out whether the psychiatrist treating me was advising me correctly or not. If I felt that he was not open to my feedback, or did not have empathy, I stopped consulting him and simply found another doctor who would listen to my concerns with respect and empathy. In the process, sometimes I had to change several doctors, but I didn't mind, because it was my life at stake, not the doctor's.

I regret to say this--but it is a fact--that not all psychiatrists listen respectfully to the concerns of their patients [who are going through hell], and treat them as guinea pigs for experimenting with various kinds of drugs. I know of people who have taken their own lives as a result of the callous attitudes of highly-qualified psychiatrists.

So the short point is that please make sure that your doctor listens to you and takes your concerns on board during the treatment.

Coming to the points made by you, if Effexor is helping you, please continue to take it. I never meant to say that nobody should take Effexor. It is a very effective drug if it suits the patient. It seems to be suiting you, so please continue it. However, it did not suit me, and I am not alone. Effexor has one of the highest rates of what is known as "Adverse Drug Events" or ADE, which simply means it does not work for a lot of people [and that includes me]. But for those for whom it works, it is a very good drug.

Second, I have found that some people think that taking any drugs for a mental illness is bad. These people belong to the " I don't want to take all these drugs" category, mentioned by you. Depression and anxiety are real, chronic illness, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. I can't understand why taking drugs lifelong for these illnesses is OK, but not for mental illnesses. I have seen many people suffering from mental illness who are in a hurry to taper their drugs as soon as they start feeling well. And I have also seen doctors advising them to do so. The result, in many, many cases is a relapse, which is more difficult to treat than before. It may also result in a tragedy.

I think serious mental illness has a significant biological component, and for treating it medication is absolutely essential. Psychotherapy is also very helpful, but it is not a substitute for medication. Ideally, both are required. They complement each other. In case of mild mental illness, psychotherapy alone may be enough. Medication may not be required.

But in case of serious mental illness, like mine, there is no escape from medication. I have been on medication for the last 25 years, and I know that I would be on it for the rest of my life. I have accepted that reality. I have accepted my mortality. That is necessary, because without an acceptance of mortality a patient of mental illness would always be in a hurry to stop his/her medication, which would inevitably lead to a relapse, and worse.

I am very sorry to learn about the passing away of your dear husband, and your grief, which is natural. Have you tried counselling? It is very helpful in such cases. May his soul rest in peace.

Finally, I am very happy that you felt optimism after reading my comment. I can tell you that my illness is much more severe than yours. You wouldn't believe it if I told you how many drugs I am taking and in what doses. In case of at least two drugs, I am taking their maximum doses! So if I can be well, why can't you?

I wish you good health and have no doubt you can be very well with proper medication. Just don't be in a hurry to start tapering as soon as you start feeling well. You may have to be on medication for the rest of your life, like me, because mental illness is just like any other chronic illness. My prayers are with you, and happy Thanksgiving.

Hi pankaj Thank you so much for your input. It is helpful in several ways. One is you give me optimism. I also get caught up in the "I don"t want to take all these drugs" Listening to you I am not thinking of them as drugs, but rather medication for my illness. Yes, depression and anxiety are medical issues and need to be treated as such. I am taking Elavil 50mg, Klonopin .05 mg. at bedtime, and Effexor 37.5 mg morning. I also have prescribed Percocet when needed. I have been on the Percocet for 2 plus years because of severe pain with osteo arthritis spinal stenosis and some other disk problems. I look at these medications and see that all but one is prescribed for mental/mood disorder. I then think Damn I must be crazy. I was a Certified Addiction counselor for 30 years so taking the Percocet really disturbs me. I fought against my clients being criticized be support groups for taking prescribed medication for mood disorders. I believe that depression, anxiety and other mood disorders are real medical conditions that need to be treated if an individual is to stay sober. I need to share that reality with myself. I will more than likely be on mental/mood condition forever. That is ok. I am concerned about the Effexor as I hear so many negatives. The doctor started me on a higher dose and after 2 weeks I did not feel it was working and I heard so many negatives that I stopped. Even only using 50 mg for 2 weeks I began experiencing withdrawal. I contacted my doctor and I went down to 37.5 mg and it doesn't seem to be having any negative effects. I am still struggling with depression and anxiety but to a lesser degree. I believe I will continue because I am grieving the loss of my husband who died on Jan. 7, 2018. There isn't a magic pill that will take away that pain and I must be very careful that I don't seek that out. To finish off this boo I seem to be writing I will thank you and all our members as I feel understood and accepted. I wish all a peaceful Thanksgiving and my prayers go out to all those who alone or feeling alone during the holiday and I include myself in that prayer. I will be with family, I am thankful for that, but still feel alone without my husband.

Karen00, do you have friends who realize you are alone for the holiday, and who would surely include you in their day if they did?