A doctor has just suggested that I take anti-anxiety medication.

August 5, 2008 11:44 PM

A doctor has just suggested that I take anti-anxiety medication. WTF?

So anyway, I was in a car accident a few weeks back and banged myself up a bit. As of late I've been having a general sense of lightheadedness and dizzy spells and just been a bit off balance. Sometimes I lose my appetite completely and just general things seem to be going wrong. I've visited the doctor the other week who said I was fine and they would go away but things started getting worse and I've visited a different doctor who said I should think about going on an anti-anxiety medication of "a mild mood elevator and a mild anti-anxiety drug with no dependence side effects".

It was all a little wink wink, nudge nudge for my tastes. It's costing me a little bit of money to seek another opinion for another person to say it's all in my head.

To drill down to the bedrock of my question, I'm scared about what these pills could do to me but I'm also scared that something's seriously wrong and that I am overreacting and can't stop. What would you do?

posted by Talez to health & fitness (17 comments total)

I would go and see either a neurologist or an ear-nose-and throat doc, depending on what parts of myself I had banged up. Dizzy spells are a pretty common side effect of a concussion and treatable, although not to my knowledge with anti-anxiety medicine.

If you were only seen in the ER after the accident it's probably a good idea to get checked out a bit more closely anyway. Sometimes they miss things.
posted by fshgrl at 11:55 PM on August 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

Perhaps the doctors think you're suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Many people, when through a stressful event (a bad car accident, for example) will be 'off' as a result of stress aftershocks from the event. It's possible that your doc thinks an anti-anxiety med would help with this.

If you want to learn more about the meds, the NIH's MedlinePlus is a good place to look them up. They should also have good entries for anxiety and PTSD.
posted by zippy at 11:55 PM on August 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

What is the drug, specifically? There might be people here who have experience with taking it. There's also Crazy Meds to look at.

From my experience with SSRIs, "no dependence side effects" does not mean "no withdrawal effects", BTW. Properly dosed, those effects should be minor, but you should know about them going in.
posted by hattifattener at 12:03 AM on August 6, 2008

I'm not sure what drug it is specifically. He just offered me the chance to go on anti-anxiety meds.

I'm also having trouble concentrating. If you read my question carefully some parts might not make sense. :/
posted by Talez at 12:13 AM on August 6, 2008

Yeah someone I knew switched anti-depression medicines and suddenly was sick as a dog...flu-like symptoms. She asked a doctor what was going on...apparently when you stop taking a certain drug (can't remember the name) during withdrawal you essentially get the flu.

That being said, dizziness and an inability to concentrate certainly don't sound to me like you are anxious per se. You sound off, not worried. However, the truth is short term plenty of anti-anxiety meds are pretty harmless. You could certainly try one or two kinds for a few days each, asking the doctor to select for medicines with low dosage and few withdrawal effects. For your mental state, this should not be a long term thing, so if it doesn't seem better after a few days it might be something more serious. In any case I'd keep track of sleeping and eating patterns, plus general state of being, so you can give this information to another doctor.
posted by Deathalicious at 12:48 AM on August 6, 2008

But really, do you need to be on anti-anxiety drugs? Most one time big traumas (tm)- which don't result in some sort of death tend to get out of your system in a few months. Really, there's not much chance that you're going to be suffering PTSD from a non-fatal car accident 1 year from now. Have yourself checked out for a concussion or pinched nerve, and if that's not a problem, accept that you're going to feel weird for a couple of months. Let yourself get over the trauma of being banged around without being medicated out of your mind and you should be fine.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 1:05 AM on August 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

IMHO, drugs for any symptoms should only be used as a last resort. Most doctors only want to do the quickest and easiest treatment that will ensure their patients will come back for more office visits. Putting you on drugs and getting you addicted is one way they can ensure you will return so they can collect more visit money. Of course, most people also want the quick and easy fix.

In your particular case your physician should have first check out any possible physical problems that might be related to the car accident and hidden injuries you may have suffered that were not at first apparent in the ER (assuming you went to the ER post crash). A concussion or spinal injuries could cause the symptoms you describe. You could also have a preexisting medical condition that may have been exacerbated by the stress of the accident. Diabetes, high blood pressure, and even some more serious conditions come to mind that couls cause your problems.

A neurologist should be consulted if you symptoms haven't resolved within a few weeks. It is expensive, but that is what health insurance is for. If you don't have health insurance then the auto insurance policy may have some personal injury protection coverage, and if it was the other guys fault he or his insurance should be paying the bill.
posted by OneCrayon at 2:02 AM on August 6, 2008

It was a single car crash (I ran off the road). I'm in a country with evil socialist health care but I also have my own self-funded private health insurance. I went to the ER post crash but they didn't find any head injuries but I didn't have an MRI or CT scan.

My blood pressure is normal. I found that strange considering my poor diet by the GP assures me diet has not a lot to do with blood pressure at my age.

I'll probably try to find a neurologist if it's not fixed up in a couple of weeks.
posted by Talez at 2:04 AM on August 6, 2008

Have your neck checked. Neck problems can cause the symptoms you describe. When stuff gets pinched in there, it's amazing how varied the effects can be! Relief can be just a good massage away, but may require repeat visits. Necks get messed up in accidents, or from sitting in front of computers too much.
posted by Goofyy at 2:05 AM on August 6, 2008

Are you sure he doesn't just mean beta blockers? That can be used as an anti-anxiety medication and they are relatively harmless (in the scheme of medicines).
posted by ukdanae at 2:27 AM on August 6, 2008

IANAD but this seems normal following an accident, you have to wait for things to re-adjust. Any head trauma is going to shake you up physiologically, and can take longer than you might think for the emotional fallout to settle. I was in an accident nine weeks ago, resulting in surgery for broken cheekbone and eye socket and although the outward damage was minimal and I looked fine within a month, it's only in the last week or so that I've actually felt 'myself'.

You need to be gentle with yourself for a bit, it might be worth finding a doctor who can talk you through *why* you're having these symptoms. Did the second doctor think you are suffering from panic attacks (which in themselves can make you dizzy, light-headed and off-balance)?, if so, a short-term course of beta blockers type anti-anxiety meds could help a lot. But just being reassured about the physical effects of an accident could help alleviate the worry too.

After my accident I was often confused. light-headed and dizzy, and oddly prone to random outbursts of irritability for about a month, then that faded but I was really jumpy in crowds and easily startled for a while afterwards. I also had to concentrate a lot harder to do pretty much anything and I tired really, really quickly... I'm not a jumpy, nervous type and I'm usually very clear-headed so this spun me out a lot. If I hadn't had a doctor telling me this was perfectly normal and being generally sympathetic I'd definately have been worrying myself into exacerbating the symptoms.

Go back to the doctor, maybe even take a loved one to support you if you're feeling a bit wobbly and ask questions until you feel reassured about what happened, and what's happening. Get well soon!
posted by freya_lamb at 2:29 AM on August 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

He's given me the forms to have a blood test taken. I'm going in on Saturday to have it done just so I can at least have the all clear physiologically. What you've said has helped a bit, freya.
posted by Talez at 2:45 AM on August 6, 2008

I'm scared about what these pills could do to me but I'm also scared that something's seriously wrong and that I am overreacting and can't stop.

Why don't you ask your doctor why he recommends them? Ask if it's something temporary and how long you'd need to be on them, ask what happens when you go off of them, ask what he thinks about it being a psychological vs. physical (pinched nerve?) problem. Write these questions (and more!) down before you go into the office so you don't forget anything and you'll get more complete information than you could ever dream of AskMe giving you. I also second taking a look at Crazy Meds for some more information on anti-anxiety drugs, especially after you get your doc to tell you what he would like you on in particular.

Most doctors only want to do the quickest and easiest treatment that will ensure their patients will come back for more office visits. Putting you on drugs and getting you addicted is one way they can ensure you will return so they can collect more visit money.

This is stupid.
posted by soma lkzx at 6:16 AM on August 6, 2008 [3 favorites]

My opinion: Get the MRI/CT scan, and find out for sure from a neurologist whether you have a concussion. You can't fix a concussion with psych drugs.

However, there are some cases where anti-anxiety or anti-convulsive drugs can cure vertigo symptoms, if they're not from a concussion. But, this is the sort of thing I'd want a second and third opinion about before engaging in any kind of treatment.

Good luck!
posted by Citrus at 6:41 AM on August 6, 2008

All of the above are great suggestions. A couple of notes becuase I have dealt with a similar situation, although no traumatic experience was involved - it just came on:

-The MRI. Not everyone has a perfectly oblong smooth skull like you see on tv. Be prepared for things being uncovered that look scary but the neurologist and radiologist will say it's nothing. I have a small benign calcified mass that looks really freaky but after several MRIs have been told it's nothing.... On the other hand they can find evidence of concussion of other serious stuff.

-Anxiety meds. Becuase of my dizzy/lightheadedness i was prescribed a 30 day supply of xanax that I didn't even finish (although it definitely took the edge off). Becuase of this I have been denied disability insurance. YMMV.
posted by Big_B at 8:50 AM on August 6, 2008

IANAD but from a recent similar experience (sans car crash), it seems strange that he wouldn't first order a MRI. The ER may not have ordered one if you weren't dizzy/off-balance then. I'd get a second opinion and see if you can get one to rule out the scary stuff.
posted by desjardins at 11:15 AM on August 6, 2008

Dear,

Please ask at your GP or Doctor to refer you a treatment of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). IT WILL CURE YOU. I can garantee you that.

I had the same problem and after goint to many diff treatments, with pills,etc. THIS one was te ONLY one Which I found complete effective.

Listen my advice

Good look.
posted by zulonline at 12:15 PM on August 17, 2008