Please help. My wife can't take any meds

Hi,

I'm not sure this is the place to post this kind of question...

My wife has suffered all her life from anxiety, but lately it's been getting out of control. She can't leave the house; she sleeps little and badly; and she's irrationally afraid of being ill. She actually eats close to nothing and checks on her body sensations all the time, always hoping for the worst - when she has migraine (she's had it for decades), she automatically concludes she has a brain tumor, and so on.

The psychiatrist prescribed clonazepam, but she can't take it. She will sit with the pill in her hand and stare at it, then break down in tears. At least, she has agreed that she needs to take medication out of her own free will (I know many people reject the bare possibility); but she can't bring herself to swallow them, because she fears she'll have an array of extremely negative side effects.

I was wondering if anyone here has ever had this sort of problem, and if you did and overcame it, please share your experience with me. I'm terribly worried about her; I have anxiety myself, but I take the meds and I'm okay. I know exactly what she's going through, and it's all the more frustrating that I can't help.

Therapy can be extremely effective for treating anxiety, so if your wife can't take Meds, that would be the place to turn. In fact, even if she could take Meds, therapy would still be a very good Idea.

CBT is pretty well studied as an effective treatment, but there are a number of different options.

Thank you, Angelina! I've talked to my wife about therapy, and she's planning to start it next week. I sincerely hope it works. My best wishes to you.