Anxiety can take a destructive toll on your body, without you even realizing it. Anxiety is one of the most common mental disorders of the 21st century. And according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), about 18.1% of adults, or roughly 40 million adults in the United States suffer from some sort of anxiety disorder. NIMH also recorded that about 65% of the people diagnosed with anxiety in North America are prescribed mood-altering medications to suppress their symptoms.

As someone who has suffered from anxiety, and has also taken medicine prescribed by a doctor to control it, I can say that I’m not a fan of the way anxiety medication makes me feel or the thought of relying on a medication to make me “normal.” I understand that medicine works for some, while it may not work for others, but this article talks about the different ways that I’ve tackled my anxiety without relying on prescription drugs (or drugs in general.)

Why am I gaining so much weight?

The first thing that you tend to realize when you start taking medicine for your anxiety is that you start gaining weight out of nowhere. If you didn’t feel bad about yourself before, this can definitely make you feel insecure and self-conscious.

Of course, weight alone is not inherently a bad thing, but since it is still part of societal beauty standards, it can affect your confidence. When you don’t feel confident in yourself, it makes your anxiety worse.

Sure, you might not have panic episodes, but you’ll definitely isolate yourself in your room because the thought of people you know seeing you out in public after putting on 15 pounds is not exactly ideal.

In doing my research, I found that medications like Lexapro, Paxil, Prozac, and Zoloft can make you gain as much as 10 pounds or more. These antidepressant medications might take away your panic, but they can definitely affect your self-esteem and confidence in a negative way.

It’s hard to go from relying on medicine to relying on nothing but yourself, but I was tired of taking medicine that made me gain weight and made me ultimately feel worse because of it. So I started to channel my frustration for myself and the weight that I gained in going to the gym. I would force myself to go at least 3 days a week and stay for at least an hour. Not only did I fall in love with the way that I felt after my workouts, but I started to fall in love with myself because I was fighting my own worst enemy and winning.

Of course, when you battle anxiety or depression, it is a lifelong fight to defeat those demons inside of your head. You will have your good days, and your bad days. But throughout my journey of working out, I have managed to lose all the weight that I put on while taking anxiety medication and felt better about myself. I realize that everytime I work out, I not only become physically stronger, but I get mentally stronger as well. So if you’re struggling to workout to fight your anxiety or get back in shape, hang in there, because it will get better.

You are what you eat

Eating heavy is ultimately going to make you feel heavy. Pasta is delicious. Don’t get me wrong! But it’s thick, and tends to make people feel extremely tired. Nobody feels ready to run a marathon after eating a dish of fettuccine alfredo. It’s important to remind yourself when you’re cooking dinner, or out to eat with your friends and family, that if you want to feel better, you need to eat better. This doesn’t mean that you have to “diet,” but staying away from those heavy starches and replacing them with leafy, or lighter foods can give you A LOT more energy.

It’s also important to remember that you don’t want to starve yourself. We are all extremely guilty of skipping breakfast, not eating all day, and then binging at dinner time because we are starving. I get it. Not everyone is hungry first thing in the morning. But try to get something in your system so your appetite is suppressed and you have more energy to carry with you throughout the day. Eating the right food, and eating throughout the day can make you feel A LOT better about yourself and can boost your mood.

Once you start realizing that everything contributes to your mood, and you have the power to control these things, the less reliant you will feel on your anxiety medication. Of course, everything is hard at first. But you will eventually get the hang of it. So don’t quit.

Don’t let anyone tell you what’s best for you

This article reflects my personal experiences and in no way tells anybody to just quit taking their prescription anxiety medication. When it comes to your mind and your body, only YOU know what’s best. I have had constant fights with people who believe that taking medicine that the doctor gives you is always justified and the right thing to do. But is it really? No one knows your body better than you do. If something doesn’t feel right in the slightest bit, it’s your job to question it.

Talking to friends and family can be helpful, but their advice may not always be the best. If you feel uncomfortable taking your medication, or if you don’t like the way that it feels, by all means, you have a right to find alternative ways to tackle your mental disorder and do what’s best for you. You are the person who ultimately has to live with these thoughts and feelings anyway. (This can also be reversed.)

STOP smoking

I know a lot of people who smoke in order to suppress their mood and anxiety instead of taking prescription medications, and that’s fine. However, I’ve realized that people who smoke instead of taking prescription drugs have the same side effects as those who do. You begin to put the pieces together and realize that although it may be more “natural,” maybe it’s not really “healthier.” How productive really is smoking?

This is not a biased opinion. It’s just an observation that I’ve made based off of what I’ve seen. When you become reliant on smoking, you are constantly chasing that feeling. When that feeling becomes too expensive for you to chase, you start buying drugs that are cheaper and more affordable for you. An addict isn’t chasing a high. They’re running away from what they’re feeling on the inside. And it’s a sad thing to watch.

So if you’re struggling to control your anxiety, but you smoke every day of the week, maybe you should consider stopping. You will never become stronger or defeat your inner demons if you don’t stop relying on drugs to suppress your mood. So yes, stimulant drugs and smoking is categorized under “prescription drugs” when you’re trying to fight your anxiety head-on.

There is strength in looking temptation in the face and walking away from it.

Don’t give up. It’s OK to have rough days.

Life is not perfect and you’re not expected to be either. Having a “mental health” day and lounging on the couch and being lazy is not falling back into old habits. Sometimes you’re not going to feel like doing anything, and that’s OK. You don’t have to go to the gym every single day. And you can have cheat days where you eat pounds of pasta and fall asleep right after binge-watching your favorite show on Netflix. There is nothing wrong with not feeling your best all the time, it’s normal.

However, don’t let these days send you in a spiral. One day should never leak into the next. Throw away that leftover pasta or give it to someone else. Wake up the next morning and continue kicking butt, and never give up. Remind yourself constantly of how far you’ve come and forget about all of the temptations that try to hold you back.

Do not forget that your anxiety does not define you, and that you are in control. You got this.