Woohoo! Glad to hear that you were able to get off the Diovan and that your BP is doing well.
I, too, was on HBP meds due to emotional causes. In my case it was extreme stress plus chronic sleep deprivation for years while I cared for my stroke-survivor husband. I've since also been able to get off the meds.
My doctor also put me on Zoloft, and I was on it for a year. I remember when I first took it, my thought was, "Wow! Is this what it feels like to be normal?" Because I had been a nervous, anxious person all my life, whose shoulder muscles were constantly tied up in knots, who couldn't sleep, etc. And Zoloft helped that. Unfortunately, in my sleep-deprived situation (my husband would often need assistance or supervision during the night), it allowed me to go to sleep too easily. I found that I'd fall asleep at the wheel (where I'd wake up when my head jerked as I dosed off) maybe a dozen times each way on the 20 mile trip to see my husband's doctor. And during the rest of the drive, my eyes wouldn't focus properly. After I drove off the road one time, I decided the Zoloft had to go.
But by chance, I'm now taking something else which has calmed my anxiety and largely eliminated the problem of chronic shoulder tightness. Magnesium. Yes, common old magnesium. My doctor had recommended it when I started getting nocturnal leg cramps frequently, but much to my surprise, it also greatly improved my tendency to be anxious all the time. For me it has almost the same calming effect as Zoloft. You might want to try it.
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