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Anyone struggle with Anxiety?
I suffer from really bad anxiety. Its something that I inherited from my father, which by the way is sending him to an early grave. Something I dont want to follow. It gets so bad for me sometimes, that I feel like jumping through a window. I have tried several drugs and nothing seems to work.
Does anyone else experience extreme anxiety, what type of meds do you take for it, or how do you cope? Besides smoking a cigar, of course :ss |
Re: Anyone struggle with Anxiety?
I have suffered from this for the past 3-4 years so I feel your pain, when it first happened the doctor gave me zoloft for about a year I then decided I did not want to take it anymore so I stopped, I can control it better now (breathing and thinking it through) and it has gotten better I very rarely get panic attacks anymore but still have anxiety sometimes, I try to breath and just think my way through it. Do you get panic attacks or just anxiety?
its runs in my family to, I have a cousin who suffered from it and my mom also had some issues years ago. |
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Not really any panic attacks, just severe tense anxiety!
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I've been diagnosed as a "Type A" stress junkie and have worked in timeshare, a very high stress industry, for 15 years.
Only recently, has it become unbearable at times and I was put on prozac a couple months ago, which seems to keep me a little more even keeled. |
Re: Anyone struggle with Anxiety?
hi mate i suffer with bad anxiety and panic attacks and i also inherited it from my father when i was in my teens i was on alot of medication for it but i stoped takeing it as i did not want to get addicted to if u ever need enybody to talk to about it i am hear for you bro
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Re: Anyone struggle with Anxiety?
Yes...I was taking Lexipro which seemed to help but weened myself off of it. I now take Klonopin every once and awhile but not often (even though the doc said 2 a day I might do 1 per week)...it had alot to do with my job and taking problems home...I don't do that anymore...I have a cigar and a stiff drink most every night and that helps to put all anxiety away for the most part. I inherited it as well from my mother, anxiety and panic attacks...I have learned to say "**** it all" and get on with the more important things in life to me (wife and kids). My wife is on the brink now with her work and not sleeping well...Told her she has to leave that crap at work and not bring it home....taking the family away for a week and leaving the Blackberry at home...you gotta learn to relax and enjoy life b/c stress WILL kill you! Life is too short to worry about stupid **** (economy, job, who is in office, etc). Exercise also helps...go to the park...get lost in the woods for awhile. Hope this helps! :tu
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I just wish I could find a med that really worked for me. My most recent one I was on, was Cymbalta. But it gave me really bad headaches and after a sticking with it for over a month or two, I saw no changes.
I still take Klonopin for when it gets really bad, but I hate taking it, because it knocks me out! Beer also helps :D but the Dr what give me a Rx for that. |
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I tried Xanax, but it made me unable to function.
So far Prozac has been ok, with relatively low side effects. It also builds up a reserve in your system, I am told, so going off it isn't as bad as some other drugs. I keep promising to get back in the gym and am going to really try this week. |
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I smoke a natural remedy that seems to help me when I experience anxiety.
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Paxil worked for me. Lexapro just didn;t take the edge off enough.
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I've been known to jump out of an airplane two or three times a month.
Great remedy for stress!!! |
Re: Anyone struggle with Anxiety?
Anxiety can be caused by a number of factors, including depression.
Prozac seems to be the medication of choice for evening out anxiety feelings, at least I know many that swear by it. I had a couple of employees with very bad anxiety problems who opted for non-medical routes. One found a great practitioner of Chinese herbal medicine that has worked great. One uses Tai Chi and other uses daily yoga at lunch time. I hope you find something that works well for you. I would suggest keeping a detailed journal to look for patterns, especially with regards to finding possible food allergies. Until I was diagnosed as a Celiac, I had wild anxiety attacks that I would never have associated with eating a sandwich the day before. |
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I once mixed valium with viagra to try to relieve 2 things at once and felt like if you don't get a f*ck, you don't give a f*ck.:dance:
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Re: Anyone struggle with Anxiety?
I am out camping and replying via bberry is a paoin to respond on. Drop me a PM I have had crippling anxiety over the past few years and learned a bit on the subject.
Meds, homeopathics, meditation, exercise all have their place depending on what's going on. There are some fantastic books out there as well that you can add to your tool chest. I have found over the years that different circumstances require differwent tools. My real father let it kill him at 47, (via heart attack), I will not be the same, but it means being very self observant. I would be happy to discuss more is you want. |
Re: Anyone struggle with Anxiety?
About 10 years ago I used to have anxiety attacks and migraines. The migraines were from the tons of caffiene I took in.
The anxiety attacks would end me up in the ER and they'd draw blood gas because they thought I was having a heart attack. That hurts like hell. I also had seasonal depression that turned into suicidal depression. I drank a case of beer a day and tried every drug in the book. Most of them made me puke, so I had to double up. Long story short... A guy told me that anxiety comes from looking into the future. Depression comes from looking into the past. If I stay in the moment, I can cope. That's as much as I can handle. It made sense. So I went and got a lot of help from people who had learned how to think in a manner that wasn't killing them, adopted a bunch of perspectives I didn't want to, and found a God that I hadn't wanted. All that stuff allowed me to become willing to learn how to "stay in the moment". The anxiety has been gone for about five years, the depression hung on a bit longer. It is absolutely amazing to me that the way I thought made me so incredibly sick. If I hadn't lived it, I honestly wouldn't believe it. I learned how to think from my Dad, and he's a 100% hopeless alcoholic, and ready for an early grave himself. So it made sense I was in the shape I was in. I just did like I was taught. I should mention that if it all hadn't been fixed by just learning how to think differently, I'd have never believed that, either. It took a long time, too. A few years of practicing. But it got better slowly. The drugs helped along the way. The one that finally worked for me was serzone. It settled my head down just enough so that I could think straight and listen and accept some reason. |
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That's one of the smartest things I have seen written in a very long time. I might put that on my desktop if it's ok with you. |
Re: Anyone struggle with Anxiety?
Good one, Scott. When I read that, I thought, that makes a hell of a lot of sense.
My mom was always kind of cooky (nervous and sensitive) when I was growing up, but my dad was solid. I was solid until 1996. I had already battled my way through college in the early 90s, which I saw as very stressful, and thought life was finally on easy street. Right after I had gotten engaged, I started with the anxious feelings. Never had experienced it. Seems I was thinking too much about my future and a feeling of no longer being on control of my destiny (like anyone ever is). One bad thought led to two, etc. Within a month, I was full blown anxious. Stress and anxiety are two very different things. This wasn't stress I had. It felt like I had a strap tightening around my chest. It made it hard to breath. My body hurt. My joints hurt. I couldn't eat. My throat felt like it was nearly closed shut and swallowing food was nearly impossible. Lost 15 lbs in a couple of months. I couldn't sleep, to the point I dreaded nightfall. Dreaded is an understatement. I prayed. I cussed. After 3-4 months, I was spinning out of control and could barely stand it anymore. I really didn't feel like living the rest of my life feeling like that. I remember telling my dad I think I've had enough. Also seemed no one really understood. I only talked to a few people about it. Kind of embarrassed as I felt weak-willed or something. I started seeing a Dr. Took Zoloft for a year or so. Took thousands of 1 mg Ativans to try to combat the anxiety. Smoked lots of natural remedy, but that often made it worse. Probably had depression too from trying to deal with the anxiety. I was f*cked up. Really. My brain needed to be restarted, it was in a very bad rut. From a 10 to a 1 in a matter of months. I didn't know what had happed to me. I had always had the most positive attitude and outlook on life. I really thought I was doomed. And I couldn't figure out a way to fix it and that really frustrated me. It seemed every time I felt better, I'd start thinking about it and go haywire again. It was affecting my entire life, from family, to frinds, to work. I thank my wife for sticking with me. I thank my dad for helping me cope. He gave me words of wisdom that only a dad can give. I emmersed myself in a close friend's church and I got some comfort knowing others were praying for me. I knew no matter what, God, family, medicine, etc., it was up to me to change my way of thinking. I took long walks or went jogging. I went to the mall to be around people, as I would go crazy being by myself and feeling this way. I emmersed myself in hobbies. I put together dozens of 1000 piece puzzles. I bought a telescope and started studying star charts. I started doing woodworking. I kept my mind as busy as I could to keep it from thinking negative thoughts. I started to see that I had so much to be thankful for. I saw where I was so much more fortunate than others around me and I tried to live that way. I adopted the "live for today" mentality. I tried to think positive at all times. By 1998 I was off all the meds and I was somewhat happy again. If I started feeling 'weird' again, I'd find something to take my mind off of it. I'd say it was some time in the early 00s before I thought of myself as healed and I know longer feared a relapse. I guess every cloud has a silver lining - I have been able to help two employees of mine over the years deal with the same thing. I explained my symptoms and I listened to their's. Giving someone a trusting person to talk to, that has experienced what they're dealing with, is an incredible gift. Hopefully my experience will continue to help others. At least they know there can be an end and life can get back to how they remember it. Good luck, brother! If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm a PM away. Phone call if that doesn't help. Live for today, but plan for tomorrow! |
Re: Anyone struggle with Anxiety?
I don't suffer from anxiety or stress, but I think I'm a carrier.:rolleyes:
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I don't but my girlfriend does she is on lexapro and abilify and whenever needed she takes Xanax. She also has bipolar disorder. those drugs seem to help her out tremendously.
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I let all the anxiety and depression take me to sticking a gun in my mouth. It took cold steel to go "wtf, man?" I knew I could be happy, cause I was before. I knew I could be at peace, because I was before. The anxiety was the easiest thing to fix. I found that I had made habit of "knowing" what was going to happen. I knew what people were thinking. I would go over every single thing that was going to happen and compute 1000 outcomes so I could be prepared for any situation, because if I didn't, something absolutely horrible would certainly happen that was out of my control. My kid could fall down the steps, I could crash the car, I could lose my job, whatever. I had to be eternally vigilant so that I could do the perfect thing at the perfect time so that everything worked out exactly as I had preordained. It worked out for sh1t, but I bought into that line of thinking 100%, mostly because it had worked well for so long. The wheels really started coming off when it stopped working. I learned that I don't have a crystal ball. I learned that I don't know what people are thinking. I learned that what people think of me is none of my business. The hardest one to swallow was that I wasn't in control of anything, ever. There were lots of other things I had to learn, as well, but that's kinda the jist of it. I was taught that if I worked hard, did my best, and never gave up, I could achieve anything. I did just that and became very successful. Everything came my way, and it all came easily. When things started going south, I found it was the greatest lie I had ever bought into. Every fortune I ever had was given me by God's Grace. That one took lots of years for me to even begin to understand. That aside, I was told to employ a "bullsh1t detector". Every time I started thinking I knew what was going to happen next, or started to think into the future, horns and lights went off in my head and I immediately stopped myself. I didn't have a reason why to do it, or know what would happen. I was just told to do it and did it religiously. It was very difficult in the beginning. I'd try like hell to stop thinking and just couldn't do it. So I started banging my head on the wall. Literally. I had a favorite spot between the kitchen and the dining room with a nice wide board in the doorway where I wouldn't catch a corner and cut my forehead. (That got old and made me feel stupid.) I found that enough pain would stop my brain. Eventually I got smart enough that it wasn't worth the pain. I'd just stop thinking, albeit grudgingly, and start up again at the very first opportunity. Habits are very hard to break, and patterns of thinking are just that, habit. Ultimately, the lasting "cure" for the anxiety came through Faith. Understanding that God has always loved me and always will love and provide for me is what I believe with all my heart and soul. Now I don't have to think about what's coming next, don't project into the future, and don't suffer the physical effects of my old way of thinking. If I end up living under a bridge in a box, I am 100% okay with that. I can still be happy in a box, in the mud, eating out of garbage cans. It'll be a far easier way to live than I live right now, and it'll require a lot less responsibility, and I hate responsibility. Depression takes a lot more work, and requires a lot more humility, work and time, but I found that there was a lot of relief from giving up on the "what if's". What if I had done it this way, what if I had said this instead, what if I hadn't done this, the list goes on ad finitum. I used the bullsh1t detector and the foyer wall for that, too. Ultimately I had to go back and right all the wrongs, make amends, ask forgiveness from all the people I'd hurt along the way, and then I was able to ask God's forgiveness. That cleaned the slate, and the depression has been gone since. The whole "fix" takes a lot of time. There's a lot of avenues, and lots of different levels of relief. Some people are happy with just feeling well enough that they don't want to kill themselves every day. I've heard mention that people have found ways to get it done without God, and that they're perfectly content. I can't comment on that cause I didn't go that way. What I do know is that I tried all the drugs, all the alcohol, all the counselors, all the psychiatrists, all the doctors, and everything anyone suggested for about five years and none gave me any lasting relief. That five years of effort ended up with me sucking on a .35 Remington in my dining room. I can go on forever, but all I really wanted to say is that there's a way out. Once you know that, there's Hope. As long as there's Hope, there's a reason to keep trying. You'll be fine. Just work on it, and know it takes time to change old habits. Know this, too... I found I couldn't fix a sick mind with a sick mind. That's why I had to take direction from others and do what I was told. If I was still trying to fix my head by myself, I'd be right where I started. :D |
Re: Anyone struggle with Anxiety?
Absolutely,,,every time I get behind the wheel of my car I get 'high" anxiety,,,when I get in a short line at the grocery store it takes 3x as long as the other line that had 3x the people. When I ask for directions from some local yokel where a certain place is,,they give me directions that take me in a complete circle. I find that cigars replace a lot of built up tension in life,,,when you are feeling that roller coaster ride of anxiety it's time to light up and sit back.
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Re: Anyone struggle with Anxiety?
Anxiety and depression here. Took some different drugs and decided to handle it head on. I get it honest. Both mom and dad had it. I do a lot of visualization stuff to calm down and treat my depression as game I have to win. My depression makes me want to stay in bed and do nothing. It actually tries to paralyze me. I find if I can get out of bed and start interacting with people, I can put it behind me for the day. Then I gotta do the same thing tomorrow. The drugs "changed" who I was even if they provided some relief so, I'd rather take the considerable energy to take it on without. Some things that have helped is forcing myself into uncomfortable situations like a job in sales. I know some folks are worse off than me but I also know I could be a lot worse if I didn't deal with it my way. That's more info than I thought I'd share on a message board! One thing to mention is that people who suffer anxiety/depression are usually on the high-end of the intelligence scale.
Good luck to all in this thread. Sometimes it's just good to know you're not alone. MCS |
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Hey Scott,
I had a bunch of tests done along the way and found out that the seasonal depression, or whatever doldrums remain in me are because my vitamin d drops to near nothing in the fall and remains that way till spring. The docs suggested taking vitamin d off the shelf and it did nothing except make my stomach hot. Then they suggested light therapy. I didn't want to spend the money for the machine, so I started going to the tanning booth with my girls a couple times a week in the winter. It brings my vitamin d up, and the "don't want to get out of bed" and all the other stuff goes away. Go figure. Quote:
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Re: Anyone struggle with Anxiety?
I have a copy of "The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook", if you want to read it I'd be happy to lend it to you. It's kind of bland reading, but it explains reasoning for anxiety, panic attacks, phobias, etc. It also has step by step directions on relaxing, exercises, breathing, and even some nutrition and medication suggestions. It was highly suggested by some doctors and also on the Borders top seller list. Let me know and I'll ship it out to you.
I also take St. John's Wort. I'm not big on on natural supplements and am not fully convinced so far, but I figured it was worth a shot, it was only $16.00 for about a 5 month supply. I also have Gotu Kola supplements but have not taken any. Both were recommended in the book. |
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I'm a psych major, and when it comes to anxiety, studies show that the best form of treatment is a combination of medication and cognitive-behavioral treatment. Keep trying the meds, they WILL work. Make sure you see someone to talk about the latter treatment. It can be anything from social support groups to visiting a psychologist and learning specified relaxation techniques.
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when I lived in New Jersey on the shore, I went into a 4 month depression after the summer ended and the 4 months of gloom set in. I moved to Florida and cured some of the seasonal disorder.
When I got into my mid 30's, I started getting midlife crisises and bought a Harley and had a kid. Now I'm in my 40's and stressed, went on prozac, am trying to excercise more, and really try to avoid negative people and negative situations and find that it is really important to find something that releases stress and make time for it a couple times a week. |
Re: Anyone struggle with Anxiety?
I went thru major bout in early 80's ended up outside on mother-in-law's lawn, puking guts up. Week later, at doc's, thinking heart attack in my 20's!!
Many tests later, thinks stuck up both ends, no problems found, closest stupid doc could say was spastic colan, take these pills three times a day. Then I heard a radio ad that described my symptoms to a "T". Had me nailed 100% Took the course that was offered, was at a community type school, about stress, its causes, and remedies. Taught by a doc from South Africa. Found that I was big time Type A, and that having three major life events in 3 years or less (New Job, Marriage and new home) made me prime candidate for stress and anxiety related issues. Course was major help. Also found that Dale Carangie's "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" was some help. I also talk to God a lot more. Hope he listens, but in any event, I find it helps just to get things off my chest. I wish I could say that I'm cured, but no such luck. I do, however, have a little better handle on it, know symptoms are a physical reaction to my often piss poor ability to handle my stress and anxiety levels. It halps to go back and re-establish the relaxation and bio-feedback thecniques I learned in the class. But, mostly, I have flare-ups from time to time when I have to sit back and acknowledge what is bothering me. The most apparant manifestations I have when my stress and anxiety level kicks up is that I have difficulty in handling crowded places, and fight like hell any actions requiring me to eat in public places. Everyone has things that trigger their attacks. As a self employed. one person business, I know that money issues are one of my major triggers. Since I'm involved in Real Estate, these days I definitely worry about money, which has the result that I've been re-fighting anxiety attacks more in the last 12 months than in the last decade or so. Kinda in line with what floydpink said, my mom tells me that "It's not what I'm eating, it's what's eating me" She's correct, of course. I know it, but still have to fight to control it! Good luck in handling your issues. Do look into classes about dealing with stress, and keep an open mind. I know that there are many drugs out there that my RN wife swears are real life savers for many suffers. Having some non-medical remedies can also be a big plus. Now, if I can just follow my own advise, i would be great!!! |
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I used to be as weak as a worm in the sun. Now im strong as a rock (mentally).
Drugs are GOOD mmmKay. http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f3.../Mr_Mackey.jpg |
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Man, im glad i read this thread!
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I get it very bad when I lay down to go to sleep at night. Happens about once or twice a week. Sometimes wakes me up. I am not big on medicine so my Dr refered me to a phsycologist and we did not even talk about what could be causeing it. We just talked about breathing exersices to get it to calm down and help me relax. I still get the attacks, but the controlled breathing usually helps and I fall asleep or back to sleep shortly. there are plenty of Dr's that can steer you to the drug alternative.
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I wear two wristbands, one on each arm. Unlike those loud yellow or pink ones you often see, these are more sedately toned. The right one is gray, and says "Ennui", and the left one is black and says "Nihilism." They are a constant reminder to me of my philosopy of life, gleaned after years of hardships and heartbreaks - namely, "#^@+ it all, I don't give a #^@+."
It's the misanthropic version of Ommmmmmmmmm. |
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I have never been diagnosed with anxiety, but a MD friend of mine is firmly of the belief that my many health problems over the last few months are caused, at least in part, by stress.
A couple of months ago, I had what my MD friend suspects was a panic attack in the classroom in front of my students. I honestly thought I was having a heart attack. Cold, clammy sweats, dizziness, shortness of breath. But EKG turned up nothing suspicious. At the time, I was VERY stressed at work and home. I must say, however, my wife has been a ROCK through all this. In the last two months, I have had severe difficulty sleeping. I have trouble falling asleep. When I do get to sleep, it's a fitful sleep. If I wake up earlier than planned (e.g. I wake up at 4 when I don't need to be up till 7) I can't fall back asleep. I have a sleep study next week so that a professional can tell me what I've suspected for a long while, that I have sleep apnea. I am morbidly obese and I'm sure that that contributes to my health problems as well. Thanks for letting me vent. |
Re: Anyone struggle with Anxiety?
Nice thread fellows.
I get it bad on planes sometimes but I think many people do so it is worked as Scott says with breathing and just trying to calm down. On the other hand the gf gets it pretty bad and it is hell to go through sometimes especially with all the trips I make. I like the phrase that depression is lookin ginto the past and anxiety looking into the future. I will surely remember that for a talk with her. Thanks for the great replies. Travis |
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Prozac has helped me a lot with work related anxiety.
Speaking of planes, I was returning from an island off Brazil's north coast a few years ago and took a small plane rather than the bumpy boat that had brought me over. I was sitting by the wing window when the right engine began smoking and we had to do an emergency landing and evacuate the plane in a hurry while fire trucks doused the plane with white foamy stuff as the engine was burning. We were in a remote wooded area about 1 mile from the airport we were trying to return to and the pilot managed to put the 8 passenger twin prop in a field. There was a row of ambulances waiting and thank God they weren't needed. It was a very bumpy landing and the scariest day of my life, but I have flown at least 100 times since. |
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Back on the anxiety, I don't have it but my ex girlfriend had panic attacks, severe panic attacks and the took xeroxat for that, and when she had an attack she took a pill called temesta which calmed her down. I tried a quarter temesta one day and sat on the couch like a zombie for hours, that stuff was strong! To be honest, I always thought that she was overreacting, how bad could a panic attack be? A few months after we broke up I was scheduled for an MRA and while in that machine I got my first (and only) panic attack ever. That's when I realized how she felt at least once a day and I felt sorry for her. |
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Runs in the family. Many here can attest to the fact that I am a type A know-it-all who has to have every problem sorted out. Back in college is when it was at its worst. Being trapped in a world where I had little control really got to me. I rarely slept, and when I did, I awaken shortly after falling asleep to an irregular heartbeat that I can only describe as feeling similar to the feeling just before you cough when you are sick and are coughing up a large amount of the chunky stuff.
After I left college it diminished somewhat, but then reared up again in full force when I was 25. I had taken off to work a job in a new area, away from everything, living out of a hotel, high stress job. 2 weeks into it, my girlfriend amicably broke up with me, and then she decided she didnt want the whole remain cordial part. Id get calls at 5am telling me Im awful, and to this day I still deal with her occasional calls and texts. Needless to say, that was a bad time. There was no sleep, there was a lot of booze. I withdrew from a lot of things, including here CS then, I think), because I just couldnt handle it. Even the thought of deciding between two cigars was too much stress for me. It was kind of through default that a few things happened to ultimately help me along. One, I just stopped everything. I was done. I no longer made any decisions. I was able to get by with work, and actually did a very good job, but personally, I did nothing. I wouldnt even order at restaurants....I told them to bring me something. It wasn't a form of prescribed treatment or anything like that, it was more a mix of no longer caring and being too exhausted to even consider picking a meal. I guess what I'm trying to illustrate is that I put more faith into others helping me out. Another thing I did (again, not prescribed, just examining these periods in my life and what helped) was I instinctively found a role model. Never really thought about it at the time, but I naturally gravitated towards an older gentleman working with me. He was away from his wife, who had been stricken with cancer. He certainly had a lot more on his plate than I had....but he was able to deal with it...I'd lose it over ordering a f'in meal at Chilis. I learned to emulate him and his "go with the flow" attitude, and that helped a lot...not only with dealing with anxiety, but also with my professional career. Finally, I learned a bit more about the importance of God. I have a very odd idea of God, I think. I like to think that He exists, I firmly believe that a society believing in a Judeo-Christian God is the most moral and productive society, but I would not go so far as to label myself a full believer. Despite my feelings, I think I am more naturally inclined to find label myself as a deist...though I honestly find myself leaning, or at least wishing to lean, more closely towards Catholicism than Deism. The reason I say that is to explain that I am not particularly religious, yet I have found that having that faith and the idea that someone is there to guide and help you through anything can be very productive in combating anxiety and depression. I'm still not free from anxiety. A few times a month I will lose it, always when Im inactive and have nothing concrete and immediate that I can concentrate on. That leads me to the final advice that I can give. Get involved in something can consume your thoughts, you enjoy, and can be completely yours. I have several. I really enjoy building. From home improvement to woodworking. Woodworking is especially beneficial because there really is no added anxiety. With home improvement, you need to worry about paying for the granite countertop, how will you get the house closed up, thousands of things. When you're making a box or a pen just to create something beautiful that you enjoy, there are few worries. The other is hunting. Ive found this to be very difficult, yet very rewarding. When you're sitting there doing nothing, its very easy for the mind to wander. But it is one hell of an exercise to get yourself to focus on the nothingness of the woods and to learn to take in the now, to focus on every little aspect of what is currently happening in the hope that you will see that glimpse of an antler, the slight sound of a buck 100 yards off walking through soft snow, etc. Hunting became my ultimate test. Others in my family have dealt with it other ways (2 diagnosed, my father and I have not been officially diagnosed as we haven't seen anyone about it). One brother (diagnosed) has changed completely since he was hit with it. Its nearly impossible to even hold a conversation with him. Its like he's not even there. He has done yoga, meditation, pharmaceuticals, and drinks a bit. My father grins and bears it. He rarely sleeps. My sister (diagnosed) drinks, she has shown little progress at all. My other brother has the most stress of all of us, and never has an issue with it....go figure. Best of luck to you. It can be absolutely horrible, but it can also be controlled and cured. There are plenty here to help, and feel free to PM me if you like, but from my experiences, that will only cause you to think about the things I say and how they apply to your life and what you're feeling and will further compound things. Its a f'in ***** aint it? :r Grab some laughs where you can, and branch out. Learn to flip that switch off and immerse yourself in pointless activities. It was necessary for a caveman to mindlessly stare at the fire to recharge, its necessary for modern man to mindlessly stare at TV (or Jessica Alba) to recharge....learn to turn that brain of yours off for a while, and you'll be OK. We all have stress, but its impossible to deal with when you're exhausted from anxiety. |
Re: Anyone struggle with Anxiety?
Good post, Adam. :)
I just stopped thinking, which is kind of odd sounding, but I have. Not the thinking that I do when I'm figuring out how to get dressed or cook something, I quit thinking about me. My problems, my life, what's going to happen next, how things will turn out, what I should do, where the next meal will come from, all that kind of stuff. I let God do that and it just happens. I did the same "pick a role model" routine, too. Once I learned all he could teach me, I picked another, then another, then another, and ended up at Christ. I still have lots to learn from Him, so it's gonna take awhile. I still take suggestions and ask for help from everyone around me. I went to dinner the other night and told the waitress "I want some tamales and whatever the gentleman cooking wants to throw on the plate." I just wanted to make comment because there were so many parallels in your post and mine. :) |
Re: Anyone struggle with Anxiety?
Had terrible anxiety and panic attacks for years before I finally "admitted defeat" and got on Prozac. It takes the edge off without changing your personality. Doc also gave me Oxazepam which is a weaker version of Klonopin. Oxazepam is good stuff because I could take it at work and not be a zombie. I would definitely recommend Oxazepam instead of Klonazepam (Klonopin).
I felt like I was being punished, or that I was standing outside myself and watching myself go insane. I would burst into tears or fly into a rage for no reason, couldn't sleep and had nightmares when I did, had obsessive horrible thoughts. I would imagine what it would feel like to cut my tongue off with a pair of scissors. Then once that thought came I couldn't get rid of it. It was as if I lost control of my thought process. My anxiety/panic attacks was a drug-induced condition. I partook a little too much in the chemical dept. (meth) and I basically short circuited my brain. Been drug free for going on 12 years now. I have a few drinks now and then though. :al EDIT: Exercise does help quite a bit. Push-ups are good. Push-ups with somebody underneath you are even better. :D |
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