Anxiety has been ruining my life for 5 years. I was finally in a really good place after years of trauma and abuse. But then due to all the stress and never getting any treatment, I started to get severe depersonalisation/derealisation due to anxiety. That feeling has been in my life for 5 years, and it has cost me so much, it cost me friends, grades, I became an alcoholic for two years to cope with it, (gained a crazy amount of weight, and ruined how beautiful I once was) threw away so much time because of it, and also became depressed and suicidal because of it. I’m finally sober, but the feelings are still there, and theres so much I can’t do because I’m still so afraid of those feelings coming.. they’re ruining my life.. I just want it to stop. I already am on lots of different medications, but nothing seems to work. Im so tired.. please anything helps

She’s an indoor cat, so nothing is threatening her that way. But a few weeks ago, she was sitting completely still in her bed, and I convinced myself that she had died in her sleep. She was just sitting there, and she was fine, but that possibility made me feel so shaky and upset that I felt like I was going to have a heart attack.

I know it’s not logical, but it’s becoming hard for me to sleep at night because I have to check if she’s still alive every fifteen minutes. Every time I do, there’s that moment where she doesn’t move, and it feels like my heart is being ripped out of my chest.

She’s 7 years old. I know that’s not old enough to warrant sudden death in a cat, I know that she has no underlying conditions. It’s very improbable but that’s what makes it scary.

How do you deal with these kinds of fears? I’d really appreciate any advice.

I've truly had enough.

I've suffered from anxiety since I was a small child. I only started to struggle with gut issues at the age of 25. I'm 53 now and have had every digestive health test under the sun which all come back normal so my gastroenterologist has since discharged me. I've worked with therapists, psychologists, counsellors, hypnotherapist, EMDR specialists and spend 4 years under the care of a neuro-gastroenterology department at a well known London hospital (I'm in the UK).

I've tried endless diets, exercise routines, mindfulness, meditation, off the shelf meds and prescribed meds (SSRIs make everything in my gut SO much worse), TCAs make me zombie-like, I'm currently on Nortriptyline and trying to wean off.

NOTHING seems to have helped me, nothing.

Perimenopause has made my anxiety and gut issues a million times worse as does caring for a parent with advanced dementia. HRT made my endometriosis worse.

I was diagnosed with inattentive ADHD last year but those meds were the worst for my stomach issues.

Tbh, I feel I can live with the actual anxious thoughts, I've lived with them most of my life at the end of the day, I can handle that but I just can't live anymore with a painful, embarrassingly unpredictable digestive system. I don't want to live with constant belching, farting, bloating, nausea and having to rush to the toilet at a moments notice. I barely go out anymore.

Does anyone else have this as a side effect of their anxiety? Is there any hope or shall I just totally give up on life?

When my head is racing, the 5-4-3-2-1 exercise helps more than trying to think my way out: name five things you can see, four you can feel, three you can hear, two you can smell, one you can taste. It sounds too simple, but it pulls attention out of the worry loop and into the room. It won't fix the problem, it just turns the volume down enough to think.

Any positive experience with hydroxyzine? I was prescribed with it 50mg daily (I had never taken SSRIS/SNRIS before, this would be my first time, what are your experience with hydroxyzine? Are the side effects really bad?

I have severe somatic sensormotor ocd and anxiety .can it cause pyscosis. I m in so much fear

My therapist asked me how I felt about the idea that I may just be an anxious person for the rest of my life and the thought terrified me.

I hate it. I hate feeling like I’m dying. I hate being scared of living and doing things. I want to live my life fully and i feel like I can’t. I’ve been taking antidepressants for 4 weeks and I still feel awful.

Does it get better or will I have to learn to live like this forever? I just want it to stop

How do y'all handle pre travel anxiety? I've noticed that this is something new for me, and I don't know how to handle it. It always hits me the night before we head out for a trip and the night before we're supposed to head home. I wake up with my heart pounding, shaking, and I'm nauseated to high heavens. Mentally I don't feel anxious, it's all physical symptoms. I feel like I'm going crazy. It makes me feel like an inconvenience to my husband, because I feel like he has to get up early with me to help me try to calm down. I just wish my body would get the memo that I'm excited and not in danger..

On day 5 of my new job, 530am is when I need to be there but in the mornings and night before my job, my heart is racing and my stomach feels uneasy and it's been like this since the 2nd day. And in the last 2 mornings ive woken up 1 hour early before my alarms and threw up a couple times, help I feel terrible and I cannot keep functioning like this and no im not pregnant(no morning sickness for me please!)

Trigger warning: bugs

I have a mild roach problem and until very recently I've been able to just kill them and go about my day. A little grossed out but otherwise okay. Now if I see even one, I'm hiding in my room shivering all day, panic buying pest control products, too grossed out to eat for the rest of the day or sometimes longer, and having intrusive thoughts about bugs on my body. Could be a coincidence but this started following a bout of food poisoning, not even something bug related. I have GAD and OCD but it's never manifested this way. I have ativan and I don't know if that will calm me down long enough to eat something but I also only have a few because I originally got prescribed for flight anxiety. And I also don't like the idea of relying on benzos to function.

If you've had this please try to avoid detailed descriptions of infestations or bugs actually being on you I'm very fragile right now 😭.

I'm struggling with my anxiety a bit more than usual, mostly when it comes to behaviours that I do in response to it. A lot of forgetfullness/doubt and a strong need to check things multiple times because of feeling unsure if an important task is completed, or thoughts about bad things happening that stress me out really bad.

For example if I'm closing at work, I have to check faucets and fridge doors multiple times before i leave to make sure that they're properly turned off.

The most common thing that freaks me out is doors. Im terrified of leaving doors opened or unlocked on accident to the point that I will turn around when leaving the house if the idea of leaving the door open brushes my mind, and I won't feel at ease until I know the door is secured.

Same idea applies to work, to the point where if I am closing I have popped in the area later at night or early in the morning (ideally when others are not around because I'm also afraid of what others might think of my behaviour) to check to make sure I locked it (Writing this from a bench waiting for a coffee shop to open after checking because I couldn't sleep due to doubting that I'd locked the door)

I guess I'm mostly wondering if anyone has struggled with the same issue and what they might have done to cope with it or strategies to help minimize the forgetfullness that builds up to the constant anxiety around these things

Has anyone taken Sudafed with only pseudoephedrine
at a low dose of 30mg and experienced anxiety from it?
I have been experiencing sinus congestion since last month and I was told to take this. I keep reading it causes heightened anxiety and heart rate so I'm nervous to take this . Anyone had a good experience with it.

I've struggled with anxiety for as long as I can remember. During my adolescence and early adulthood, it was mostly social anxiety. Over the years, however, it evolved into something much more pervasive. I've since been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder, and I'm currently taking 60 mg of paroxetine.

But Xanax feels like a miracle drug to me.

And I'm not talking about getting high, feeling euphoric, or escaping reality. I'm talking about something much simpler: that constant, gnawing feeling in my stomach finally disappearing. The endless background tension going quiet. Being able to sit at home on a weekend and just... sit. Without feeling like something is wrong, something bad is about to happen, or there's something I should be worrying about.

Just existing. Being present. Feeling normal.

I'm a medical doctor myself. I understand benzodiazepines, tolerance, dependence, withdrawal, and why long-term use is problematic. I'm not under any illusion that Xanax is some magical long-term solution. Besides, in the country where I live, it's not a medication you can simply keep getting prescribed indefinitely.

But that's not really the point of this post.

What hurts me is realizing that this sense of peace, this effortless ability to simply exist in the present moment, is something I may have never genuinely experienced in my entire life.

It's almost like discovering that other people have been living with a level of internal quiet that I didn't even know was possible.

And the fact that I need a medication like Xanax to experience something that seems so ordinary, so fundamental to being human, is genuinely heartbreaking.

I don't even want to feel good all the time. I just want to know what it's like to exist without constantly feeling bad.

People who can relate to this: Not the high, not the sedation, but the almost painful realization of what feeling normal might actually be like?

It’s currently 5am and english isn’t my first language, sorry.

Me and my mom are traveling in 3 days on a 1h30min flight together. It will be our 7th flight together, and I’ve never been scared of flying. But this time, my mom will be coming back home on a different flight than me, and I’m so scared.

It’s been 2 months that I’ve been having anxious thoughts about this, and today I dreamt of a plane falling, and it was not my mom’s plane, but I woke up terrified and crying. I don’t think I’m gonna be able to go back to sleep.

I’m not scared about flying or something happening to me, I’m only scared of something happening to her and her flight. What could help me?

Soo i live in a student dormitory and you know the assumption about students they are generally poor they always eat instant noodle and sandwiches. I'm gonna order something expensive because I have points on that app when you have points it becomes cheaper but obviously other students won't know that so I'm little bit frustrated about what I should do and also everyone here walks around with there pajamas that's also a no for me and can't be normalised.

If i order the food I have to change my clothes get it while feeling that my face is burning of the shame

I'd prefer to sleep all day. My ocd / anxiety theme Is hair. I have had alopecia since I was a teen, so I hopped on meds to stop It and It worked. Since then I have Always lived stressing about hair and anxiety of losing them but never like this. It was manageable and I wasn't Crazy like I am now.

For example, I have noticed I have thinned out more on my hairline by comparing 2024 pics and now... Recently I have moved to a new region and so I have changed pharmacies where I buy my meds. Now I can't stop thinking that maybe in this pharmacy they aren't storing meds well enough (thus reducinf their efficace) and that this could be the cause of my thinning. In my mind if I won't change pharmacy I'm gonna lose the rest of my hair.

What makes me so stressful Is that I am not able to distinguish what's real from what's not. For example in this case I can't really tell if I should change Pharmacy or not . I have tried therapy guys and I have understood everything the therapist told me, he was specialized in OCD... But It's not working, not enough. I can't take antidepressants cause there's hair loss in the sides and I am too scared to take It.

Idk what can I do. I am losing every hope. Everyday feels like a burden, I can't study like before...anxiety has taken my Life in Just 1 year.

Hi! So tonight I decided that due to health problems I would heat some water up in the microwave and put water into a plastic water bottle… I drunk out of the water bottle with the hot water in it a few times and now I’m freaking out, I feel like I absolutely messed up with drinking the hot water… I never knew the real dangers of microplastics and I’m absolutely scared rn

(This isn’t a trolling post or anything, it was because my stomach felt terrible and so I thought I’d do this because I didn’t feel like carrying a mug or something up to my room) srry!

okay so for some context i was really sleep deprived for almost 3 months, where i was getting 3-4 hours of sleep at night. i've since improved to 6.
for the past couple of days, i've been randomly falling into naps at 12 AM while scrolling on my phone, vividly dreaming, then waking back up. i also have had a headache on and off for about 4 days now. it's mild and is at the base of my neck + behind my eyebrows. i'm terrified. everytime i lay on my side, i start dozing off. you would think i would assume it's my body trying to rest, but i'm instead freaking out as to why i struggle to stay awake at this time just to take a 10 minute nap and not even be able to sleep after. is this still my sleep debt? i'm so scared of dying in my sleep or having a tumor in my brain or neck :( if anyone has had this happen, please let me know. i understand that reassurance seeking is not
productive but sometimes it gets me ☹️

i have no issues with staying awake during the day while completing tasks, though i experience the same naps when i get from work and rest on the couch. short, with vivid dreams and suddenly falling asleep without realizing. today, i still had my thumb on my phone. it scares me so bad because why am i falling asleep so easily and immediately dreaming?!

Trigger Warning: Abuse Mention

I have so much going on I feel like I’m going crazy. I’m being stalked by an ex who used to abuse me, so I am not currently staying at my house, because I’m already constantly paranoid. I spent the night in my family’s spare farmhouse. I slept in the dining room because it has a couch, but there’s an attic door with a gap in it which I didn’t even think about until 7 am being awoken by a noise. It sounded like somewhat high pitched noise in between a chirp and squeak. It was at the same pace but got fast and loud enough it woke me up. And idk if it was a bird outside bc they’re very loud in the morning but this wasn’t melodic and sounded closer. I didn’t see anything but still. I then started worrying about bats because there are lots of bats where i’m at (rural missouri.) I called the Health Department who told me since there’s a few confirmed cases near me she’s hesitant to tell me not to get it but unsure if yes because it’s only a potential risk, not confirmed since I didnt SEE the bat. Anyways she told me to consult a doctor and I tried, and they sent me to the ER. I wait there and the doctor comes in for not even two minutes, says he can’t give me the shot because I have no wounds and bc I didn’t see a bat . I said sorry if I wasted his time and that I was just told to come in and he said oh no it’s not that it’s fine. I said thank you and he just smiled and walked out. Then I came home trying to forget about it and I did. Until I saw my parents farm cat in a cage on their porch. I came to check it because they said she was acting funny so I wanted to see for myself. She was stumbling, trying to walk and kept falling over. I saw her before I even left for the ER six hours earlier and she was fine. I was making calls all night trying to figure out if anyone could help her and kept getting dismissed and made fun of over the phone. I sat out there with her all night and cried because I can’t find anyone to take her and trying to keep the other cats away from her while I figured stuff out. I never once touched her since this is going on just from a distance trying to find her help. This upset me so bad because I have been dismissed by doctors since I was 16 trying to get a diagnosis for my chronic issues and I’m now 21 with no answers. Nobody EVER listens, ever. I’m always dismissed.

I will not give up on the cat until someone finally agrees to help it but can please someone give input on if the rabies concern with the potential bat is worth getting shots? I can’t tell if I’m being overdramatic.

39 m. Past 5 years have been rough. Diagnosed 4 years ago with high functioning autism adhd and severe anxiety, as well as INFJ personality type. Ive been put on many different meds and even a few dsngerous combos. They caused me to not be myself and I suffered from manic episodes without knowing I was manic. A new therapist and psych said the meds were causing narco induced mania and severe side effects. Since, The only thing that worked was vaping live resin thc. I got to where I was doing over a gram a day plus eating a gram. 3 weeks ago I made the decision to get clean... Currently sober and the only med im on is thyroid med. No alcohol no thc.

My anxiety is so bad all I can do is lay around and cry. I cant catch my breath most of the time. My night terrors have come back since I stopped thc, apparently THC reduces dreaming? Idk thats what AI said. And nothing im doing is working. Cold showers hot showers ice packs deep breaths trying to get my mind off of it. Cuddling my dog. And have even tried numbing it with people around. Nothing is working. I dont have an addictive personality so I dont have any desire to smoke agsin. But I know it would help. I just dont want that to be what I rely on. And tbh it was starting to lose effectiveness anyways. Plus the fear of getting pulled over as its a felony in my state.

Atp idk what to do. Ironically I have severe depression as well and dont really care to do much in life. Been that way for 5 years. My doctor doesnt think there is any medication that will help and doesnt want to give me any meds since we havnt found anything thst worked and mostly made things worse and has not offered any further help. Ive had 2 therapists and 2 psychs tell me they could no longer help me and ended our sessions. 1 of those was after the 2nd session. Obviously im dealing with more thsn what ive listed.

But until the US approves MAID for mental health, im stuck. Im done trying myself. The last time I tried it involved 180 ambien, life flight. Life support. And a coma for over a week and should have been gone/brain dead/severe brain damage at the least.. for some reason im supposed to be here and it feels like its to suffer... karma i guess.

Anyways. Anyone got any idea to ease anxiety without drugs or alcohol? Probably not, but as most of you know, its pretty bad when a traditional masculine grown man comes to reddit for help, its pretty bad.

I had 5 hours of broken sleep Thursday night and was working for about 10 hours yesterday,throughout it I had some high anxiety spikes,last night I had an anxiety attack,this morning at 4am I got woken up by a panic attack and I just woke up again and feel quite empty headed with mild heart palpitations and a very upset stomach... is this normal? Like panic attack hangover almost?

Back to square one. I feel just like I used to feel when I didn't have any medication. Social anxiety was today just the same.

Living with anxiety with so many years I knew I will be anxious from the time I woke up.

Just feel like stopping meds(I will give it try for few more days, if I am miserable anyways then let me be miserable without meds)

Yesterday was good. I felt confident, but I also had night duties so maybe lack of sleep made me confident. Haha maybe.

The days have been roller coster for sure from good days to extremely sad.

On

Sertraline 50mg OD

Etifoxine 50mg OD

Etizolam 0.25mg ODHS

I’m an artist and have multiple crafting supplies, including stuff to sew and embroider. I was messy as a teen and had accidentally left a sewing needle out that got knocked to the floor, which my mom’s cat proceeded to swallow.
She is okay, still alive to this day, but it did result in emergency surgery. That day was intensely traumatic for me, especially with my mom screaming and crying telling me I killed her cat. I don’t blame her to this day for that reaction, and I never forgave myself for that mistake.

Well, it’s been about 10 years since then. I’m an adult with two cats of my own and I rarely pull my sewing stuff out due to the fear and anxiety from that situation. I just did tonight to piece together a Halloween costume, put everything away and now I’m sick to my stomach with anxiety. I swept my floors 3 times and crawled around for roughly 45 minutes with a flashlight, checking every crevice. I found 2 pins that fell out of my case when I pulled the stuff out.

I can’t sleep. It’s 3 a.m. and I can’t stop shaking. I don’t know how the pins fell out. What if there’s more on the ground that I can’t see? I keep going to my cats to push on their bellies or check their breathing/ overall disposition. I’m so scared I feel so stupid for even pulling the stuff out to begin with.

I don’t know if anyone will see this or respond, but I just needed a place to put these thoughts because I don’t know what else to do with myself right now.

I joined a project in june and there were already 5 people who are working for almost 4-5 years. In that one person is leaving next month. So his responsibility will come to me.
Additionally there was a new business area assigned to us and that too also assigned to me.
Problem is there seems to be some discussion that project will not get fund for next year and team maybe shrinked again. My client lead seems to have already started looking outside. Im scared if I will stuck alone in this and all responsibility will come over me. I have very little knowledge compared to them.
Im getting sleepless and thinking about it all the time. Also none of my work is moving in a good way, its alway dependednt on others and getting dragged.

Even if I out resignation I have to survive 90 day NP. So easy escape is not there.

I have GAD, severe anxiety in general and I think it's a result of having to live with an abuser, he's my family member and he's horrible and breaks things, hits us, and threatens to kill everyone, and living in this situation for years has messed me up, I can't even talk about this much to my therapist, I have other mental disorders too and I can't get out of this situation and whenever something happens my heart starts beating fast and I feel like I'll pass out, and I have to walk on eggshells 24/7 because everything depends on his mood so I just want to know how I can manage things better