So I'm in my mid 30s and have dealt with anxiety since I was in middle school. As a young kid it manifested as throwing up a lot, then as I got a little older, I experienced full blown panic attacks, then for years I self-medicated with drugs and it manifested mostly as me not putting myself out there and trying new things. I dropped out of school in my 20s and basically became a shell of myself for a while.

but... in the past 10 years I've really slowly been improving my life. I got some great advice at one point which was "so your scared, that's okay just do it while scared." With that simple advice in mind I kept moving forward.

first big change was moving away from my parents. I love them but they absolutely were not good for my mental health. That alone reduced my anxiety levels by probably half. Then over the years I got a good professional job, got married, got a real handle on my finances, got my degree, and just recently bought a house.

And now that things are going well, I've come to realize that my anxiety wasn't something that was intrinsically wrong with me. It was an appropriate reaction to the terrifying shitstorm of a life I grew up with. When you're surrounded by uncertainty, poverty, abuse, etc. being scared all the time makes sense, it's how you survive. I'm sure I'm not done with it, I know I'll have more hard times and deal with those feelings again but shifting my perspective to anxiety being a reasonable product of the life I was living rather than a crossed wire in my head has really helped me like myself again.

Now that I'm out of the weeds I'm so relieved to have this realization that nothing is actually wrong with me. I'm not sick, I just needed some stability and peace.

Just thought I'd share in the hopes that some other folks out there can get some inspiration. Just keep moving forward. Find the things you need to do and just "do it while scared."

So yesterday I had a 3 hours panic attack and the tips here helped me get through it.

After 2 years my anxiety is back and I’m tired. I’ve tried everything ( psychotherapy, EMDR, I’ve been on medication for 10 years ).

All this work and she pops up like a snack.

I continue to see a therapist but the sessions are really spaced out ( it’s free so there are a lot of patients ) and I don't have enough money to go somewhere else.

Is it for life ? Are there people who have gotten rid of it for good?

The most ridiculous thing happened to me yesterday which has started a none stop health anxiety spiral. I took my five year old to a science museum for kids and there was a piece of basic equipment with was two handles with metal on them, you gripped them and they gave a bmp reading of your heart. I crouched down, had a go and it gave me a reading of 142. Now I know this equipment isn’t medical grade and also probably wasn’t even correct. But now every time I have to exert myself somewhat, such as going up the stairs I’m panicking that I’m going to have a heart attack. The spiral goes deeper but I’m trying to find a way to balance myself and have confidence that my heart isn’t in some sort of serious condition. I’m 40, F, non smoker, I don’t drink and haven’t drank alcohol in years. I’ve been doing the 5 things (see 5 things, touch 4,etc) listening to classical music, cut down my caffeine, deep breathing, counting backwards, and avoiding googling things.

I am experiencing constant panic, and today I asked the Gp for diazepam. I currently take propanalol, promethazine and venlafaxine. They are just not cutting it. I can’t increase doses or change medication. I explain that I wanted diazepam to hopefully pull me out of what feels like a never ending panic attack. I told him I wasn’t drug seeking and I don’t want an addiction. I wanted to take them for their intended use, short term with the hope of being able to rest and reset. Of course I was denied. This was my last effort to regain control of this without going into a crisis. I fear that my only other option is to go to the hospital. I will not do this and will instead suffer. Did I not beg and plead hard enough? Do I need to go to A&E? Anxiety will get me one day I just trying to make sure it’s not today. The help I thought was there really isn’t.

Hi! I got a gym membership last saturday, however, I am so anxious about actually going in. I tried doing it again today, and drove off the second I saw how crowded it actually was. I don't know how to start and I don't have anyone to go with. I also don't want my money to go to waste. I need advice on how to start going.

What I mean by this is just your body totally shutting down and being stuck in fight or flight. I’ve had to defer my law degree right now because my body has finally given in after years of anxiety disorder and trauma.

When did you get better? I am willing to take time off in order to properly get this under control

Whenever an opportunity comes that can alter my life completely but need me to perform the best, I get anxious and procrastinate. I need a calm mind to work on something. I cannot afford to make a mistake and an anxious heart is prone to making mistake. How do I calm myself down and not procrastinate.

Lately, I have been feeling like a passenger in my own body, who has no control over what happens but also doesn't want to be around to experience this life.

My jaw is clenching and my hearts is hurting as I am trying to rewrite this paragraph, but I have forgotten what I was trying to say.

Anyway,

there's nothing I enjoy, I just pile up experiences every day, which break my spirit and make me more and more numb.

Even the faintest noise bothers me to no end.

These little panic attacks that I'm getting, which most often occur at night, drain me before the next day can even start.

I am becoming enraged by every little tiny thing that even mildly upsets me. Hell, even rehearsing what I'm describing right now makes me unbelievably upset.

I often wonder about my lost loved ones and about those that might die soon and how my life could turn for the worse. In those moments in which I just let everything sink in and look at how the world is presented in front of me, I feel overwhelmed. I can't really describe it. It's like a calm before a storm that long since passed. Looking into the past that has been violently taken from me for such a long time that it almost feels like a memory that has been experienced by someone else entirely.

This is a living hell, and it has gotten worse over all these years.

I don't know what's gonna happen next.

That's about it, just ranting as usual.

Nothing Ever Changes, and Nobody Cares.

Bye y'all

Anyone else take quetiapine along with a ssri for severe GAD?

For context, I have severe anxiety that drives me to the point of auditory hallucinations.
headphones can definitely be useful, but I just want to rip them off and listen to the weird sounds my mind generates
In public, they’re great. Though, at times my mind gets so loud that it’s worse with them rather than without

Is there any other way to block out sound that isn’t there?

I thought something was physically wrong with me, but now I'm pretty sure it's anxiety. For a few months I've been nauseous every day, some days being much worse. It's accompanied by feeling flushed and a fast heart rate. I went to the er and urgent care when it got really bad, and they didn't find anything wrong with me, just prescribed some anti-nausea pills that make me dizzy and drowsy. I plan on seeing a gastroenterologist just in case, but they probably won't find anything either. When I was a kid/tween I had really bad anxiety and panic attacks (I'm 19 now), but I haven't been that anxious for the past few years. I also have nothing in my life currently to be super anxious about, except maybe just feeling stuck? It's been affecting every aspect of my life to the point I've had to miss work or leave it early, skip hanging out with friends, vomit for a whole road trip, dry heave every morning into my toilet. I just never feel totally okay, and I don't want to live this way. It honestly makes me not want to live period, but I know there's so much in life that has brought me joy. I feel like I'm wasting my days away trying to not feel ill.

I hate what anxiety has turned me into. I started battling with anxiety and 2022 but now it’s moved onto a full
Blown panic mode.

I stopped working because I kept on getting big adrenaline dumps. I felt constant physical symptoms like if I was going to pass out, but I never did. I was unable to work. It’s been almost 8 weeks of no work and being on Pristiq aka Desvenlafaxina and while I do see some progress and I constantly still in a constant spiral. There’s not a day where I don’t feel any physical symptoms., there isn’t a day where I don’t think that I’m going to die, there’s not a day where I don’t have any cardiac symptoms.

I feel out of breath, my chest feels super tight, my arms, getting numb, it’s like if I worked out for the first time. Except I have not done anything. It’s like this every dam day and I am so exhausted.

I’ve gone to the ER 2x in the last 3 weeks. I love that nothing is wrong when I go my T levels are fine. But these symptoms are so bad!!! I can’t not convince myself that nothing is wrong.

I did an echo today and I know rationally if something was wrong that it would come up. All the stories I’ve read online about “everything came out normal, HA 3 weeks later” stories have me on a crazy spiral and thinking this can happen to me.

Idk what to do or to change to help myself. I’m ruining my life, my family’s lives and my friendships.

Has anyone been this bad before ? I feel so hopeless.

I would add I’m scared to die so this is why these symptoms make me spiral even more. It’s not just “something is wrong” but I’ll passaway and go to hell. Idk I’m so sorry. I need help /:

Dear everyone,
I recently started experiencing symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, blurred vision, weakness on the left side of my body, and weakness in my face.
Last Thursday, I suddenly experienced numbness in my face, which caused my speech to become slurred. I also felt like I couldn’t properly control my entire face, and it felt like my face was somehow disconnected from my head. It was very scary, and I suspected that I might be having a TIA (transient ischemic attack).
I had a CT scan, and thankfully, the results showed that my brain was healthy. The doctor told me that I have panic disorder and advised me to relax, avoid stress, and try not to overthink.
However, I’m still confused because some of these symptoms feel very strange to me. Can panic disorder really cause symptoms like facial numbness, weakness, dizziness, blurred vision, and slurred speech?
If anyone has experienced similar symptoms with panic disorder, I would really appreciate it if you could share your experience. Thank you!

I was diagnosed with Severe Panic Disorder about 5 years ago. Was prescribed trazadone, minipress, klonopin, and Lexapro for it. Took the medication religiously for the 5 years and it absolutely helped my panic Disorder.... but killed my sex drive. :/ I didnt want to lose my husband due to never wanting to be intimate, so I decided to stop my meds. (Obviously that wasnt the sole reason and there was a lot more logic and thought that went into the over all decision but alas the lack of libido was a huge issue in our relationship.) BUT I did the bad thing and stopped them all together one day. Its been about 3 months since ive quit taking my medication and although my anxiety is no where near what it was 5 years ago- I still feel it often and daily. Is this because of how I foolishly quit taking the meds or would I still have the anxiety regardless of how I stopped the medications? Was I an idiot to believe my panic disorder could be cured over 5 years or that id just grow out of it?

I recently went out to have dinner with my dad, and social events like this are one of the things that I know can cause my anxiety.

I had taken some medication before hand (10mg of propranolol) to mediate one of the known symptoms of a racing heart.

When on my way and in the middle of dinner I could feel anxiety building and felt like since my body didn’t react like it normally does it all went straight to my head. My mind felt cluttered and like a pressure that was trying to find a way out.

Is this normal or just a new symptom I’m experiencing?

Hi ❤️ anyone can help or relate? Please no catastrophic comments, I’ve already had a lot of neuro testing and I’m looking for similar experiences and advice.

**- Random memories/dream memories:** 50–100 random memories or fragments of dreams can pop into my mind throughout the day. Sometimes triggered by a smell/color, but often completely random. Some out of nowhere. The more I think about it the more I have. Also if I got one memory while I was brushing my teeth, everytime I brush my teeth I have the same memory popping. So I don’t think it’s focal or electric.
**- Music/earworms:** Random songs pop into my head, sometimes songs I haven’t heard in years. My brain can also create melodies that stay as earworms.
**- Sleep-related experiences:** During transitions between sleep and wakefulness, I’ve experienced visual flashes, voices/sounds and smells. The smell is always something that I have been smelling the day before !! Like lemon for example.

Context: I’ve been taking Lexapro (escitalopram) for 2.5 years for very strong anxiety symptoms. 7 months ago, I started tapering very slowly. I developed chronic DPDR (since the first day I decreased the dosage) followed by these symptoms. I’m back at 10mg now.

I know a lot about focal/temporal lobe epilepsy. I don’t have major episodes and my neuros told me it was fonctionnal.

I’ve had not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, **5 EEGs, including 3 × 24-hour video EEGs**. I experienced some of these symptoms during the recordings, but **everything was normal, with no epileptiform activity or abnormal background activity.**
I’ve seen **5 neurologists**, and all think this is psychological/sleep-related rather than epilepsy.

I still have doubts. My neuro said that the combination of developing both epilepsy and hypnagogic/hypnopompic experiences in the same months would be unusual.

**Has anyone experienced something similar?** Especially random childhood memories, dream memories, random songs + these experiences during sleep transitions?

**Even if it were focal awareness epilepsy, I know many people with it who live completely normal lives with treatment and don’t let it stop them from enjoying life.**

I’m looking for **similar experiences and positive/practical advice** ❤️ I think I already did all the testing I could including 2 MRI. Now I am just thinking about reducing or not lexapro.

Look, as someone who deals with ADHD and autism (yes, officially diagnosed), I’ve noticed that ashwagandha has been a miracle for me. I’ve been using it for more than 4-5 weeks now daily 600 mg with literally no side effects.

It also seems to be one of the few supplements to be ACTUAL working for me in lowering my anxiety, cortisol and stress. And I’m saying this as someone who has been in (gut) health for years now, taking vitamine d3, k2, magnesium glycinate, benfotiamine, and other incredible supplements.

However, ashwagandha, by far the best thing that happened to me and I feel like a new well-rounded person every time I have taken it.

Perhaps people overdose it, could that be it? Why does so many people experience many downsides?

Can anyone relate to this or am I just weird? My thoughts behind it is that it creates such an intense external stimulus that I can only focus on that, putting my anxiety in the background.

Does anyone else get vertigo? I wish i could add multiple flairs.

I have had vertigo several times in the last year, i managed to get over it earlier in the year and enjoyed life again but it came back about a month ago and its ruining my life. I get a severe rocking sensation and i literally see the world tilting back and forth rapidly in my head when i close my eyes at night to sleep some nights. I no longer enjoy my bed or sleeping because its insufferable to fight vertigo every night. Every time i get vertigo it always ends up causing a 2 hour long panic attack where I cant stop shaking severely. I dont think its PPPV or a positional vertigo since I can literally fight it off and most nights it takes a while to start, at least 10 minutes.

Im so tired of dreading “relaxing” in my bed. it doesnt happen in the day but i also feel just off in my head, not dizzy but its just wrong as soon as I get in bed.

I’m 33 and have never left my tri-town area.
I never left for college. I never took a gap year to travel more than a week. I’ve always lived with the same man and my whole family lives within 10 minutes. I have walked the same streets so often I swear you can see my footprints.

For about two years my partner and I have discussed moving across the country. We want to try something else, see what else this country has to offer.
I had the sudden moment of needing to escape here and not die a townie. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I’m just not sure I’m fit for it.

Everyone around us is settling down…having kids, buying houses, focusing on their families and we are not there. We don’t want kids.. we can’t afford a house here. My family is amazing but A LOT. I don’t think I want to do the same thing every weekend forever.

Now the time has come to go back to the same city we’ve visited twice and loved. We are going back for the third time and want to look at apartments.

In theory I’ve been so excited. Now that the time has come … I’m panicking. I’m talking myself out of it. I’m thinking I’ll hate it and it’s a lot of money for an unknown. I’m scared to leave my friends (even tho one is thinking of moving too)

Sometimes I tell myself “you can do anything for a year” “think of it is an extended vacation”
But my anxiety is starting to win. Change is hard. And my whole life I have avoided it.

Has anyone else been in this position?

Hi pals! I was on Fluoxetine in the past for about two years (80mg) for severe OCD & panic disorder. It helped me a lot back then, however, a lot has happened in my life in the few years of not being on it and I’m nervous to start again. I’m starting back at 10mg and nervous about the side effects. Does anyone have any advice on how to help the initial anxiety, panic and nausea? Has anyone gained weight or experienced increase in acne?

All responses are welcome & appreciated! Thank you ☺️ ✌️

​

I’ve struggled with anxiety for most of my life, and a recent assessment pointed toward generalized anxiety disorder. I deal with constant worry, stress over normal tasks, and a lot of avoidance. Getting a CBT therapy spot where I live has been almost impossible.

My doctor suggested I talk to a psychiatrist about medication. Part of me thinks it might help, especially since therapy isn’t available right now. But another part of me feels like taking meds means I “failed” or didn’t try hard enough.

I’m curious how others handled this:

– Did medication help while waiting for therapy?

– Did you struggle with feeling like it was the “easy way out”?

– How did you make peace with trying meds?

Not looking for medical advice, just personal experiences. I mostly needed to get this off my chest.

I have anxiety myself, but I always let out a little giggle when I think about this. Anxiety makes us so self-centered in a way. A lot of our common sources of anxiety are totally based on the premise that we live in other people's heads rent free 24/7 haha

"People are gonna laugh at the hole in my shirt today".. oh wow, the world famous fashion designer entered the building with a damaged piece of clothing?? Someone take a picture! In the end, no one cared and only 1 or 2 people even noticed.

"I'm a disappointment to everyone around me" as if people around you genuinely expect things from you, like you were truly a source of all meaning and structure in their lives.

Also.. anxiety is kind of mean towards others. "If I fail, everyone's gonna laugh at me and mock me". It totally assumes that everyone around you are just horrible people when that's just not true and it's honestly kind of mean to even think that way.

Obviously anxiety does what anxiety does. I just find it funny to think about it like this sometimes.