If anxiety strikes, I can now fight back.
As a person with generalized anxiety disorder, I am realizing that I will never be completely immune to overreacting to situations by becoming unbearably anxious. Scary as that is, I am also becoming aware of the fact the anxiety, when it strikes, will be more controllable.
With the help of my anti-anxiety/anti-depressant medications (Paxil and Neurontin), when, and if, I slip and find myself flipping out, I manage to grab hold before it pushes me over the edge.
Everything must be looked at in terms of degree. There is never going to be a CURE for generalized anxiety disorder. But the fact that there …
My Daughter Got Help for her Anxiety.
Once Beth was willing to admit that her anxiety was interfering with her life in a major way, she visited a psychiatrist who prescribed Prozac. Beth used Prozac for about 5 years and it raised her into a new reality. She became productive in her work (home computer business) and her social life improved. She was not so needy and did not obsess about every little thing that went wrong in her daily life. For the first time in her life, Beth was finally able to achieve a level of calm and contentedness that she never knew before.
However, as the …
Social Anxiety was a huge part of my condition.
I didn’t know it had a name, but I knew that I was unable to socialize without suffering from extreme anxiety. I developed somatic symptoms of diarrhea, stomach cramps and nausea. I would get nervous during the most mundane activity like going to the supermarket. As soon as I would start shopping, I had to go to the bathroom. My nervous stomach would act up at the most inconvenient times. Thus began the cycle of worrying that I would have to go to the bathroom in the supermarket, on the bus, subway, etc. My anticipatory anxiety tortured me.
The anticipatory social anxiety …
When a relative or friend exhibits anxiety disorder symptoms.
How can I get my cousin to realize that she would have a new life if she were able to control her anxiety with anti-anxiety medication? She knows she suffers. But when I tell her what I think based upon my own anxiety experiences, she waves me off saying “Never mind. I just need a new brain,” or something like that.
This weekend I visited my cousin in Florida who is in her late 60’s. We used to be very close, but since she retired to Florida we have not spent much time together. I always knew that Susan was a fellow worrier and …
My daughter needed help for her anxiety disorder. Worry controlled her life.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Sadly, anxiety and depression, if caused by a chemical imbalance, can be inherited. My daughter, who is now 34 years old, is a prime example. However, when she was growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, I was not yet enlightened about my own anxiety disorder, so I did not pick up on the fact that Beth needed professional help. The new anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications were not yet available. Therefore, she did not get the help she needed until adulthood.
Beth, had a very difficult childhood because of anxiety disorder. She was controlled …
These are the anti-anxiety/depression medications that I take.
With all the blogging, I did not take the time to mention what my anti-anxiety “cocktail” currently is. The first anti-depressant that I tried was Prozac, That did not agree with me. Instead of helping my anxiety and depression, it wound me up and I was jumping out of my skin. There is no denying that finding the right medication for your anxiety and depression might be difficult. Some people find the right medication on the first try. But that is unusual.
I am taking Paxil CR with Neurontin. I take 37.5 mg of Paxil CR in the morning and midday, …
Anxiety is not predictable for someone with generalized anxiety disorder.
Now that I am taking effective anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medication, I actually have many many calm, pleasant days where I feel in control, productive and happy. Before, I had nothing to compare my anxiety-filled days to. For me, that was all there was. And now that my anxiety is under control most of the time, I have good days and bad days. Before it was bad days and not-so-bad days. The sad thing is that now, when I wake up feeling anxious, it is like an old crappy shoe that still fits.
It is so easy to be sucked up by that tornado-ish …
Your anxiety might be caused by a chemical imbalance in your brain.
This is the big issue. There is so much criticism out there about anti-anxiety medications and anti-depressants. People like Tom Cruise get on their pedestal and preach about how bad these medicines are. But they don’t know what it feels like to be controlled by anxiety and how immobilizing the resulting depression can be. I know. Do you?
Don’t listen to the negative hype out there. If you have suffered with excessive worry for more than a few weeks or months, and you are feeling paralyzed by it, you need help. I agree that the first course of action should not be medication. Therapy …
Psychotherapy was my first attempt to free myself from anxiety and depression.
So once my second child Evan was in the picture, I think I really operated on pure adrenalin in a robotic manner. I would never let anything happen to my babies. They now became the reason for waking up each day. I focussed on them completely. If I had any other life before, it no longer existed. I felt like a juggler. I can’t imagine how mothers of twins manage. After all, my kids were 3 1/2 years apart. That should not have been so difficult. But it was. I was not able to cope like a normal mother. I …
Becoming a mother made my anxiety worse. Or was it vice versa?
Why is there no real preparation for motherhood? No one can ever tell you how it feels to have your own child. Mothers, you know what I am talking about. Fathers, some of you know what I mean, too.
Now for the relatively normal woman, being a mother is indeed a challenge. It changes your life. You no longer come first. You suddenly (even though you had 9 months to think about it) find yourself responsible for keeping a tiny, helpless baby alive and well. On the other hand, for an anxiety driven woman like me, becoming a mother is a …
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