Need help believing

[mizzy83]

Hi all,

I thought I was getting on top of this whole anxiety thing I've had for the past 4 months. I'd been in therapy, I was sleeping well again, but was still feeling some anxiety symptoms and some lingering worry about a health issue. But was generally feeling like I was very close to feeling normal again. I kept trying to tell myself the symptoms are just anxiety, not a heart problem. But now that seems to have caused me to accept that, but to then go into overdrive thinking and obsessing about the anxiety and that I have it and need to get rid of it. It's caused me a reasonable setback, and I'm quite dejected about that fact.

I've come back to this site and the internet in general looking to read accounts of people who have recovered from anxiety, but all I seem to find is more people like me crying out for help.

 I don't know anyone who has anxiety so I feel very alone. I want to know that there are many people out there who have recovered from anxiety, and many people out there for whom medication worked. I need to hear from these people and believe that I can become one too. I need to believe that one day I can not have this chest pain and breath shortness.

 I have been reluctant to try medication but now I think I will need to try it, but I am scared of the idea of it, and that I might need to try every med on the planet to find one that worked.  How long will that take?

Can anyone here who knows more people than me or had some personal experience provide me some reassurance? I'll be forever grateful.

Thanks.

[Jacko777]

Hi mizzy83,

Good on you for posting, you are certainly not alone anymore, you have come to the right place! Many of us have experienced what you are going through.

You still are getting on top of this. As you know mental health recovery is often 3 steps forwards and 2 steps back, that's still 1 step forward and we try and find some satisfaction from that in the low times. More than ever, keep doing the things that have worked for you in the past, daily activities that focus your mind on the positive.

Have you a diagnosis about your heart issue? It is important for you to know exactly what is going on so that you can treat your body as required, the earlier you can nip this in the bud the better it will be for you mind and body. Love to you.

Jacko

[Neil_1]

Hi there Mizzy

Welcome to Beyond Blue and thank you for providing your post.

Now, I’m not overly sure if what I’m going to write is kind of what you were asking from potential respondees – but I’m still more than happy to write and chat to you and give you some of my thoughts (and perhaps experience).

I suffer from major depression, anxiety and ptsd.

But just dealing on the anxiety side of things, because after all, that’s what this whole site in Beyond Blue is aimed towards, I can let you know that I’m on 3 different meds, as prescribed by my psychiatrist.   It took me a fair number of years to get to this – the old, trial and error method I’m afraid, but really there’s no other way of finding out.  We are all different and the meds are all slightly different and as such, they will have different effects in perhaps slight ways for each of us.

My anxiety comes in different shapes – being nervous and also pretty jumpy as well and where it generates from, I have no idea and I so wish that I didn’t have it, but for me, it’s a matter that, yes I’m taking my meds, yes I’m receiving counselling, yes I’ve got a job and so that sometimes helps but sometimes not, depending on the workload and potential deadline stress, yes I exercise and I could go on, but I’ve still got it.  It seems like it’s with me, which I know is NOT what you wanted to hear.

Please don’t be feeling alone about this, because there are so many of us out there who suffer from this – the big positive is that you’re now wishing to get on the front foot and do something about it.  And as I said above, we are all different, so who’s to say, that once you put into place a number of different measures, this COULD have potential to go along way to fixing your anxiety or at the very least, to reduce it big time.

Do hope you can post again.

Neil

[Chris_B]

Hi Mizzy, welcome to the forums. A good place to start would be our Staying Well forum - there are plenty of threads in there from people who have got on top of their anxiety and depression, and are sharing strategies and coping tips for managing it over long periods.