Anxiety issue

[BballJ]

Hi all,

I took abit of convincing myself to join the forums and write in here but just wanted some advice.

in the past two weeks, I have had anxiety spiralling out of control, I am unable to concentrate at work or at home, I continually think of the worst case scenario in anything, I wake up in the middle of the night having panic attacks (heart racing, in shaking, heavy breathing) I haven't slept more than 4 hours each night and during the day I am in a constant stressed state that by 2 pm I am tired as can be, I hate being alone, if I'm driving I feel the need to call someone just so I can get my mind off my anxiety and contanst worry feelings. I have lost my appetite, eating maybe one meal a day simply because I cannot eat. I have tried natural over the counter medicine to try and alleviate the anxiety and calm me down but they don't work.... Does this sound like GAD and should I see a doctor about medication?

thank you in advance for your replies.

Jay

[BballJ]

Hi again Ava 🙂

Thank you for finding my thread, i really do appreciate it.

The meds i am on are anti-depressants designed to help with GAD but yeah i have backed off them and it has been ok so far... GAD is an interesting thing to have.. some days are great, some are fine as you would know with your husband.

I am working through a lot of old stuff with my counsellor, stuff that goes back over 10 years with family issues that i never dealt with on an emotional level which is where my anxiety started.... Tough sessions to be honest as my counsellor challenges me but she is helping a lot.

Thanks again for seeking out my thread, means alot.

My best as always.

Jay

[Wednesday]

Hi Jay,

Don't you just hate it, you think your all grown up and whammy you get it in the face with something akin to a wet fish that makes you stumble.

Just thinking... you did say that the meds were helping you, is it maybe worth hanging on to them a little longer while you work through your past trauma? They needn't be for life. Or are you doing the man thing real men don't take meds (grin)?

One way of looking at it is... if you fell over and badly sprained or even broke your ankle you would see a GP, you would probably see a physio for therapy and you may take pain killers and anti-inflammatory meds for a while and take some time at to rest up. It's just the way you think about it.. advice, therapy and medication. The med's wont necessarily solve your problems but what they will do is soothe your poor frazzle brain and help you think more easily so you can make better use of your psych visits and plan your recovery and life.

You have along life ahead of you, don't let the beasties get you, take it back.

Hugs, DV still!

[BballJ]

Hi again Ava,

I like your analogy of the wet fish.. it is very true.. but no one said being a grown up was easy.

I 100% understand and agree with what you are saying, and i felt they did help but I don't think i am doing the man thing and saying no, i just personally don't want to damage any organs, i haven't got the best liver so i don't like to add medication to it that may make it worse, me just being paranoid i guess. I had a bad bout of anxiety this morning, as usual over nothing, i was at my wife's families house and they had all the relatives over and i got very overwealmed and everyone was asking why am i so quiet.... and the effortless smile came on and oh nothing, just a little tired.... i dealt with it and moved on, i know it's not healthy but its my coping mechanism.

Ah the joys of GAD! but i really appreciate your support more than you know Ava.

My best for you

Jay

[Wednesday]

Hi Jay,

It sounds to me like you did a good job with the relatives, you smiled and coped the best you could and that's okay. What does your therapist want you to do in those situations? Have you discussed it with her? It seems to me to be better than going into a sulk in the corner.

We can all be a bit tough on ourselves. As yet I haven't been able to figure out what normal is, my take is that it is what we are living and if we arn't hurting anyone else and getting something out of life we are probably doing okay.

I guess the best thing would be to try to get your GAD under control, you know I don't say that flippantly, does CBT work for you? Even people with GAD can be introverted so maybe it's not all one thing?

I'm sorry about your liver issues, can I ask was the problem is?

Hugs.

[BballJ]

Hi Ava,

My therapist hasnt touched on how to control certain situations, we have only had 3 sessions and she is trying to work through what seems like endless issues on my end, but she says she can see lots of triggers for anxiety so hopefully soon she will start helping me how to control it.

I want nothing more which i'm sure you want for your husband to have GAD under control, i havent tried CBT, ive heard of it, but not too familiar with it, have you known anyone with success from it?

Ahh just not looking after myself when i was younger, eating the wrong food, just another thing to add to the list to fix up hehe i say everyday... its just a work in progress.

All my best.

Jay

[Wednesday]

My understanding is that CBT is one of the GAD standard treatments and effective though you have to learn how to use the tool. P says it helps when he uses it.

On the home page have a look under The facts, Anxiety, Treatment for anxiety, Psychological treatment for anxiety, Cognitive behaviour therapy.

Just about out of battery, but also look for the anxiety booklet that talks about all the different kinds of therapies and there effectiveness.

You can do this, baby steps will get you there. Check out the message about apologising from my thread too - oh I am getting bossy...

Hugs

[Cornstarch]

Hi guys - to everyone on this thread, you can definitely improve your anxiety.

Certainly there are no quick fixes, and it must be tailored to each individual.

We are all so unique and unfortunately it takes time 😞

BballJ you are doing great. My sleep is just shocking at the moment, but from memory I chatted to you on another thread, and told you how I discovered that some of my anxiety was linked to something that would be viewed as very "odd". My life experiences have mean that I become extremely anxious if I don't express gratitude and tell people how grateful I am for everything that they do, and that they are amazing. It took me 15 years to figure that out - but it won't take you that long, I had a lot on my plate.

Good luck.

[BballJ]

Hi Ava,

Definitely not getting bossy, i appreciate it all your input and advice you give me 🙂 I will do more research into CBT, Especially if your husband has found it to be beneficial. and also look into other info you have given me 🙂

Hi Cornstarch,

Thank you for your feedback, as always it is much appreciated. I guess we all have our things to tackle especially when going to sleep, my psychologist has given me some tools to start helping promote natural sleep but I cannot say it is working yet. Will keep on trying. Your anxiety is regarding the expressing gratitude is an interesting one, i can't recall you telling me that before, apologies if you have however it is one anxiety symptom i have not come across but the anxiety clouds has more symptoms than anything i have seen before so anything is possible, I am glad you finally figured it out however. Guess everyone is different regarding anxiety and how they deal/cope with it.

Thank you for taking the time to respond

My best for both of you always.

Jay

[Wednesday]

Hi Jay,

Just dropping by to see how you went with your psych visit. Did you find it useful?

Hugs, x

[BballJ]

Hi Ava,

The visit was good, i didn't actually realise we were doing CBT, i asked her about it and she goes its what we are doing, which made sense after she said that, I guess i wasn't as switched on as i thought.... to be honest I have been struggling for the last day or two... feel like i am falling into a deep depression. I am unsure why but my mind has been all over the place and i'm just trying to distract myself at the moment by keeping busy.

I hope P is doing well on his holiday and that you are recovering still.

My best, Jay