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Anxiety disorder, tried EVERYTHING, nothing works


Findingnemo94

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Hi

 

I have had an anxiety disorder since about the age of 19-20. I am 23 now. It has slowly gotten worse over the years to the point I physically throw up sometimes. I am an educated individual I have a masters degree in psychology and I understand the process of how anxiety works and develops. However, I have tried EVERYTHING. I have tried clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, medication, talking about my problems, writing down positive things, eye movement desensitisation with numerous therapists, coming off the contraceptive pill....but NOTHING works. Yes they give me temporary relief and the medication seemed to relieve my symptoms short term but I feel like I have given up on everything and I don't know whether to just accept that this is my life now.

 

if im not worrying about my relationship im worrying about something else. It's constant worry and panic. I really don't know what to do anymore my parents and friends are sick of it and I feel like eventually it is going to get to the point where I can't function anymore. Someone .. anyone ... have they been through this before and found a cure or anything that helps :(

 

I am also very successful at sport and compete internationally and locally. I am very active and I am always socialising with friends.

 

Thanks xxxx

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I have an anxiety disorder and for the most part I have it under control. I am on no medication and have had years off and on of therapy in the past.

 

It's a make of physiological, genetics, environment and upbringing. So if you look at this way and if you are anything like me, you are pretty much hard wired this way.

 

It was said to me once that I needed to accept that this would be the `monkey on my back' to one degree or another.

I wasn't happy to hear that, but ultimately there is something to be said about not fighting and embracing it.

 

It's much like fighting quick sand. The more you fight it the more you just sink deeper. Accepting it helps it loosen it grip. Not to mention the toll it takes when you get incredibly discouraged that you can't make it go away and be different. Accepting made the difference for me.

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Well, a couple of years ago, I suffered from nervous exhaustion and my blood pressure went sky high. I couldn't control it and I wound up in a hospital. So I was put on high blood pressure medicine that slowed my heartbeat and mellowed me out. In researching its effects I found out that some blood pressure medications have an off-label use for treating anxiety, helping with such things as a rapidly beating heart, palpitations and so on. So instead of being given SRIs that are trying to make your brain feel better, I would recommend trying various high blood pressure medications like labetalol, lisinopril, and nifedipine to see if you can calm your body (and then your mind will follow). Also do the standard stuff such as trying to get out in the sun, being with friends and family, and doing things that make you feel good such as movies, concerts, going to the beach, and so on. But I would suggest trying high blood pressure medications if nothing else worked.

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Well, some of the beta-blockers are very short-acting. I take 300mg of labetalol four times a day. It has a half life of 6-8 hours so it dissipates quickly. I was also taking 30mg of nifedipine once a day along with it, and the two combined eliminated my anxiety and nervousness, but I've just eliminated it because it was making me too mellow. The atenolol also has a short half life of 6-7 hours, so it may have seemed like a lot of pills (you were probably taking 4 50mg pills a day), but your body was quickly burning though them.

 

In any event, I'm sorry you're going through this. You probably need to lie on a beach for a year to calm yourself down. I know that may not be possible for you, but you should try to get away from things for a while and just breathe!

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Every night I feel like crying myself to sleep because my head is constantly overthinking every single minor detail of every event that has happened in the past week or so. And the potential catastrophes that could happen. I just have no idea what to do anymore other than accept this is my life now. Im on an intense university course so cannot take a year off or go on holiday and I have no money from the course fees either. Oh well. Thank you for your advice. :)

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Every night I feel like crying myself to sleep because my head is constantly overthinking every single minor detail of every event that has happened in the past week or so. And the potential catastrophes that could happen. I just have no idea what to do anymore other than accept this is my life now. Im on an intense university course so cannot take a year off or go on holiday and I have no money from the course fees either. Oh well. Thank you for your advice. :)

 

Perhaps you're just overly stressed and when you give yourself a break from your course, the sports, and everything else you're involved in, you'll start to feel better??

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It's constant worry and panic. I really don't know what to do anymore my parents and friends are sick of it and I feel like eventually it is going to get to the point where I can't function anymore.

 

I am also very successful at sport and compete internationally and locally. I am very active and I am always socialising with friends.

This really intrigues me. With all the anxiety, panic, physically throwing up and worry etc, how do you manage and cope with competing in sport internationally/locally? I would have thought it would completely freak one out to the point of not being able to compete? I'm also fascinated you are able to socialise with friends, as your anxiety disorder sounds quite extreme.

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Hi

 

I have had an anxiety disorder since about the age of 19-20. I am 23 now. It has slowly gotten worse over the years to the point I physically throw up sometimes. I am an educated individual I have a masters degree in psychology and I understand the process of how anxiety works and develops. However, I have tried EVERYTHING. I have tried clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, medication, talking about my problems, writing down positive things, eye movement desensitisation with numerous therapists, coming off the contraceptive pill....but NOTHING works. Yes they give me temporary relief and the medication seemed to relieve my symptoms short term but I feel like I have given up on everything and I don't know whether to just accept that this is my life now.

 

if im not worrying about my relationship im worrying about something else. It's constant worry and panic. I really don't know what to do anymore my parents and friends are sick of it and I feel like eventually it is going to get to the point where I can't function anymore. Someone .. anyone ... have they been through this before and found a cure or anything that helps :(

 

I am also very successful at sport and compete internationally and locally. I am very active and I am always socialising with friends.

 

Thanks xxxx

I live with GAD that can get pretty bad. I don't have panic attacks, but given a small stressor, I'm typically anxious, not focused, etc. the rest of the day/week. Like I'm constantly at the peak of a panic attack, but it never comes.

 

That said, maybe it is just the way our lives are, and we need to figure out how to cope. There are ways to make it better, though. Write out a list of the underlying reasons that you are anxious. Is someone disrespecting you? Are you nervous about something? Usually, we people with anxiety tend to have heightened responses to stressors, but the stressors are still there causing the anxiety. So try and figure out the stessors upsetting you, and resolve those things one at a time.

 

In terms of controlling the anxiety response, have you ever been prescribed a benzodiazepine like Xanax or a generic? That's the only medication that has helped me. I would be cautious about trying an SSRI medication. Obviously defer to your doctor, but my experience with the SSRI was absolutely horrid and scary, and didn't help with anxiety.

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This may sound overly simplistic but have you tried Yoga?

 

I’ve suffered from debilitating anxiety since grammar school; I used to throw up every morning before our dad drove us to school – I still remember my dad telling my brothers to go wait in the car, your sister needs to throw up! It just sort of became our “norm” every morning.

 

My parents sent me to numerous doctors and all they came up with was “nervous stomach.” Years later, I finally got a diagnosis of GAD (General Anxiety Disorder) combined with Bipolar 2.

 

Placed on meds which actually did help but hated the side effects and feeling like a zombie so went off them.

 

Now I do yoga and Pilates nearly every day and occasionally run (I used to run more often but bad for my knee which I hurt in car accident when I was 19).

 

And I’m doing really well! I rarely, if ever, get panic attacks anymore, or feel any sort of anxiety other than what anyone else would experience under the same circumstances, my moods are stable, am in a great healthy relationship and feel very much at peace for the most part.

 

When I think back to the time I had all that anxiety, oh my god I literally shudder at what I went through. And often wonder how I managed to get through it.

 

Anyway, yoga and Pilates, or at least just yoga. Really calms me, better than any med ever did!

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This really intrigues me. With all the anxiety, panic, physically throwing up and worry etc, how do you manage and cope with competing in sport internationally/locally? I would have thought it would completely freak one out to the point of not being able to compete? I'm also fascinated you are able to socialise with friends, as your anxiety disorder sounds quite extreme.

 

Honestly, I have found the only thing to calm me down is to do sport and when I am 100% focused in that, my anxiety goes away. But soon as i stop the competition, or training, or go to bed to go to sleep is when it kicks in. I am a normal functioning human being, it doesn't stop me from doing every day things and I push through to get stuff done and seem normal. But I find when I'm on my own and 'relaxing' is when it is at it's worst. The most frustrating part is that I know i can't be busy all of the time so this is where I find it hard. I can still socialise with friends but the problem is my anxiety is more of an internal thing. It's not social anxiety, it's more paranoid thoughts. sometimes i think it may be the first stage of psychosis/schizophrenia as I am that delusional sometimes

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This may sound overly simplistic but have you tried Yoga?

 

I’ve suffered from debilitating anxiety since grammar school; I used to throw up every morning before our dad drove us to school – I still remember my dad telling my brothers to go wait in the car, your sister needs to throw up! It just sort of became our “norm” every morning.

 

My parents sent me to numerous doctors and all they came up with was “nervous stomach.” Years later, I finally got a diagnosis of GAD (General Anxiety Disorder) combined with Bipolar 2.

 

Placed on meds which actually did help but hated the side effects and feeling like a zombie so went off them.

 

Now I do yoga and Pilates nearly every day and occasionally run (I used to run more often but bad for my knee which I hurt in car accident when I was 19).

 

And I’m doing really well! I rarely, if ever, get panic attacks anymore, or feel any sort of anxiety other than what anyone else would experience under the same circumstances, my moods are stable, am in a great healthy relationship and feel very much at peace for the most part.

 

When I think back to the time I had all that anxiety, oh my god I literally shudder at what I went through. And often wonder how I managed to get through it.

 

Anyway, yoga and Pilates, or at least just yoga. Really calms me, better than any med ever did!

 

 

Thank you very much im going to try it!!!! :) Honestly thank u so much for ur advice

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Thank you very much im going to try it!!!! :) Honestly thank u so much for ur advice

 

You're very welcome and I hope it helps you as much as it's helped me!

 

Be patient with yourself while learning, it may take awhile for your body to become flexible enough to master all the moves/contortions, start low.

 

Good luck!!

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Honestly, I have found the only thing to calm me down is to do sport and when I am 100% focused in that, my anxiety goes away. But soon as i stop the competition, or training, or go to bed to go to sleep is when it kicks in. I am a normal functioning human being, it doesn't stop me from doing every day things and I push through to get stuff done and seem normal. But I find when I'm on my own and 'relaxing' is when it is at it's worst. The most frustrating part is that I know i can't be busy all of the time so this is where I find it hard. I can still socialise with friends but the problem is my anxiety is more of an internal thing. It's not social anxiety, it's more paranoid thoughts. sometimes i think it may be the first stage of psychosis/schizophrenia as I am that delusional sometimes

 

Thanks for the clarification. I have to wonder (after reading your past threads) if all of this extreme anxiety has anything to do with your parents. It seems your dad is very abusive to you and your mother. He has treated you very badly from the day you were born, a major bully and very very controlling, forcing you to study something which does not interest you, throwing you out of the house etc etc. It's hardly surprising that you have ended up with a huge anxiety disorder.

I think if you dig deeper, you'll find that it all started with your parents (imo).

 

I'm sure that professional counselling/therapy will be of benefit to you and help you get to the root cause and ways of dealing with it. Yoga is a good start to help keep you grounded, but I think the root cause goes much much deeper and needs to be addressed.

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Also, get tested for food allergies and sensitivities. There are several things like dairy, gluten, wheat and i forget the other one that can contribute to anxiety and even cause borderline schizophrenic symptoms if you are eating something that your body cannot handle. Also, have you ever been tested for a hormonal imbalance? I am not saying any one of those things is "the cause" - but a lot of small things can contribute to making the it worse.

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