Do you or someone you know suffer from an anxiety disorder?

[Al]

After doing some research today on the internet, I think that I may have GAD or Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Do you know anyone or do you personally suffer from this disorder? If so, how has it affected your life and how have you treated for it - therapy or medication?

[Barby]

Yes my long time BF suffers from anxiety disorder. He was ok when I first met him but then this past summer he started having really bad anxiety attacks, he couldn't sleep, he was depressed and feeling like the whole world was caving in on him. He also had obessive/compulsive disorder which luckily only affects his thoughts he doesn't have the behaviors that go along with it.

 

Anyway he would have butterflies and sweat and just in general not be able to deal with certain things. He was treated with Buspar for the anxiety and Zoloft for the "obessive thinking" and it has worked wonders! He is doing a lot better.

 

 

As silly as it sounds....when he doesn't take his meds the thoughts that torment him and give him anxiety is usually I'm cheating or talking to someone else (w/ intention of hooking up) and when he takes them *which he usually does all the time* he is normal and ok w/out stressing about this. I've never given him reason to think I'm cheating because I'm NOT and I wouldn't ever but it's not his fault just part of the condition.

 

Anxiety can come in many forms and be treated in many forms but my suggestion is...see a doctor as soon as possible so you don't have to suffer through it, with your symptoms whatever they are they will be able to tell you what will work best for you. Good luck!

[Al]

I do have an appointment with my regular physician on Friday to see if I can get a referral. I knew that I had to see a psychologist or someone to help me figure out what's been going on with me these days and today after playing around on the internet it sounds like I have an anxiety disorder. I always seem to think the worst about situations or worry that the worst possible outcome is going to happen, I overstress and over think things when I shouldn't (I also think my boyfriend is lying or cheating all the time) and I'm always obsessing over "finding the truth" even though I have no reason to believe he's not telling me the truth. I can't sleep, can't always eat and I'm always worried about money, school and my job. I hate my job and recently started college to find something else to do with my life. Hopefully I can get the help your boyfriend did and get back in control of my life!

[honey2005]

Awhile ago I started having really bad chest pains, my heart would begin beating very fast and I would start sweating and have trouble breathing. It happened for awhile and I had no idea what it was. After awhile it got so bad that once my parents made me go to the hospital. The doctor said my heart was fine and that I should see my family doctor. We went there and she diagnosed me with panic disorder and depression. I was prescribed Paxil and now I feel SOO much better. I don't cry all the time like I used to. I occasionally have panic attacks, but nearly as often or to the extreme I had them before. I highly recommend going to your doctor and getting help.

[Fayebelle]

I should take meds (according to my therapist) but since mine is a result of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder I want to give therapy a bit more time.

 

The idea is that if I can confront the causes of my disorder it will go away. My PT thinks meds could help speed things along but I'd rather feel too much than nothing at all.

 

She says the new meds don't make you feel Valium induced zombified but I don't know....

 

You guys think your meds help? I just don't see the point if I may be able to triumph on my own. I think meds should be the last ditch effort -ya know?

[Al]

I'm open to both options-therapy and medication. I guess I'll just go to the doctor today and tell her what I've been feeling for the PAST YEAR or more and see what she recommends. I think that both would be beneficial in my case since it would be nice to have an outside opinion about things that have been going on in my life.

[Pocky]

I had awful anxiety attacks after I got out of an abusive relationship, but five years later and I've been able to get them under control. I rarely get them now and when I feel them coming on I talk myself out of them. It took a long time to do it but it's worth it. I didn't want to use drugs to handle my mind. I wanted to control it myself.

[honey2005]

You guys think your meds help?

 

My medicine helped me sooo much. Not just with the anxiety, but with the depression, too. I get out of the house a lot more lately and I rarely cry for no reason. It's really nice not having to be sad all the time, and not having those major panic attacks.

[simplybrill]

I would really like to go on something for my anxiety, and intense jitters when I go out in public, (I clam up really really horribly, and Im 'stiff', nervous) but my family is very anti- drugs.

My little brother is taking stuff for his depression and anxiety and my whole family silently looks down on it unfortunately. They would like him to just "snap out' of his problems. I wish he could too, heck for that matter I wish I could just snap out of my issues...but its something Ive been struggling with for years...wanting to be accepted by friends, by people in general, dealing with rejection and criticism in a good manner, standing up for myself etc.

 

Ive heard from people who took Zoloft, that it can make things worse! And if you're depressed and taking it, it makes the high's really high and the lows so low that you're ready to do away with yourself. I dont want to make things worse, by going on something, but Im so sick of being such a bundle of nerves. It comes and goes, but lately Im finding it hard to be truly happy and satisfied.

[chubachoop]

I suffered anxiety disorder as a child and I got over it by forcing myself into all situations which scared me. 8 years on it came back when I was involved in a distructive relationship. I went on meds and thought i was cured. I came off the meds and the symptoms came back. For two years I coped by using herbal remedies or by carrying certain things wherever I went (lucky stones etc) then I joined online support groups and read books by Dr Claire Weekes (really good) and I have thrown all my 'crutches' away. I am determined to beat this on my own, with no medication, which personally I think is the best way. It is hard and I get really pannicky but I try to just accept the feelings as just feelings and thoughts.

[krbshappy71]

Through buzzing around on the web I've considered the possiblity that I have anxiety disorder, also. But I am also afraid of meds. I know a couple people that are much better on them now (meds) but it took a couple years for them to adjust and during that time it was hell. So far, I don't have the extreme symptoms, so until that changes I am trying to just "retrain the brain."

 

(you may be able to do a search for this and find it: Excerpted from "Worry" by Edward M. Hallowell. Copyright 1997 by Edward M. Hallowell. Reprinted by permission of Pantheon Books. "

 

It talks about how to distract your brain at the moment it starts to "spasm" into a worry cycle. Also, doing physical activity has proven to help me A LOT. I will jump up and go ride my bike, go clean out the basement/garage/whatever and sure enough it stops the spasms so I can slow down and think rationally again about the real situation at hand. I am also keeping a journal in hopes it will show me if I am having more bad days than good. I make a concious effort to write in it when I feel good, not just to complain and get out my hurts.

 

Hope this helps. You are not alone.

[moimeme]

My PT thinks meds could help speed things along but I'd rather feel too much than nothing at all.

She says the new meds don't make you feel Valium induced zombified but I don't know....

 

Everybody I know (and I know quite a few people) who have tried the Paxils and Zolofts say they don't feel 'zombified' at all. And it's not like you can't quit the drug if it doesn't work. You are supposed to work with your doc to get the right dose.

 

I didn't want to use drugs to handle my mind. I wanted to control it myself.

 

That would be fine if it were just a matter of 'wrong thinking' except people with test tubes and MRI machines and other sophisticated diagnostics have shown that these conditons are not a matter of thinking wrong (and therefore curable by 'thinking right' ) but are actually biochemical conditions much like diabetes. The brain is just another hunk of meat in your body with the same sorts of physical problems. It needs the right balance of chemicals to work right and sometimes the body goes out of whack and doesn't produce them in the quantities needed. (It is more complicated but boils down to the brain ain't getting what it needs when it needs it).

 

So trying to 'think' yourself out of a chemical disorder is like trying to 'think' yourself out of diabetes. Your pancreas won't work better just because you want it to.

 

They would like him to just "snap out' of his problems. I wish he could too, heck for that matter I wish I could just snap out of my issues...but its something Ive been struggling with for years...wanting to be accepted by friends, by people in general, dealing with rejection and criticism in a good manner, standing up for myself etc.

 

See above. The idea that the brain is somehow not part of the body is leftover from times past and is an idea that originated in philosophy, not medicine. If you've ever seen a person whose brain has been damaged by a stroke or any other injury, you figure out pretty fast that that person can't think himself well- the brain is a body part and, as such, is subject to ailments and injury just like any other. Which means it needs medicine and surgery just like the rest of the insides of you.

 

People didn't understand how the brain worked for the longest time. Now they do - but the public still has to catch up.

 

Ive heard from people who took Zoloft, that it can make things worse! And if you're depressed and taking it, it makes the high's really high and the lows so low that you're ready to do away with yourself.

 

Don't go by rumours. There are pharmacists and physicians who are all skilled in titrating meds to work for people. It's true that a med might not work for you or have side-effects, but that's the same for all meds, from Aspirin to penicillin. Heck, I have a friend that could die if she took an Aspirin but we don't all have the same chemistry. Work closely with your doc to get the right dose of the right meds and you should be fine.

[simplybrill]

Don't go by rumours. There are pharmacists and physicians who are all skilled in titrating meds to work for people. It's true that a med might not work for you or have side-effects, but that's the same for all meds, from Aspirin to penicillin. Heck, I have a friend that could die if she took an Aspirin but we don't all have the same chemistry. Work closely with your doc to get the right dose of the right meds and you should be fine.

 

Im not going by rumors, Im going by a close family member who took drugs for her problems and ended up more depressed in the end than when she started.

 

Gee thanks, I guess I'll just march on over to my doctor that will charge me $150, just to sit in his office to write me a prescription that will also be out of pocket for who knows how much, which may not even be the right dosage as I let him use me as his human guinea pig for Zoloft. Right. Yup, thats exactly what ill do, and " I should be fine" Do you know how hard it is for a college student to find and pay for health insurance on top of everything else? I just had to plunk down a few hundred for BOOKS!