For anyone with anxiety issues. And for those that don't, an

I thought i was just crazy! Didnt realize so many ppl had this problem! Sometimes i feel like its just a copout & i dont feel like i can talk about how i feel! I feel like a tightly wound spool of thread & my body stays tense nearly 24/7 & i get panic attacks just watching tv. We lost our insurance about 6 months ago & cant afford the trip to the dr, which suck, but i try my hardest to control it. like to notice when im tense & to relax, just to find myself tense again. lol! Just breath when my heart is palipitating from a panic attack.

Me too. But now my current anxiety--which manifests in a variety of ways--seems to be largely due to the fact that (thanks to finally having found a fantastic therapist and being ready to get to the painful, below-the-surface issues) I've been making so much progress in pretty much all areas of my life and it's scary to see myself as something close to "normal" instead of fat, self-isolating, anxious and depressed. So basically right now I'm anxious because I'm feeling so good.

Don't you just love pervasive thoughts? I have them at night, and I have them constantly when driving, especially highways and freeways, whether I'm driving or someone else. I have tried to explain to my husband that while driving that two way highway, with ever passing car, I can clearly see it crossing the line hitting us head on, or even sometimes us crossing the line. Or other things like going over a cliff. Sometimes I worry that my anxiety is whats going to cause an accident.

I would literally lay awake all night and think about silly things like what would happen if my ceiling caved in, or how would I get out if the first floor caught fire, since I live on the third, worrying about my small puppy somehow managing to climb up to a window, magically open it, fall out and die.

Tried the tapping briefly. I was desperate enough to try anything. Didn't do a thing for me.

Xanex is nice, but getting high is always nice and still left me with panic attacks.

Lexapro took me from panic attacks to panic attacks+routinely contemplating suicide in the course of 4 short weeks.

Effexor removed the anxiety from my life. All of it. So consider that a lot of your motivation to do pretty much anything you decide to do is based upon some form of anxiety - "I should do this or that will happen", "I'd like to do that but I've only got half an hour so it has to be quick", etc, etc. All of that - gone. A year spent caring about nothing at all. All hobbies dropped, years invested in practicing music shelved, etc, etc.

Getting off Effexor was the most painful thing I've ever been through. It's like someone stabbing you in the brain non-stop for two weeks.

Psychologist helped as far as a) explaining what the disorder is about, b) trying to help you find some reason that it started happening (totally out of the blue with nothing bothering me at the age of 36) and c) pointing me in the direction of that Don't Panic book and giving me some simple mental exercises to do in order to get back on top of my thoughts.

Wow, that's a lot you have been through trying to find some relief. For me, not being on any meds now, the worse thing is Caffeine. I have been taking flaxseed oil capsules, and my family went on a beach trip a couple months ago, I drove a long the coast cliff and didn't have any anxiety at all, I climbed up and then down the light house stairs and had no symptoms (Heights is new to me, seems with perimenopause anxiety got worse for the first time in years, and includes heights which has NEVER been an issue) but the thing is, is that I have to stay away from the caffeine. It's very little when I do have it, (a small fountain filled first with ice. one every couple of days lately, but I got through periods of not having it for weeks) If I start struggling with motivation, or if stress hits me, then I turn to caffeine. And then my anxiety goes way way up. I was on Zoloft for 12 years, and that was hard getting off of, was months and I was still having brain zaps, and eye twitches.

My daughter is trying to get off Lexapro now. (I also have a son who was on meds for 16 years, and he's been off successfully for over a year) She wants to see if she can do it too, and frankly I would love for her to embrace doing all she can to be successful, but I know sometimes going off just isn't the best thing. So anyways, we are in that process of it. All this is really like a two edged sword isn't it?

I'm excited about that book, my daughter is in counseling, but her counselor wants to drop her, (due to heavy caseload) it's frustrating. I don't have any insurance or the money for counseling, so I'm opened to anything that would help. My daughter has actually been a great inspiration to her, I have seen her face her anxieties over the years and challenge herself to do things she was always "afraid" of doing. Including getting up in front of youth group and singing with the worship team. But this past school year, she's gone down hill again, and thats when we upped her meds, and she just gained weight. And not much has changed with the anxiety. SO we are looking at any possible tool for her to use.

Tried the tapping briefly. I was desperate enough to try anything. Didn't do a thing for me.

Xanex is nice, but getting high is always nice and still left me with panic attacks.

Lexapro took me from panic attacks to panic attacks+routinely contemplating suicide in the course of 4 short weeks.

Effexor removed the anxiety from my life. All of it. So consider that a lot of your motivation to do pretty much anything you decide to do is based upon some form of anxiety - "I should do this or that will happen", "I'd like to do that but I've only got half an hour so it has to be quick", etc, etc. All of that - gone. A year spent caring about nothing at all. All hobbies dropped, years invested in practicing music shelved, etc, etc.

Getting off Effexor was the most painful thing I've ever been through. It's like someone stabbing you in the brain non-stop for two weeks.

Psychologist helped as far as a) explaining what the disorder is about, b) trying to help you find some reason that it started happening (totally out of the blue with nothing bothering me at the age of 36) and c) pointing me in the direction of that Don't Panic book and giving me some simple mental exercises to do in order to get back on top of my thoughts.

I have suffered from Depression and Anxiety since I was 15 years old. The depression was much more prevelent in my teenage years and after the birth of my children. Last November I weaned myself off of the amitripline I was taking and the anxiety hit like it never has it before. The palpitations were so bad I literally thought I was going to die. I went to see the doctor and he gave me a prescription for Lexapro and Ativan. Now the lexapro I was told to take it at night as it can increase your anxiety levels. 3 days into the medication I stopped taking it. It magnified my anxiety to a level I didn't think existed. My sister being on it told me to push through because it also got bad before it got worse for her to. After consulting with my doctor about not wanting to take it he recommend I go see a shrink who could better diagnosis me. I decided then to take matter to a more natural approach. I have spent the better part of 15 years of my life medicated and I wasn't going to do it anymore since nothing "cured" me just helped me cope. So now I eat clean, no caffiene, I keep my meals under 6 grams of sugar and have cut out the majority of processed food. I also work out 5 to 6 days a week even if it's only a 30 minute dvd. I have noticed a HUGE difference in my anxiety levels. I'm no longer relaying on the ativan which I was taking once or twice a week for attacks. I'm also sleeping better at night and my energy level has increased. I realize this is going to always be a life struggle for me and I feel very shafted that I can't really enjoy my life to the fullest because of the lingering thoughts in my mind. I also realize that that is exactly what they are is thoughts. thoughts that I have manifested and also have control over. My hope is that everyone can find some sort of relief with it being medication, or therapy,( heck I was even all for electro shock if it would work but then of course I got paranoid about all the bad things that could happen lol). Now one needs to suffer from this because it can be unbelievably life controlling.