New to the board, not anxiety!

[anxiousjen55]

Hello, my name is Jen- I suffer from pretty severe anxiety and it sucks. Been having panic attacks since I was 16 and I am now 39- 23 years of hell!

My anxiety is mostly health anxiety. I am terrified of dying and leaving my children and spouse alone. I guess I am a Hypochondriac too! Anyway- my anxiety cause dizzy spells, feeling lightheaded and like I am going to pass out, numbness in limbs and face, racing heart, chest pains, feelings of doom and terror. I hate that I cannot move past this and live my life. I am so jealous of people who don't have anxiety. How lucky they are! I watch with jealousy as they live their life carefree and I feel imprisoned by fear.

I have tried Celexa, Ativan (got addicted blah!), Paxil (bad stuff!) and a few others. Meds don't help me, they actually increase my anxiety. I have had some success with Hypnotherapy and counseling but I need to be more consistent for it to work.

Anyway- I am glad I found this forum and hope you can all relate!

=]

[lisadu]

Meds have not done a lot for me either. I have also had anxiety on and off for most of my life. I have found three options for me in my area. Meditation, Tai Chi, and Gentle Yoga. Since I am still recovering from surgery (also not good for someone who has health anxiety), I am leaning towards meditation or Tai Chi. Maybe you too need something just for you that gets you out of the house while also helping the anxiety?

[anxiousjen55]

Anybody have any advice for me! :)

[lisadu]

I did but it hasn't posted yet?

[lisadu]

I too have suffered for years with one form of anxiety or another. It seems to have evolved over the years but never completely disappeared. Maybe you need time for yourself? I am contemplating Tai Chi, meditation classes, or gentle yoga in addition to CBT. Its a way to get out of the house and work on reducing stress and anxiety.

[juma9901]

Hey there I can so relate to what u r saying... I am new here as well... I am currently taking cipralex I don't like Ativan ( I really just hate pills) I would also love to love my life but I seem to dwell on things that I am sensing in my body

[defmunel]

Hi. I also suffer from the same fear. Health anxiety. It does suck.

Im also afraid of dying, leaving my son and husband alone. When I hear about, or think about, people dying at a young age, I fully believe it will also happen to me.

These irrational fears are so difficult to erase. They are so real in our anxious minds. Not to mention the physical symptoms that stem from the same anxiety. These same irrational fears are preventing me from getting pregnant again. I so desperately want more children, but am so frightened at the thought of dying while pregnant, or after, or during.... That my heart will give out. Irrational? Yes. I know chances of that happening are extremely slim, yet just knowing it COULD happen, is enough for me to say no. Again. Anxiety sucks.

Some days are better than others. Today is a bad one.

[ElsieBee]

Hello, I'm new to the forum, but an old hand at anxiety. I have both depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). I benefit every day from the medications that I have worked out with my M.D., Ph.D. shrink. He did intensive talk therapy with me for several years to resolve the problems I had from the way I grew up, but now we do monthly Med Evaluation sessions, so I can still talk to him, and keep him up to date on exactly how the meds are working or not.

So, the problems some have with meds may not be with meds but with the practitioner prescribing them. Don't give up forever on a kind of therapy that has saved my life.

[mad22893]

Hello, my name is Jen- I suffer from pretty severe anxiety and it sucks. Been having panic attacks since I was 16 and I am now 39- 23 years of hell!

My anxiety is mostly health anxiety. I am terrified of dying and leaving my children and spouse alone. I guess I am a Hypochondriac too! Anyway- my anxiety cause dizzy spells, feeling lightheaded and like I am going to pass out, numbness in limbs and face, racing heart, chest pains, feelings of doom and terror. I hate that I cannot move past this and live my life. I am so jealous of people who don't have anxiety. How lucky they are! I watch with jealousy as they live their life carefree and I feel imprisoned by fear.

I have tried Celexa, Ativan (got addicted blah!), Paxil (bad stuff!) and a few others. Meds don't help me, they actually increase my anxiety. I have had some success with Hypnotherapy and counseling but I need to be more consistent for it to work.

Anyway- I am glad I found this forum and hope you can all relate!

=]

I know what you are going through. I am only 19 but have been suffering with severe anxiety since I was a little kid, Im only just now accepting that it is a problem interfering with my life, and accepted help. I have to say Medications do not work the same for everybody, yet I have started to take Zoloft, and I can already feel a difference. I seem to get through everyday a lot easier and though anxiety still plays a huge role in my everyday life I feel like its not such a challenge. I also take Clonopin because I have panic disorder and that has helped a great deal as well. If other forms of treatment help you more than medication I'd say go for it! But if you believe there is a medication out there still that might help ease the symptoms, keep trying. You have to sometimes go through a few before you really find one that changes your life. Best of luck! Im sure everyone on this site can relate to what youre feeling!

[juene]

Dear Defmunel,

I understand what you are going thru. I can't believe someone out there has the same feelings of anxiety. I have health anxiety also. Reading your post makes me realize that I am not alone. You are not alone. These irrational fears are controlling us. we need to fight these constant fears that we have. I know it is easy for me to say. I just had a panic attack in my school last monday( I am a teacher), this is due to the school inspectorates that are in our school. The paramedics were there and i didn't want to get into the ambulance. I ask my colleagues to call my husband. It was embarassing, especially in my country where no one knows the meaning of panic and anxiety disorder. I hope that we all would recover from this one day and look back at it as if it is an insignificant phase that we went thru. My heart goes out to you.