new member, glad i found this forum!

[scottishbabe_fe]

hi there

just wanted to introduce myself and talk about how SA plays a part in my life. It is such a relief to know I'm not alone in all this, felt like such a weirdo for so long and now i realise that so many others suffer from this. My SA has been with me, if i was to hazard a guess, prob from high school - I went to an all girls school and it was constant 'who was the best' / the top girls etc - i remember being terrified of doing presentations ( still am) and asked to only do it in front of the teacher etc. also when i had swimming class i wore my tshirt over my suit because i was so shy in front of the others, this used to get a lot of laughs from others and mocking. I gave up a whole years worth of work in gym because i didnt want to do it anymore...

i'm now 28, and i would say its got worse as i have got older. I was in an abusive relationship for 4 years so i think this contributed to it. These days, getting on a bus / going for dinner / shopping on my own in the supermarket / standing in line for a film all triggers my anxiety. I work in an office and sometimes need to speak in front of people - this terrifies me and i try to avoid this at all costs. presentations are out of the question. I want to try and get better because i absolutely hate having this, its controlling my life and i feel i cant live properly. I recently got engaged and the thought of standing center of attention in front of people makes me feel physically sick and i've now resided that unless i get drunk on the day, i wont be able to physically do it.

I recently got put on CBT by the dr after i finally gave in and told someone how bad it was...i have been on this for 4 months and tomorrow is my last session. i feel i have got nothing from it, nothing has improved at all. I am currently on proponolol (betablokers) but on a very low dose, again i dont feel these work. dont really know how else to deal with things. Things like getting a haircut / my nails done are things i would love to do but cant because it makes me feel so anxious and know i would shake/body shake/have palpitations - all the usual symptoms i get when suffering from SA.

not sure what else to do! but this forum helps alot.

thanks for reading

Fi

[Adena]

hi there

just wanted to introduce myself and talk about how SA plays a part in my life. It is such a relief to know I'm not alone in all this, felt like such a weirdo for so long and now i realise that so many others suffer from this. My SA has been with me, if i was to hazard a guess, prob from high school - I went to an all girls school and it was constant 'who was the best' / the top girls etc - i remember being terrified of doing presentations ( still am) and asked to only do it in front of the teacher etc. also when i had swimming class i wore my tshirt over my suit because i was so shy in front of the others, this used to get a lot of laughs from others and mocking. I gave up a whole years worth of work in gym because i didnt want to do it anymore...

i'm now 28, and i would say its got worse as i have got older. I was in an abusive relationship for 4 years so i think this contributed to it. These days, getting on a bus / going for dinner / shopping on my own in the supermarket / standing in line for a film all triggers my anxiety. I work in an office and sometimes need to speak in front of people - this terrifies me and i try to avoid this at all costs. presentations are out of the question. I want to try and get better because i absolutely hate having this, its controlling my life and i feel i cant live properly. I recently got engaged and the thought of standing center of attention in front of people makes me feel physically sick and i've now resided that unless i get drunk on the day, i wont be able to physically do it.

I recently got put on CBT by the dr after i finally gave in and told someone how bad it was...i have been on this for 4 months and tomorrow is my last session. i feel i have got nothing from it, nothing has improved at all. I am currently on proponolol (betablokers) but on a very low dose, again i dont feel these work. dont really know how else to deal with things. Things like getting a haircut / my nails done are things i would love to do but cant because it makes me feel so anxious and know i would shake/body shake/have palpitations - all the usual symptoms i get when suffering from SA.

not sure what else to do! but this forum helps alot.

thanks for reading

Fi

How do you write on this app? I can't figure it out on how to join a conversation! I'm new to this and completely lost help!

[alankay]

Yep, used to shake like a leaf for speeches, etc, but started atenolol along with valium for speeches and got desensitized to them. They are not easy but I can do them now with less of the meds. Are you on atenolol or propranolol(these 2 are the most popular)? I am very self concious as well but since going to prozac 20mg have not this decrease so did my social anxiety then. Ask about these(a daily ssri and add some valium for presentations as well as a higher dose of the beat blocker and then slowly lower the doses). PM me anytime at all. Alankay.

[scottishbabe_fe]

thanks for the reponse Alan

I recently completed my 3 month course of CBT...and got worse (anyone heard of this after CBT making u worse not better?) - in the last month, my anxiety seems to have gone from social to general - everything seems to make me anxious these days...plus i had run out of proponol so i guess that wasnt helping it! I finally went to Dr's on friday and he has has prescribed me new tabs of proponol..and Flouxetine - 20mg. SO i am to take proponol twice a day and flouxetine once a day. started on saturday and not noticed any effects yet but i know it takes time to build up - i have never been on any anti depressant medicines before so was a bit sceptical but I am going to stick with it as the Dr says it will help the anxiety...here's hoping!!

[willv91]

thanks for the reponse Alan

I recently completed my 3 month course of CBT...and got worse (anyone heard of this after CBT making u worse not better?) - in the last month, my anxiety seems to have gone from social to general - everything seems to make me anxious these days...plus i had run out of proponol so i guess that wasnt helping it! I finally went to Dr's on friday and he has has prescribed me new tabs of proponol..and Flouxetine - 20mg. SO i am to take proponol twice a day and flouxetine once a day. started on saturday and not noticed any effects yet but i know it takes time to build up - i have never been on any anti depressant medicines before so was a bit sceptical but I am going to stick with it as the Dr says it will help the anxiety...here's hoping!!

I found that CBT did not work for me and I have got worse since having it. Quite a lot worse. It's a shame as I have heard great things about CBT but for me it made no difference.

Will.

[scottishbabe_fe]

I found that CBT did not work for me and I have got worse since having it. Quite a lot worse. It's a shame as I have heard great things about CBT but for me it made no difference.

Will.

i wonder why this is though...why does it help some people and not others? and why has it made us worse...it was going over thought process / situations / logic - things we alreasy knew...or were we made more aware of it at CBT and thats made it worse? interesting to find out why.

[mid]

Cognitive Behavior Therapy Treatment Plans are definitely not one size fits all. It is difficult to explain to someone how feeling worse is part of the process, especially since we are geared up to feeling better. I'm in long-term CBT treatment, and it has definitely improved my ability to manage normal daily living activities, no matter what my anxiety levels spike to for whatever reasons. When I started, I also did a journal to help me see the changes in the anxiety effect. Where keeping a journal helps with this sometimes painful process towards healing is to remind me of what works when and where and with whom. The better I get at handling one type of trigger, another pops up elsewhere, thus setting off another range of emotional physical symptoms. The more I move physically when the acute spikes of anxiety overwhelm me, the faster I reach my comfort zone. That is where the CBT is effective in my case. I do hope this helps.