Hi

[biceps72]

61 year old male, retired college professor,suffered from GAD for 20 years. I am an exercise freak which helps with my anxiety.

I have been pretty darn good for the past 15 years with the help of klonopin from time to time. Saw a shrink for years but discontinued for a variety of reasons--mostly he wasn't helping.

After fainting twice this spring and taken to ER and then having a Pacemaker installed in June 2011 for a slow heart rate (Bradycardia-- heart rate dropped into low 30s while sleeping) my anxiety is back strong!!

Biggest symptom = light headedness (blood pressure is fine). I also don't sleep great, seem tired a lot (but I work out a lot too), I get sweaty sometimes and hatband headaches too. I don't have panic attacks sensu strictu
I am looking for support and advice on medication or other things I can do to help defeat GAD.

Looking forward to reading and contributing to this forum

[annie]

Hello biceps, I too suffer from GAD. I have started a mindfulness meditation course so far so good. It is something that comes with practice. Also this site is great i hope it helps you. I dont take any medication, tried it but didnt like it.I also try and have distractions to keep my mind off the awful feelings. I find reading helps or watching a dvd, i find documentries are good or some nice music. Health scares will bring the anxiety on thats for sure. I had a health scare in June, got over that now another one. Next week a colonoscopy. so my anxiety has been rather high. Well i hope this is of some help. best wishes Anne.

[Anxiety beater]

Hi there - sorry your anxiety is back, but one of the things to hang onto is that you've got over it before, so you can again! Great that you're an exercise freak as that is certainly a great therapy for anxiety. Annie's right about distraction, too - think of it as getting your mind occupied with other things, so it doesn't have space to busy itself with anxious thoughts etc. Creative activities are the best, things that really occupy and absorb you - when you're really lost in something that you enjoy doing, it can be one of the best ways to relax. Work can actually be very relaxing (maybe the fact that you've retired is an issue??) I used to have a major problem with anxiety-related breathlessness - would get into quite a panic about it, pacing about convinced I couldn't breathe - I eventually found that the one thing that would bring me almost instant relief was playing the piano (very badly, I'm afraid) - I can only assume that I got so absorbed in playing that it enabled my lungs to relax and settled my breathing. Best to avoid medication if you can - it usually becomes another problem in itself, and it's really not the answer for most people with anxiety. Most medication will just temporarily suppress your symptoms rather than resolving the underlying problem. I hope you find some solutions that work for you. All good wishes.