New to the site!

[MaKenna13]

Hey everyone..

Well, I'm on this site for obviously reasons. I'm 22 years old, and I started noticing my anxiety at a young age... Maybe 12? My mother definitely had anxiety and took medication for it. I personally have chosen not to take medication for it. My mother got addicted and now has a huge alcohol and drug problem. I'm trying to stay away from that. I don't drink alcohol and I don't do any sort of over the counter drug or any other drug for that matter. Although I have a bad anxiety problem, I still strive to reach my goals in life of being a writer. Messing it up with self medicating isn't an option for me.

So here goes... When I get anxious I get nauseous and feel like I'm going to literally get sick. I get sweaty and my palms get clammy. I feel extremely light headed and my eyes get fuzzy. There are only a few things that can actually calm me down. Either I have to be completely alone at home, driving in my car for hours, smoking a cigarette sometimes helps, or I take a shower/bath. I also have a fear of germs. It never used to be bad, but lately it has gotten so bad that I am constantly washing my hands, I carry hand sanitizer... I get mad when my boyfriend touches things that might have germs on it without hesitation. It's starting to become a huge problem. I don't know why this is happening to me, or why I can't just forget about it. It's starting to get in the way of my everyday routine. I need to find a way to get around this, or a better way to handle things!! I think being on a forum talking to people who share similar problems would help my understanding and maybe help a little with anxiety!

[bryan kellogg]

You can try meditation it works for me and deep breathing exercises meditation is 1 of the best ways to help you with your anxiety and just remember all your symptoms are not going to harm you there are a lot of good people on this website I know you can use meditational music and the deep breathing really helps I think you're right about not wanting to use medication I do not use any kind myself remember take 1 day at a time just remember you're stronger than what you think you are
Hey everyone..

Well, I'm on this site for obviously reasons. I'm 22 years old, and I started noticing my anxiety at a young age... Maybe 12? My mother definitely had anxiety and took medication for it. I personally have chosen not to take medication for it. My mother got addicted and now has a huge alcohol and drug problem. I'm trying to stay away from that. I don't drink alcohol and I don't do any sort of over the counter drug or any other drug for that matter. Although I have a bad anxiety problem, I still strive to reach my goals in life of being a writer. Messing it up with self medicating isn't an option for me.

So here goes... When I get anxious I get nauseous and feel like I'm going to literally get sick. I get sweaty and my palms get clammy. I feel extremely light headed and my eyes get fuzzy. There are only a few things that can actually calm me down. Either I have to be completely alone at home, driving in my car for hours, smoking a cigarette sometimes helps, or I take a shower/bath. I also have a fear of germs. It never used to be bad, but lately it has gotten so bad that I am constantly washing my hands, I carry hand sanitizer... I get mad when my boyfriend touches things that might have germs on it without hesitation. It's starting to become a huge problem. I don't know why this is happening to me, or why I can't just forget about it. It's starting to get in the way of my everyday routine. I need to find a way to get around this, or a better way to handle things!! I think being on a forum talking to people who share similar problems would help my understanding and maybe help a little with anxiety!

[MaKenna13]

You can try meditation it works for me and deep breathing exercises meditation is 1 of the best ways to help you with your anxiety and just remember all your symptoms are not going to harm you there are a lot of good people on this website I know you can use meditational music and the deep breathing really helps I think you're right about not wanting to use medication I do not use any kind myself remember take 1 day at a time just remember you're stronger than what you think you are


Thank you. Yeah, I've actually taken meditation classes and yoga when I was in college. It helped a lot... But I haven't really used it much since!

[alankay]

Sorry your Mom developed those problems but it could be be that her doc didn't implement meds properly or counselor her and monitor her properly so she developed her med problems as a result. Meds aren't the real issue for most........high anxiety is. The anxiety came first and bad med management can result it yet other issues for patients with a substance abuse issues and the docs need to watch for that and I bet you Moms didn't. Proper meds saved my tail and in OCD situations like compulsive hand washing, SSRI's are often used with great success and these meds are not habit forming but if you still feel you might have an issue with them hope you find no meds means to control compulsions like CBT. Alankay.