Hello,
This is my first time here to this site. I am not one to usually go to forums and talk about myself, but my husband suggested that I talk to others about my anxiety, so here goes. I have been struggling with anxiety since college. I am now in my mid twenties. My mother passed away unexpectedly almost a year and a half ago and I just got married last June. When in college, I spoke with a counselor about my anxiety and decided to go onto medication. So I began taking Zoloft. After graduating college and starting my career, I felt great and decided to get off the medicine. After four months, I started having anxiety again and went back on medicine. After being on Zoloft and then switching to Lexapro for a total of almost three years, my husband and I discussed that I was strong enough to give it another try of getting off the medicine. That was last December. I did great for three months. Beginning in March, I started to have bad anxiety again. I'll have a few bad days where I will have anxiety episodes, hard time breathing, chest tightness, stomach ache, lose of appetite, back pain, racing mind and thoughts, and pure panic. But then I will have a few good days. The past few days have been bad. I can't seem to get past it. My mind instantly says "go to the doctor and get medicine!" But I don't want to take that route. I know I can overcome this, I'm just not sure how. It's to the point now where it is affecting my life greatly. I get panic attacks in stores which makes me rush home, I get anxiety when I am driving which makes me want to avoid driving, fun things planned with friends I dread. My husband and I are taking a trip to Europe this summer and I want to be able to enjoy it and not worry about anxiety.
I'm sorry this is so long. It feels really good to be able to tell my story and I hope that I can talk with others that have similar experiences and what has helped get you through. Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
Lexie