I have a long description coming. I have been having issues getting this thread started, but long story short; I just started getting anxiety, worse at night and I need lots of advice and experience.
Thank you for the upcoming help,
For now, when I post my long description; it keeps getting sent to the moderators for approval, and they have not approved them yet. Maybe I can break it up into smaller sections.
Hello everyone,
About one month ago my wife had a bad abscess in her jaw that caused her excruciating, screaming pain for about 4-5 days. During this time I was in a state of extreme stress, as I felt unable to help her. I broke down a couple of times when by myself during this time. I was emotionally a wreck. After she started to heal; I started to feel a mild anxiety. It built up to a mild/mild-moderate anxiety that I would get for a small part of the day. About a week ago she stated that she felt pain again in her jaw, and then my heart sank. She ended up being fine and has been to the endodontist since, but since that day my anxiety ratcheted up to feeling moderate most of the day. Then around 6pm to about 9:30pm I have very bad anxiety. I have cried 10 times harder than I have ever cried before and four half hour spurts. I have never been so scared for my own mental health as I am right now. Oddly at around 10pm-10:30pm the anxiety fades rapidly and I feel almost normal again.
I have been having very negative thoughts when I am having these strong anxiety episodes. First, I was having fear of my own dental issues, as I started to feel tooth pain myself. I ended up being OK, my dentist stated I had a high bite and I was grinding my teeth, most likely from my stress. But even worse and I am still having it, is that I am having thoughts of my own mortality. Dying alone without any loved ones around me. Online posts of people talking about their children or people getting old have now been triggering strong anxiety within me.
Last edited by supadan323; 10-21-2017 at 09:00 AM.
I have been taking tryptophan, vitamin D, magnesium, hops and lemon balm as an herbal remedy, I do not know if it is helping or not. I have been taking it around 6-7pm when I get home from work. I have tried talking to some people; including a Pharmacist. She believes that I am suffering from PTSD from my wife's event. I am planning on seeing a psychiatrist as soon as possible, but I am afraid to starting taking meds, as I am afraid of becoming dependent for the rest of my life, or the effect wearing off over time. I am 36.
I am really in desperate need for advice and shared experience from this community. Does what I am suffering from sound temporary to any of you. Is it likely that this episode triggered a anxiety disorder that I will suffer through for the rest of my life? Does anyone else share this type of history, and how is it turning out? Does anyone have experience with the herbal remedy I am trying? How long does it take to kick in? I want everyone to know that I am extremely grateful for any help or advice or experience you can share with me. If any of this is confusing please let me know; this is my second attempt at typing this and it is 7:35pm right now, so I am feeling pretty bad right now and don't have a fully clear head.
Last edited by supadan323; 10-24-2017 at 07:34 PM.
Unfortunately the human brain never evolved to be totally logical -- only to help your body survive. That means when anxiety kicks in, it can take some time for it to settle down. Probably useful when we were running from predators. Less useful now.
When your mind and body become calmer, your anxiety will begin to fade away. Hopefully your psychiatrist will help you accept and challenge different thoughts and beliefs so that you become calmer mentally. If you want to become calmer physically, half an hour of relaxation is great. Something like progressive muscle relaxation or meditation.
Thank you for replying. I try a lot of ways to relax, but I am new to this. Is there a medication that helps you? I have been suggested by a nurse an pharmacist the Prozac is the way to go, but my father told me that buspirone helped him. Then the pharmacist told me that buspirone is not a good idea due to its side effects and it being a compound drug.
Any time.
I still remember how I felt when my anxiety first came on. It was in similar circumstances to yours, actually. Only difference was I didn't know about this forum, or anxiety. So I started telling myself I was broken, would never get better, etc, which just made things worse. I want you to be more hopeful and realise people with this condition make incredible comebacks. It just takes a little work is all.
Over the years I've tried quite a few meds: prozac, celexa, remeron, valium, ativan. When the meds work, they take the edge off and stop the anxiety from paralysing you. Then you're more able to get to work on the issues that caused your anxiety, like problematic thinking.
I wish I could recommend a med that would help, so you know what to take if you do go down that route, but sadly it's mostly trial and error. For me, Remeron and Celexa worked pretty well, for others they made them feel worse. Genetic testing seems to be getting some attention, but I'm not sure how reliable it is at the moment.
If you trust your pharmacist, I guess you have to go with their advice and re-evaluate after a few months. Prozac wasn't the drug for me, but other people seem to benefit from it.
P.s. Make sure to do the relaxation daily. It's effects are cumulative, so you won't see benefits straight away, but should start to see some positive changes after several weeks!
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