New member to the forum

[marquis00]

hello to everyone. i have been having anxiety, really bad. i am 26 years old male. it all started when i had problems sleeping. i would lay in bed all night long just thinking about random stuff. this started about 2 years ago and now it has gotten worse. i am currently atending school and i cannot consintrate in class. iam always boucing my leg, or rubbing my hands, sitting up and down. i can't ever get comfortable doing anything. i also get a pain in my chest, like pressure or tightining. its driving me nuts!! sometimes it feels like i am going to explode. well with the pain i had to go to a walk in clinic (no insurance or money) and told the doctor, he gave me an ekg and it came up fine. so i started researching the problem and came up with anxiety issues, it seems i have all the simptons. i need some advise on what to do and where to go.i dont have the money to have a bunch of doctor vists. i am getting tried of this!!! sorry about the spelling mistakes and/or grammer issues. thank u for taking the time to read this.

[Job_314]

Alright, first off, I'll tell you what basically to do :)

Anxiety disorders are HIGHLY treatable and cannot hurt you. Anxiety disorders can start from either high stress, something that really worries you, or some kind of trauma.

The first step is not doctors, you're perfectly healthy. My opinion is find a therapist who can prescribe an anti-depressant and help you find out what's making you so anxious.

Remember, the more you worry about your health, the more likely it is you have an anxiety disorder. Sure, people worry, that's normal, but it's worrying all the time that makes it an anxiety disorder, so... just tell yourself the more you worry about it, the more likely it's just anxiety, and it can't hurt you at all!

Look into getting started on some kind of anti-depressant (Lexapro, Prozac, etc.) and there are other drugs out there to treat the symptoms and relax you... like Tranxene and Klonopin.

[adrian29uk]

I have just suffered the worst week of my life with anxiety, I feel sorry for you and hope one day you will make 100% recorvery and get rid of these demons for ever.

[marquis00]

so, is there a list of therapists or directory that i can find one at or should i just look in the yellow pages? i had a friend who was on paxil and the worst symptoms from it. i really am new to this. i have been reading about the Klonopin and those seem to have good results. but how are they on long term, i don't wana get hooked on them or long term use.
is there a program to help low or no income people.

thanks for the helpful responses!!!

[Job_314]

Well, I've tried Klonopin and Tranxene, and I'm not going to lie, they can be addicting, since they relax you, and take a lot of your worries away. If you feel that maybe me an issue, ask a friend or roommate to only give you 1 or so a day. But you and your therapist can work all that out.

But, start the search for therapists, you may have to try a couple before you find one you really like. If you connect with your therapist, it'll be easier for them to help you.

But yeah, you get the idea, find a therapist, tell him you're suffering from anxiety, and go on from there. They'll be able to fill you in on a lot of information :)

[Foxfire]

At the risk of upsetting other people on the board (and I apologise in advance if I do this) I would be very careful about looking at medication as a first option. I know that they can be incredibly successful and in an anxious state ANYTHING that reduces the symptoms appears very appealing, however anxiety is a fear derived negative feedback loop, subsequently all that medication does is put a 'stopper' in that loop - once the stopper is removed, there is nothing to stop the loop from starting up again. Ultimately the ideal state is to not be afraid of the condition which effectively stops the loop from starting in the first place. A GOOD therapist will be able to help with this (however as others have stated you may have to do a bit of searching to find a good one), but there are also self-help books out there which can be incredibly effective in understanding and addressing the condition.

Most people with anxiety develop LESS problems with addiction than people suffering with other mental illness because as a general rule we as a group don't actually WANT to be on medication, we want our lives to return to the way that they were before anxiety but there ARE other methods and I would recommend exploring them before turning to the land of chemicals.

But totally agreed that anxiety disorders are highly treatable and they cannot hurt you or cause any long term physiological damage.
Good luck,
Foxfire