general anxiety disorder, need advice

[sugarbust]

Hi all, here is my story, the short version. I got married 7 months ago, and 2 weeks following, I had a panic attack at work, out of nowhere. Since then, I developed general anxiety disorder. I have no idea whats causing it, I'm constantly anxious, cant focus & hate being in public, especially in crowded places. i freak out & feel like running for the exit. I saw a therapist for 2 months, but she ws of no help with her coping exercises. Didn't seem to understand how i explained i was feeling. After a full physical, my dr gave me celexa. I've been on for 3 weeks, no side effects but no help either. I'm scared to death that I'll never be better. I don't feel like myself & feel I'll become depressed soon without any hope. Please help.

[thecatsmeow]

the celexa can take up to 6 weeks to be fully working. if its been 6 weeks weeks and you still feel the same i would go back to the dr. if your current dr. doesnt understand how your feeling, find another dr. you feel more comfortable with, one that understands you better. it might take trying out a few different meds before you find one that works.

from my exp with celexa it didnt help me either. initially i was in lexapro, which is basically the more expensive and improved version of celexa. the lexapro was ok for me, i had to switch to celexa because i lost my insurance and its a lot cheaper.

[laura250blue]

Sugarbust, The exact same thing happened to me 2 years ago- IT WILL GET BETTER, read on.

So I got married, and approx 7-8 months later, (im not suggesting this is anymore than a coincidence!) i suddenly had a huge panic attack. ever since that happened, i just had this horrible feeling of anxiety all the time. It was like I couldnt explain why it was happening, i had no real reason to be anxious, I just was. I went to the doctors 4 times in tears, the frustration was unbelivable, i just wanted to stop feeling this way. I declined meds, (not that i have anything against ppl that take meds on here - whatever helps, helps) but heres how I got over it;

When your anxious for no real reason, (im assuming there are no underlying issues in your life causing your feelings, ie past abuse etc etc) - you become "anxious of being anxious". Every morning you wake up, feel nervous, think "s**t! its not gone yet, its never going away, i cant live with it anymore etc etc" - and you further stress out your brain and prolong the anxiety. I read a wonderful article from a man who had suffered for 4 years, trying different pills, medications, hypnotherapy etc etc - nothing worked, until one day he just decided to stop thinking about it. He went about his day, and everytime he felt a pang of anxiety (which at first will be every 4 seconds) - you just shake your head and say inside your brain "shhh! go away im fine". CONVINCE yourself your fine, dont think too hard. If you start to feel your mind wandering or you start to feel worried, quickly think of something else, make a phone call, go out.

I know it sounds so stupid, "just stop thinking about being anxious" - but it really did work for me.

Your making yourself anxious by thinking about being anxious!!!

Just try it for a few days. At the end of the day - you can and will get better. Because you were just like me, and im fine now. I get the odd panic attack (they are worsening but thats a totally unrelated problem) but overall I AM FINE. and you will be too.

[sugarbust]

Laura, thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me. Any hope, at this point, is encouraging & I appreciate your advice. I'm going to try your advice & not think about my anxiety. You're 100% right, I get anxious about having anxiety. It's so frustrating because I've never had anxiety before & nothing has every happened to me to cause it. Thank you, again!

[laura250blue]

Your SO welcome. I remember how it feels and its just awful. You feel like nobody understands how bad it is.

If you read some of the posts from members who have overcome anxiety, they all say the same thing in general - your brain is more powerful than any drug.
You honestly CAN convince yourself to stop worrying and in time the anxiety will fade. It sounds so easy and it will be a struggle but it works. Im sat here typing away, absolutley fine with no trace of anxiety (yet rewind to when i had it, i was a nail biting, terrifed wreck - like hysterical.) - it will go away.

Most important advice I could give would be dont indulge yourself in thoughts, dont ask yourself "is it gone yet?" "do i feel better yet?" "when will it go away?" "im going to feel like this forever?" etc etc....just carry on, and blast it out of your brain!! :)

Good luck with it anyway, let us know how you get on.

[sugarbust]

Hi Laura, I'm sorry to keep bugging you, just one last question. (You don't know how much I appreciate your advice & how happy I am to have found someone who went through such a similiar situation & got through it!) Do you have any suggestions on how to get my mind off of the anxiety? I constantly think about it, like 90% of my day. Any little tidbits of help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, again!

[charlosa]

That's a good idea Kev never actually thought of it that way. Sugarbust your not alone I'm dealing with thema exact same thing pretty much. Anxiety out of the blue, panic attacks at work, becoming scared to do anything pretty much. I still don't have any answers, perhaps you and I never will know whats behind it all. The only way I'm coping is believing that everything happens for a reason, even if we can't for the life of us understand the reason yet. Maybe in time. I'm trying not to expect too much of myself, small steps, gradual re introduction to work and making an effort to go out and do things even if every part of me is screaming not to.
The anxiety is always there at the back of my mind, I try not to push it out, but accept it and tell myself that its not going to beat me but for now its a part of the person I am. Sometimes you'll be ok, sometimes it'll get the bettert of you but just remember tomorrows another day.
Oh and stick with the Citalopram does make things a lot worse before you starto feel any effect

[notmyself30]

Sugarbust - my anxiety came out of no where and my panic attacks start from no reason at all. I just go to a bathroom or corner and breath really deep and say your ok, your fine, you are better than this! It's hard at first to talk yourself out of an attack but eventually you can do it! Good luck with the medication is does take a while to work. Hope you feel better soon!

[laura250blue]

Hi sugarbust... :)


I was slightly lucky in the sense that we moved house and i literally threw myself into that, i had different friends round each day to help us move and we chatted and packed and cleaned and painted - i kept myself ridiculously busy until i forgot about it for a while. (imagine if your house caught fire, and you suddenly had to evacuate everyone...anxiety wouldnt be on your mind as you would have something else in your primary train of thought)

HOWEVER: when you first start this, you will forget your anxiety for all of 23 seconds. it will come back, push it out again, switch the channel, take a shower, sing as loud as you can, anything to change the primary thought direction. Then over time, you will forget about your anxiety for say, 2 mins. then it will come back, so on and so forth. Eventually you will build this mind training to 3 mins, then 30 mins, then 3 hours etc, and from there - life begins again.

The key is to try and congratulate yourself for the sweet relief you felt when it was away, and try not to focus on it coming back as a negative thing.
For example, instead of thinking "oh god i managed to have a conversation and forgot about my anxiety but now its back! arrghhh i cant do this! it just wont go away.."

- try thinking like this "yes! i just went a whole 30 seconds without thinking about it! i can beat this. ok, what shall i do now...i think ill phone my friend/walk the dog/watch tv etc etc."

the main advice i can give you hun, is to just try to stop over indulging it. The fact you signed back onto the forum means you have been giving your anxiety too much thought...i know (and belive me i KNOW) how hard it is, from the day i decided to "stop thinking about it" - it was almost 3 months bfore it went away for good.

But use me as an example, i am 100 percent fine now and i did it without drugs, without councilling, just with the stubborn power of ignoring it. Im not even a strong person! Im just an average joe who had it terrible and managed to get rid of it. Everytime you feel it, think about my scenario. we pretty much had exactley the same experience and i managed to come out the other side. you will too!

- stop thinking about being anxious
- Never ask yourself questions (when will it go, why do i feel this way, what should i do)
-try to keep busy and if you can, enlist the help of your mrs - ask her to try and keep your mind ticking, or suggest you both go out somewhere etc.
-if you start to thoughtspiral, stop. regroup, change tack.
-when your anxeity comes back after being away for a while (even if its only 10 seconds) - be proud of yourself. "yes! i got rid of the little sucker for a bit."
and lastly....

(and this is the hardest)

- be patient. it will be hard and take time, but you have to persevere, and think of me and how i got over it to spur you on. "if she did it, why cant i?"

let me know if your still struggling. xxxx

[laura250blue]

I realised I didnt really answer your original question! (as usual...blabbering on!)

I cant really give you specific advice (short on telling you what to think!) - but you need to do anything that takes your mind away.

-watch a film, play a game if you have one (wii, ps3, xbox?), talk to people (about anything except anxiety), excersize, phone a friend,start a project, cook, bake, anything!

i know that whilst doing these activities anxiety will creep in and ruin them, but the more activated your brain is, the less time/room is has to worry. doing is better than thinking, (because our stupid brains always steer us back to anxeity!) - so try and do do do do!.