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Mental Health How badly does your anxiety affect you?

It got really bad after I lost my sister. I couldn't sleep and had panic attacks for about a year. I discovered benzos and really calmed down. Every time I go off of it (1-2 week break), my anxiety is like 10x worse. I stutter when I talk, my muscles get super tense, muscle twitches. AND, I only take a low dose to help me sleep. Lameo.
 
Pretty_Diamonds said:
It got really bad after I lost my sister. I couldn't sleep and had panic attacks for about a year. I discovered benzos and really calmed down. Every time I go off of it (1-2 week break), my anxiety is like 10x worse. I stutter when I talk, my muscles get super tense, muscle twitches. AND, I only take a low dose to help me sleep. Lameo.
Click to expand...

Tolerance is a bitch.
 
beagleboy said:
by weekend addiction
source please
Click to expand...

A review of the effects of moderate alcohol intake on the treatment of anxiety and mood disorders.

BACKGROUND: There is no published review to help the clinician clarify the potential role of moderate ethanol consumption in patients being treated for anxiety and mood disorders. Product labels and textbook chapters routinely warn the individual against the consumption of ethanol when using prescription psychotropic drugs. A general understanding is that the reason for this recommendation is the potential for adverse synergistic effects or sedation and decreased psychomotor performance. What is overlooked by this emphasis on safety is the effect of alcohol use both on the underlying psychiatric disorder being treated and on the effectiveness of drug therapy.

METHOD: We review the available literature on the interactions of ethanol with neurotransmitters and psychotropic medications and explore the clinical consequences of these interactions. RESULTS: Ethanol might affect anxiety and mood disorders by different mechanisms. Principal among these are the effects of ethanol on multiple neurotransmitter systems, which adapt in different ways to the acute and/or chronic presence of ethanol. Perturbations in the balance of CNS neurotransmitter systems may modify the acute clinical course of primary mood disorders and undermine the therapeutic response to psychotropic medications. Ethanol also modifies the clearance and disposition of psychotropic metabolites and interferes with their clinical effectiveness. Neurotransmitter responses may additionally be manifested clinically by rebound phenomena, akin to a subsyndromal withdrawal, which affect sleep and precipitate anxiety and mood symptoms. Recent alcohol use also may alter the subjective interpretation of the patient's "internal milieu," causing confusion and eliciting reactive psychopathology.

CONCLUSION: While much research remains to be done, there is abundant evidence that patients with mood and anxiety disorders should abstain from even moderate ethanol use, as this adversely affects their clinical course and response to treatment.

http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/8626352/reload=0;jsessionid=qHptMOp1jYchuCXii2Mh.36
 
Often my anxiety will stop me from doing a whole variety of things I have to get done. I feel paralyzed and I find a way to escape the feelings. It is a negative feedback loop and it takes extreme conscious effort to interrupt to any degree.
 
disclaimer: contains unlady-like profanity just because it's one of those fucking days.

the way it's affected my life in the last year, especially in the last several months, has been entirely severe and soul-destroying.
more torturous yet: it's a tie!
between:
*how fucking sincerely I wish 'soul-destroying' was exaggeration,
and
*how infuriating it is to logically understand that although there's no reason for it - here I am fucking frozen in movement and short on breath.
now the grand prize for absolute worst effect: knowing the price someone pays for just loving me so far exceeds the reward.
it's one thing to disappoint yourself, but quite another to consistently disappoint and pain your loved ones.
 
It's not debilitating. I just shy away from every social situation that is not known territory for me. As if it has frozen me in place a few years ago and stops me from moving forward both in social advances and life in general. I'm now 25 and at a point where I should've been 5 years ago. I'm not moving forward in any way anymore and if I do seem to start to move forward slowly I always find a way, either consciously or unconsciously, to stop that progress and get out of that new territory back to a place I know and am confident in. Physically it's causing muscle tensions in my abs and shoulders and my digestive track is completely screwed up all the time. But I'm lucky I've only got moderate anxiety, it's not crippling my entire life, just holding me back a lot

*edit* and I completely agree with tokenname when she says
how infuriating it is to logically understand that although there's no reason for it -here I am fucking frozen in movement and short on breath.
Click to expand...
I KNOW I have no reason to think this way, I KNOW I'm just a regular human being like everybody else but as soon as I have to put that thought into practice this little voice in the back of my head talks me down to a point where I'm to scared to take action because I've managed to convince myself I am not and I will fail...
 
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BlueBull said:
*edit* and I completely agree with tokenname when SHE says
Click to expand...
fixed now;)

prior to the last year or so - its always been very cyclical for me . and when it's bad i'm
so very physically affected by it. belly worst of all..
yes..thank you for understanding..most don't -
that part is definitely most frustrating..i'm not such an idiot that i don't comprehend how illogical it is.
but 34 years now and still i'm helpless to change it.
the way my body is wired.. by the time the adrenaline hits..it's already too late.
even when I calm myself a bit..and able to get a deep breathe or two in..
physically, i'm still fucked for days after.
it's just what's worst ..to give everything and still disappoint and hurt someone i love..
when it's entirely overwhelming and i'm too weak to overcome..
it's just a fucking curse. i don't care how self-pitying it comes off..it's entirely unfair
and anyone who says differently hasn't felt this yet.
 
Been drinking daily for about 2 yrs now. At first it was for fun, then my anxiety hit the roof and I'm drinking to keep it down/feel happy. I don't really know how to feel happy without a chemical doing it for me.

Lately my anxiety is so bad that I live in fear of having another panic attack. I carry a beer in my car (unopened, in my trunk) so that if I ever need it (alcohol stops my panic attacks, i don't like benzos) it's there. I'm a little concerned about how much I'm drinking. It's not a large quantity, just the frequency worries me. I just want my life back to where I don't worry about having a panic attack. If I wasn't worried that a panic attack would kill me, I'd be fine. But I'm afraid that it would. I know it's all in my head. So I feel like shit that I haven't overcome it yet.
 
tokenname said:
fixed now;)

prior to the last year or so - its always been very cyclical for me . and when it's bad i'm
so very physically affected by it. belly worst of all..
yes..thank you for understanding..most don't -
that part is definitely most frustrating..i'm not such an idiot that i don't comprehend how illogical it is.
but 34 years now and still i'm helpless to change it.
the way my body is wired.. by the time the adrenaline hits..it's already too late.
even when I calm myself a bit..and able to get a deep breathe or two in..
physically, i'm still fucked for days after.
it's just what's worst ..to give everything and still disappoint and hurt someone i love..
when it's entirely overwhelming and i'm too weak to overcome..
it's just a fucking curse. i don't care how self-pitying it comes off..it's entirely unfair
and anyone who says differently hasn't felt this yet.
Click to expand...
I see, I will remember that you are a woman, fixed it in the original post too :)
I can relate to what you're saying. The illogicality of it all is still baffling to me. I know for a fact that I have a lot of positive sides, because my friends really enjoy my company. But they are people I've known for years, before my anxiety became a real influence on my life. They are people I've felt comfortable with from before it started to influence me a lot. As soon as a stranger interacts with me I shut down. I give off the impression of being dumb, insecure, awkward,... which I am at that moment, but that is not my true self. My true self is hidden by that little voice that keeps telling me I'm no good as soon as I suspect someone is judging me (eg. meeting a girl, giving a presentation, talking to someone new at work,...) It sucks big time because I know I can be so much more than that. I hate the person I become when the anxiety kicks in and I love the person I am in those very rare moments it doesn't while interacting with someone new. This does happen but those are a very rare kind of people. Usually people that are even more insecure than I am, which calms me down because I notice they are even more nervous talking to me than I am talking to them. I even had situations where I've calmed someone like that down by showing them I too am very nervous around them, imagine that =D

I was wondering, have you found any therapy/medication that really helped you? I'm just now entering a stage where I can admit I have a problem and want to do something about it. I've lived with it for too long and I've missed too much in life because of it. I want out but don't know where to start. In a month I have an appointment with a psych, we'll see how that goes...

*edit* oh and where a lot of people mention alcohol really helps their anxiety I am no big drinker. So I've found refuge in weed, which I abused for years and years. It helped me a lot but the last few years caused more problems than it solved. So now I've quit, which made the anxiety rear up in full force once again. I noticed recently I was in public transport and there were A LOT of people around me. My entire body tensed up, started sweating and I was even afraid to breath too loud in case it "disturbed" someone. What the $%@£. Not very fun...
 
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I would say its the #1 reason for my opiate addiction and the horrible financial situation I am in as a result of the habit.

I struggle to develop new friendships, I have my good friends who I have known for years and we still chill, but otherwise most people I meet I find the friendship to never evolve to the hanging out and chilling level. Its either we are friends through work, and just at work, or its people I meet through my good friends who I would only hang out with if I am hanging with the good friend of mine.

And of course relationships with the opposite gender I tend to struggle to take them to the next level. My social anxiety most certainly prevents me from approaching strangers and getting dates, most have been with girls I met through friends. Many times drunken hook ups have led to me never following thru to develop a relationship because of anxiety, even if it was a good experience. In most cases the relationships have been facilitated by the girl and I was not as into it, which I then avoid it getting serious and it typically ends in an amicable decision to call it off. I for one have no desire to date someone unless there is truly a strong mutual connection. I will not torture myself or the other person trying to carry on a relationship in which one side or perhaps both sides are not truly happy. But I can tell you I can't count on one hand the many times I was indecisive in making a move on a girl who I liked and got positive vibes from, but was too anxious to make the move or really believe I was sensing they had interest in me...only to later on convince myself(or in 1 or 2 cases where I was straight up told by someone else) that it would have worked out well.
 
Anxiety can decrease the quality of life greatly. Doctors should take the treatment anxiety seriously. I have personal experience on having my anxiety overlooked by the health care. 8)
 
BlueBull said:
I see, I will remember that you are a woman, fixed it in the original post too :)
I can relate to what you're saying. The illogicality of it all is still baffling to me. I know for a fact that I have a lot of positive sides, because my friends really enjoy my company. But they are people I've known for years, before my anxiety became a real influence on my life. They are people I've felt comfortable with from before it started to influence me a lot. As soon as a stranger interacts with me I shut down. I give off the impression of being dumb, insecure, awkward,... which I am at that moment, but that is not my true self. My true self is hidden by that little voice that keeps telling me I'm no good as soon as I suspect someone is judging me (eg. meeting a girl, giving a presentation, talking to someone new at work,...) It sucks big time because I know I can be so much more than that. I hate the person I become when the anxiety kicks in and I love the person I am in those very rare moments it doesn't while interacting with someone new. This does happen but those are a very rare kind of people. Usually people that are even more insecure than I am, which calms me down because I notice they are even more nervous talking to me than I am talking to them. I even had situations where I've calmed someone like that down by showing them I too am very nervous around them, imagine that =D

I was wondering, have you found any therapy/medication that really helped you? I'm just now entering a stage where I can admit I have a problem and want to do something about it. I've lived with it for too long and I've missed too much in life because of it. I want out but don't know where to start. In a month I have an appointment with a psych, we'll see how that goes...

*edit* oh and where a lot of people mention alcohol really helps their anxiety I am no big drinker. So I've found refuge in weed, which I abused for years and years. It helped me a lot but the last few years caused more problems than it solved. So now I've quit, which made the anxiety rear up in full force once again. I noticed recently I was in public transport and there were A LOT of people around me. My entire body tensed up, started sweating and I was even afraid to breath too loud in case it "disturbed" someone. What the $%@£. Not very fun...
Click to expand...
do you think that's where your anxiety stems from? insecurity?
or is it the other way around? or do i not know what i'm talking about?
i have zero doubt that i was born this way. absolutely as far back as i can remember..
but it definitely was potentiated by life.
i've not had any therapy which has made any difference for me..
anti-depressants are a joke for my situation..really less than useless..
but having Xanax during an acute anxiety attack is the closest i've ever come to a holy experience. ;)
also diazepam is dreamy in every way..and is excellent at keeping my craziness at a steady, even level.
i don't much enjoy drinking poison, but there are times where i just need to breathe..
i'm a regular mj smoker...and there are times where it seems to help..
and others where it seems to enhance the anxiety..which is pretty typical, i think.
it infuriates me that this is something that has just pretty literally taken over my entire fucking life at this point..
i wish i had some great lesson i've learned or any kind of tip to give you to help deal with living with it..
but god..i just don't. i hope now that you see it's affecting your life and you're looking for help..
i hope you can find some relief from somewhere or someone or something. good luck <3
 
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tokenname said:
do you think that's where your anxiety stems from? insecurity?
or is it the other way around.
i have zero doubt that i was born this way. absolutely as far back as i can remember..
but it definitely was potentiated by life.
i've not had any therapy which has made any difference for me..
anti-depressants are a joke for my situation..really less than useless..
but having Xanax during an acute anxiety attack is the closest i've ever come to a holy experience. ;)
also diazepam is dreamy in every way..and is excellent at keeping my craziness at a steady, even level.
i don't much enjoy drinking poison, but there are times where i just need to breathe..
i'm a regular mj smoker...and there are times where it seems to help..
and others where it seems to enhance the anxiety..which is pretty typical, i think.
it infuriates me that this is something that has just pretty literally taken over my fucking life at this point..
i wish i had some great lesson i've learned or any kind of tip to give you to help deal with living this way..
but god..i just don't. i hope now that you admit it's affecting your life and that you're looking for help..
i hope you can find some relief from somewhere or someone. good luck <3
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply, really :) I think the anxiety<->insecurity is just a vicious cycle. I've always been a tad anxious, indeed I think I was born that way. Life amplified this, which in turn amplified the anxiety which in turn... and the cycle goes on and on. I've been in therapy before when I was a few years younger for other, related issues (being bullied in school) and that didn't help one bit so I'm hoping to find something, either therapy or medication that helps me. We'll see. The mj helped for a few years but for a year or 2 before I quit did nothing but amplify the inner tension I have, or i'd have to smoke insane amounts.
I again thank you for your kind words, you seem like a nice and caring person. I wish you all the best and I hope you too find some relief from this little demon that seems to haunt so many of us. I haven't found it but I believe there must be a way, this can't be the way some of us are meant to live...
 
tokenname said:
do you think that's where your anxiety stems from? insecurity?
or is it the other way around? or do i not know what i'm talking about?
i have zero doubt that i was born this way. absolutely as far back as i can remember..
but it definitely was potentiated by life.
i've not had any therapy which has made any difference for me..
anti-depressants are a joke for my situation..really less than useless..
but having Xanax during an acute anxiety attack is the closest i've ever come to a holy experience. ;)
also diazepam is dreamy in every way..and is excellent at keeping my craziness at a steady, even level.
i don't much enjoy drinking poison, but there are times where i just need to breathe..
i'm a regular mj smoker...and there are times where it seems to help..
and others where it seems to enhance the anxiety..which is pretty typical, i think.
it infuriates me that this is something that has just pretty literally taken over my entire fucking life at this point..
i wish i had some great lesson i've learned or any kind of tip to give you to help deal with living with it..
but god..i just don't. i hope now that you see it's affecting your life and you're looking for help..
i hope you can find some relief from somewhere or someone or something. good luck <3
Click to expand...

I like how you mentioned alcohol
I find it's the best drug to deal with anxiety.
I have one or two strong beers and I can go do whatever I want and feel completely unrestricted, like I'm suddenly able to do what I keep wanting to do without worrying or having second thoughts about it
Alcohol makes me a better person and has a positive effect on me each time, the way I feel on it is how I imagine coke to be, only with a stimulating effect too.
It opens me up and I can talk to people or do things myself, to the point where people who know me well are shocked by how I suddenly change. Fuck them.
 
Anxiety and your period

Ladies-

Do you find that you experience increased anxiety either before or during your period?

Lately my anxiety has spiked dramatically and the only thing I can really relate it to is my period because I am scheduled to get it any day now...

It's making me not even want to leave the house that's how bad my anxiety is right now.
 
I don't..but it's pretty common..and generally treated with the well known benzos.
when it comes down to it, anxiety's always a bitch..
but when you're to the point of not being able to leave the house it's time to tell the md.
you hopefully are already seeing and can afford.
good luck<3
 
I've just started diazepam which helps loads , keeps my head on track,
Never tried alcohol though , cuz my social anxiety Is still bad, even wheni know what to day something in my chest flutters and tells me to stop aha :/
 
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