Serious anxiety issues.

I have anxiety issues. I know this. When it first started a few years ago, it was basically just panic attacks. They'd come, they'd go, I'd get on with my life. I got used to them, and was normally able to control them or make them go away within minutes. But it's getting worse - lots worse - and I'm not sure why, or what I can do to fix it. I still get panic attacks, but now I get them everyday. Sometimes more than once a day. I think part of my dizziness problem is anxiety related. Not all of it is, though. If I turn my head to quick, I get really dizzy, and that's not an anxiety thing. But I have some days where I'll be feeling really dizzy and shitty, and decide to stay home from school... but within a half hour of making the decision to stay home, I feel fine. I get random heart palpitations. Even typing this now, my chest feels really tight and I'm starting to tear up and I don't even know why. I don't even know what's causing the anxiety! I just don't get it. Is it school related? Money related? I have no idea. And I have no idea what to do about it. I pretty much refuse to take meds. I don't care how much it affects my life, I need to be off meds if I'm going to get better. I don't understand people who are all drugged up but still go to therapy - how easy is it to deal with your problems when the meds make your problems basically go away? I don't know. I tried meds once, years ago... it made therapy almost impossible. I can't really afford a therapist. I don't want to be like this. It's been affecting the quality of my life. I have this little box that I live in, and if I leave it, I lose it. I can't do this anymore. I just wish I knew what I could do to make it better. Most of all, I wish I knew what was causing my anxiety. What the fuck is wrong with me? :frown1:

Comments

I too have panic attacks, severe anxiety disorder, along with a few other related things. I take medication- its when I don't take it that my world turns upside down. On meds, its controllable and I even function (semi) normally.
2 schools of thought here I think...... that medication masks the problems, doesn't cure the underlying issues, too many side effects, etc etc-along with what you stated.
on the other hand, brains are hormonally influenced.. I believe many people were simply genetically developed with more or less of chemicals that balance moods and brain activity. Yes, I also believe external factors have an influence, but if it goes on for years and years, as mine has, chemical replacement therapy is to me no different than insulin- or also in my case, synthroid to replace my missing thyroid gland and hormone.
Speaking of which, the symptoms you describe are also symptoms of thyroid problems, might not hurt to have it checked.
Above all, remember you are not alone, you are not crazy, and the only thing wrong with you if anything must be called 'wrong' - is that you have yet to discover the diagnosis.
Take a deep breath and don't give up.
 
Not sure why you are posting your issues about panic disorder on lpsg, but I also have panic disorder. The thing that helped me most was cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). It did not cure me, but i was able to manage my attacks and prevent them from coming on. It was amazing. Even though I wasn't getting panic attacks, however, I still suffered from generalized anxiety and depression. I would have never guessed I was depressed, but I fit the clinical definition. At that point I had to start taking medication. It took a while to find the right one, but the meds are truly a miracle. There will be many who say you should be strong and beat this without medication. They don't know what you are going through. The strong thing to do is ignore that advice from friends who don't understand and seek help from a psychiatrist. Talk therapy? Forget it! It's a nice supplement to treatment, but it does not help cure/manage panic disorder.
 
Hey Sweetie. I just wanted to tell you that I suffered from a those things too and it is not fun. One guy once told me that these conditions get a little worse over the years. If you can get your doctor to write you a perscription for something you will feel much better. I take a very low dosage of Setraline 50mg (Zoloft) and it has no side effects and is very mild but I can not even tell you how much it helps. My parents were telling me it did not seem like a good idea to take it so I put it off but I wished I had not. It has made things sooo much better. There are many safe perscriptions out there now. One that works for me may not work for you but you have to experiment a lil bitand find something that works. I hope you feel better darlin.
 

Blog entry information

Author
IntoxicatingToxin
Read time
2 min read
Views
191
Comments
4
Last update

More entries in General

More entries from IntoxicatingToxin

Share this entry