Anxiety and Solutions

[Evelynne]

[Evelynne]

How many of you suffer with anxiety? I learned recently that I have it quite bad….it’s probably the reason I have IBS, which is a not-so-pleasant gut condition. 🙁

So, what do you do to deal with anxiety? What do you find works for you? I would like to find solutions that don’t involve drugs.

I’ve already started a diary where I write out what’s bugging me, why I think I’m stressing, and then I try to end each entry with positive affirmations.

[Laurie]

I suffer from IBS and anxiety which has gotten pretty bad as of late. Before I could manage by taking some time out during the week to do something I enjoy like go on a hike or just sit outside and watch the local wildlife. I also play World of Warcraft to unwind at the end of the day. Now I can’t manage without taking medication which has helped me quite a bit and to my surprise I don’t feel drugged from it. I really didn’t want to take any medication but my normal routine wasn’t helping my stress levels anymore. If you really feel you can’t manage your anxiety anymore you could always try medication and see how it makes you feel. I was very surprised at how well they have worked for me and I feel perfectly normal.

[Evelynne]

purpledoggy wrote:

I suffer from IBS and anxiety which has gotten pretty bad as of late. Before I could manage by taking some time out during the week to do something I enjoy like go on a hike or just sit outside and watch the local wildlife. I also play World of Warcraft to unwind at the end of the day. Now I can’t manage without taking medication which has helped me quite a bit and to my surprise I don’t feel drugged from it. I really didn’t want to take any medication but my normal routine wasn’t helping my stress levels anymore. If you really feel you can’t manage your anxiety anymore you could always try medication and see how it makes you feel. I was very surprised at how well they have worked for me and I feel perfectly normal.

Thanks for the advice purpledoggy. Are you taking Xanax? Everyone I speak to about it says doctors give it out like candy if you have anxiety…which makes it sound relatively safe. 😕 Does it work on a need basis or do you have to take it daily?
Thanks so much for sharing your story.

[LadyFirebird]

There seemed to be a time where I suffered from anxiety but it was mild compared to what you’re suffering. Like purpledoggy, I was my husband’s caregiver and just everything stressed me. There was a project he started before things happened to him that I had to help finish up and it was costing us money. I would lie in bed and all of a sudden just feel this awful rush–heart racing and sick to my stomach about everything going on. I still feel anxious now and then but not like that! My husband has since passed away and I noticed things over the years where I have little health issues here and there. Never undermine stress–it takes it’s toll big time! I’m just beginning to feel better and yes I still have my aggravations but at least I don’t wake up at night with my heart racing!

But purpledoggy’s earlier advice about taking time out is a good one. I was one of these always trying to help out blah, blah, blah so I had to stop that. You have to be selfish sometimes to take care of yourself. So take time out to do something you enjoy, whatever it may be. Next week I plan on treating myself to a nice lunch and getting an ice cream cake afterwards to take home! Silly but I look forward to it. Plan stuff like that–fun stuff that seems silly but you thoroughly enjoy. I hope that takes the edge off and hopefully your IBS will not be a problem anymore. 🙂

[NirvanaCat13]

I’m a big video game person myself, mostly RPGs which usualy have more story, adventuring and puzzle solving and less stress than say Call of Duty, and they usualy have really pretty environments to play in, so I play those to relax. I also play World of Warcraft, but sometimes the player/player interaction is too much, so I turn to my PS2 or gameboy. I also find that multi-stimulus helps me when I get anxious too, basically making your brain focus on more than one thing so it doesn’t start thinking about what makes you anxious. Picking something, or a couple things that will take all your concentration, like for me movies are relaxing, and so is crosstitching and sketching, so I’ll pop a movie in that I don’t have to “watch” and work on my crosstitch, or put on some music and read. Anyway, hope that helps some. And don’t be afraid to try medication if it gets too bad, nothing says you have to be on it forever!

[machineguts]

Hi Dragons, I definitely understand! I’ve had an anxiety disorder most of my life, and until recently I never did much about them. It wasn’t until a few years ago that they were starting to get out of control. Nearly every day I was having panic attacks, and any little thing would trigger them. It got to the point where I couldn’t even leave the house without worrying that I would have another panic attack on the highway and have to pull over again, sitting there all by myself with tunnel vision and the sensation that I was about to pass out. I wouldn’t go anywhere because I knew once I started driving down the street I would somehow manage to psyche myself into panic. A lot of it stems from the OCD, but of course it goes deeper than that. For years I refused to take medication for any of this, but the panic attacks were becoming such a handicap that I had to make changes fast.

It’s coming up on a year now that I’ve been on Prozac. My doctor put me on this to address both the anxiety & OCD. I can’t say it’s helped much with the OCD habits, but I can tell you that it has helped tremendously with the anxiety. I haven’t had an anxiety attack in over a year now! Now I’m not saying you should go to your doctor and get on Prozac, as everyone’s situation is very different from others. But I can certainly understand why you want to try a route without drugs first. I was like that for years until I just couldn’t cope anymore. In the meantime, I can share with you a few of the things that helped me when anxiety or panic was setting in.

Drink ice cold water, and/or pour it over your head. This directs all of your attention to the sensation of how cold the water is. It sounds weird, but trust me it works. You might shake a bit, not just from the cold temperature, but also from the initial shock of an immediate shift in self awareness.

If you feel your chest tightening and/or you are having trouble breathing from anxiety, get a brown paper bag, wring the top and breathe into and out of the bag. This recycles the carbon that you are breathing, and will naturally help to slow the heart rate down.

There are also some very good books available on anxiety and different ways that it can be self treated. I highly suggest “Beyond Anxiety and Phobia: A Step-by-Step Guide to Lifetime Recovery” by Edmund J. Bourne. Even if your anxiety is a relatively new development, this is one of the best books I have found on the subject. It has tons of helpful information, things you can do for self treatment, exorcises for your mind, etc.

Unfortunately, none of these resources will cure your addiction to Windstones. 😀

[drag0nfeathers]

I know I must suffer from it as well. I get stress head aches and chest pains… I don’t know if it’s anxiety or just major stress. I get the eye twitchies at work all the time. Bah!

The best solution I find it either a *mental health day* at home by myself with NO TO DOs while snuggling up with my animals and watching movies and stuffing my face with nummy snacks or…. buying Windstones always does the trick too until I realize how much I spent.

I’m not making light of the situation by any means. My coworker is crazy ridiculous with anxiety. So much so she has attacks and needs to leave work sometimes. I guess I deal with stress well given certain aspects of my life, but I usually just try to tell myself that at least I’m not stricken with illness, I have a roof over my head, and I’m not starving. As long as I can still keep my animals and a few of my most favorite Windstones, my life could ALWAYS get much worse.

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[Evelynne]

drag0nfeathers wrote:

I know I must suffer from it as well. I get stress head aches and chest pains… I don’t know if it’s anxiety or just major stress. I get the eye twitchies at work all the time. Bah!

The best solution I find it either a *mental health day* at home by myself with NO TO DOs while snuggling up with my animals and watching movies and stuffing my face with nummy snacks or…. buying Windstones always does the trick too until I realize how much I spent.

I’m not making light of the situation by any means. My coworker is crazy ridiculous with anxiety. So much so she has attacks and needs to leave work sometimes. I guess I deal with stress well given certain aspects of my life, but I usually just try to tell myself that at least I’m not stricken with illness, I have a roof over my head, and I’m not starving. As long as I can still keep my animals and a few of my most favorite Windstones, my life could ALWAYS get much worse.

Thanks I definitely try to relax but the problem lately has been increased anxiety over upper abdominal pain. It’s like gnawing and burning sensations. I’ve already had tests done for problems like these, everything comes back negative all the time (even EGD) so I think it might be anxiety actually causing it to return.
I’m going to talk to my gp about possibly using some kind of med even though I’d rather not. I seem to have problems lately getting the anxiety under control.

Thanks everyone for all your support! I really do appreciate it! *hugs*

[Pegasi1978]

Another option (if you can afford it) would be to talk to a licensed therapist/psychiatrist. They might be able to help you work through the problems so they aren’t problems anymore.

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