I definitely will. Libraries are so peaceful anyways!
Thank you so so so much birdie! That is such a huge help, I'm not a fan of any kind of medication, if anything I do try to stick to natural remedies when I come down with a sickness. I will definitely look into the link, as of now I am researching therapists in my area. I live in kind of a rural area in Hawaii so searching for any kind of decent therapist is going to be a challenge, but I'm willing to do the research. I found a good site online that talks about different yoga poses specifically for anxiety, and "grounding" techniques that help one with anxiety to stay out of their head and more in their body. I guess the grounding technique helps to solve the problem at it's source...the brain. So I'm going to try those different techniques as well. Thank you so much, seriously I can't express how grateful I am for everyone's advice!
Actually I was referring to avoiding anti-anx meds until you have exhausted all other approaches, but of course sleeping pills should be minimized except when you need them and going without sleep for more than one night is a definite need. I take 10 mg of doxepin which is 1/6 the normal dose for its intended purpose and several docs have prescribed it for me for a decade because its side effect is drowsiness and combatting itch which is also a problem for me. I never needed a sleep aid until 50 but (read your nerves deteriorate with age and insomnia can result) have gone off this numerous times only to go back on again a month or even 2 later after missing a whole night's sleep about once a week - it isn't worth it healthwise to go without sleep, not to mention the extreme inconvenience when I have to rearrange my schedule the next day.
So if you need one sleep aid once in a while that is ok, but beyond that, you should look into some sleep therapy - last I heard CBT was the standard of care for this issue. It is often useful to combat your anxiety too, and I am guessing you might be able to do it from a book. YOur pharmacist can show you OTC's that have the same sleep ingredients as the OTC sleep pills, but are cheaper but they have extra medication intended for things like stuffy breathing. Go figure. I never tried herbals but might look into that, since it will be easy to objectively measure if it works. One problem with prescribed sleeping pills other than the fact users CAN develop a reliance on them is the effect stops after a while but people keep taking them because when they try to stop the side effects make them think they need the pill to sleep even though that is not the case if it isn't working so well - I can't remember the whole story how this problem occurs but doc can explain it if it is true.
Here is a link to anx resources.
http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Mental-Health/Anxiety-and-Panic-Resources--Books--Websites--Self-Help-Programs/show/1285?cid=60
Thank you so much MattyTaylor! I would love to hear your coping strategies, so I might try them to see if they could work for me. What I've been doing to keep these symptoms at bay, is talk myself out of the anxiety. Knowing that it is not going to hurt me or run my life. It seems to help A LOT! Like they say, mind over matter right? Write back, would love to chat to make each other feel better.
I definitely do not want to jump to medication, I'm just trying to weigh out my options because I hate feeling this way. But yes, thank you for the advice. I have been researching good therapists in my area. What seems to help is accepting that what my symptoms are, are anxiety and telling myself that I will not allow anxiety to rule my life. The reason why I have been taking sleep aid is because I had midterm exams and I knew I needed the sleep in order to function properly. The uncomfortable feelings come and go, but they especially hit hard when I try to relax and wind down for the day. I do work out to burn off extra energy that has built up. Thank you so much for the advice, talking to people who know what your going through is a HUGE help!
I'm going to echo the sentiments above. Like you said, we are sharing pretty much the same symptoms and for the past two weeks I've been dead set on thinking it was something bigger than it probably was/is (IBS). Despite what the doctors said, I would stay in my little anxiety hole and look up symptoms of every possible thing I could have. Anxiety itself is just making me feel this way. Try being around people more, talking to people helps, so try being around friends even more? I'm still working on this myself so I can only tell you what I'm going to be trying to do myself. Stay calm and do whatever you can that helps ease your mind! (:
I think you should pause a minute here. It seems you turn to medication quickly -- one bout of not sleeping and you're taking pills. We've all had nervous times, for most people they pass and you move on. The fact this is lingering suggests your mind is attaching to them, which can indicate the beginning of an anxiety problem, but medication is no picnic. It should only be used if absolutely necessary. If you must do something I'd go see a therapist who specializes in anxiety and can teach you relaxation techniques -- and even before that I'd make sure I was getting enough exercise and learn to meditate, which is great for school pressure. Birdie gives good counsel -- if you make this into a huge thing, a huge thing it will be. Don't be in such a rush to have a huge thing.
Hello! Thank you so much for responding. I know it doesn't seem like it, but I have been trying to forget about the symptoms by distracting myself or putting my attention elsewhere. Cleaning, organizing and surprisingly talking to people is the only things that make the issues go away. The frustrating part is when I try to relax, sleep, or concentrate on school work, my symptoms come back with a vengeance. I pretty positive that what I am experiencing is anxiety, so I probably should see a doctor to get information on some sort of medication that can ease my symptoms so I can at least function normally again.
Likely you had the "symptoms" before but ignored them because you knew there was nothing wrong with you, but now you are treating each as a potential clue to a mystery disease and can't forget about them. Other than seeing doc for a diagnosis that you can believe in, the secret to peace is to consider you likely have no problem and to ignore the symptoms to see if they disappear. Write back.