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Anxiety going...going...almost gone - how to keep away?

This last five or six weeks has been a difficult time in our household. I started with a breathing issue that prevented me from sleeping - I would wake up out of breath, like I had stopped breathing. Fortunately, and thanks to advice from people here and elsewhere, I moved quickly to deal with the things causing anxiety. I identified the things that cause anxiety and found most of them were things from my past that I could deal with. I learned to breathe deeply. I practice meditation when I can. I spend a lot of time at the park watching the water flow by. I've kept a journal for the last month about my feelings. I took xanax for a week, but I'm at the end of that - my Dr. gave me a very short term supply to get me over a speed bump. Besides, it makes me weak and faint - I really don't like taking it, though it helped a lot at the time.

And slowly but surely, every week I can say there has been improvement. I no longer wake up out of breath, I can take naps in the afternoon of up to 20 minutes. My body is re-learning that it's OK to sleep. I'm reducing my ambien dosage (my Dr. gave me ambien to sleep - it has saved my life), though I will likely take a month to get completely off of the stuff. I'm down to 15mg right now - a tablet and a half at bedtime gives me about 6-7 hours of sleep and sometimes I can snooze for another hour or two.

I'm not there - but I'm working on it. The end is in sight. So how do I end this? How do I put my anxiety to rest and keep it away?
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Avatar universal
man,i am going through the same thing you went through.i  been through it going on  4 weeks .it started on my job,it ended like i have breathing problems.but it was my mind.i went to my doctor.he put me on perox.this is my second day on perox.im am starting to feel a little bit of a difference.i am bout to be back in effect again.doing things i use to do.i am starting to think positive of my self.
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Avatar universal
Today was not as good of a day as I might have hoped. But yeah, I'm OK, and just need to keep doing what I've been doing. I have to remind myself that sometimes.
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stop thinking there is something wrong when you know you are ok really, keep up what you are doing you're doing really well by the sounds of it.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for your comments. Up until about six weeks ago, I never once had any anxiety that I was aware of - no chest pains, no sleep problems, no breathing problems. It just hit me like a ton of bricks. Because of this, I'm optimistic it will all go away, and if it tries to come back I know how to handle it.

Did you take any medications? How did you deal with your anxiety?
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Avatar universal
I believe anxiety can definitely ebb and flow. I went through a period of years without any major flare ups. I believe that recognizing the patterns and how anxiety affects you can go a long way in dealing with it. Also, in my experience with this, I also believe that it is important not to focus on the bad days. There are setbacks, but just remember what is working for you. Keep us posted!  
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Arlington, VA
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Arlington, WA
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