Will I ever feel "normal" again?

[emc3]

I have had what I have come to the conclusion is anxiety for about two years now. It started out with a few sporadic panic attacks and then I was fine for a while with just small episodes here and there. Just recently, it's gotten incredibly worse. I feel anxious everyday!!! My heart beats irregularly and fast. I tense all my muscles. I have a hard time concentrating. I have a hard time sleeping, which makes me tired all the time. I have a hard time swallowing, to the point where sometimes I actually can't. I feel like I am going to faint. I think I am going to die. I fear something horrible is going to happen. I try to concentrate on my breathing, but it only seems to make it worse!  I use to be able to walk myself out of it, but that just doesn't seem to be the case anymore. I tend to be a fairly social person, but as of late, I am becoming more and more withdrawn. I talk with my friends about it in hopes that they won't think I am crazy. The seem to be supportive, but I don't think that they can really understand the totality of what I am going through. I try to avoid things that trigger panic and live my life at the same time, but it seems as though everything seems to trigger panic at this point! Unfortunately I don't make a ton of money, nor do I have insurance. I would love to see a doctor and therapist, but financially it just seems impossible at this point. It would just be nice to have someone to talk to who understands. I fear that this is my life now forever and it's making me depressed, angry, and embarrassed. I want this to go away!!! I just want to feel "normal" again!!!

[adam2272]

So I've been dealing with this now for a few years. I get to the point where I wake up with full blown anxiety, until I fall asleep. The biggest thing now is my cognitive abibility and confusion. I feel like i am stupid. I can't commuicate with people without getting paninky and weak. I just started Klonopin .5mg and wanted to know if anyone had tried this route and could this be contributing to my memory loss or will it get better maybe?

[MartineMoreau]

Yes, you can feel back like your old self again but you'll always have anxiety lingering you just need to learn your symptomes and accept them as anxiety. Seems simple in words but I know it isn't. I've taken meds for 3 days to help me over a hump cause I was getting so bad I couldn't do my job I was so focused on my symptomes and thinking I was going to die at everyone. I've went to the ER and had a multitude of tests done. Each normal results helped me a bit but I still would question the results. Writing on here was a therapy in itself, knowing I wasn't alone helped some days I wrote everyday just to get that comfort. I would also talk about this to my spouse and my parents, there were there for me but no one really understood me and how I felt. I had to tell them what I needed from them. But it is hard for them too cause all they hear is the same thing over and over. There are crisis lines available (I'm in Canada and there is a Crisis line number I'd have to find it if you are Canadian) and help groups.

Here is what helped me. I'm not fully out of the woods but really close and I did it without meds, except for that 3 days. I stopped cause I didn't like the side effects and was afraid of the dependance it could do.

Looking on the internet I found the ONE MOVE TECHNIQUE from Joe Barry, it's expensive but helpful, if you don't have money they have a free news letter that is a bit less detailed then the book but is super helpful. The news letter was my first step.

Then I found tapping. It's a technique where you tap accupunture spots with a phrase and it helps realine your energy levels. It's long and repetitive, I didn't find much help but it's a great distraction when your having a panic attack, helps them go away.

Then I've never been super religious but I found this great old book with lots of prayers to help with different things and one was for anxiety. I would say this prayer morning and night and whenever I felt panicky. It helped me loads.

I've also seen a therapist just talking helped me realise some bottled up things I had. Not only did it help deal with anxiety but it helped me deal with other things as well.

Hang in there look on the internet there are lots of help out there.

[bbycrissy]

Hey all =]
my heart goes out to all of you because we are all battling this monster together!
Ive had anxiety for about 2 years now and from the day I was diagnosed its only gotten better, which im very thankful for.
But of course, it took alot of hardword and mind over matter type of stuff.
When I was first diagnosed, I kept going to the docter for a solution, and they were really quick to throw meds at me. Which of course thats how they make there money.
personally, ive never been a fan, of taking medicine or anything but at this point I was severly depressed and anxious since I went from being a very out going sociable person to being cooped up in my room, terrified of even going down the street to the store in fear of having anuther panic attack.
So i finally caved in, decided to take cimbalta, the symptoms were too much to take. So my docter gave my lexapro, which only made me feel like a zombie.
I was losing hope, thought my life was guna end until one day I decided to do some research for natural anxiety and depression supplements.
Then I came across this website www.amoryn.com I read everything on the website because I was skeptical of course but hey I had nothing else to lose, I ordered amoryn. which is an all natural anti anxiety/depression pill made with natural ingrediants, Hyperforin
, 5-HTP, Rhodiola Rosea, B vitamins, selenium, vitamin d3, zinc, vitamin c. thats everything that is in this pill. you can even go to the website urself and read what it has to say.
so I recieved it finally, started taking it. I got NO SYMPTOMS. and as the days started passing, I started to feel much bette! my depression was going awayy and I started to feel more like myself. =D I was so thankful for coming across this website, because I think it turelly saved my life.
now that the depression went away, I still dealt with panic attacks frequently, so I looked at this other all natural supplement that they also carry called SEREDYN.
seredyn is made to stop panic attacks rite as your getting one.
when you start to get that racing heartbeat, take one, and it IMMEDIATLY calms you down and gives you a sense of tranquility and control.
it also prevents you from having any. Thats why id take one in the morning before I left the house, or id just take one when I felt panicked =].
seredyn contains, L-Theanine, Passion Flower, Valerian, Niacinamide, and Magnesium Taurinate. al these are natural herbal ingrediants tht work amazing together to calm you down =D
the cost is about $20 dollers or so for amoryn, and about $30 dollers if you buy it on amazon.com
what ever the price may be, trust me. ITS WORTH EVERY PENNY!
with thecombination of these two amazing supplements, I was able to get my life back!
dont get me wrong, I still have my ups and downs with anxiety, but I think thats just life and its normal lol.
well If you acually took the time to read this, thanks for listening and I hope you give these a try, because they worked for me, so im pretty sure that they will work for you aswell =]]

best of luck to everyone<3

[bbycrissy]

sorry lol I made a typo.
The seredyn is about $30 dollers on amazon.
oh and I forgawt to mention that there are no withdrawl symptoms if you decide to stop taking them.
non-addictive.
I need to buy more seredyn, since im starting college again in fall lol

[Cory100]

My anxiety i had since grade 8... now i am 23 i controlled the attacks but i feel like my breathing is all out of wack i feel like i am gonna die each day i wake up nothing but having negative thoughts go threw my mind its hard to get a job to make new friend. I am blessed that i have my gf  to some what support me but she will never know what i  am going through i just feel like i breath bad now cause i think i have lung cancer or sum **** i never smoked day in my life and i am active.... Anxiety ***** 12 years of anxiety stress and i am a hypochondriac fun stuff always thinking i have illness so what i am trying to say does anyone feel like there breathing is very shallow and ***** always without the attack.?

[momnursesisterwife]

Your prognosis for recovery (without medication) is excellent with the right treatment.  A good therapist, the right diet and exercise (of course) and learning the right skills to deal with your anxiety and depression.  I had lived with this for years and had read countless self help books about anxiety and depression.  The key to unlocking the mystery of why this is happening to me and how do I rid myself of it came from a austrlan psychiatrist named Claire Weekes, nominiated for a nobel prize for her work.  Get her used audio cd on panic/anxiety for $10 on amazon.com.  This is where all treatment for this condition should begin!