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Anxious all the time

I just wanted to ask is is possible to have anxiety symptoms all the time even at home? I get dizzy and lightheaded at home just watching tv or doing anything i can't relax to sleep and i wake up anxious. When i am out and panic i can accept that its panic and sometimes deal with it, but at home i don't expect to be anxious so the symptoms scare me, my ears get sensitive to every noise and then i think that something is wrong with me i have had anxiety and panic for 18yrs and had CBT and it did help but 7 weeks ago i took a bad panic attack and ever since the panic has been terrible, i had to even stop driving for a while. I have been trying so hard to push myself to get out and it has helped a bit but i just wondered is it possible to have anxiety symptoms all the time or is something else wrong with me i have been to my doctors so many times and he said its anxiety but i still worry its not.
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Avatar universal
Yes it's possible to feel anxious all the time, even at home.. I live the same situation than you now!!!

Severe panic disorder with agoraphobia, OCD, social phobia. name it, I have all of them.

When i'm out of the house, I expect to feel anxious and have a panic attack, especially in a public place or in a car ( I also stop driving since more than 9 months now and have panic as a passenger, can't be in a car on a highway, always small roads...).

At home, before the last year, I was always not anxious and very well... but everything start to be worse when my parents leave the house for the whole july month for a trip in the Europe... I was alone at home and start having panic attacks and I start also to have chronic anxiety symptoms at home as well... the same symptoms that I had when I was out of the house in the past (tension headache, palpitations, tachycardia, tingling sensations, chest pain, dizziness...)... all those symptoms appear when I was at home and got worse the last fall and this winter... Now I can't stay alone at home, if I have to be alone I need to talk on the phone with a friend... if not I have severe panic attacks... I can't take my shower because of the fast pulse rate, can't have a bowel movement if i'm alone also, i'm dealing with gaz, bloating symptoms, heart related anxiety symptoms all the times, dizziness all the time, depersonalization feeling... can't watch a movie or stay for a long time in front of my computer cause my head hurt a lot and the dizziness is worse after...I have muscles pain all the time, legs pain, numbness in the left arm, numb hands all the time also... and the list goes on...

What kind of meds your Doc want you on??? Meds can help sometimes... some peoples do well with a Therapist only, but others with more severe anxiety need help from meds... I admit that i'm also afraid of meds now because of bad experience in the past with them... but they can help ;-)

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12892773 tn?1431645057
Hello-

First I want to say I am so sorry you have to deal with this affliction. I can completely empathize because I myself have been struggling with the same thing for 12 years. It feels like a constant struggle, like your situation is completely unique and noone could possibly understand. It is hard to fathom that all the side effects and symptoms you are having are related to anxiety and panic, but truly they are and the situation is not incureable and not unique. Many struggle with this. It is a private struggle for most and people try to hide it. Probably because the constant worry and fear that something is wrong just seems to irritate family members and friends and it makes you feel alienated and worse.

I see your post was in 2011 and it is my hope that you have overcome this or have made strides. CBT in my experience and also my research is generally not that effective with anxiety. I did an online course called Cool Calm and Collected which really seemed to help. It helps you restructure and recognize thought patterns and triggers that cause anxiety and panic. It teaches you how to deprogram those neural pathways and create new pathways. Anxiety and Panic are habitual and usually an obsessive patten. Many of us including myself have a form of OCD. It is important to realize and believe that you can overcome this and create new different habits and ways of thinking. Its about overcoming thought patterns attached to emotional memories. Our neural pathways general get hijacked by the emotional brain and not the logical. Restructuring is key.

I have been on meds and not. I am currently not. I found I was anxious on meds as well but I cared less about how I felt and just suppressed the reasons why I was experiencing panic and anxiety. It is important to disarm the reasons why and not just slap a bandaid on it. You build a tolerance for meds and unless you wish to spend the rest of your life in a haze and uping your meds forever, it is best to just get to the root causes. It is alot of work but like anything worth having, it is worth working for.

I wish you the best in your journey to recovery and hope you will live your best life possible. Best thing to start with is make a list of 20 or 30 things that cause you panic and anxiety. Then pick 3 or 5 f those things. Then tackle those things. 80% of our anxiety comes from 20% of our problems. You will feel instantly better... maybe not "cured" but on your way. Avoidance is killer for people with anxiety and panic.

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thanks everyone its reassuring to know that others feel the same, i have had anxiety and panic attacks for 18yrs and three sets of CBT it does work for a while but then last year i got really depressed and was admitted to hospital i think the stress of hospital has triggered my anxiety, i am trying everything to get better, the dizziness scares me and i know that more i am  afraid of it i am keeping it here but its so hard to deal with my legs shake at home and i feel unsteady when i walk, take palpitations when i amtrying to sleep and when i wake up i have been to my doctor so many times and they all say its anxiety, my therapist can't really do much more and he has perscribed cipralex its an anti-depressdant and even anti-anxiety medication but i am too afriad of the side effects. I was taking medication for a medical illness and i blamed them for the anxiety and stopped them two weeks ago but the anxiety is still here so i was wrong. Thanks again everyone it really helps.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I can relate. I'm going through the same situation. I've been dealing on and off with anxiety for almost 2 years ... I am anxious 24/7, always worrying about this or that, and my body reacts by either getting a stomach ache, head ache, dizziness (usually), frequent urination, anger, etc. I hate the symptoms and I have some meds like Xanax, Klonopin (which I RARELY take) and Meclizine for the dizziness. I am at the point where I am considering an anti depressant because I can't seem to get a grip on this - I've been in CBT for 8 months now and it's helped a lot but only for my thoughts, not my symptoms or constant anxiousness. I'm at a loss as to what to do, I want to try the anti depressant but at a very low dose becuase I do not want to deal with nasty side effects but at the same time I'm wondering if it will even help me ...
Helpful - 0
1679514 tn?1305240068
Hi, it is possible. I have had panic attacks for 9 years, and I went years without them and now I am anxious most of the day and night at some point, it crosses my thoughts all the time, and creates horrible panic attacks. The things that did relax me no longer seem to do so anymore. I kind of get where you are coming from, your safe place no longer feels safe. I hope it gets better for you.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thanks everyone its good to hear that its possible to have anxiety all the time, at home it scares me so much and my hands are numb so often and don't even feel like they are mine its so strange. My doctor advised me to take meds but i am afraid of the side effects of meds so i want to be able to do this myself. I have been trying to use my cbt stuff as well it works sometimes but then the symptoms get so scary i panic and then i refuse to believe its anxiety and that makes me feel even worse.
Its just so frustrating and scary to feel like this all the time i feel like something really bad is going to happen and i have no control over it. People i know were killed recently as well i wasn't close to them but that has made me really anxious as well. Thanks again everyone
Helpful - 0
1666691 tn?1303754348
Yes this is possible,so sorry to hear it.Sounds like that panic attack really shook you up and left you in constant state of anxiety. Maybe you can try to apply the things you learned in cbt to ease it a bit. And maybe go back,see your doc?Lily
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
It is possible to have anxiety nearly all the time.  Mine is usually worst at home, so that's not unusual.  I would talk to your doctor.
Helpful - 0
1673169 tn?1316541930
Lately I have had constant anxiety as well. I do think it's possible. Get your meds changed.
Helpful - 0
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