Anxiety

[Lisa0314]

Hello, I was recently diagnosed with having anxiety disorder. I am having a really hard time dealing with this. Anxiety is taking over my job and my daily activities. I suffer from alot of dizziness, sweaty palms, rapid hear beat, shortness of breath, I always feel tired, and like have no energy. I was told to stay away from caffine but what can I take to boost my energy? Also what kind of exercises or meditation can I do to semi get my life back? I don't have an appointment to see a therapist until November because they have no sooner ones available, but I feel like I need help now. Like i'm losing it. Someone please respond!!!

[br2509]

I know excatly where you are coming from i just experinece anxiety/panic attacks and wow it does some crazy things to your body.I have dealt with shortness of breathe, dizziness/lightheadness,my anxiety attacks always happen between 2-3 in the morning.I was told to lay off of caffeine myself which i have done but ever since i have stopped drinking caffeine i have had bad headaches so i try to drink 1 coke a day ...But i was told caffiene triggers these anxiety attacks.

[amish1979]

Exercise will help with your energy level.  I chose to cut out the caffeine as well because of the rapid heartbeats I was having.  It helped a LOT.

[Paxiled]

Any form of deep breathing or meditation will help.  There are as many different forms of meditation as there are people who teach it.  Cognitive therapists usually teach easy forms of meditation minus any of the spirituality or, you might say, magic.  Personally, I think learning a good Buddhist meditation or TM has a bit of that "magic" that makes it more useful, and allows it to set in better.  TM is probably the easiest and does give one a lot of energy, but it isn't as spiritual as, say, mindfulness meditation, which is harder to do and learn.  You can also try adaptogenic herbs such as eleuthero and ashagandha to help your adrenals and give you energy, and green foods such as spirulina or wheat grass can also help without stimulating you, as caffeine does.  Exercise also helps both with energy and relaxation.  As for the meds, I'd save them for last, if you find you just can't cope without them.  And don't expect that first therapist to be the answer; it can be hard to find a therapist who knows how to help someone suffering from anxiety and one you'll bond with, so don't defeat yourself with overly high expectations.  This will take time and work, so have patience.

[cj29]

Anxiety can definitely be scary and confusing when we first start to experience it in my opinion.  It can consume us and rob us of our self indentities.  It can lead to depression and make us long for our 'old selves.'

There are various forms of medications that doctors can prescribe short term and long term.  Long term medications like Zoloft, Prozac, Lexapro, etc. are SSRIs that really helped me in dealing with this.  The most important step in dealing with this, is counseling in my opinion.  Is there anyway you can see a therapist before November?  I encourage you to continue to use this forum and always feel free to ask as many questions as you like!

The good thing with this, is that not only can you deal with this, you can thrive with it.  I actually think this whole experience has taught me much more about life and I actually enjoy the simpler things now, but it is hard to see when we are going through it.