Is anxiety a lifelong illness or temporary?

[xstalkrx]

21 year old male.

Used ecstasty twice a month for 1 year.  Then cocaine twice a month for 1 year.  Had heart palpitations for a couple of days and then they went away. Then I would have panic attacks thinking something was wrong with me.  Cardiologist says everything is fine.

But I still feel anxious every once in a while.  My heart rate and blood pressure remain perfect...but I will just feel anxious sometimes.

I have been drug free..alcohol free...cigarette free...for 2 months now.  Run 3 miles a day and lift weights.

What is the solution..or is there a solution to my anxiety?  It is not severe...but its there..lingering in the background.

[JSGeare]

A toughie, my friend, as I would find it difficult to somehow whatever the long-term effects of your drug-taking may be in terms of the half-life of your anxiety.

That said, in the most general possible terms, let me suggest that anxiety may not be properly understood, because it is so often cast in the role of a villain. Yesterday, as I approached with a half hour of coming home from a very long drive and stressful series of events, I felt a pounding in my chest and a fluttering in my stomach and a certain light-headedness.

Anxiety? Well, sorta. I was "anxious" in the sense of being excited, about getting to home and hearth!  My point being that anxiety wears the "black hat" when it is associated with bad thoughts or fears of something bad happening to us. But hitch it up to anticipation of something really good, and we call it"excitement" or a "thrill."

My further point being that is you are talking about the black-hat kind, then you might just as well ask is bad thoughts are a temporary or a life-long proposition. And as you know, we expect that there will be bad thoughts at various time throughout our lives. The bad thoughts may originate from within us -as well as just be bad news from somewhere else- so if our brains start serving up a lot of bad material for us, then we want to know what's going on with that and what can we do about it.

The sense of anxiety itself, however, is really just sort of an amplifier. The "music" can be stuff we like, or stuff we can't stand.

If any of this makes any sense to you (or to anybody) than we know that anxiety takes its place along side the other messengers we rely upon to give us some situational awareness; the sting of a bee, taste of chocolate, aroma of a lover's perfume, sound of thunder. Depending upon whether we associate the anxiousness with friend or foe, pleasure or pain, security or threat, we assess our situation.

Therefore, rather than get too obsessed with the anxiety, it may be more fruitful to look at the "content," at the thoughts themselves, for clues as to why we would feel as we do.

Make sense?

[xstalkrx]

The anxiety really is mild.  The anxiety that I have turns me into a hypochondriac at times.  Like today at work..I had convinced myself that I had a good chance of having congestive heart failure.  Now...I am home from work and I am laughing at myself.  But still...tomorrow...will be a new day and I will seriously convince myself that something else is wrong with me....something related to my heart.

Since I was eating chicken when I had that instance of heart palpitations over a month ago...everytime I see chicken or am getting ready to eat chicken...I get slightly more anxious and nervous.  Its crazy stuff.  My mind has associated chicken with heart palpitations.  It wont send me into panic...but it gets me anxious.

[jo929]

you are young man and i have known a lot after doing drugs alcohol whatever even some doing nothing have anxiety i do think that in time you can whip this if you taks a med make sure it is a mild one dont get on the heavy ones some cant releive their anxiety and it keeps coming back i am no expert have worked around people and have seen a lot of this as long as it does not bloom into panic i think you will make it but this is just my opion you will get more ans here ion this column i wish you the best because there is a whole new world out there  and a new beggining if you want it.   luck jpo

[jo929]

you are young man and i have known a lot after doing drugs alcohol whatever even some doing nothing have anxiety i do think that in time you can whip this if you taks a med make sure it is a mild one dont get on the heavy ones some cant releive their anxiety and it keeps coming back i am no expert have worked around people and have seen a lot of this as long as it does not bloom into panic i think you will make it but this is just my opion you will get more ans here ion this column i wish you the best because there is a whole new world out there  and a new beggining if you want it.   luck jpo

[xstalkrx]

Im going to give it another week or two before I go to a doctor.  My anxiety is not really limiting me right now.  I can still function and everything.  Running and working out makes me feel a lot better.  But its still there..lingering...not hardcore...but its there.

If I remember a time when I did drugs I can get a little more anxious than usual.

No palpitations for a month now though.

[Jenny128]

I can only tell you that at the age of 19 I was doing drugs.  I always had that feeling of anxiousness.  So for 21 more years I tried everything.  Drinking and drugs only made it worse.  Oh yeah, it relieved it temporarily, but then made the anxiety ten times worse, to the point I couldn't even leave my home.  After many rehabilitation centers, self help groups, yoga, meditation.  I realized that it was an affliction that couldn't be cured.  I didn't want to be on any medication, but it was the only thing that would relieve this damn feeling of heart palpitations and numbness in my body.  Go to your primary care physician and tell his exactly what your experiencing, and if he's worth his degree he'll put you on medication.  
Jenny

[elnenito]

okay okay listen I'm 17 years old and damn i kno watchu goin thru man its really kind of weird cuz 6 monthz ag0 i did cocaine but hated it, listen man i had a massiv3 panic attack that led to anxiety for like more than 2 monthz, i felt weak i felt desperate i felt the world was crushing intop of me I cried I yelled i went 2 doctors thinking my heart was messed up like u did, but that was my PROBLEM right there i was looking at it all wrong i was so healthy before and than i looked at life completely different i looked in the mirror i went out like you... Ran did weights went out with friendz took care of my girlfriend who i love so much who helped me through out this whole dilema ......listen you wanna kno if they completely go away probably not they'll come back on3 daii when your going through hard times most likely but thats till then take it from me mah man relax an keep hitting those weightz keep running dont do drugs or any thing bad and enjoy life it is too beautifull to watch it go by your healthy remember that and they will go away but they will come back most likely but the key fo real and i dont wanna sound stupid but it's just to not give a f*** ,wow and this could happen to anyone even hispanics like me
Hope this helps dont worry I can feel it your just like me beleive me people have it even worse

[cnote]

Hey buddy. 24male. I hope anxiety isnt a life long illness. I think it is only if you let it.
Excersise is a great thing man! Naturally releases endorphins and seritonin in the brain.

[xstalkrx]

also...no more panic attacks either.  Just a lingering anxious feeling.