getting rid of anxiety

[maddymale]

Hello all,
I have a guilt feeling of having had sex with a sex worker. although it was protected sex and quite safe, I have had anxiety problems over the last 3 weeks about having contracted HIV. the encounter took place a year ago and i never had problems. Some recent illness has caused this problem.

I constantly try to remind that I do not have any problems, but still the anxiety lulls over. i have many symptoms of anxiety like trembling, weakenss in legs and hands, frequent urination, etc etc.

how do i get rid of these?? are there any medications...

[cuddles56]

There are medications out there that can help Anxiety, its just a case of which one works for you. A good counsellor can help also. But find someone you feel comfortable with cause you have to work together. I personally have had Anxiety for 25 years. you may never get rid of Anxiety but with learned skills you can manage it. I know how you feel it's very frightening. There is a good book out there called called face the fear and do it anyways, I bought it and read it a few times. You can find it at the library or better yet buy the book it's well worth it. I hope this helped.

Good Luck  

[cj29]

There are different ways of confronting your anxiety in my opinion.  There are different kinds of medications that can help in my opinion.  There are benzodiazepines like Xanax, Ativan, etc, that are sometimes prescribed on as needed basis for a short period of time and while there are some that are prescribed longer, they can become addicting and be hard to come off of depending how long you have been on them.  There are also different kinds of antidepressants, but a class that is widely prescribed is a class called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) that are prescribed for an extended period of time.  

I have used both kinds and I believe they were definitely a useful tool while I confronted my anxiety.  I am a supporter of medications, but remember they will not 'cure' you of anything and some people don't like to use them, which is okay too.  In my experience, they can definitely help, but to attain long term relief from your anxiety and guilt, I believe that talking it through with a professional is the best way to deal with it.  For me, counseling, enabled me to confront, learn, and deal with what was bothering me.  Keep us posted!