Anxiety Disorders

[downshift_me]

i never had any withdrawls of any kind. i think it was Celexa i took, but it didn't do anything for my anxiety. it helped with my stress levels though.

Celexa never controlled anything it was supposed to for me. It made me sleep like crazy though. I've taken lots of different things and my top 2 I won't touch are Wellbutrin and BuSpar. Effexor didn't do too shabby, but I'm best unmedicated. Running and cognitive therapy keep me pretty level and do not cost hundreds a month.

[00pooterSS]

Regular sleep is a big deal. It really helps. Along with what others have said - find some activity that helps reduce your level off stress. Anexity for me is a "closed loop system". I get stressed, then I get stressed about being stressed, then I get even more stressed because I am stressed about being stressed about being stressed. Anexity feeds on itself and you have to break the cycle and remove yourself mentally and sometime even physically from the trigger.
You need some sort of activity that requires both physical and mental concentration. Exercise is good especially team sports where you have to get your head in the game. (basketball, soccer, tennis, etc) Playing a musical instrument has also been found to be a great anexity reliever.

That is the hardest thing for me, I get fixated on something, then it escalates and starts spiralling in my mind. Used to it would get worse and worse and turn into a tornado that I couldn't stop until I drank myself into a coma.

Now I realize when the anxiety/panic starts, then I stop what I am doing, take a second and tell my self to stop the cycle... I calm myself and move on, rinse and repeat if necessary.

I have general anxiety that makes it hard, sometimes impossible, to sleep so I take klonopin for that, it doesn't hit as hard as xanax and has a 40 hour half life where xanax only has an 8 hour half life (in other words, it stays in your system longer and helps keep you calm consistently).

If nothing else, re-evaluate your triggers and make sure they are trigger worthy (meaning, is it even really worth stressing over?)... Sometimes a general perspective change fixes everything. It has quelled at least 80% of my severe anxiety.

I tell myself this sometimes---I can't control the past or future, all I can do is take it 15 minutes at a time, tomorrow isn't even promised so why worry about it.