Looking for testimonies

[rgarza3895]

Hi. I’m new here. I’m 25 years old and I’ve had anxiety most of my life. A little bit before covid happened my anxiety peaked. Panic attacks almost daily. Always felt on edge. Some of the symptoms that trigger it would be nausea, numbness, lightheaded ness, and weakness. Examples are that I would eat literally anything and my stomach would turn and I’d feel nauseous or that I was about to go in my pants. The arms and hands would go numb, the back of my head would go numb, inside of my throat and even my stomach. I eventually had to quit my job and was out of work for a few months. Luckily I have a great support system that got me through it. I started therapy and was practicing mindfulness techniques. I really don’t like taking medicine bc in the past I’ve taken a few different kinds of antidepressants that just made me depressed or more anxious and I’m just skeptical of medicine in general. I actually got better for a few months and was working again but recently my anxiety has spiked again and I feel like I’m feeling like I did when this first happened. I had to leave my current job again and am afraid to drive my car or go very far from my house. It’s really debilitating. I guess if you read this far I’m just looking for people who have gone through similar stuff and have recovered and are able to live their “normal” lives. I try to stay positive but i just feel hopeless like I’ll never get better. Everyone usually talked about feeling like their having a heart attack but that’s really rare for me. It’s always just stomach issues and numbness. Thanks for reading.

[DemonEyes]

Hi, anxiety gives me stomach issues too. I've had bad anxiety for a long time now, but it does get better. I haven't taken medication for it as the best ones (with the least side effects) don't work with other medications I'm on, so I opted not to take any. I used to be afraid to leave the house too. At one point I didn't for 8 months. I was lucky to have a great support system too. I decided to start small - very small. At first I'd just open the door and step out for a few minutes, then gradually upped it, a few more steps, a short walk, etc. I made sure to fill my life with positivity as much as possible. That helped to keep me in a "I can do this" mentality. I started only watching news headlines, not the whole program because all the negative stories made me uneasy. Basically anything you can do that makes you feel good - do it. Remind yourself regularly that any progress is amazing and that you're doing great. You got out of bed? Incredible! You got dressed? Yes, fantastic! At first I didn't believe any of it, because that's the nature of anxiety, but doing it on repeat began to work. I'm not completely free of anxiety, I still have panic attacks, but I haven't had them every day for about 2 years now, and it's only specific things that set me off, rather than constantly being on edge and having multiple a day like I used to. It's taken me 4-5 years of hard work, never giving up, but I've gone from not leaving the house for 8 months to going shopping twice a week, being able to travel about an hour away from my house (as long as I plan very well), and having far less panic attacks. Apologies that this is so long! But I'll comment under this to list some of the things I did that helped me!

[DemonEyes in reply to DemonEyes]

The first thing I did was to start a positivity journal, I'd write in it daily, it could be things I'm grateful for, things that make me happy or things I wanted to achieve, like less panic attacks. When I woke up, before I got out of bed I'd do some deep breathing, and the same at night before I went to sleep. Deep breaths calm your body down, and if your body calms down, it can help your muscles relax and in turn can help your brain relax a little. Whenever I felt like I might panic, I'd immediately distract myself - I made a list of videos, songs, films, etc that I loved and always made me feel good - so that I'd quickly put one of them on and start to breathe deeply. Personally I found earphones best as it blocks out any outside noise that can be stressful. I got an audible subscription and got a bunch of books on CBT - the kind of therapy that's used for trying to make your brain re-learn behaviors the correct way. I found some of them really useful. I too didn't like to leave the house, so I asked my doctor about the options. There are several services that do therapy over the phone like Talking Together and others that you can be referred to.

Exercise can help too, so I started by just walking around my house every hour or 2.

It's about finding a balance and things that work for you. I made a note of anything that worked for me until I had a fairly substantial list and just repeated them every day.

In my experience it was one of those things that's so gradual that you don't realize you're getting better until you look back a year later and think "whoa, I've come a long way from where I was" so don't worry about feeling discouraged when you don't feel like you're getting anywhere. You can, of course you can! 2 quotes I'd constantly repeat to myself

"Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm Possible'" (Audrey Hepburn) and "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter thank you think, and more loved then you'll ever know" (A.A Milne)

I hope some of this helps!!

Good luck my friend, you've got this!!

[JkBauer]

Good morning,I hope that you are feeling better today. Have you thought about getting onto an exercise routine? Walking, biking, going to the gym...? Taking up a hobby- scrapbooking, baking, taking a night class at a local college, get involved with a church group...?