Hi everyone

I have struggled with anxiety for years. Looking back I actually think I have had it since childhood.

How does it manifest? I am always constantly tense to varying degrees. I wake up with a strong tightness in my chest. I cannot stop fixating on things which I understand rationally do not matter. I am basically never relaxed unless my brain is completely occupied by something else . Highly stressful stuff exacerbates things but there is always a constant underlying tension. I very rarely feel depressed just hyper anxious. It’s worse related to work than social situations, but that can exist to but to a lesser extent.

Overall it just feels like my body cannot respond appropriately to any form of stress. Something that is minor my body treats as major. My fight or flight gauge is all off.

My question would be, have people suffered with symptoms similar to and how did they overcome / minimise the symptoms?

Thank you!!

Does anyone else get frustrated and overstimulated when you have high anxiety or panic attacks and despite having your music at full volume you can’t drown out the noise and paranoia? I hate it. I have to remind myself my meds take a bit to kick in but that I’m safe and try to push through it or distract myself.

I wake up in the morning, and after a few seconds, I feel very warm and start sweating. When I get up, I feel constant heart palpitations, which go away after a while. I've been experiencing this quite badly for the last few weeks. Is this anxiety? Does anyone know about this?

I've been having terrible dizziness, migraines, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea and vomiting. I do have anxiety but pain in my head is so unbearable its making it hard to breathe. Is it just anxiety?

It is a combination of Clonazepam (0.5mg) and Escitalopram Oxalate (10mg).

If yes, please let me know how long does it take to work.

I think my dog worries about me, as he won’t leave my side. I don’t want him to get my anxiety like I do, but it’s really helpful. But I do worry about him having anxiety.

Hi, I suffer from anxiety and depression and about a month ago I took a steroid to reduce inflammation for a medical problem I’m having(it was called Methylprednisolone and I still have a small bit of PTSD from it and I would be lying if I said that from time to time I don’t think about it and how It went down for me)and I honestly regret not researching the TERRIBLE effects it had as I was extremely and PAINFULLY anxious, then extremely depressed, then extremely manic, and then had some episodes of disassociation.

Eventually I was able to mentally recover though I still am and it’s been a challenge recovering mentally but I certainly am a lot better now than I was a month ago so I decided to research this anti-biotic as a precaution as I asked for one that wasn’t a floroquinolone(ciprofloxin)due to the fear of its own side effects.

(Getting floxed, there’s a whole subreddit about that r/floxies) as although I didn’t have any mental side effects it might’ve caused some stomach issues for me that eventually magically resolved for me after several months.

Anyways I’ve seen a lot of people say that this antibiotic has caused them extreme anxiety and I honestly don’t want to put myself though steroid hell again so if this causes that then I don’t know what to do. Should I take cipro and risk getting floxed or take Cephalexin and have the chance of severe anxiety.

What do you guys think? Because like I said I DO NOT want a prednisone steroid episode again. Those two weeks were hell for me and I’m still recovering a bit mentally from it.

These antibiotics are prescribed as a precaution for an invasive procedure I’m doing btw.

I have been prescribed propranolol and 2 doses of 50mg etifoxine in morning and afternoon for mild anxiety. I am scared to get on medication but heard good things about etifoxine. I am thinking of taking only one dose of 50mg etifoxine in the morning. Is 50mg once a day effective in the long run?

PS: English is not my first language

Almost 2 years ago I was using DXM (Psychedelic in OTC cough meds) and freaked out and thought I was going to die. For the past 2 years I have had constant Heart Palpitations that have never gone away. They are always there. I originally thought I was on deaths door, but after seeing multiple doctors & being screened for multiple things doctors see nothing obviously wrong with my heart. I wonder what this is as I took a perscption for 120ish days for GERD and it never fixed it. I'm a early 20s, active but over weight man that doesn't take Caffeine, smoke, or do drugs anymore. This isn't ruining my life anymore like it once did, but I want this to be resolved as this is really annoying, makes me deathly afraid of anything I use to have mild anxiety about, & made me extremely morbid which I was already fairly so beforehand.

Hello everyone, just a quick sum up of me finding this group, I’ve honestly been appreciative of this group. Its helped knowing that theres people out there that are like me and that I’m not alone. With that being said, I do have a random anxiety/fear that I’m currently working my way getting over, but I initially started having insomnia symptoms in 2019 and since then, I’ve seemed to associate my bed with causing my insomnia/giving me anxiety in some way. Because whenever I get ready for bed, I’ll give myself heart palpitations when I don’t knock out real quick. But I’ll give myself like 30mins and if no luck, I’ll go to my couch and literally knock out. It use to be to the point where I wouldn’t sleep in my bed at all and now I’ve been giving myself 30mins to sleep in my bed and again no luck, then move to the couch and if I wake up to use the restroom, I’ll go back to my bed and knock out.

However, I’ve recently finally addressed my anxiety and sleep issue with my doctor for the first time and I’m currently on lexapro 10mg and hydroxyzine 25mg, its been literally day and night for me as I’ve started being on meds to help with my anxiety/depression. Its honestly been a god send for me as I’ve always had anxiety even as a young child.

But going back to the bed situation, I’d appreciate anyone out there who’s had similar issues or experience who has gotten over this particular situation or any tips who go through the same thing that can offer help. Thank you. 🙏

I am really exhausted with everything right now. I have so many good things to look forward to, but eve; things I like or want make me so anxious that I can’t even function or enjoy them properly. I’ve always had pretty bad anxiety (turned into agoraphobia mid-covid), but it’s gotten so bad that everything just fucks with me.

I.e taylor swift concert coming up, and all I can think about is how irrevocably anxious I am and there’s no reason for it.

I read online books a lot that still get updated as they go, and one of them that I’ve been reading for ages, went in a different way than I wanted and I literally had a panic attack over it.

Halloween as a whole.

Anything remotely fun or good in my life has me so anxious and it’s driving me insane. I feel it all the time now, and I just need tips or something, I don’t know. I am also having a hard time talking about it with my therapist. I feel so shamed and embarrassed.

I had to share this (not sponsored lol.) I own a plush panda from the company warmies. They make French lavender infused things. I have been having terrible horrible anxiety recently and I just had a terrible panic attack. Like most I can come down from a panic attack but sometimes I just can't. I thought I was going to die I was so stressed. I pick up this panda and sniff it once and I'm back to calm. Made my brain do a 180. I almost started crying. Also their plushes are weighted. It has a lavender / mint smell. I am so thankful for mine. Hopefully this helps someone!

I’ve been taking 80mg slow release for five years now following a work related panic attack and on the whole it has worked really well,but just recently I’m noticing some symptoms starting to return like flushing and fight or flight mode.Does this medicine lose effectiveness over time ? Do I need to speak with my health care provider about upping my dosage ? I was recently prescribed Prozac to help with social anxiety but didn’t want to go that route just yet Thanks in advance for any help

38 year old male here. I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea recently and I have found myself gasping for air a couple of times at night. I believe it has frightened my body to the point where I am afraid to go to sleep. I have anxiety that builds throughout the day and by the time it is time for sleep it’s extremely difficult to stay asleep for more than 2 hours. I will jolt awake with adrenaline (or feels that way at least) and have become hyper aware of all the noises I make while I sleep like snoring, gasping, etc which will also wake me up. Often times just before falling asleep I get this going down a rollercoaster feeling in my stomach that wakes me up immediately. I believe I have been self medicating with alcohol the last few years because my body feels it can get some semblance of sleep that way even though it’s really not. I’ve probably had next to no REM sleep for at least the last 10 year.

Anyone else experience something like this? Any recommendations?

I’ve tried 20mg melatonin, cbd gummies, unisom, chamomile teas, exercise, etc but with no luck. I am waiting on a CPAP machine though. Any advice is welcome. Thank you for reading!

so tonight is the first night i’m taking 354MG of magnesium glycinate. i’m taking their gummies because i can’t swallow pills very well. so i have to take two of them. but im kind of anxious. my PCP wrote down 400MG but i feel like thats too much for me. i’m 103 pounds, 5’1 and F and im so scared i will OD or something. i took it at 10:30pm and its 10:54pm and i must be thinking about it too much because im becoming very aware of my body and nervous. this is a vitamin so im not sure why im scared. i just am. i did labs today AFTER my pcp recommended me to take the vitamin, so what if im not even magnesium deficient? i told her how im having pelvic and stomach pain and she listed off other side effects that im having. so she said to take probiotics in the day and magnesium at night. i have medication anxiety so while i was at the store and in the vitamin isle my anxiety was going through the roof. i hate that im like this.

Why I feel like the happening in my life is not real? Sometimes I can't breathe well and sometimes I feel like I'm not real. 🥺 I never visit to the doctor because I'm scared too.

M(20) So I been having anxiety for years and I never took medication for it I feel like it gotten worse since I first got it but anyways I feel like I’m not real like I’m in a simulation and I’m feeling discomfort on my left chest and arm I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack it scares me a lot yes I have thought about taking meds but it won’t do be no good cause I freak out over taking pills or anything I can’t even go out to eat without thinking somone is trying to poison me or kill me im not sure what’s wrong with me…

I was trying to prevent my cat and dog from fighting, but accidentally got scratched by her. My cat is a FULLY indoor cat who has been vaccinated before, but it’s been 5 years so I doubt the vaccine still works. I’ve observed her for two weeks after being scratched and she is perfectly fine. On the VERY DAY it became two weeks after she scratched me, she scratched me again, this time on purpose because I tried to pet her while she was cleaning herself. I am worried because

1. She doesn’t usually mind being pet, unlike my other cat.

2. Though she is an indoor cat, she sometimes sneaks into the basement, and the basement has a door to my backyard. I do not know if any rabid bats made their way in or not, as I have not seen any, but maybe my cat finds them before I do.

As soon as I got scratched(it was a pretty small slice) I immediately poured 70% alcohol and detergent on the scratch and smeared soap all over, even into the wound.

I am now very disappointed because I have to wait another two weeks to be assured that my cat is fine.

Hi I could really use some support I just had a horrible experience. It’s the middle of the night where I’m at right now and I woke up kinda okay then went into a full panic attack. It was terrifying as my heart was racing extremely quick and I was shaking so bad. I was worried that I was having a heart attack or something, and was close to calling an ambulance. I drank some milk to calm down and did some deep breathing already. I have no one to talk to right now and I want to cry so bad. This is the first time I’ve ever woken up to a PA and I’m too scared to go back to sleep right now. I’ve been so anxious for weeks now and my health anxiety has increased which I’m sure contributed to tonight’s PA. I hope to never experience this again.

I can start my day off well, have a wonderful morning, but after 3pm when my energy starts to wane, i feel a crippling sadness. Life feels dark, hopeless, meaningless, and everything around me starts feeling strange and unfamiliar since I get really anxious too. It's at its worst at night, and it takes me a couple of hours to sleep because in the dark i have this weird looming existential dead and i have to calm down. It's been like this all my life, and i do suffer from anxiety and depression. Right now I'm in a better environment where I'm feeling a lot better than I was previously (starting to feel happy in the morning on days when i have energy), but this energy dip is still a problem.

I don't think I'm okay. I have been in a state of fear and anxiety for about two weeks now. I think I first experienced derealization when I smoked weed a few years ago. What I experienced was a whole simulation type of occurrence that told me I and everything about me was fake and we're in a simulation. The first time I experienced this I was watching a scary movie after I smoked and I was being told that horror movies tell us what we're going through but unless we are aware that we're fake we wouldn't realize it. There's so much that goes into it. Anyways a couple weeks ago I brought up what l experience whenever I smoke to my boyfriend and every since then my brain has been reminded of how scary that feeling is and l've been in a state of fear since then. Nothing seems real I can't watch tv or listen to music without thinking about hidden agendas. I'm talking to a therapist on Monday. What medication has helped you guys with anxiety? I did have cancer a few years ago and I think my brain has been broken from how traumatic my cancer journey was. I have dealt with a lot of health issues from cancer and I don't want to deal with more from anxiety medication. Please let me know what worked for you guys and your anxiety and what the side effects were.

Yesterday, I had a very bizarre experience, and I think it was an entirely mental panic attack paired with severe dissociated. I was all alone, as I have been for most days, because my boyfriend works a weird shift (2 p.m. - 10 p.m., got to love blue collar workers). For a month straight, I have been panicking about whether or not I will get out of this (if it even is DPDR) and then yesterday I felt like I was going to snap. I started having the worst intrusive thoughts, like "what if I believe my thoughts and go entirely insane and hurt someone?" and then was having intrusive images and urges with it. I literally was so scared that I thought I had to go to the hospital but took a walk and went to my parents. I've spent every hour that I have been awake looking up stuff about psychosis and schizophrenia and am terrified.

I can't stop asking people if they think I have it--I literally called my psychiatrist today and she asked me a series of questions. "Do you see things? Do you hear things? Do you think your TV is talking to you? Are you having disorganized thoughts?" All of which I said no to. I have been in such a severe state of anxiety since last night after further researching psychosis. I've been taking 5 mg of Lexapro for a week. I woke up at 8:44 a.m. (I don't even know how I remember this, lol) with the worst racing thoughts about whether or not I was mentally sound and my heart POUNDING. I texted my mom freaking out and she told me to call the psychiatrist. My psychiatrist wants me to take 10 mg of Lexapro, and I'm scared it is just going to make my anxiety worse. She tried to tell me to start Abilify with it, but I told her absolutely not. I am scared these medications are going to make me worse.

I have spent every waking moment today researching psychosis and am convinced I somehow believe my thoughts. I am so scared I believe I am in a dream or in another universe or something, it is literally scaring me. The unfamiliarity that DPDR is giving me is not helping whatsoever. I didn't eat yesterday and barely ate today, and I am genuinely terrified. I don't want to be in a dream or in another universe, I want my life back. I feel like I have lost everything--my family, my boyfriend, my personality. I feel so alone. The intrusive thoughts scare me so much. I want my life back and I DO NOT WANT PSYCHOSIS. I am so terrified.

So a few days ago me and the boy I recently started dated went on a date. It was really fun, we got dinner together and walked around, we held hands and gave a kiss goodbye. Overall it was a great date, he texted me that he had fun and we both seemed to really enjoy it. But for some reason, I can’t shake the feeling that I said or did something to make him disinterested in me. I felt this with the last person I dated as well. The second I get home from a date I just feel like I fucked everything up, and I don’t know why. Is there anything to help with this or anyone who feels similarly?

Hi all, going through a bit of health anxiety at the moment.

Has anyone else have those bumps, lumps and ridges along the inside of their hamstrings, like kind of along the inside of the that blade like tendon on the inside of your leg. Never really felt around there before and kind of freaked me out lol but its like that on both sides even bilaterally.

I went to the doctor recently to check some couple nodes on my neck, said they felt fine. But as most of you know, they doesn't tend to relieve anything then I come right back home hunting and digging around...

I have this recurring negative thought that creates a lot of shame for me. that it is embarrassing that I have experienced XYZ, but I really did experience XYZ, and it is kind of embarrassing.

How am I supposed to practice CBT and challenge this thought when it is objectively true?? Is this anxiety or just proof the fact that I am a pathetic person?

My mom has been coughing since August. She said that she sat near someone who was coughing constantly in a cafe, and had severe cough for a few days. Now, her cough isn’t serious anymore but she coughs several times every day and clears her throat many times. She didn’t clear her throat till recently, and I think she coughs more than before. I told her to go see a doctor numerous times, but she said that she was fine. She insists that she doesn’t have any pain, and she didnt realize she had chronic cough until I pointed out.

She always has an annual checkup in November. Last time, she didn’t have any problem in her lungs. Her checkup is two weeks from now, and I am freaking out. How can this NOT be lung cancer? How severe will it be? I have HA, and it is hard to gauge how much is HA and how much is the real possibility. But I can’t see how her coughing is not related to cancer. Her father died because of lung cancer after decades of smoking. She is nearly 50 now.

I have a big test a few days after her checkup. I should be studying now, but this thought is bothering me all the time. And I’m getting more anxious that I will mess up my test too. But how can I concentrate on studying if my mom probably has lung cancer?

HELP I NEED HELP

So I've had my anxiety in check for about 5 months now. No meds only dietry changes, exercise and meditation etc. So yesterday I had to take my dog to be put down. It was a stressful week with her being sick and struggling to come to the terms that I have to now take her in. I had a bunch of other stuff that I had to attend to as well, at work and my kids' school. Yesterday I obviously cried for the whole entire day, mourning my best friend. She's a rescue that I had for almost 9 years and I know she was old and sick but I just wasn't ready. I was with her until the end when she passed and I literally have a pain in my chest the whole time. So this morning I woke up with pins and needles everywhere, blurry vision and fast heart rate. Feels like I can't breathe. My head knows it's a panic attack, but it also keeps telling me that what if it isn't? What if you're dying right now?I don't have any meds and the hot shower didn't do the trick. Please help me, what can I do to calm myself down??

So I (20F) had a bad anxiety attack today, haven't had one this bad in a while but I was calm and distracted, sitting at my computer. Then I started getting a random chest pain that came and went but only lasted a second. Of course I freaked out because I was scared that something was happening to me. Does anyone else get these? It feels like a deep dull pain. Again, I wasn't even anxious in the moment, it just happened.

Writing this in here because I’m not sure how to use the health anxiety sub, but worrying about my health is stopping me from leaving the house, without worrying im about to develop it. I am 100% convinced that my appendix will become inflamed sometime and I don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t have symptoms or anything I just have this feeling. Any advice would be helpful on how to overcome this, or any helpful strategies. I’m getting mental help but it’s getting worse and worse. Thank you