Dealing with anxiety

smurfco

smurfco

Meatus McPrepuce
It's time for Serious Talk with Smurfco™

Do any of you fine folks suffer from anxiety? I've been under some stress lately and though I don't want to go into the specifics I have spent the last week nearly paralyzed with anxiety. It's totally draining to go to work and have to put on the good face for 9 solid hours, especially with the current work load. Things outside of work have been problematic too, and I tend to take things that shouldn't be a big deal and blow them out of proportion. Things snowball and all of the sudden I just feel this anxious fear in the pit of my stomach all day long and I can't even explain why half the time.

A couple of things recently have happened to shake my musical confidence, so what I used to enjoy to get away from this stuff has now itself become a source of some anxiety too. Which is unfortunate...

Through my work's benefits program I have an appointment with a psychologist next week, and I'm already taking some antidepressants. I'm not in any sort of meltdown mode or anything but I was just wondering if anyone could relate, and what you did to cope?
 
Is this something that's become more of an issue over time or have you always dealt with it to some degree? I'm tremendously grateful for what I (cynically) call my "happy pills", but you said you're taking antidepressants already.
 
I have really bad anxiety, even with therapy and a mood stabilizer. I have a low dosage valium prescription hat It take as needed, which helps keep the edge off somedays at work, or when my life gets stressful; I had to pop one today because I had a $700 car repair bill, had to scrape together an extra $1k for closing costs, and am trying to get everything packed and ready to move on Friday.

But honestly, the #1 thing that helps my anxiety is some good old fashioned marijuana. I was really disappointed last year when our marijuana bill didn't pass in Ohio, but it was a bad bill. I have a small vape and only ever have enough that if I was to get busted it would be a fine, not jail time. I'll take two or three draws and that is enough to keep anxiety at bay, but not enough to leave me ripped and nonfunctional.
 
I've been taking Lexapro for probably 10 years now and it keeps me even. Still, before I retired there were times during the day I would shut my door to work things out. There were other times I would stop a conversation for a break because I was tightening up. Recognize the signs as early as possible and head them off when you can.
 
I have moderate anxiety and have taken everything. Klonipin (spelling?) Helped the most. It's a low dose slow trickle Xanax. I weaned myself off of it last year through meditation but I need to go back on it. Everything is coming back again.
My psych told me drinking doesn't help, meds or not. And I've found that to be true.

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Yeah. 25ish years ago, I stopped drinking and, getting stoned. It was easiest thing to do. BUT, I still smoke. A million reason to quit. Just can't do it. If I try to not smoke, It's like a panic attack. Sometimes I wonder if I am self medicating.
 
dmn23 said:
Is this something that's become more of an issue over time or have you always dealt with it to some degree? I'm tremendously grateful for what I (cynically) call my "happy pills", but you said you're taking antidepressants already.
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it's always been there to some degree, but some days it's worse than others. And lately it's been relatively bad. I moved up here from Atlanta last year and I was coping pretty well until now, but I'm feeling mighty homesick. I don't want to move back or anything, but I'm not making many friends up here and don't have much of a social life outside of work. As for the medication, it's a relatively low dose but it seems to keep me fairly evened out. It may need adjustment though, we'll see.
 
Lexapro for the last 3 years. I reserve the option to adjust the dosage (I'm as low as they make them right now), but along with all of the mechanisms I was using to cope before the meds (deep breathing, exercise, positive thinking, list making, and so on), it's been manageable and I can focus on living my life instead of keeping it together on the professional front and then sleeping for 12-14 hours a day. Or lying in bed 12-14 hours a day without sleeping.
 
Antidepressants and cognitive behavioral therapy helped me a lot, but there are still some situations that lead to anxiety. For those, I avoid what I can and practice breathing techniques for what I can't.

Mojo, sir; that is hard to deal with.
 
I live with severe depression, complex PTSD, and severe anxiety. The combination is bad enough that I can't work so I collect SSDI.

I take Zoloft and Abilify for the depression and anxiety. I usually can't sleep so I take Ambien and alprazolam for that. My insurance sucks so I don't see a therapist. I attend weekly meetings with a local Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) group. I also have a friend that has a masters in counselling psychology. I see her every other week for coffee. The combination works for me.
 
No....But I wish you well....

My oldest daughter did suffer with it a bit but turned it around with a diet change and exercise..

Edit....She has gone from being anxious in a crowd to competing on a stage,to having people fuss over her for photo shoots.....

She swears by diet and exercise..
 
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I have panic/ general anxiety disorder. I have been on SSRIs for over 10 years and they allowed me to function as a normal person.

I still get anxiety, but not had full blown panic attack since.

I had a few Cognitive Behaviour Therapy sessions, but circumstances forced me to abandon them.

These days I have several coping mechanisms, such as staying grounded ( consciously living in the now, not thinking about future or past), breathing techniques, I do sports 2 days a week and I do some mudic recording. And of course I have my daughter.

Some days are still bad, but not unmanageable
 
smurfco said:
it's always been there to some degree, but some days it's worse than others. And lately it's been relatively bad. I moved up here from Atlanta last year and I was coping pretty well until now, but I'm feeling mighty homesick. I don't want to move back or anything, but I'm not making many friends up here and don't have much of a social life outside of work. As for the medication, it's a relatively low dose but it seems to keep me fairly evened out. It may need adjustment though, we'll see.
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This is exactly my experience. Move to South Carolina and we can be besties. :tongue:
Honestly my biggest source of depression which leads to my anxiety is total lack of a social life. None. Zip. Zilch.
Apparently I'm alone in enjoying guitars, guns, food, woodworking, and zombies. :embarrassed:ops:

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The one thing I do like about Colorado is the legal weed. Take the edge right off.

Otherwise, Mindfulness meditation can help. And thanks to YouTube and Amazon, it’s free or cheap.

 
Smurfco, I'm somewhat surprised to read this about you. From an outside observer, you seem pretty together, a great musician with some nice gear, a nice full head of hair, and a wicked (sometimes obtuse) sense of humor. Your online persona seems pretty normal to me.

Don't know if I can help much, but I'll try.

I used to get really bad panic attacks when I walked into this one mall and being around certain people or cliques I would normally avoid.

I gave myself a pep talk, which was basically, yes this sucks, put your game face on, and make the best of it. I tried X.nax and Zoloft years ago for work-related horseshit, and X.nax sucked and Zoloft made me a freaking soulless zombie. Then I rationalized that I'm going to need to be as functional and clear-headed as possible to meet my fears head on. Been my approach for 10+ years.

Still get nervous on occasion, but far fewer, almost no more panic attacks. I'm guess I'm just older and don't care as much anymore.

Best on conquering this.
 
I think I am "normal", though what that portends for the future of humanity...... idn_smilie

But I did do my part, and kept out of the gene pool.
 
surfsteve said:
Smurfco, I'm somewhat surprised to read this about you. From an outside observer, you seem pretty together, a great musician with some nice gear, a nice full head of hair, and a wicked (sometimes obtuse) sense of humor. Your online persona seems pretty normal to me.
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We (those with anxiety) tend to hide it well.
If you met me in person you'd have no idea what I was currently feeling or what was going on behind the scenes.



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I will say and I don't know if this helps, but to piggyback onto what TomPetty said, diet and exercise may be the best. I read labels and try to avoid monosodium glutamate and aspartame, sucralose and artificial sweeteners. Also no energy drinks like red bull and 5 hour. Always feel better after a good walk and such.
 
I don't think I am at any point where I need medical attention, but I realise that I have anxiety around social situations.
I will try to avoid them unless I have a good grasp of what's going to be happening, who is going to be there, and what my "responsibility" will be in the scenario.

All of this happens in my head before the social event. Once I get there, I am usually fine and just roll with whatever is going on. But leading up to it.... I hope for non-fatal car crashes to give me an excuse to bail, or just a ridiculous traffic jam that is bad enough for me to say "Screw it" and turn around.

How do I get myself to the events that I do attend? Resignation that I just have to go coupled with a "suck it up and do it" attitude. Essentially, I act the part that I think is required. That gets me there and gets me going. Once I'm there, "Me" takes over because it seems that being there isn't the source of my anxiety, it's getting there.

I'm not suggesting that "suck it up" is what everyone with anxiety needs to do. Not by any stretch.
With my relatively mild affliction, it works for me.

Another thing that does work for me is to just say "No".
But that works because it's what I want. So, there is no bad feelings about saying "No".
 
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