Does Anxiety Ever go For Good?

[WackoJacko]

Hi, I have suffered with anxiety and panic for almost 2 years but believe me when I say they feel like the longest years of my life!

It has taken me ages to get over the worse because I was too scared to take the citalopram that the doctors wanted me to take.

I had sickness and sometimes vomiting when I felt my anxiety and was rushed into hospital a few times with my heart beating to fast sometimes it would happen without me being anxious. I still get random flushes of worry and flash back of my time in the psychiatric ward (Voluntary Admission) but on the whole I feel like I’m through the worse...

I have found things to comfort me such as wearing rosemary beads and using multivitamins and eating what I think is a half descent diet and it does seem to of calmed it down...

But its little outbursts of anxiety on a daily basis that makes me think it’s something that is always gone be there, it seems like whenever I need to just stop and relax I get a boost of unwanted nerves.

My anxiety has made me absolutely skint I have been out of work for a long time and have reasently started working in a busy call centre, I feel better about myself now I’m part of the world again and not on the dole but sometimes even at work I get the occasional anxiety rush.

I guess what I’m asking is can u ever just go back to 100% normality or is the best we can hope for just a lower form of anxiety to when were at are worst?

[sadiesnow]

hi yes i think we learn to live with it when you have got over a panic attack, you think well i have controlled that one.

[monika]

Yes of course!
There are people who have suffered for 5, 10,15, 20 years and have gotten better! IT's not the duration that matters.
Don't lose hope.
xx

[LAURA48]

I have suffered with anxiety for 27 years - and I have found it does go - but then you have a few blips - medication definitely does help. I was 15 years free from bad anxiety whilst taking Prozac but that stopped working in October - so am having a blip now! I can count on one hand the number of relapses, say, I have had in those 27 years - life is not all bad and when well I do go to work - you will get better - not all doom and gloom - promise you that.

Hope you feel better soon

---------- Post added at 08:53 ---------- Previous post was at 08:51 ----------

I recommend any of Dr Claire Weeke's books - think this site sells them or look on Amazon a must for any anxiety sufferer.

[Pipkin]

Hi there,

I'm sure many people get rid of anxiety for good. For me, it's a case of keeping it as low as possible. I've suffered from GAD for 30 years and it's always been there, lurking in the background but for the vast majority of this time, I've functioned perfectly well. I've always been in full-time work and am rarely off sick.

I suppose my message is that it's manageable, even if it never entirely goes. The younger you start to tackle it, the easier it is to deal with.

Pip x

[neowallace]

Hi WackoJacko

It may well do I agree with most of the posts. I do things that help my anxiety but I also do things that don't due to addictions. Caffeine being one of them. Hopefully if I learn the healthy way of doing things then I can keep my anxiety levels down. I was told every human has anxiety just some of us have higher levels that need managed. Good Luck anyway this forum has helped me a lot......

:)Steven

[WackoJacko]

Thanks’ for all the comments there, all were very helpful.

I get the impression that it’s always going to be there in the back of my mind, but in a weird way it would be something I could cope with I think.

I just hope the worst doesn’t sneak back in, because it makes me physically puke when I feel extreme anxiety and I think that’s what bothers me the most.

I’m no Doctor but to anyone reading this at the beginning or at their worst moment of anxiety I cant begin to express to you what a wait off it takes following a few simple things.

All in one vitamin supplements
Better diet mine isn’t perfect but it’s a lot healthier than it was
Decaff tea bags
Less sugar

The 1st couple of weeks I noticed a massive change but like I said it seems to of wore off but it’s as if it is gently lingering in the back of mind, I guess on the plus side its better than not being in control of it at all :unsure:

[neowallace]

I might give some of those suggestions a try.:)Steven

[Pipkin]

I’m no Doctor but to anyone reading this at the beginning or at their worst moment of anxiety I cant begin to express to you what a wait off it takes following a few simple things.

All in one vitamin supplements
Better diet mine isn’t perfect but it’s a lot healthier than it was
Decaff tea bags
Less sugar

The 1st couple of weeks I noticed a massive change but like I said it seems to of wore off but it’s as if it is gently lingering in the back of mind, I guess on the plus side its better than not being in control of it at all :unsure:

Some good suggestions there. If I may add 3 more:

Take some exercise - it doesn't have to be too strenuous.
Don't lie in bed or sit around the house when you're feeling really bad. Although going out may be the last thing you feel like doing, do it anyway. You'll feel so much better.
Eat something, even if you don't feel like it.

Pip

[NoPoet]

Hi, anxiety and excitement are the same physical sensation seen from different perspectives. Some anxiety is normal since the purpose of anxiety is to keep people alert to danger. For people who have had HAD etc, it's about accepting that we can be anxious without letting it take over - to lose our fear of the anxiety.

So the aim is not to completely eliminate anxiety, but instead to experience it normally in appropriate situations, so that we don't constantly suffer and see anxiety as some great and terrible threat.

[blueangel]

Agree absolutely with PsychoPoet on this.

Anxiety is a very primitive response to danger, going right back to when we had to watch out we didn't get eaten by sabre-tooth tigers (seriously). We actually need that response to keep us alive, as otherwise we would have no response to danger and we wouldn't live very long.

However, this primitive response goes over the top for many people, and we end up with anxiety which we can't handle. As a long-term sufferer of anxiety (I've had it on and off for a lot of my life, and I'm 52 now), what happens is that we learn to manage it, and we can then exert a lot of control over our response to stressful situations.

For me, I have found that CBT and learning mindfulness meditation recently have helped a lot. I've also used medication, but recognise that this is for treating the symptoms of anxiety and not the cause of it.

hope this helps!

[Connor_cbt]

I had another session with my counsellor yesterday and towards the end of the session I asked a similar question, I asked "It's taken me 30+ years to formulate this way of thinking/behaving, am i REALLY going to be able to undo it?" and her reply was "No, But that isn't what we aim to do with counselling, we are the sum of our experiences so ultimately your past will always colour certain aspects of your life but it IS possible to slow your thinking down so you are able to balance your thoughts and over time it will take less and less effort. So, not really what i hoped to hear but still a positive response lol