Hi all,

I’ve come to terms that I really do have an anxiety problem I’ve been ignoring for years. I’ve been self medicating with L-Theanine, Vitamin D3+K2 and the occasional ashwaghanda w/magnesium.

I’m terrified of actual anxiety medication but it’s been harder to control with vitamins.

Have any of you found any other cures outside of the mentioned OTC stuff I mentioned?

Any suggestions would help

I have chronic health issues, including dysautonomia/POTS-like symptoms and inappropriate sinus tachycardia (IST), and I deal with so many physical symptoms daily. Dizziness, weakness, fatigue, heart palpitations, chest discomfort, nausea, feeling off balance, random pains, and honestly what feels like every symptom known to mankind. 😭

The hardest part is figuring out what's actually related to my chronic conditions, what's anxiety, and what's something I should genuinely be concerned about.

I've been to the ER multiple times, had numerous tests done, and I'm still undergoing testing with specialists. Even when doctors reassure me that nothing immediately dangerous is happening, my brain always goes to the worst-case scenario.

One day I'm scared of a neurological disease, the next day it's something wrong with my heart, a blood clot, or some rare illness. It's exhausting mentally and physically.

I also feel like I've become afraid of my own body. I'm scared to exercise, walk around, sleep, or sometimes even do basic everyday activities because I'm constantly anticipating another symptom.

I know reassurance-seeking and Googling symptoms aren't helping, but when you genuinely feel physically unwell every day, it's incredibly difficult to stop worrying.

For those of you who have chronic illnesses AND health anxiety:

• How did you learn to stop catastrophizing every physical sensation?
• How do you distinguish your usual chronic symptoms from something that actually needs medical attention?
• Did therapy, especially CBT or ERP, help you?
• How did you rebuild trust in your body and stop living in constant fear?
• What helps you when you're having a particularly bad symptom day?

I don't want to spend the rest of my life terrified of every sensation in my body. I want to enjoy life again, even if I'm still dealing with chronic illness.

I'd really appreciate hearing what helped you.

Ive been diagnosed with anxiety for awhile now and have been through meds for it, and today I started having a lump in my throat sensation and it’s making me panic even more knowing that I used to have a temporary hyperactive thyroid about two years ago. Ive been to the ER a few weeks ago for something unrelated but they did blood tests and said everything was normal but I can’t help but think it could be another thyroid issue happening. It’s started a couple hours ago and still there after taking hydroxyzyne

Ive had anxiety all my life in some fashion and been able to move with it pretty well. Mine is completely in my head where as if I am distracted from my thoughts that make me anxious, i feel totally fine. Earlier this year i had a major panic attack out of no where and the subsequently had a miserable next 2 months of panic attacks on a daily basis and couldnt even leave the house. I have overcome all of that and don't think a panic attack is going to happen again... but I keep thinking about it still and sometimes the anxiousness really starts to increase but i dont think a panic attack is going to happen. If i go pick my son up from school, everytime i walk in the door i think "what if i had a panic attack right now or a huge adrenaline surge etc". Sometimes i start to get a little anxious but the second something distracts me i feel fine. Anyone have any advice on how to stop those thoughts?

hi so basically i (23f) am absolutely terrified of starting ssris or any anxiety/depression medication again. i took ssris for around 8-9 years of my life and stopped over the summer. i didn’t realize until after stopping that the ssris gave me a racing heart / palpitations, that i havent gotten since stopping them.

however. . . i’m so unwell mentally and anxious constantly and i am being pushed by family & doctors to start medication again. i just want to be happy and not anxious again, and i know medication could help me, but im terrified to start again. i don’t want to deal with palpitations or the weird shaky feeling every ssri has given me.

im supposed to start lexapro again tomorrow and im so sick just thinking about it :’). i’m also terrified about serotonin syndrome.

any advice?

Improved not gotten rid of or cured. I only want to lessen my anxiety, it never used to be this bad. Ive always been low in vit d and have done some research showing a lot of the foods that improve anxiety are high in vit d, magnesium, vit b etc. Anyone go to their dr and ask for a full check on certain vitamin and changed their diet and taken vitamins and seen an improvement? Do we really need to take medication if this could be improved with proper diet and nutrition?

Two weeks ago I was ready to end it all I was so exhausted, anxious, stressed, and had constant obsessive thoughts. I've always struggled with my PTSD, OCD, and anxiety so much so I started becoming agoraphobic and even sabotaged one of my clinical sites by being a no show after my adult autistic kid had a huge meltdown. I wasn't sleeping and going crazy, plus I just got over stressed induced shingles and a peptic ulcer.

At that point I truly didn't want to be here anymore and I was very close. I finally bit the bullet and decided to try medication management again. I saw a PMHNP 12 days ago and she prescribed me 25mgs of Trazadone and 25mgs of Fluvoxamine. I took the Fluvoxamine knowing it may make extremely anxious and it 100% did. So I stopped taking it and stuck to the 25mgs of Trazodone. It's helped me sleep and it seems to be really help level out my moods and my obsessive thoughts.

Just recently I had to work 80hrs at a skilled nursing facility 40miles away over just 10 days. The facility was horrid in the beginning but I after a few days all my obsessive thoughts went quiet. Even when something went wrong or a patient yelled or got aggressive I didn't panic or feel the urge to flee and quit. I'm excited about upcoming clinicals an job prospects instead of dreading them. Idk if this will help anyone but it does feel like I have a little bit my old life back. I'll try taking the Fluvoxamine again now that I have a short break from work and clinicals.

I know this is anecdotal but maybe this may help someone who is struggling right now.

Please note this isn't medical advice as I know everyone is different, every body is different, and each person will have their own personal experiences with medication management. I also don't advise anyone to adjust the dosages of their medication without speaking with their prescribed first.

Everyone who have felt it knows what I mean it's like you trapped in your mind and there is nothing you can do about it you just stuck in negative thoughts without a way out and nobody can help.It literally feels like hell and you are like a ghost you are not a human (I am sorry for any mistakes English is not my first language )

I’m honestly freaking out and could use some reassurance from anyone who has experienced something similar.
i put two pills (100mg of fluvoxamine so 200mg total) in a small amount of water( like maybe 2 ounces) I took one small gulp of the water, swallowed some then immediately spit it out when I realized it was the pill bottle!!

I looked at the bottle afterward, and the pills still appeared mostly intact. It looked like the outer coating had dissolved, but the white part of the tablets was still there.
I called Poison Control, and they reassured me that even in the worst-case scenario where both pills had fully dissolved and I had swallowed all the water, they expected me to be okay. They told me 500 mg would be a concerning dose.
I’ve never taken fluvoxamine before, so the whole situation scared me badly. I’m still anxious and looking for reassurance from anyone who might have experienced an accidental medication exposure like this.
Has anyone accidentally swallowed a small amount of water containing fluvoxamine or had a similar experience?? i know they said i will be okay but my brain is terrified i can’t believe i accidentally drank the water i feel so stupid :/

i’ve been having bowel symptoms for around three years now. they’ve been very inconsistent and if anything they’ve gotten a LOT better over the past year. anyway i keep seeing so many videos and stuff that pop up on facebook about colon cancer or cancer in general and it’s making so stressed thinking it’s a sign that it’s what i actually DO have. am i being silly or could it be a sign?? really need advice because i feel like im going crazy thinking everything is a sign

My experience with anxiety is relatively new, just this year. I think one of the biggest things I’ve noticed other than all of the physical symptoms and the feeling like something has broken is the constant feedback loop my brain provides when I feed into it.

I want to get better. I mourn the person I was before this, and in doing so I’m applying a catalyst moment to my problems. A point where I feel like things went from alright to free fall. Everyday I obsess over it and try to reason with it and dig deeper in hopes I may receive a breakthrough but I fear that makes it all worse.

Humans will either yearn for stability or understanding. When things are not wrong there are hardly complaints or observations made on the state of things. But when faced with destabilization, especially within oneself, it seems the only option is to endlessly chase justification in hopes it brings you back to your previous state.

In this struggle against my own mind I see posts of people in their own unique struggles receiving tailored advice from people who are dealing with different but just as complex battles. I see symptoms similar to mine and dive deeper into the posts to hear snippets of people’s stories expressing hopelessness, success, or curiosity shrouded in desperation.

I’m glad to have found a community where my fears and issues don’t ostracize me from my peers. However I often find myself here in times of despair and leaving with more worry and dread. Mental challenges are so complex, and I find that even the idea of seeking answers in here throws me off my balance and makes my thoughts race.

For anyone either dealing with or have dealt with anxiety in any severity, how do you deal with moving forward and working towards a point where you are no longer in free fall if a constant stream of information and feedback overcomplicates your current issue?

My neck, shoulders, back, all hurt so bad, even my hips. Yesterday’s anxiety brought physical pain to my heart that I’ve never even experienced before. It’s exhausting for me and frustrating for everyone around me

Heres what happened: around feburary or so when i went to PCP, she did a typical exam by pressing down all over abdomin, when she pressed hard on upper right i felt some pain....kinda dismissed it bc it didnt seem crazy.

Maybe 1-2 weeks after that incident i kept pressing to check to see if i could replicate the pain - not really. then idk when it started but maybe in the weeks after i sometmes felt a sharp twinge of pain in same general vicinity it would come and go randomly...it went away for like a month then came back, etc etc. sometimes it came back multiple times in a month but it was never severe u know, it feels like a slight spasm/twige pain etc.

i have rly bad history of health anxiety since i was a kid (most prominent examples: year long dizziness w no medical cause/attributed to anxiety, constant shortness of breath/heart racing (did all lung/heart tests normal), ive had vertigo, nauseau for a long period of time w no cause as a kid, ive freaked out abt moles and skin cancer, freaked out about appendicitis, gone to ER several times - no actual issues.

now....the stomach thing is still occuring, but its kinda in a diff location - still upper right, but higher like closer to rib cage - and im really spiraling. I did go see a GI around a month or so ago - did h pyori test normal and abdonminal ultrasound (normal). he said i could do endoscopy - but i hesitated bc well i tend to jump to excessive medical testing and stuff given my past history of severe health anxiety so i didnt go thru w it....now im flipping out and googling staomch cancer stuff also bc my grandfatehr died of stmoach cancer in his 70s/80s....also past few days i ve been quite nasueous out of nowhere; it does somewhat line up w my period and bad cramps but idk. i cant stop spiraling honestly. and frekaing out.

Also dosent help that an endoscopy is expensive even w insurance and I’m super scared of medical procedures especially this one uses anesthesia. I’ve only ever had anesthesia when I got wisdom teeth out….

I’ve been dealing with a lot of academic stress lately, and honestly, I feel like it’s starting to take over my life.
I’m constantly worrying about my assignments and grades, and whether I’m doing enough. Even when I finish my work or submit an assignment, I can’t seem to relax. I always find something new to worry about, and my brain just won’t let me switch off.

It’s gotten to the point where the stress is affecting me physically. I’ve been feeling nauseous, shaky, and so anxious that I’ve thrown up. Sometimes I feel completely fine, and other times the anxiety comes back out of nowhere.

The worst part is that I feel guilty whenever I’m not being productive. I struggle to enjoy my free time because there’s always this feeling that I should be doing something more important. It’s exhausting feeling like I can never truly rest.

I know university is stressful, and I know I probably put too much pressure on myself, but I don’t know how to stop. I’m scared of failing, and even when I try to reassure myself, the anxiety doesn’t seem to listen.I just want to feel normal again and be able to relax without feeling guilty.

it’s been taking a much bigger toll on me than I ever expected. I’ve been feeling constantly nauseous, getting shaky, experiencing a racing heart, and even throwing up from anxiety.Every day I feel my body getting weaker , my legs are so weak I feel like walking too long is gonna make me collapse , I’ve been getting so dizzy and I’m pretty sure I’ve developed insomnia

Hi F20 here, i’ve been recently getting a lot of anxiety attacks. I think it’s called anxiety attacks. My chest starts to tighten and i cant breathe and my chest and heart hurts so bad and i get dizzy it genuinely feels like im dying if i move around or touch any place of my body when this is happening it hurts so bad. I try to lock myself in the bathroom or my room whenever i feel it rushing in. I can’t let my parents or family see me in such a state. I got caught a few days ago and they took me to the hospital where i just got a drip and a few shots. I’m kind of against medication in anyway i dont think those things should be injected into human bodies etc i wont go to deep into it. That is just what i believe. I dont know any cure for these i tried breathing slow or naming 5 things in the room to try to get my consciousness back. But still my heartbeat is rapidly increasing and everything just starts to dim. I’m really scared i dont want to take any medication or tell my family about anything. I try to hide this as much as possible but its to a point where i cant eat or sleep sometimes and then these anxiety attacks. Ive gone days without eating a single thing maybe js some water and days without sleep. I tried to fix both of these yet still the anxiety attacks come and each time its worse then before. I’m very very terrified. Does anyone know a way to calm oneself down or make it better without any medication??

To be precise, I get worried about things and it keeps me anxious and it sucks, but it also keeps me excited I think? When the anxiety comes out, I feel empty and sad. Anyone else experiencing this and know how to deal with it?

-mentions of harassment, assault-
Over a month ago a man verbally attacked me on the train and threatened to kill me, I’ve been completely petrified of this train journey since. I’ve just moved city to start a masters and I’m doing this all completely on my own, I had bad experiences where I was living previously but I was living with friends/knew a few people who helped me get back on my feet. Now I feel completely alone, lost and defeated, I’ve missed basically the first month of my course because I’m too scared to get on the train, I don’t really know anyone here and I have no idea how to get over it and trying to expose myself to it just seems to make it worse. The other day I ran off the train because I saw a man that vaguely resembled the man that tried to attack me.
I’m in the process of trying to get therapy but it looks like it will take a while before I get to see anyone. I really want advice on how to make this easier…if anyone’s gone through something similar and managed to overcome it - someone recommended an online course called ‘beat the blues’ but I haven’t gotten a chance to try it yet
:’( my life has been completely taken over by anxiety and paranoia, I’m terrified in almost every public space and scared of everyone around me.

For the past year, I've had the following:

- constant worries about my health and my parents and sister (specifically around ALS and cancer)

- hyper aware of symptoms and conscious monitoring and googling that I can't stop

- intrusive dreams about becoming a quadriplegic (or someone in my family) where I wake up shaking

- getting anxious about stuff like whether my twin's credit card will get approved and then when it does worrying about it getting lost in the mail

- replaying social interactions where I was socially awkward and trying to assure myself I didn't offend anyone

- after i leave the house I was babysitting at, I become concerned that the child passed in their sleep and wait until I get the call from them or police (ex. toddler brought a piggy bank into bed, I took it out and no coins spilled, but what if one did and she choked?)

- scared that my parents will stop breathing in their sleep or that they'll go into cardiac arrest and I won't be home

- suspicious when things are going well, feeling like something bad is going to happen

- anticipatory grief about my parents dying

Hey guys, as you have seen I’ve had the stomach flu for 2 weeks now and I just feel so down, I weighed 57kg and now I’m weighing 49kg. I’m aged 22f, I just feel so upset and down and so insecure. Years ago I was unwell to the point I was just so depressed and lost a crazy amount of weight and this bug is just triggering this. I just feel so anxious and my mum has been looking at me weirdly and she’s been saying how worried she is about the weight I’ve lost. This whole bug has taken a massive toll on me and I just feel so sad. Still going through it currently, haven’t been nauseous but my stomach has been rumbling like crazy, has ultrasounds and everything is okay but if it persists in November then an endoscopy is recommended but I’d appreciate a message or two I’m just feeling so upset I just want to cry and have been wanting to cry but I’ve been trying so hard not to dehydrate myself.

Context: I have also lost my grandma, during this whole ordeal, she was my mother, she practically raised me so I’ve been unable to grieve the way I’ve wanted to or even been able to visit her grave. It’s just so much going on I just really need someone to talk to right now.

I've had really bad anxiety for the last 4ish months. Its gotten so bad I cant do daily activities. I don't want to go to inpatient but I feel like my medication isn't working.

Hey guys, as you have seen I’ve had the stomach flu for 2 weeks now and I just feel so down, I weighed 57kg and now I’m weighing 49kg. I’m aged 22f, I just feel so upset and down and so insecure. Years ago I was unwell to the point I was just so depressed and lost a crazy amount of weight and this bug is just triggering this. I just feel so anxious and my mum has been looking at me weirdly and she’s been saying how worried she is about the weight I’ve lost. This whole bug has taken a massive toll on me and I just feel so sad. Still going through it currently, haven’t been nauseous but my stomach has been rumbling like crazy, has ultrasounds and everything is okay but if it persists in November then an endoscopy is recommended but I’d appreciate a message or two I’m just feeling so upset I just want to cry and have been wanting to cry but I’ve been trying so hard not to dehydrate myself.

Context: I have also lost my grandma, during this whole ordeal, she was my mother, she practically raised me so I’ve been unable to grieve the way I’ve wanted to or even been able to visit her grave. It’s just so much going on I just really need someone to talk to right now.

Been on 10mg escitalipram and 15mg mertazapram for sleep for the past 4/5 years.

Everything was good, but past couple months ive been feeling slightly agitated and my thoughts spiral abit.

Sometimes quite bad that i need to take propanolol.

Wondering if i need to up my dose of meds or come off them? Maybe try something different.

Any advice would be great, thanks.

Hi everyone (F20). I’ve dealt with anxiety for a long time, but the last two years have been especially severe.

My mind is constantly racing with anxious thoughts, and I frequently doubt my own memories like irrational paranoia that I made a mistake on paperwork and will be arrested.

To calm down, I’ve developed physical rituals like skin picking or pulling at my eyebrows until they fall out. When I can't find an outlet, I feel overwhelmed by depression and struggle to get out of bed.

I see a therapist once a month, but I feel stuck. While therapy helped last year, my therapist now just offers short-term reassurance for immediate worries rather than addressing these new compulsive rituals.

I strongly resonate with descriptions of moral and real event OCD, but I'm afraid to self-diagnose, and my therapist isn't paying much attention to these symptoms.

I feel confused and stagnant. Any advice or insights would be deeply appreciated.

I’m 21F, my husband (22M) is in the military, he has been stationed in Texas for quite some time. We’ve been working for months to get a home so I could move to be with him, and it’s finally happened!

I feel awful, cause I’m barely excited. Deep down, I’m ecstatic, I finally get to be with the love of my life. But I can’t stop crying, I’m terrified, I’m lost, I’m just an anxious fucking mess. I’m leaving my family behind, leaving the town I was born and raised in, leaving everything I’ve ever known. I’m up and packing my tiny lil car with what I can, plus my animals, and just driving.

No one has been excited nor supportive. Everyone has asked me if it’s truly what I want, told me how crazy I am for driving so far alone, etc. I plan on driving most of the day tomorrow, sleeping overnight in a hotel, and then continuing driving. I’m a very attentive driver due to already being anxious while driving, PLUS a new area. But everyone is acting like I’m totally incapable of doing this.

It is truly taking a toll on me. I am so, so ready to go. I am so excited, but I can’t help but doubt and genuinely freak the fuck out about it. Already being anxious, plus all these doubts from everyone on top, is just a lot on me. I’m terrified.

I'm actually doing ok overall right now, started Wellbutrin because I kept losing weight on other meds, and it's working pretty good. I just want to vent.

The two people I'm having problems with are a coworker and my mom.

I work in the medical field and I have a coworker who is also very anxious but in a completely different way. My anxiety is with people and interactions and trying to act normal (I'm also autistic, when it rains it pours) but I don't have imposter syndrome or feel insecure in that way, I know I'm smart and skilled at what I do. This coworker is anxious about everything being perfect and worries about bad things happening constantly. This gets deflected onto me (and almost everyone else who works there) she's so worried about things going wrong that she doesn't trust anyone else to do anything.

For example she intakes a patient, doctor orders some diagnostics so I take the patient to do the diagnostics, but she's worried I'll do it wrong and so insists on doing it herself, which messes everything up because then I have to intake her next patient. I know it's not really about me, so I try to be understanding, but it still sucks being doubted and not trusted. Just being around her in general is very tiring, and work is already so tiring for me normally. I'm so anxious and alert all day interacting with people that I go home I just want to sleep, sometimes it's hard to even do something fun and easy like video games or audiobooks.

This compounds with the fact that my mom is doing really poorly right now, she's much more anxious then me and has been hospitalized for it before. She needs reassurance for everything, for example she'll ask me if it's ok to our dog Charlie or if her clothes are ok. I can't deal with that constantly.

Both these people are for sure more anxious than me, so I try to be understanding, but sometimes I get tired of it and snap, then I feel bad. This might sound bad, but the reason I don't allow myself to be more caring and empathetic is my mom, she can be so kind and loves helping people and it hurts her so bad, people at her work take advantage of her. She always tries so hard and it destroys her because most people don't care. I don't want to end up like that.

But regarding my mom I also have some trauma with her, so it's difficult needing to help her constantly. She's been on/off meds my whole life, and she's had issues with psychosis due to them before. I remember once me and my dad had to run to the car in the middle of the night to get away for her and go to my grandparents house. It makes me mad how someone who could be so angry and violent now acts like this. I know it wasn't really her but still.

Anyway rant over guys