Anxiety/panic though the roof

I haven't posted for awhile because my anxiety has been somewhat manageable but recently it's come back with a vengeance. I did post last month about my concerns over my 24 year old son going into the Peace Corps in Thailand for TWO years starting in January because that was weighing so heavily on my mind but now it's starting to look as tho that might not happen so you'd think Id be feeling better.....NO. It seems I'm even more anxious and depressed as well as having a lot more panic attacks than usual. Maybe it's all the other stressors I have in my life and the holidays coming, who knows...but I just know I hate feeling this way. I have been taking .25 of Xanax every morning for years but everyone tells me that's not enough to do any good so now I take another .25 before bed. It seems to help but only for a few hours and I DONT want to start taking more. Anyway, I guess just looking for support as I go through this new bout of anxiety. This forum has always been my best therapy.

Thanks JRF....yep the holidays don't help...especially when you're living on a Social Security budget like me!! There's so many people out there who feel the same way that I guess a lot of us will be posting this month LOL. Maybe we can all help each other through this.

Thanks Cat...yes, sometimes the breathing helps, even if only temporarily. I have considered upping my Xanax because I've never really taken the full dose prescribed. I kind of agree that during times when anxiety is especially high that taking a little more wont hurt but of course you always have the holistic people who think it's addictive and you shouldn't take it at all. But I've been taking it on and off for years without ever having any withdrawal when stopping. There are some out there who tell me I should be on an antidepressant too and I may end up doing that but have always avoided it in the past due to things people say about side effects. Just hoping I'll get over this most recent "anxiety hump" and back to feeling normal again. It's funny how you can't imagine feeling anxious when you're feeling good but when it comes back, you're just as debilitated as ever...ugh.

Hi Andwes,

I have been through anxiety/panic disorder/depression.
Mostly I've been posting my problems on depression post. I just recently posted about "Wellbutrin XL".

I am taking Xanax, 2mg everyday to try to get rid of my anxiety, but I am still having anxiety/panic disorder, plus I take a pain medicine for the lower back pain from my back surgery.

Recently, I felt that I didn't want to live like this anymore, because I was tired of not being able to live my life.
So I saw my doctor and asked him, "Why am I having this problem with panic when I wake up? It feels horrible, and I get so scared." He immediately told me that it was depression, so I asked him, "Can you prescribe me Wellbutrin?", and he did.
I took it, and I think that I felt better the first day I took it.

Now I had heard about this medicine for a long time, and a lot people said that this medicine is good for depression, but most, if not all, anti-depression medicines would give me bad side effects in the first day or two, and I wouldn't take them anymore. So I felt hopeless. I tried almost all of them, so I procrastinated taking new ones, but I couldn't stand living with the problems, so I tried Wellbutrin. It made me feel that there is hope after all.

Anyway, it has only been three days since I started taking it, but I know that this medicine made those scary, horrible feelings when I wake up go away. I still have a little bit of anxiety here and there, but I take Xanax for that.
I know it's still too early to tell, but I think that I finally found the right medicine for me, and I will not give up this time!!!

What I am trying to say is that you might want to go see a doctor and ask what medicine is good for you to take together with anxiety and depression, and, hopefully, the doctor will give you a good medicine and good advice too.

I hope that you get better soon. Keep us posted.
God bless you and have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!!!

No problem.

I noticed this afternoon that I was going through anxiety when I woke up to go to the bathroom and tried to go back to bed.
I started to feel the anxiety coming quickly, so I told myself, "Everything is going to be okay", and I started praying to Jesus for help. Then, I called my close friend and started talking to her about it, and she understood what I was going through and said that I am going to be fine.
After that we started talking about other things so that I would be distracted and not notice my anxiety.
I felt better talking to her, forgot all about it and went back to sleep until I needed to take my medicines.
Now, I still took my Xanax to help me go back to sleep, but the talking helped a lot to calm me down until it took effect.

So andwes, do you have somebody to talk to? Because if you talk to someone, you won't notice your anxiety and, the next thing you know, the anxiety will be gone.
Do you have anything that you like to do to distract you from noticing anxiety?
I am so sorry that you are going through this, and I know how you feel, but you are not alone.
If you need to talk to somebody, I'll be here. However, I sleep in the daytime.
God bless you.

My anxiety is HORRIBLE this morning. It hasn't been this bad in a couple weeks but I can feel it in my chest and I hate it. I relate to it being okay then hitting hard again. I'm trying to convince myself as I type that I'm not going to have a panic attack...

I personally think my anxiety led into my depression, so I think you might be onto something there. They typically do come hand-in-hand. A discussion with your doctor couldn't hurt!

Thinking of you!

Hi andwes,

I posted earlier about Wellbutrin, but it turned out bad for me after a while, and I stopped taking it. I took it for six days, and I started to have more anxiety and panic.
It was horrible, I thought that I had found the right medicine for my depression, but I was wrong.
I guess everyone is different, and that is true. It works for some, and it doesn't for others.
So I have to go see a doctor or a psychiatrist again to find a different depression medicine. Bummer!!!
I really was hoping that Wellbutrin was the one.
I hope that you feel better soon
God bless,
freakedoutone