What helped/is helping you?

I feel stuck (and panicked). I've had anxiety for over two decades. I struggle with constant anxiety. Currently, I'm in a 24/7 panicked state. I'm sweating constantly. My body shakes, I'm hot and cold at the same time. I can't focus, am constantly nauseous and throw up at least once a day. School and work make it 10x worse.

I've been seeing a T for about 6 months and a Pdoc for about 4 months, but have seen no improvements.

My T has taught me breathing exercises, countering cognitive distortions, meditation, etc., but none of these skills have helped me and my T concedes that I'm going to need to find the right meds to take the edge off to be able to make use of my skills. My Pdoc currently has me on 3 meds (Prozac, Klonopin and Seroquel) which have not helped one bit. Other non-mental health docs have either suggest different meds or have said meds are useless and don't work. Family members keep trying to get me to try a homeopath and homeopathic meds.

In short, I am really desperate to feel even a tad better. I really want to know what has helped you all in treating/managing anxiety. Have you had success from meds, therapy and/or other avenues?

Lola,
What positive things do you have to focus on? I mean things that make you smile to think of and things you wake up excited about?

HI Lola. ..sorry to hear you're having such a rough time.
Taking walks and being outside I'd helpful. Fresh air is refreshing.
I also like deep breathing and counting to 10, repeating until my panic subsides.
I agree with above that you need to try different med to find the right one for you.
Posting here can really help and everyone here is so supportive and encouraging.
Knowing you aren't alone in how you feel is also helpful.
Let us know how you're getting on.

finding the right med or combo of meds will help you. therapy can only go so far but the right med will make the difference. zoloft cured me

Hi Lola, I'm so sorry things are so hard for you right now. I've been there and it really sucks

Counseling has helped me. The thing is though, it took a bit of trial and error to find a counselor who I clicked with. And it does take time, which can be frustrating. One was a little helpful, but we didn't really have compatible communication styles. One was really not a good fit for me and fortunately I realised that early on and found another one. My current counselor is helpful for my anxiety, because it's caused by trauma and she's a specialist in PTSD and trauma. I also have OCD and I've realised it would be good for me to be proactive and talk to someone who is more knowledgeable about that too.

So I guess I'm saying counseling/therapy can really help, but it's not a one size fits all thing. We're all different and different counselors, different disciplines and different styles work for different people. For example, CBT has been helpful for me, but it's been the most helpful when I've had a counselor I "click" with, who's willing to move at my pace and be very responsive to me. Some breathing exercises help, others not so much. Some redirection techniques help, others are not so useful for me. I think counseling should be about finding out what works for YOU and being supported to try different things until you find out what is helpful. What's been most helpful is having a counselor who's been willing to spend a session or two having a kind of "meta" conversation about what is working and what could benefit from changing. Maybe this would be something you could consider bringing up with your current counselor?

Lexapro has also been helpful for me, although it's early days yet. I think it will help with my symptoms, but I know I'll still have to do the work with counseling.

Best of luck to you, I know how tough all this is.