Question about your anxiety.

[Haunted]

To those of you who suffer with GAD, do you constantly live in a state of anxiety, or are some days or weeks better than others?

I am struggling to understand my own experience with anxiety. I have had CBT, and been offered medication, because I do get bad anxiety. I get excessive worries, negative thoughts, panic attacks, unable to cope, etc. However, my anxiety only seems to over-come me some of the time, not all of the time. If I had to estimate, I'd say that I experience anxiety I find difficult to live and cope with about half of the time. The other half it IS there, but minimal and I can cope ok.

My question is - do you relate to this? Or do most people have the severe anxiety every day?

I am trying to understand myself, what makes some days better than others. I am also trying to understand if it's worth taking anxiety medication for, when it's terrible half the time, but manageable the other half.

I'm not sure if my anxiety experience is the norm, or odd. I get the impression many people with anxiety have it the same every single day, am I right?

[Louise_B85]

Hi, no i believe everyones anxiety is different, mine can change day to day, somedays I feel fine, others awful, I can go for a week feeling great then it hits me. I can feel great in the morning but anxious at night. Im starting to understand that certain things can trigger it but sometimes theres no warning. Because I feel ok for about half the time Im trying not to go the medication route x

[tricia56]

hi im like you too my anxiety is with me all the time as soon as i wake but seems to ease off towards night time abit and like you some days i can cope with it and other days i cant i ve had anxiety now for 7yrs and i dont want to go on meds im too scared of side effects i struggle with the exeptance bit and i thnk im seem to be obsessed with my anxiety and dont know how to overcome it to stop thinking about it all the time so i too would like advice on how i can exept the aniety and to stop thinking about it all the time

[kittikat]

I call it background anxiety and intrusive anxiety...

The background anxiety can be there a lot of the time but I am able to get on with life. Whe the intrusive anxiety strikes thats when I find it hard to manage.

I do take meds and it has reduced my anxiety a lot. It's personal choice though I guess...CBT also helped me learn coping stratergies, might be worth looking into.

Good luck. Kitti :)

[Edie]

Hi Haunted,

I think anxiety can be so variable, what you describe does sound like one of the ways it can present. In one sense, there is no "normal for anxiety," but I think you'll find that many people here will have a similar presentation as you, though others will be different as well.

My anxiety is connected to specific triggers. It's just that there are rather a lot of them. There are some situations I feel no anxiety, some of which are surprising to others. For example I have social anxiety and go really shy in groups of people. Yet I have no concerns about standing up in front of a large group to do a presentation. I'm quite a nervous driver, rather hesitant at junctions, yet I have no (extra) nerves about driving unfamiliar vehicles and will quite happily drive straight off onto the main road. People are often surprised by my abilities and think I've overcome my anxiety, but in truth there never were anxieties about certain issues.

Although I'm diagnosed with GAD, it's really not general at all. It's very specific anxieties that I have. It's just that there are many of those specific things, which make it look quite general.

As you are suffering from severe anxiety about half of the time, I personally think that medication to reduce your anxiety could be beneficial to you, as it could help to lift the worst of things. Therapy can help aswell, or instead, but your symptoms do seem to be substantial enough to warrant treating them somehow.

[Lilharry]

I've had different levels at different times of my life. Last year I was pretty good and would only get anxious if I was tired or sick, or hormonal. It was quite good because I could reassure myself that a good night sleep would make me feel better and not let it overwhelm me. Now that I'm having health issues I get anxious some of the time, but often I feel good too. Difference at the moment though, is even when I'm calm, I still have this voice telling me that I'm unwell. I think if you can work out what is causing you to be anxious and start to work on that, it can be hugely beneficial. A lot of my anxiety in the past has been caused by issues with self confidence and also relationship issues. I found dealing with those has reduced my anxiety a lot. Now my anxiety is because of health issues so I'm back in counselling to deal with that and also doing my best to find a doctor who can help me. I don't take meds because I had a bad experience with them and have developed a phobia of them. I think you can do it without them, but it probably makes it easier with them if you can get the right one for you.

[Bekzie]

Hi Haunted
No I have good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks. When its a good day the anxiety is still there but at a very low level, other days it feels like anxiety is looking over my shoulder about to pounce and then on bad days it is constant panic, crippling anxiety. Some times it lasts days, other times it can last weeks!

[grace.M]

I've recently been diagnosed with GAD but i only went to see the doctors because it was much worse than normal... because a lot of people think i had it in my teens, and my counsellor too... i started to think it was normal for me, but it does vary a lot... I'm on edge most days and worry about near enough everything! but some days or even rarely on busy weeks its as if its not there at all... and more recently because I'm in a bad phase of high anxiety, i find it very difficult to cope with. so it very much depends on how an individual deals with it, for me i have good and bad days with one or two rough patches a year... hope your feeling better soon :) x

[BigDaz]

I call it background anxiety and intrusive anxiety...

The background anxiety can be there a lot of the time but I am able to get on with life. Whe the intrusive anxiety strikes thats when I find it hard to manage.

I do take meds and it has reduced my anxiety a lot. It's personal choice though I guess...CBT also helped me learn coping stratergies, might be worth looking into.

Good luck. Kitti :)

This is my experience too.

[Haunted]

I just want to thank you all for answering my question and sharing your experiences.

I know it sounds like a crazy thing to worry myself over, but I was even getting nervous about my anxiety being different to other people!!! But I see from here that it effects people in very, very different ways and there isn't neccessarily a "normal" way to present itself.

I just get so frustrated at myself sometimes. I can have days or perhaps even weeks where I will think, "Anxiety? None at all. I'm in control" and I will wonder what I was so worried about....... and then suddenly BOOM, my anxiety does get triggered off, I feel horrible, out of control with it, and then it makes me feel crap for weeks.
I feel like my mind and emotions are a round-about, never being consistent, never quite knowing how well I am doing because I can change at the drop of a hat.

[MattH]

I certainly have on and off days/weeks - it's very much triggers that affect the way I feel and cope. The past 6 months haven't been too bad, anxiety is there, but I can cope, but past week it's heightened and I'm really on edge at the moment, trying to keep it all together and use CBT to keep my thoughts at bay.