is it possible to completely get rid of symptoms?

[sofaboy]

hi guys,

after a bit of advice and hopefuly some good news stories as all pretty new to this.

to give you some background, the GP diagnosed a anxiety & panic dissorder about a month ago, initally caused from some unpleasent side effects to some medication i was taking and subsexquently stopped (Champix - to stop smoking), so the anxiety / panic has been going on for a couple of months in total (previouly never had any issues of this sort).

I was getting all the usual physical symptoms - tight muscles, hot / cold pins & needles, shortness of breath, feeling very spacey and diss-associated, interrupted sleep and generally all a bit trippy. this was going on for the majority of the day, most days and resulted in a ouple of full blown panic attacks

for the past month I've been taking propranolol (usually 20-40mg a day) to alleviate the worst of the all day stress / anxiety physical symptoms, started CBT a couple of weeks ago to try and break the mental thought paths and have been excercising like a dog to burn off the additional adrenaline & cortisol in my body.

the combination of the above seems to be working, it seems i've got the panic attacks under control and the all-day symptoms are greatly reduced, however they are still there.

I know i'm very early into this process and could take a fair while, some i'm not being impatient, but more querying if it is possible to completely get rid of the symptoms and go back to 'normal' as it feels like a bit of a battle each day

[Rennie1989]

Hiya sofaboy

I'm sorry to hear this but I'm glad that you've managed to nip it in the bud. Medication and CBT as a combination is a great treatment path for anxiety and panic disorder.

Unfortunately the short answer to your question is 'no'. The reason why I say 'no' is because the symptoms of anxiety are what you experience during a 'fight or flight' response, which is a life saving mechanism. But in everyday life we experience that response during an exam, argument, lateness and other everyday experiences. Without that response you would not perform in an exam, you would not work faster for a deadline, you'd be relaxed when a normal response would be to act.

In saying that, with CBT you'll learn to accept these symptoms, let them run its cause and go. As I'm currently going through CBT I have learned that tip and it does work. Because the more you think about the symptoms the worse they become. Once you accept them the symptoms will become easier to cope with.

[debs71]

Hi sofaboy,

It is possible to go back to live without the heightened/worst symptoms of anxiety, and function pretty much normally, but in my own 9 year experience with anxiety, it is not entirely possible to free yourself from it forever, so I would never promise an all round 'YES' to your question.

That does not mean that all is lost or hopeless either. It is about learning to deal with anxiety WHEN and IF it crops up again, and that is certainly possible to do.

I had a breakdown 9 years ago following the onset of depression and anxiety. To cut a long story short I sought help, was prescribed meds, had 18 weeks of counselling and got my life back together. I was out of work for 18 months, but I went back to work, was able to reduce my hours and was back to my normal self. Since then (up until fairly recently) I have lived pretty much normally - working for myself now, doing the family stuff, doing the socialising stuff, and getting on with life......but with the odd glitch of anxiety to deal with. My anxiety shows in panic attacks, but instead of them escalating, I found a way to breathe/distract myself out of them. They come, they go.

Sorry to waffle on about me, but I just wanted to demonstrate that life can continue on normally, but anxiety may still crop up in life...but it is no failure, you just DEAL with it and ride with it, and that is do-able.

I am now experiencing a bad bout of anxiety and panic, but I'm dealing with it again and I know I will get through it. The good thing about a history of anxiety (the ONLY silver lining on that cloud) is that having had it and got through it before, it gives you hope you can do it again.

Don't try to think about forever getting rid of anxiety, as it is far too much pressure anyway. Just try to focus on living your life but being able to handle and manage it if you have glitches again.:hugs:

[sofaboy]

Hi Rennie

thanks for the input.

I know the anxiety symptoms are due the fight or flight response and getting them over prolonged periods and in not usual / none threat situations (ie not when you would usually get high levels of adrenaline released) is due to the fight or flight switch being stuck in the 'on' postion or inapropriately triggering as it were.

I was hoping though, that over time and working through CBT etc, i would be able to get to a point where i'm not experiencing the physical symptoms the fight or flight mechanism causes by it triggering inappropriately, or to put it another way, the fight or flight mechanism not triggering at inappropriate times and getting back to feeling normal

hopefuly i've explained that ok and it makes sense?

couldn't agree with you more though, the sooner you accept the symptoms and stop fighting them the easier they become to cope with.

---------- Post added at 12:47 ---------- Previous post was at 12:30 ----------

Hi Debs

Thanks for sharing your experience, greatly appreaciated.

I can see what you are saying, that it is more about adapting, adopting coping strategies and learning to live with the anxiety rather than being fixed or cured, but by doing this the symptoms are likely reduce and receed. does that sound about right??

would be lovely to not have to deal with it at all though and go back to "normal" as i'm strugling with the idea of dealing with it long term as it all feels like a bit of a battle (i know i need to get my head round this though to make progress)

[Brunette]

I have to disagree - it's perfectly possible to get "back to normal" - I did.

There will always be certain situations that cause anxiety, it's part of being human, but you can conquer, not just cope.

Read some of Skippy's posts if you have time - they are very helpful.

[debs71]

I have to disagree - it's perfectly possible to get "back to normal" - I did.

There will always be certain situations that cause anxiety, it's part of being human, but you can conquer, not just cope.

Read some of Skippy's posts if you have time - they are very helpful.


Hmm. Just curious Brunette, but wondering why you still need NMP if you have conquered things and are 'back to normal'?:shrug:

[Brunette]

I don't - I just pop in from time to time to help other people if I can.

Happy for you to read my posting history if you have any doubts.

[sofaboy]

I have to disagree - it's perfectly possible to get "back to normal" - I did.

There will always be certain situations that cause anxiety, it's part of being human, but you can conquer, not just cope.

Read some of Skippy's posts if you have time - they are very helpful.


good to hear.

had a quick search for skippy's posts but not sure i found the person you were refering to. do you know their full user name or which forum they post in normally?

thanks

Ben

[Brunette]

I think Skippy generally posts in Health Anxiety.

[sofaboy]

thanks - will do a search there

[debs71]

Perhaps it is my own experience of anxiety that I am going by, but I would never advise or tell anyone they can totally get back to normal from anxiety. It sets up an expectation that may not be achievable in their particular case.

I am not saying it is impossible - clearly you say you have, Brunette - but I am not sure anyone can fully state they are 100% free from anxiety until such time happens that their anxiety does not show itself during, for example, a high stress/pressure situation, or not even that, but anxiety can creep back upon us when we least expect.

I did not expect that I would relapse so badly now with anxiety/panic. I have been living my life pretty anxiety-controlled, with the same stresses I have been dealing with for a long time, and this has knocked me for six, but never did I believe during the time that I was 'doing ok' that my anxiety had gone for good.

I am just of the mind set that if you are pre-disposed to anxiety, it is a never say never situation.

I don't think that living with the spectre of anxiety is a failure either, and I don't think anyone should pressure themselves to think they have achieved normality only if they are free of it.

[sofaboy]

[QUOTE=debs71;1223135]I am just of the mind set that if you are pre-disposed to anxiety, it is a never say never situation.
QUOTE]

Hi Debs,

I see what you're saying and can understand that once you've had an anxiety issue the issue or poitential of it is always still there.

I guess what i was trying to get an idea of is if i can get to a point where i don't experience the physical symptoms all day. even though most of the time they are failry mild, it's getting me down a bit that they are always there.

i know everyones case is different, but at the moment the circle of anxiety - symptoms - anxiety is getting on my nerves and a break would be good, so hoping there is some light at the end of the tunnel

[debs71]

Hi sofaboy,

Sorry - I wasn't directing the post at you at all, and sorry if it came across that way. I was just waffling on about my own thoughts and experience of anxiety. I didn't mean to go off on a rant, lol.

I totally get what you mean, and what you are aiming for. It is entirely possible to be free from the worst physical symptoms, and go ages and ages without any, the trouble is - when we have a run of anxiety - we think we can't get rid of them and they will last forever. I think it is also tricky as when we notice the physical stuff we then fixate on it, and that just makes them continue....like we are anxious about the anxiety symptoms. I know it seems they will stay forever, but they honestly don't. The sweating, palpatations, racing heart, etc. do disappear if the anxiety can be addressed and calmed down.

I promise you that, as I have been through it time and time again, and they never last as a permanent fixture.:)