Anxiety about anxiety

[danithegirl]

This is the worst. This little bout of anxiety started with something kind of worth being anxious about. I upped my dose of Citolopram to 30mg, and it's gotten worse (I'm trying to tough it out since I know that even an increase takes time to kick in).

Now, while I'm still anxious about the original issue, I'm now anxious about my anxiety. Will it ever stop? Will I have to keep feeling this way for the rest of my life? How will I function?

Can anyone relate?

[fishman65]

Myself and so many others here can certainly relate dani. First off, this won't necessarily stay with you for the rest of your life. Some lucky people can have anxiety burn itself out, maybe that will be you in time.

In my experience, nearly all anxiety begins with worrying about a specific event/issue and then progresses to anxiety over being anxious. We begin to fear the symptoms of anxiety that then leads to more anxiety and thus more symptoms. CBT can teach us to challenge the anxious thoughts and some people get more help from it than others. I'm no expert on CBT so anyone feel free to question what I've typed.

Other than that dani, I would say to you that people 'can' have anxiety for protracted periods, but it isn't all bad news and some can live relatively normal lives :)

[algorithm]

Hi Dani,
if this is new to you , the odds and the speed to be anxiety free or at least to lessen is high !
As @fishman stated , CBT is good method and has proven to help many along with many other methods including psychotherapy , mindfulness meditation etc..

bear in mind, those meds whether they are tricyclic or SSRI are "trial and error" , also dosage plays a big role. get back to your doc to change it if you have passed more than 6 to 8 weeks and you see no results. Personally, i do take Xanax , which kicks in quickly in 30 mins or so while trying a new meds , but again when it comes to meds , always your doc is the right person to consult with.

dont panic , u seem to be new to anxiety and i stress on this ( if i got you right ) its very curable at the beginning , just dont ignore it

[danithegirl]

You know, that's the worst part- I'm not new to this. I've had anxiety for 10 years now, and these setbacks happen. It always spirals out of control and then turns into the anxiety about anxiety. I'm going to give the increase until Monday to kick in, and if I'm still feeling lousy like this, I'll get back in touch with the doc. It helps to know that there are fellow sufferers out there.