Posted by Lindenblüte on November 10, 2006, at 8:10:03
In reply to Re: Anxiety I think....??Help!!, posted by Phillipa on November 9, 2006, at 19:05:04
Hi tone,
sounds like panic- I get this when I have acute stagefright. It's pretty bad, and it definitely makes it hard to perform one's best. (minus the ejaculation part- I'm not sure how I would be able to hide that during a violin recital, plus I'm not a guy.Sounds really intense and unpleasant. I'm able to keep those symptoms under control with a fairly safe medication called a beta-blocker. When you know that an exam is going to make you "sick", you can take this small pill an hour before, and it keeps your heart slow, soft and calm. It won't do much for racing thoughts, but you'll be amazed, that when your body is responding normally (heart rate, breathing- won't get shallow and rapid, no clammy hands, no chest pains- well, you will find that your mind feels much calmer when it's attached to a "calm" body.
I think therapy is a great place to start working on anxiety. I posted a humongously LONG and encyclopedic thing on that very topic recently.
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20061026/msgs/701660.html
It's on a different "board" on psycho-babble, the one where we talk about therapy and stuff. This board is one for talking about drugs and side effects and such.
My doc has me on an SNRI (it's like an SSRI, but it also inhibits reuptake of norepinephrine [NE])
NE is an important neurotransmitter for communicating anxiety signals throughout the body and mind, so this drug is supposedly really good for general anxiety.
I still use a benzodiazepine for when my mind is going crazy with anxiety, and a beta blocker, should I ever have to give a speech in front of an audience or god forbid-- perform a solo.
Welcome to psycho-babble. keep posting, and I hope you get some relief. You don't have to suffer like this. If you're a student, a good place to start might be the campus mental health services.
take care,
-Li
poster:Lindenblüte
thread:702071
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061110/msgs/702233.html