Living with an Anxiety Disorder
Every phase in life has its challenges and anxiety will usually be part of it in some way. Anxiety can be a good thing! It will motivate you to take action when you are not happy with some aspect of you life. Anxiety over your job makes you want to change it. Anxiety over your body motivates you to go… Continue reading Anxiety in my 20’s, 30’s and 40’s
Anxiety disorders are linked to low levels of Serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical and neurotransmitter in the body. Serotonin regulates: mood and social behavior appetite and digestion sleep memory sexual desire and function There is a link between low serotonin levels and anxiety and depression. For this reason, one way to control an anxiety disorder… Continue reading Why You are Losing the Anxiety Battle!
11/1/11 marked the one year anniversary of THE panic attack. When these pictures were taken I had been on medication for a little less than one year. My husband is a fireman and when he is on shift, it is 24 hours. I was able to take the kids “trick or treating” on Halloween and… Continue reading Happy 1 Year Panic-versary!!
I am so grateful that someone, somewhere, figured out how to control anxiety and panic attacks with medication. Without medicine, I would be in some serious trouble. I feel like I would probably be curled up somewhere, crying, watching life pass me by. Would I be on disability? Would I have lost my job? What… Continue reading Love/Hate Meds!
During my worst days, my Xanax intake looked something like this: 2:00am: Wake up in a panic and take a Xanax. 6:00am: At exactly 4 hours, the sensations would start coming back. At this time, the kids were up and I needed to function and pretend I was fine. I would take another one. 12:00pm:… Continue reading Was I Addicted to Xanax?
Anxiety disorders come in different shapes and sizes: Panic Disorder: extreme fear, or terror, at a random place and time. You might feel a racing heart and shortness of breath. Social Anxiety Disorder: extreme anxiety in social situations. You might feel very self-conscious and fixate on others judging you. Specific phobias: You have an extreme fear of something… Continue reading Binge-Drinking
On May 21, 2011, I had been on medication for 4 months. I woke up fine that day. It was literally the first day I had slept through the night, since THE panic attack and the first day I had woken up without trembling, or a nervous stomach, in about 7 months. Just one week… Continue reading Soaring at Epcot
When I was younger, I expected to be married before my 23rd birthday. I was devastated when at 24, I was STILL SINGLE! I didn't even meet my husband until I was 27! I always expected to have children. When my first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage, I was overcome with sadness and an unexplainable emptiness. I never… Continue reading Giving Up!
Are there certain things you hate to do, like cleaning the bathrooms? Laundry? Cooking? Mowing the Lawn? Washing Cars? Life is full of tasks you "have" to do that you hate to do. When I have to do something I really don't want to do, I tend to obsess about it, get upset, stress and then do nothing! If you have high anxiety or… Continue reading Do More of What You LOVE
Growing up, I vaguely remember hearing my grandmother talking on the phone about other family members. It seemed everyone had "una enfermedad de los nervios". Translation: a condition that affected the nervous system (anxiety). Also, growing up, I heard stories about how wonderful the old pre-Castro Cuba was. It seemed Cubans were always having a… Continue reading My Theory on Cubans and Anxiety
