What can you do about anxiety?

I am not sure where to put this cry for explanations and advice.  Why can't I be laid back?

I am not sure what I had this morning, an exacerbation of anxiety, a panic attack, or tolerance withdrawal, or is that the term?  It does not matter that I had a rather legitimate reason for the anxiety; it was overblown.  I had received a copy of a second sleep study which showed that I had unexplained night time oxygen desaturation – yes, it scared me, even though I knew it had happened during the other sleep test.  :'(  I think I am doing everything I can to overcome this phenomenon by tapering off benzos and losing weight, but I do not know if it will be resolved with these steps.  I did find several references or studies that said ‘benzodiazepines have been reported to increase frequency and duration of nocturnal hypoxemia”, although there are other things that can affect the nocturnal desaturation such as weight.

The anxiety was so bad that I thought I could feel my heart pumping, and the muscles in my back and chest got so tight that they hurt afterward; my back still hurts.  I did do some breathing exercises after some of the tenseness left, which leaves me seven hours later still with some anxiety, but mostly just tired.  That was an extremely long time to be that tense.  This may seem lazy, but I decided not to try to work and try to find something relaxing to do, while I could.  Next week I will not have that opportunity, as I will be going to a client’s office to start an audit, so what do I do if it happens again?  I found myself impatient with the man who helps in the yard; I would hate to be rude to someone else because of withdrawal.

I am very thankful for this forum and the people who volunteer their time, but I try not to dwell on the tapering too much.

Rose

Hi Rose,

Take a look around this board, 'anxiety and panic' and also the board 'insomnia'. There many great tips and suggestions to help with anxiety.

I read your sig line and noticed you are on a very low calorie diet. It's quite possible that this is contributing to your anxiety. Your brain needs food to feel calm. It needs a constant supply of glucose. I personally have problems with insomnia if I don't eat enough during the day.

The average sized woman performing average daily activities needs a minimum of 1200 calories a day to function normally. This might be something to consider.  

Hi rose,

How often and how much are you cutting?? Your tapering looks a little fast. You should keep cuts no more than 10% off your total daily dose every two weeks. Last I knew, you were stabilizing on 2mg and now I see you are at 1.5mg??

T2

Hi rose,

 

How often and how much are you cutting?? Your tapering looks a little fast. You should keep cuts no more than 10% off your total daily dose every two weeks. Last I knew, you were stabilizing on 2mg and now I see you are at 1.5mg??

 

 

T2

Yes, Theresa.  Some other people have warned me about that.  I accidentally cut to 1.5 by leaving off a dose one day, and made it fine.  This is what one of my doctors wanted me to be on, but I was looking at Dr. Ashton's schedule to withdraw from 4mg xanax, and she had it the withdrawal schedule in four equal doses.  Because of the relatively short life of xanax,  I do think that is a good idea to have four doses, but it puts a couple of doses close together, if they are every six hours. Maybe it should be every 5 1/2 hours. But I am a little confused as to how I should go to four equal doses, other than going back to 2mg.  I am wondering if I should do this.  I had three good days in a row on the 1.5mg though, until today.  I worry too much, I know.  I thought about going to four doses, but leaving one a somewhat smaller dose, instead of going back to a full 2mg.  I hate to go backwards, but I may have to do it to go forward.  I had been putting off the dose in the morning until 8am, when I wake at 5 or 6, which means that it doesn't go into effect until 9.  This could be the reason that I had trouble handling the anxiety today.

I haven't seen the times of dosage on tapering schedules, but then some people taper from a longer acting drug, so they wouldn't compare, and several people tapered from two or three doses of xanax. 

Thanks,

Rose

Hi rose,

 

How often and how much are you cutting?? Your tapering looks a little fast. You should keep cuts no more than 10% off your total daily dose every two weeks. Last I knew, you were stabilizing on 2mg and now I see you are at 1.5mg??

 

 

T2

 

Yes, Theresa.  Some other people have warned me about that.  I accidentally cut to 1.5 by leaving off a dose one day, and made it fine.  This is what one of my doctors wanted me to be on, but I was looking at Dr. Ashton's schedule to withdraw from 4mg xanax, and she had it the withdrawal schedule in four equal doses.  Because of the relatively short life of xanax,  I do think that is a good idea to have four doses, but it puts a couple of doses close together, if they are every six hours. Maybe it should be every 5 1/2 hours. But I am a little confused as to how I should go to four equal doses, other than going back to 2mg.  I am wondering if I should do this.  I had three good days in a row on the 1.5mg though, until today.  I worry too much, I know.  I thought about going to four doses, but leaving one a somewhat smaller dose, instead of going back to a full 2mg.  I hate to go backwards, but I may have to do it to go forward.  I had been putting off the dose in the morning until 8am, when I wake at 5 or 6, which means that it doesn't go into effect until 9.  This could be the reason that I had trouble handling the anxiety today.

 

I haven't seen the times of dosage on tapering schedules, but then some people taper from a longer acting drug, so they wouldn't compare, and several people tapered from two or three doses of xanax. 

 

Thanks,

Rose

Cutting from 2.0mg to 1.5mg is a 25% reduction. What size pills do you have? We usually recommend getting the smallest tablet available; thereby, having the ability to make smaller reductions. Xanax is available in .25mg pills letting you reduce by .125mg or .0625mg every week or two. With Klono, I was able to take every 8 hours with no problem, Xanax is shorter acting so if you are experiencing interdosal w/d s/x, you may have to take it 4 times a day. Not all doses have to be exactly the same when you're tapering. If you stay at 1.50mg per day, you could take .50mg at 6:00am, .25mg at 12:00noon, .25mg at 6:00pm, .50mg at 12:00pm.  If you take it 3X/day, then of course .50mg every 8 hours is fine.

I am not sure where to put this cry for explanations and advice.  Why can't I be laid back?

 

I am not sure what I had this morning, an exacerbation of anxiety, a panic attack, or tolerance withdrawal, or is that the term?  It does not matter that I had a rather legitimate reason for the anxiety; it was overblown.  I had received a copy of a second sleep study which showed that I had unexplained night time oxygen desaturation – yes, it scared me, even though I knew it had happened during the other sleep test.   :'(  I think I am doing everything I can to overcome this phenomenon by tapering off benzos and losing weight, but I do not know if it will be resolved with these steps.  I did find several references or studies that said ‘benzodiazepines have been reported to increase frequency and duration of nocturnal hypoxemia”, although there are other things that can affect the nocturnal desaturation such as weight.

 

The anxiety was so bad that I thought I could feel my heart pumping, and the muscles in my back and chest got so tight that they hurt afterward; my back still hurts.  I did do some breathing exercises after some of the tenseness left, which leaves me seven hours later still with some anxiety, but mostly just tired.  That was an extremely long time to be that tense.  This may seem lazy, but I decided not to try to work and try to find something relaxing to do, while I could.  Next week I will not have that opportunity, as I will be going to a client’s office to start an audit, so what do I do if it happens again?  I found myself impatient with the man who helps in the yard; I would hate to be rude to someone else because of withdrawal.

 

I am very thankful for this forum and the people who volunteer their time, but I try not to dwell on the tapering too much.

 

Rose

 

Try some of the suggestions in threads on this board, such as:

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=13416.msg187863#msg187863

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=13001.0

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=13137.0

And this from the Insomnia board:

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=7469.msg83171#msg83171

I am not sure where to put this cry for explanations and advice.  Why can't I be laid back?

 

Try some of the suggestions in threads on this board, such as:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=13416.msg187863#msg187863

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=13001.0

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=13137.0

 

 

And this from the Insomnia board:

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=7469.msg83171#msg83171

 

Beeper,

Thanks for the links.  I had seen several of these, but did not know how to get back to them.  I have yet to try the body meditation, but will try it today.  I probably will copy all of these down to a private workbook from which to manage my anxiety, and begin a positive reinforcement each day doing something for thirty minutes, regardless of symptoms. 

Thanks for going to the trouble of finding these and linking them.

Take care.

Rose

I am not sure where to put this cry for explanations and advice.  Why can't I be laid back?

 

Try some of the suggestions in threads on this board, such as:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=13416.msg187863#msg187863

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=13001.0

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=13137.0

 

 

And this from the Insomnia board:

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=7469.msg83171#msg83171

 

 

Beeper,

 

Thanks for the links.  I had seen several of these, but did not know how to get back to them.  I have yet to try the body meditation, but will try it today.  I probably will copy all of these down to a private workbook from which to manage my anxiety, and begin a positive reinforcement each day doing something for thirty minutes, regardless of symptoms.   

 

Thanks for going to the trouble of finding these and linking them.

 

Take care.

Rose

That was key for me, Rose: practicing when I didn't feel anxious so it became nearly automatic to go into that relaxation mode when I detected anxiety symptoms.  I still do that today though I don't need to set aside as much practice time anymore.  Let us know how it goes. 

Hi Rosered

I too have terrible anxiety at the moment, trying to get on top of it.  I found a site called panicaway.com which provides some interesting reading.  I also have the relaxation download which is helping me to calm down, I have it on my iPod and use it and some others I have been given by my therapists.  They work to give me some relief, but there are lots of ways in dealing with anxiety and unfortunately most seem to involve pushing yourself to get out, accept the anxiety and train the mind into believing that you can get rid of it.

Today I felt like absolute crap after having a rough night, woke up early with anxiety, listened to my iPod and got back to sleep only to wake up this morning with anxiety again.  Forced myself to get out for a walk.  Very hard but managed a short walk around the block.  Still anxious but did it.  Will try again tomorrow and the day after.  Have been in a state where I was agoraphobic but got through that although still have to force myself to go out.

Oh the joy of benzos.

Best wishes to you.

LB

Hi Rosered

I too have terrible anxiety at the moment, trying to get on top of it.  I found a site called panicaway.com which provides some interesting reading.  I also have the relaxation download which is helping me to calm down, I have it on my iPod and use it and some others I have been given by my therapists.  They work to give me some relief, but there are lots of ways in dealing with anxiety and unfortunately most seem to involve pushing yourself to get out, accept the anxiety and train the mind into believing that you can get rid of it.

Today I felt like absolute crap after having a rough night, woke up early with anxiety, listened to my iPod and got back to sleep only to wake up this morning with anxiety again.  Forced myself to get out for a walk.  Very hard but managed a short walk around the block.  Still anxious but did it.  Will try again tomorrow and the day after.  Have been in a state where I was agoraphobic but got through that although still have to force myself to go out.

Oh the joy of benzos.

Best wishes to you.

LB

 

Hi LB,

Wish you were here to walk with; who else would understand?  I am not sure what you mean by relaxation download.  I have so many things bookmarked on my computer that I can't possibly decide upon what to concentrate upon.  They all seem like they could help.  How do you narrow it down to a manageable workload?

Wishing you the best,

Rose

Hi Rosered

The download I meant was an mp3 file which I was sent by the guy who started the Panicaway website.  A man by the name of Joe Barry from Ireland who went through the whole anxiety thing sometime ago and has now turned his efforts to helping others.  I also downloaded his help book from his site (at a cost naturally) and even reading through that from time to time is a help.  I note that in the previous replies someone has given direction to a few other options. 

I get relief from listening to the meditative messages when I lock myself away in a darkened bedroom and just let myself go with the voices playing in my ears.  Sometimes it is only a temporary relief but apparently if you listen to them enough they do get into your subconscious and can make a more permanent difference.  I have yet to experience this but I live in hope.  I try and give myself time out at least once a day to do the relaxation.

Would be great if people going through this could all be meet regularly and bounce our issues off each other.  Unfortunately some of us appear to be on the opposite side of the world so I guess the forum is the next best thing.

Having a better time of it this afternoon.  Have tried to keep myself busy and stop thinking anxious thoughts.  Again this doesn't always work, but when it does it gives temporary relief.

All the best to you

Lynn

Hi all,

Thanks to everyone who has given me an idea of what I can do to lessen the anxiety.  I appreciate it, and will use all of it.  I also have to remind myself not to worry, which hasn't been easy, so I have concentrate.  The 6-week course on meditation that someone connected me with at  http://www.audiodharma.org/talks-intromed.html is helping a lot.  I like this feeling I have now so I am not going to push yoga right now, as the Buddhist meditation is beneficial.

Maybe cutting the hormones helped too.

Hope everyone has a good day.

Rose 

Most excellent!   

I'm so glad you found something you find helps!