Skyegirl52,

I have been battling Generalized Anxiet Disorder with Panic attacks as well as a form or PTSD for the past 20 + years. Some people just have certain events in their life that cause stress and may only experience anxiety once. Others, such as myself tend to handle stress very poorly and have relapses of anxiety and panic attacks. Like you I have my good days as well as bad days. I'm not an expert and can't say if someone with chronic anxiety and panic attacks can ever recover...however there is a bright side at the end of the tunnel. There have been times when I can go a year to almost 2 years with no symptoms and am even able to get off medication. There are no quick fixes but I think what helps is having a positive outlook, even in the darkest of times. Remember that you can overcome this, that you can feel good again, that this is just an obstacle that needs to be overcome. Anxiety is terrifying but try as hard as you can to not let it control you. What seems to help for me is being able to talk to someone openly about it such as a counselor who is not there to judge you but give you helpful tools. Also what helps me is yoga. Breathing techniques you use in yoga can help calm me down in the worst panic attack. Also just to keep yourself busy doing things you love!

Hi sorry to hear you are struggling with anxiety. I've had panic and anxiety for about 18 years (that doesn't mean you will) I've been on buspar it didn't do much for me. I would talk to your dr about a low dosage of ssri. This way you don't become so reliant on Xanax. Exercise and yoga are great ways to let it out as well which I'm sure you already know. you're not alone.

Doctors don't often do this, but I think it's prudent to start with checking all your levels. A CBC is not enough. Hormones should be checked as well as vitamin levels. A lot of people with anxiety also have a mutation in the MTHFR gene which is cheap and easy to check. If you have the mutation, your anxiety can be treated with a special sort of folate. It's good to know if that's what's going on as the mutation can also contribute to heart disease, Parkinson's, IBS and certain cancers - as well as Alzheimer's.

Once you know it's not your thyroid, a gene mutation, a vitamin deficiency or out of whack hormones, then explore meds. Your problems may be solved just by fixing that. But even if it doesn't completely resolve the issue, your meds will likely work better.

In terms of waking up with a racing heart, you might ask your doctor about Propranalol. It is cheap, older, well-proven and has few side-effects. It regulates heart beat and can break the chain of an anxiety attack - especially those early morning ones.

There are also certain foods that cause problems for folks with anxiety - sugar and caffeine top the list but some also have trouble with gluten, dairy and alcohol.

You may also want to avoid scary movies and upsetting tv shows. Meditation and yoga can help too.

The Buspar helped me . Dont know what dose you're on , but you can go up to 60 mg per day. Most people start to feel better at 30 mg. Below that it might be that the dose is too low. .25 mg is a very small dose of Xanax. I understand your hesitance to go up because all of the
Benzos can be addictive in that the longer you take them you may have to increase the dose to get the same effect. That being said, Ive been on 0.5 mg of Klonopin [the minimum dose] for over 5 years and never had to go up. Klonopin is a longer acting drug [up to 12 hours] and might give you coverage for more of the day.