That is a pretty common/normal reaction. I usually find something to distract myself. Google "box breathing" that helps a lot too. Have you heard about adult colouring books? You can find them on Amazon. I have several of them. They are being compared to meditation in terms of stress and anxiety relief. As stupid as it sounds, they work and I enjoy it. Take care.

Do you have a copy of the book "Fibromyalgia for Dummies?" You can buy it on Amazon. Great resource book. It will give you a comprehensive overview of this complex illness and a lot of ways to try and manage it. Highly recommended!

My anxiety has been getting real bad over the past couple of years. Buspar with a very low dose of klonopin seems to help as does keeping busy. Being busy causes pain, Tough cycle. Mine seems to be GAD( General Anxiety Disorder). There just doesn't seem to be a single trigger. It just happens randomly and it has been getting worse as the fibro worsens.

My psych explained to me that anxiety can be a result of fibro. We have pain...body gets a fight or flight reaction....We can't fix the pain...we get anxiety because we have this pain we can't fix.

I hope that helps.

Fantod, I color for stress relief too.

Gentle hugs

I have a lot of trouble with anxiety as well, and have for many years. Right now I'm on Clonazapam for it. I do have the adult coloring books also, that was mentioned above. I also crochet, and that helps.

It's all quite a struggle. I have pretty bad depression at times too. But there are good times as well, so don't give up hope. Prayer helps me also.

I do have high anxiety since being diagnosed with this awful disease. I do things to distract myself. Like Idajoy, I also enjoy adult coloring. I find it very soothing. I just print off pages from free sites and have a bunch of colored pencils that I got on sale just before school started.

I also like to read and do crafts, cooking if I can stand long enough.

Anxiety is a common symptom of the *world*, and the human condition. I don't know if you're officially dx'd with fibro, but there's a dummies book for anxiety and stress management, too, and it's not as great, but it's a good start.

Also, tell the docs. Trust me, sometimes the anxiety worsening when pain does? Gts. Their. Attention. They may end up giving you a psych referral (not the world's end) or something, but please, do tell the docs just to see if they've got recommendations. I had one years ago who told me about stress management classes for free in my area that I had no idea existed, and they were really helpful.

Meanwhile---pain increasing is an anxious thing. For me, Ifear a return to a pain level I prefer to not even remember happened to me, and then I tighten up, I breathe irregularly, and whammo, Ijust made the pain worse.

YouTube has great videos for relaxation techniques (breathing the box is a favorite of mine) and also "grounding" techniques. Aromatherpy is one of my anti-anxiety tools, too. I keep a cotton ball soaked in my fave scent in a handkerchief, folded around, and it looks like I'm just dabbing my face but I'm getting a whiff of sensory interruption.

Hang in there.

I also color for relaxation. Most of the adult coloring pages have coloring spaces that are to tiny for my eyes. Plus the books are expensive. I look online at coloring pages websites and print the pics I want to color. Some are adult pages and some are kids pages. I especially like the castle with dragon pages.

Marian. they are less than $5 at Walmart. I agree about the tiny spaces. I have cataracts and just guess sometimes.

4ever, I hope you found some info helpful. We are here to help each other walk this crazy path of fibro.

For relaxation, I watch nature DVD's, TV shows about cooking, travel, history; definitely NOT police dramas, hospital dramas, or the news right before bed. I also read magazines about architecture, home decor and remodeling, etc. Easy way to wind down without needing too much mental energy to follow.

My therapist told me, yesterday, that part of the anxiety and depression is that when challenged, I don't feel adequate to deal with the problems. I used to feel very able, resourceful. A lot of that has left me, what with aging and pain, weakness, and no $, no work.

It's hard to feel useful, though mothers always are. When I first had children, I never thought that I'd still be mothering them at 75. But there it is.

I spend a lot of time on my ipad, (a gift from my son), and enjoy reading and writing with many other people. The whole world opens up, and information on everything/anything. Just love it. I also love taking photos, and sharing them with family. Just wish I could walk more. It is too painful