https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 13 May 2026 15:39:28 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334069 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:38:21 +0000 anonysquire 334069@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrskc: Thank you!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334065 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:36:23 +0000 mrskc 334065@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. I have no advice b/c I just cannot relate to that kind of anxiety, but I hope you can find the help you need or a solution that works for you. Big hugs! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334057 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:31:24 +0000 anonysquire 334057@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ladyfingers: That is how I found my other docs, I just looked up who was working with my insurance. I asked my supervisor at work and he had a great doc but they don't accept new patients. I hate that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334053 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:28:24 +0000 anonysquire 334053@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@highwire: Thank you, that means a lot. You ladies really are great. I have no fears bringing up my problems here because I never feel like I am being judged. There is no other place for me like this. I am hoping to regulate things to just feel normal again :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334050 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:27:21 +0000 ladyfingers 334050@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@anonysquire: Boo. Do you know anybody in the know who can recommend somebody? Asking around can help. If you have health insurance, what I did was get a list of doctors covered by my plan who were within my geographic area and then looked them up on Google to see if there were any reviews or anything on Healthgrades. It's kind of a crap shoot, but there is bound to be a good fit out there for you. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334041 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:25:39 +0000 DillonLion 334041@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ladyfingers: That's what I'm thinking also. Maybe there is some kind of good combination even if you haven't had success with certain dosages in the past. I don't have any personal experience with this stuff, but both my parents are diagnosed bi-polar and have found a mostly reasonable combination of drugs and therapy to at least let them live some semblance of a life. I hope the same is out there for you, anonysquire </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334036 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:24:55 +0000 anonysquire 334036@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ladyfingers: Thank you! I do need to find a good doctor! I was going to my pediatrician til I was 20 (sad I know!) and then have been trying out different doctors ever since. I can't ever find one I like or one who doesn't try and commit me to a psych ward my first appointment :/ </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334033 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:23:27 +0000 ladyfingers 334033@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@anonysquire: Ahh... that makes sense, too, then. Your manic periods are just feeding your anxiety. Man, that sucks :(</p> <p>One medication I'd personally be wary of is Effexor. It has known effects of triggering mania. It did for me, to the point where I was misdiagnosed as bipolar. Of course, your doctor probably won't give you that if they know you're bipolar ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334030 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:22:34 +0000 anonysquire 334030@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@highwire: Thank you, that is very kind of you! I feel bad for the people who have had to deal with anxiety their whole lives, I am lucky to have only been dealing with it for a year and a half. Thank you!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334026 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:21:43 +0000 ladyfingers 334026@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@anonysquire: Yeah, I hear ya. It's hard to understand because "I feel anxious" for the average person is not even close to the same level of "I have anxiety" for somebody with a chemical imbalance. Everybody else means well. But I understand -- it's so disheartening because you think, why does this piece of advice that works so well for everybody else not work for ME? And then you feel like a failure. But you're not.</p> <p>I do believe there is a medical solution for everybody who actually requires a medical solution. Not everybody does. But some do. Maybe you just need to find a different doctor? There are sweet spots with every medication and it takes a good doctor to know when to go up and when to go down. I had a point where I was on too MUCH Lamictal and I was actually becoming worse than I was before being on it. Then I went down like 50 mg and it was perfect. </p> <p>They do recommend therapy while trying meds, partially I believe because sometimes the meds can free up enough energy for us to do harm to ourselves. So it helps to have a safety net of people who can monitor your progress.</p> <p>Of course, I'm no doctor, so again... just my personal experiences.</p> <p>*hugs* </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334024 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:21:40 +0000 anonysquire 334024@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: I have not, I will look into it! Thank you!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334021 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:21:15 +0000 anonysquire 334021@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrsmenow: I have been working graveyards for 5 years and this last year and a half everything started :( Before that I could sleep like a champ and I was normal! Or as close to normal as I can be! Thank you for the advice :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334019 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:20:07 +0000 anonysquire 334019@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@highwire: Unfortunately I have been on many different meds. Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, Ativan, Lithium, Lexapro, Prozax, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, Cymbalta, Depakote. I have even tried herbal remedies. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334014 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:18:55 +0000 DillonLion 334014@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@anonysquire: Oh gosh that just sounds miserable! I'm so sorry. Please feel free to vent here anytime! I don't really have any advice, but I'm thinking about you and hope there is some solution out there for you because this is no way to be forced to live! You deserve more. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334010 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:17:45 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 334010@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Have you used any of Jon Kabat Zinn's tools? I swear his approach to anxiety was life changing for me. I found a therapist that specialized in his approach and within a year my anxiety was way in the background of my life.</p> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&#038;page=1&#038;rh=n%3A11128%2Cp_lbr_one_browse-bin%3AJon%20Kabat-Zinn" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&#038;page=1&#038;rh=n%3A11128%2Cp_lbr_one_browse-bin%3AJon%20Kabat-Zinn</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334005 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:16:50 +0000 anonysquire 334005@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ladyfingers: Yes I am bipolar. I know, I am just all sorts of crazy! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-334002 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:16:10 +0000 anonysquire 334002@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ladyfingers: I am not kidding when I say I feel like I am reading my own story when I read yours!</p> <p>I have social anxiety as well. I can't do anything social, can't go to family activities, can't be in public. I have a hard time being around my husband, I can't be in a car with anyone else driving, I can't be in a place where I feel trapped, even emotionally. And my mom always tells me to pray and it will get better. It is a hurtful thing to feel like my parents think I am not spiritual enough or something.</p> <p>I have been on tons of different meds and given then enough time and none of them have worked. I have only gained weight and grown more suicidal on them. So I gave them up alltogehter. </p> <p>Maybe when I see a doctor next I can try the Lamictal and Wellbutrin. I sometimes get to a point where I will try anything.</p> <p>And if I had a dollar for everytime people told me to change my diet or exercise and it will go away I would be rich. The thing about depression is that I have no energy or motivation to get out of bed, let alone go walking. Viscious cycle I tell you.</p> <p>And it doesn't help that the rest of my family has no mental issues at all so I feel like a complete nut case and no one understand how I feel or why I get down or why I want to harm myself. </p> <p>Thank you for your input and thank you for letting me vent!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-333987 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:11:09 +0000 mrsmenow 333987@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@anonysquire: After not getting enough sleep that is how you feel. Not groggy and tired, but irritable, shaking, etc. It took me a long time to get use to working nights, I really had to make a routine for sleeping and make it a priority or it made everything worse. Get home, grab a snack and go to bed somewhere dark and wehre no noise is going to wake me up until I am ready to be awake. I don't recomend any medications to help you sleep because it messes with your bodies natural sleep rythm, but melatonin is what a lot of other night shift nurses take and swear by it.</p> <p>Finding a councelor that is a good fit would help too. It sucks that your last one was sucky, but I would keep looking. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-333986 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:10:53 +0000 DillonLion 333986@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Are you currently taking any medications for your anxiety? I know you said "pills don't work" but I hope there is some kind of combination of medication and therapy out there that can help you. Maybe you just haven't found the perfect combo yet? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-333984 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:10:29 +0000 ladyfingers 333984@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You don't think there could be some mild bipolar going on, do you? Just curious whether that was ever a possibility that came up with your psychiatrists (I'm assuming you've seen them since you mentioned having meds). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-333980 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:08:47 +0000 ladyfingers 333980@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Don't be sorry! </p> <p>I have a history of depression and anxiety. I have severe generalized and social anxiety and a couple of years ago, it got so bad that I was crawling out of my skin. I couldn't socialize. I couldn't bear going to the store because the checkout people would try to make small talk. I couldn't even be around my (then) fiance or our new dog. It was AWFUL. I'm well acquainted with the dark thoughts. I have a spiritual life that I pursue and I couldn't even do that. And everybody in my life was telling me to just pray and meditate and it would get better. And it wasn't, and I thought, great, I can't even do that right.</p> <p>I had been seeing a therapist because I didn't want to get back on meds (long story, but I had been on meds a few years back and had a terrible experience with one particular antidepressant and was really afraid of that happening again, and felt like it was "giving up") but then finally I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't function. So I started seeing a psychiatrist and we decided to try Lamictal and Wellbutrin. </p> <p>I think that, at first, we tried Lamictal alone, and it helped, and then we had to increase the dosage a few times, and then back down and add Wellbutrin. It took a few tries, in other words, to find something that fit. I cannot take traditional anti-anxiety drugs for a few reasons (like benzos -- Xanax, etc.) and my personal opinion is that they're not the best long-term solution for somebody with prolonged and generalized anxiety issues. There are antidepressants and mood stabilizers with anti-anxiety properties. Sometimes it just takes some experimentation, as crazy as that sounds, to get the right formula. I ended up on very low doses of Lamictal and Wellbutrin and they worked great. I had to get off them once I became pregnant, but so far everything has been OK. My doctor did say that once you're on medications for 12 months, there is a better chance of stability once you're off of them, so I did manage to stay on them longer than that before I had to get off. </p> <p>People always would give me advice like taking deep breaths, visualization, meditating, doing something calming, changing my diet, whatever. But I couldn't even drive 20 minutes to work without flipping out. None of that stuff worked for me. In my particular case, I had to try some meds that did work. </p> <p>Not saying at all that's what you have to do! You'll probably get some alternative advice, too. Lots of stuff works for lots of different people! This is just what worked for me. </p> <p>Good luck, I know how awful it is! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-333968 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:06:22 +0000 anonysquire 333968@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrsmenow: I don't feel exhausted. I feel wired. But I know the second I walk into work I will crash. I was seeing a psychologist for my anxiety for a while, maybe 6 weeks. I know that isn't long enough but I have seen like 12 different psychologists/therapists and I don't feel like any of them have worked. But the one I saw for 6 weeks I felt like we got no where. She talked about herself and I that is not what I needed. And for $200 an hour every week, it wasn't worth it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-333960 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:03:22 +0000 mrsmenow 333960@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think you are seriously exhausted. You need to make sleep a priority, your body needs it. I feel that way after I have had a couple of night shifts in a row. Anything can make me cry/get upset. </p> <p>Silly question, do you see a councelor for your anxiety? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/emotionalanxietyinsomniatic-mess#post-333947 Wed, 10 Oct 2012 15:59:09 +0000 anonysquire 333947@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I swear all my posts are me complaining. I apologize! I am sorry I use you all for venting!</p> <p>Does anyone else have crippling anxiety? I worked til 3am this morning and then had to spend a bit making some crafts for my mom and couldn't fall asleep til probably 8am. Then DH woke me up at noon as he left for work and I couldn't fall back asleep. I used to be able to work after only 4 hours of sleep but now I can't. So now I am in pure panic mode and crying my head off. I have been meditating for like 2 hours and nothing is working. I go back to work in 4 hours and I am dying of anxiety. </p> <p>Anyways when you have anxiety and pills and medication do not work, what do you do? Also when you can't sleep and pills do not work, what helps you? I am so over this anxiety, unfortunately it puts some pretty dark thoughts into my head. </p>