Does anxiety ever really go away?

[SaveFerris1]

About 18 months ago I suddenly and out of the blue became very anxious. Was going through a stressful time at work and was exhausted (night shift worker). I started on propanalol and reduced my hours and started to feel better. I gradually came back off propranolol and felt like I went back to 'normal'
This weekend the crushing anxiety has come back with a vengeance, as far as I can tell, from nowhere. Not stressed, not tired. My anxiety seems to focus on dying/illness and in my case I'm always convinced I'm having a heart attack. And although I tell myself I'm not, the catastrophic thoughts won't go away.
Do you ever recover from anxiety? Is this just a blip? Should I be going back to the doctors and asking for beta blockers again? I'm just sad that I thought I had beaten it and yet here I am

Really sorry, but in my case no. I started with anxiety in my younger teens. I’m a massive over thinker. I can go a while between attacks though 18 months at one point. In my case it’s back now worse than ever. I changed job in the summer to reduce stress of long hours n stressful position in the company I kinda wish I hadn’t bothered now as I’ve found not having as many hours worse as I’ve got more time for over thinking . At least when my job was stressful I could concentrate my anxiety towards that. Take a deep breath it does get better. I would suggest talking to your doctor again even if it’s just to keep them in the loop on how your managing and take advice from there.

Sorry to hear that, you two

On the flip side, I can say that mine has definitely got better! I have struggled with it for over 10 years, having ups and downs, but now I am sooo good at reigning in my thoughts (most of the time). It was very hard to begin with but now I feel so much happier and enjoy my life a lot more, even the shit parts

I hope you both manage to get on top of it more, it truly is horrible

Yep, think a wee visit back to the doc might be a good plan. Thanks for taking the time to reply

Yes.

I had very severe health anxiety which I think bordered on psychosis at times - crisis team to visit, saw psychiatrist.

I recovered. It was time and gradually learning coping mechanisms.

I think I am probably and AD lifer. I started getting panic attacks & GAD as a young adult, finally overcame it with the help of ADs, therapy etc... then after 10 years came of them as I thought I was better and had a big relapse a few months later... ended up back on them & the experience was so unpleasant I gave no intention of coming off any time soon. Part of the issue for me was that I had to wait about 6 months before I got to see an NHS therapist which was too long to endure w/o getting back on the meds (I managed a month but was deteriorating fast & ended up signed off work & in a terrible mess - obsessive thoughts about my parents dying was unbearably distressing). I do wonder if I could have recovered without meds had I received another intervention sooner but tbh I'm not sure. I think it varies between people & we should feel proud to have overcome and be coping with such a debilitating condition whether we're taking meds or not. Certainly for me the ADs are not an instant fix and it took a huge amount of perseverance and strength to get through the crisis period & come out the other side. Whatever you end up doing try to go easy on yourself!

Yes, I suffered from anxiety for about 17 years I didn’t take any AD’s and it was really bad. Then I ended up having some counselling, it’s not cheap and I went every week for two year to a counsellor I trusted and liked. I can’t remember the last time I was anxious and even if I was it was likely to be a ‘normal’ degree. I am so much happier and back to Being me again, I stopped the counselling about a year ago and haven’t looked back. There were times when it was really tough and I wanted to stop because I was fed up with feeling battered by all the emotions that were being brought to the surface, but my goodness it was worth it.