Anyone been “cured” of severe uncontrolled anxiety? If so, how?

[Luminear]

I don’t know anyone who has gained control over severe overwhelming anxiety so would be so very interested in anyone willing to share.

I understand that it is extremely personal so thank you in advance.

I'm an anxious person in general but have had 2 serious bouts of anxiety which have seen me house bound for weeks and unable to function on a day to day basis. Both times I've overcome it with a combination of medication and counselling. However it took months to get back to the point of 'normality'. A positive mindset is really important and a commitment to self-help (breathing exercises, etc.) and not just relying on medication had a huge impact on my recovery.

Just to add, these 2 periods happened 12 years apart and the last one was 8 years ago. I've been off the medication for 7 years and in that time I've continued to have a successful career and travel extensively so it's not held me back out with those times.

That’s so good to hear and so encouraging.
Thank you for sharing your experience x

For me, medication, CBT and something that boosts my mood, mostly forcing myself to go to the gym or run. I put off asking for help for a long time, forcing it down until I couldn't function. I think the medication has been helpful in making me more receptive to CBT and able to exercise. I feel far more balanced.

I think it's also helpful to have a good support network. My husband, once I told him, has been great and my health visitor. I feel able to say to my husband that I'm not doing good today, I need some time and he respects that.

Initially, it was also helpful to remove my triggers to help me recover then work towards tackling them once I had improved a bit. I took time off work and kept a distance from certain people.

I have, after at least 2 of the DC. Honestly the thing that helped me the most was going back to work and realising I had to work so we had a house/food etc so just started. That got me out of my head enough and gave me other experiences enough for my anxieties to shrink down and other things to grow. And cbt, but I had one on one for weeks with a clinical psychologist in the NHS (was v lucky). Worked better than the generic online stuff.

That and seeing ‘not considered a danger to children’ written in massive letters on my notes folder at one of my psychiatrist appts. Scared me so much I fully tried and engaged and really pushed myself to try and get it and do things and put it to bed. And I realised by doing that the sky didn’t fall in and then I had positive experiences to try and counter the negative spiralling thoughts.

The worst thing about anxiety is being stuck in your own head and thoughts, by volunteering and doing stuff for others it just helped stop the thoughts/internal voice.

Just a little thing but make sure you're eating enough protein, this helped massively! (And CBD oil)

Work full time, busy life outside of work and brilliant support from family and friends, very lucky.

But the anxiety is overwhelming, crushing and extreme around one of my grown up children.

On antidepressants.
Now on another drug that relieves pain (fibromyalgia and severe arthritis ) and calms.

I can’t cope with anything around my child. Even the most simple and inane slight problem that they ring me about, sends me into a situation where I can’t eat, sleep, breath or function.

Have an appointment with Gp soon to discuss.

Medication initially helped me and more or less stopped horrific physical symptoms. Following a low carb diet helped a bit more.

After that the biggest game changer was meditation - after meditating every day for a month or so I could switch off overthinking and the spiralling anxiety that sertraline didn’t touch. I managed to come off sertraline after being on it for a few years and now manage with diet and various meditation techniques.

Is your child particularly stressful? Is there a difficult background?

I have a similar relationship with one of mine, it’s a work in process and if I see she’s ringing I have to bolster myself and keep a bit of a distance mentally.

Terrified on the brink of petrified that my grown up child will take their own life.

They too have severe mental health challenges. Actually really really well at the moment. Have been for a while. But I am terrified that they will do something if the situation changes.

Loads of people have, historically, including me. Never used medication (not slating medication at all, just to support my point).
Dr Claire Weekes 'Self Help for your Nerves' was recommended to me many years ago by a consultant psychiatrist - It's a bit dated (it was then) but the core advice works and is timeless. Her book on agoraphobia is excellent too, but may be hard to get now. There are lots of her interviews on you tube and maybe the audio of some of her books? She has fans on there sharing her ideas!
Psych also said in my case (which will probably apply to lots of anxious people) that I would always be a worrier which means my adrenaline levels would always tend to be higher than most peoples so to ensure I do relaxation like Yoga/Tai Chi etc but also keep active doing aerobic exercise to use up the adrenaline.
I seem naturally less anxious as I've aged and wonder if that is not just a natural consequence of aging but also that I gave up cigarettes a decade ago. I believe there is evidence now that smoking can cause anxiety and depression.
There has been a lot of information about the importance of Vasovagal breathing coming out over the last few years, so advise you look into that too.🙂

4x weekly psychoanalysis did it for me.

Sorry OP I was responding to your initial post, haven't seen your updates. Def worth seeing your Doc. It's very understandable you have a specific anxiety response to something that reminds you of something very traumatic.

HRT and drugs.

You may find EMDR helpful.

A year of therapy and medication. It can be done, good luck.

Medication. CBT. Time outdoors and gentle exercise and mindfulness.

I am sorry you are going through this.

I had extreme anxiety a few years ago, linked to a health phobia or emotional stress. I would have uncontrollable bouts of vomiting all night if I was triggered. This happened a couple of times a month or so, and was worse when my partner and I was going through a rough patch.

I think it was linked to pre-menopause, and this will probably not help you because I cured this through getting pregnant. Then it was morning sickness! Haha.

This also went hand in hand with symptoms of rage at the time. I wonder if this is similar to what you are going through?

It might be worth investigating.

Don’t smoke.
Extremely difficult to exercise due to pain.
Nearly 60 so not young.

Try to manage anxiety as it seems to be the one common factor that people who have a kind of persistent vertigo have - i.e. PPPD Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness - which is lack of balance, dizziness, light headedness like being sort of drunk all the time and for which there seems to be little or no medical help. The one thing people with this have in common is history of anxiety.

I had extremely severe anxiety onset with peri menopause.

Apparently (so I was told after about two years) this is a thing.

HRT significantly helped. I also take anti anxiety drugs.

I was housebound with severe anxiety for ten years, but I got better. What happened was that I went to see a pschologist about 3 times a year for the ten years and we talked a lot about how my life was. I was a bit of a domestic drudge tbh, and specialised in looking after everyone but myself.

The psychologist helped me to realise that I was no longer looking after anybody and that trying to live as that personw asn't working as I was too broken to function. After that I explained to my whole extended family that the things that they expected me to do for all of them were just not physically possible. It was a long slow process as they were so used to me being that person and I got a huge amount of resistance.

In the end, one of my family members who had been most difficult became my chief cheerleader (my Dad) and he sorted out the others. My MIL cut us off.

I also realised I'm ASD. I also have such a crap immune system that I need to wear a covid mask whenever I go into a buildings to avoid being constantly ill, but I do that and life has got a lot easier.

Since then it's been much easier for me, but a week after I got my life sorted out my DS cracked up and now I am helping him to get his head together. He is the fourth generation of my family to have disabling anxiety. It's a bit fiddly tbh.