Hey-
A 2 1/2 year relationship just ended for me. Now if thats not hard enough to deal with by itself it has sent me into full blown anxiety. :eek: I'm 25 and have had anxiety all my life. It became a problem when I was 19 to the point that I shut down, didn't sleep for weeks, had to go the hospital and was a complete basket case. For all of you that suffer from this I hope you can relate. I've been on and off meds and have done counseling. For the past 5 years I've been med free and thought I had a grip on this. I can't eat and if I try I get sick. I am constantly trembling from head to toe. I can't sleep and so last night I took a xanax. It made me fall asleep but 3 hours later I woke up trembling and just feeling insane. Normally a xanax would knock a person out for hours...but when my anxiety is this bad nothing helps. So as I'm trying to heal from a broken heart and trying to get to work I have to deal with panic attacks now too? The end of the relationship has triggered all this. I don't know what to do...my family and friends live over an hour away and I don't feel comfortable driving when I haven't had proper sleep. I don't want to have to go to the hospital again. I don't want everyone to think I'm weak and this because of a break up. It triggered all this anxiety and My god, I'm so scared...I'm loosing everything. I don't want to fail and have to give up everything and live at my parents...please everyone..do you have this anxiety when you go through a break up? Can anyone help me..what am I going to do? I can't go through this again...I can't deal with this type of anxiety again. Do you know how bad anxiety gets when you can't sleep? The less I sleep the more anxious I feel the more I can't sleep.{REMOVED}

Elated~I think you need to call your mom or dad to come and get you if you cannot drive.... or seek medical help immediately. There are stronger things out there than Xanax that can get you to sleep for a temporary amount of time. It also sounds like you need to seek some therapy and make a committment to it. Ask your family for help...there's no diginity in suffering alone...unless you prefer to be a martyr. Give them a call....

I think you need meds, the ones that helped before should work again

Elated~The people here can only help so much... Your bf can not make your life better/worse with his answer unless you LET him. The same holds true for therapy/meds. No one can help you until YOU take responsibility for yourself and seek that out....

Get meds for sure and help! I know how bad it can get and its not fun at all. Also try to relax and do something you enjoy as hard as it is. Just walk outside or read a book something to get your mind of this. Just try to distract yourself if possible. Dont focus on your worries and try to do something else..anything. Good luck.

Hi Elated!
I guess you can see that you and I suffer from the same ailment: anxiety. It is torture, nothing less. And the worst part about it is that you can't satisfy the need to "run away" because it's all within you. You can't escape your own thoughts. Believe me, I know.
But you said you had been med-free and fine for 5 years until this breakup. That leads me to think that maybe this is just a temporary problem that will fade as your heart heals from the break. Breakups feel like death for most people. Unfortunately, for people with anxiety problems they feel like a torturous death! But you will overcome it. Keep telling yourself that. I know it's hard to shut off the obsessive voices, but maybe when you feel it coming on just go someplace where it's dark and quiet. Shut your eyes and sit on the floor, holding onto your knees. Just try to tell yourself you can fight it, you can overcome it, you will be okay. Being around my family always helps ease my anxiety, though nothing can make it fully go away. Try to spend as much time with them as you can. For me, having my mom "take care" if me (cook for me, make me tea, etc...) reminds me of my childhood when I was anxiety-free. But hey, that's just what helps me.
I know it's hard, but you will make it. You are stronger than those nerves in your stomach. You can fight them!!!!
Best wishes to you! :wave:

Dearest Elated,

I am sending you lots of love and comfort. You are going through a very difficult time (the breakup), and that will make your already existing anxiety disorder much worse. I have had lifelong anxiety and also have clinical depression. When I go through a period of crisis like you are going through, my mental condition and nerves get really bad. I am on meds, and that does help me. I have had much trouble with insomnia and can't get to sleep even with the meds when I'm going through such a bad time like you are. I do hope that you are able to see a doctor, preferebly a psychiatrist because psychiatrists really specialize in medicine for nervous disorders. Therapy can be extremely helpful in working through this very difficult time in your life. Try to be as gentle with yourself as you can possibly be. In my experience, going to therapy to work through a painful breakup has helped. I wish you the best in this tough time you dear person.