my anxiety has reached a new level

I suffered from anxiety disorder most of my adult life, but about a year ago I was on pain meds and finally about three months go off of them and started taking meds to deal with my anxiety however my anxiety now seems to be worse then it ever was and no med has any effect on it and I am talking like I want to crawl out of my skin anxiety has anyone ever gone through something like that, and my other thought is I did suffer alot of stress in short period recently could that be a trigger to making my anxiety disorder turn to something more ........

Hi there, first...welcome to PC! I am sorry you are feeling so much anxiety right now and send hugs. It's no fun

I suffer from cPTSD, so I am familiar with the "crawing out of your skin" kind of feeling. It's horrible! (actually, I experienced it when my doctor increased a medication, and it was too strong for me. When I cut down the dose, I felt so much better).

You mentioned you experienced a lot of stress lately, so that could be adding to your anxiety levels. Have you spoken with your P / T? I don't want to pry, so please feel free to share if/when you are ready.

In the meantime, I hope you are feeling a bit better today.

Hi,
I have endured a few dreadful things in life, but I'd NEVER thought of medication for anxiety. Why would you? All medicine doing is masking over the anxiety, it's not going to teach you how to deal with it or how get rid of it. It seems to be an fixation that medication is the solution to everything. It is not going to resolve your issues, so you may as well learn how to handle them.

What is amiss with counselling & cognitive behaviour therapy(CBT)? or meditation which will help you to calm down? I used to do YOGA for 30 minutes & it held me peaceful for the next 2 days - in addition to high cardio exercise calms down you afterwards and the following day too You won't feel anxious if you've just physically exhausted yourself.

Stress can definitely make your anxiety worse; it's a major trigger for many. Is there any chance you can reduce the stress in your life at the moment?

Do you have a general anxiety that comes out of nowhere, or do specific situations/people trigger your anxiety?

I know CBT therapy can be very helpful if you have an anxiety disorder.

The Cognitive part of CBT shows you different ways of thinking and perceiving the world. It can get your thought processes closer to reality, to seeing how the world really is. It can also make you more anxiety resilient. By using these cognitive techniques, you can in a way strengthen your emotional tolerance, decreasing the anxiety.

The Behavioral part of CBT will learn you how to respond differently in anxiety-provoking situations. Often something triggers anxiety, then anxiety increases, and this increase in anxiety also again increases anxiety. So you are stuck in a destructive cycle. By learning new behaviors you can try to escape from this anxiety-cycle.

If medications don't work, your two other best options are therapy and self-help. Here are some links and suggestions.

- self help: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...ripbooks%2C280
- therapy: http://www.goodtherapy.org/find-therapist.html

I hope you feel better in the future, and consider other treatment options besides medications. Like someone already said, they often only mask the symptoms but don't cure the underlying causes.

Just wanted to touch base and check in How are you feeling today?

Have you been able to speak with your doctor regarding the stress, increased anxiety and your concerns?

There is no shame in taking medications. Sometimes we need a little help when our "chemistry is off" to help get back on track.

I have a few meditations that my T and I came up with that help to calm me (in addition to pilates, an rx, P and meditation).

If you do have worries, I hope you have trusted support IRL, as well. (TorP). Once you feel a little better, yoga, pilates, cardio, meditate to your heart's content. In the meantime, take good care of you!