I successfully completed my exposure work (starting back at work), but I am still beating myself up because I am still avoiding certain things. For example, I have a new colleague and I avoided running into him because I was scared to meet him. I dislike meeting new people. So, instead of patting myself on the back for going back to work and working my scheduled hours, I am beating myself up over things like this. I know it's silly, but this whole critical dialogue just keeps running through my head!
Hi Lisajane,
Sorry for not responding earlier. I can tell you what I did, but I think it really depends on what at work is specifically giving you anxiety. For me, the first and biggest things were my coworkers and boss. My fear level around my boss was higher, so what I did was come in just once a week for 15 minutes during coffee break to visit with coworkers. Then I gradually increased it so I would come in more frequently for coffee breaks. Then, when I felt more comfortable with my coworkers, I telephoned my boss and spoke to him over the phone. Then, I made up an excuse to meet with him and scheduled a meeting in person. Doing these things made me feel comfortable enough with my work environment to consider going back to work. So now I am going to work 3 times/wk for 2 hrs at a time. I have done this successfully for almost 2 weeks now! Hope this helps.
I am having a tough time coping with a new drug my psych put me on. I was taking 15 mg of Remeron nightly, and just recently was increased to 30 mg of Remeron. I thought 15 mg was great. I was feeling better (happier), more positive, and could go to sleep more easily. However, when I started taking 30mg, things seemed to go a bit haywire. I am eating like crazy (at least double my daily intake of food), I feel on edge, and I really dislike the feeling I get immediately after taking it. I feel out of control-highly sedated, I cannot swallow, and I have a hard time breathing! I am wondering whether these side effects are "real" or whether they're all "in my head". I haven't been able to exercise for the past few weeks, so I could feel bad because of that, but I wasn't exercising when I was taking the 15 mg either and I never felt like this! Anyways, I'm going to see the Dr. shortly. Hopefully he'll either take me off it or reduce me back to 15 mg and these side effects will go away!
Whew! The doctor let me decrease to 15mg (was on 30mg). I will see my psychiatrist (the one who prescribed me this) in a couple of weeks to discuss it further. I feel better already, as I didn't have to struggle with pesky side effects last night. Brenna, I never got to discuss my progress on the 15 mg with my psychiatrist. I saw her 3 weeks ago and she prescribed me Remeron (I'd never taken it before)-15mg for the first two weeks and then an increase to 30mg thereafter. Maybe 30mg is the standard dose to work up to? Obviously not for me!
Cyn,
While Diva has pretty much covered all of the bases in terms of some great things you can do to help in this situation, I just wanted to let you know that I recently returned to work and felt panicky as well. I also experience it when I return to work after the weekend! It somehow becomes an unfamiliar situation to me again! I have found that practicing some of the things Diva mentioned really help. The biggest one for me is visualizing myself in the situation and having a positive experience. I do this every time I have an anxious thought about me not being able to cope. Also, I do a relaxation exercise right before heading off to work. Another big thing that my therapsist put me up to is keeping a written record of any positive experiences I have at work. Then when I'm feeling very anxious/negative, I can look back on them and take my "fear goggles" off! Take care and hope that you're enjoying your time at work.
Hey everyone,
When I first got diagnosed with anxiety, my health care providers urged me to do relaxation exercises twice a day. Originally, I got some relaxation "scripts" from my counsellor and made some tapes to listen to, but I really felt silly listening to my own voice and they were pretty low quality. Recently, I found some relaxation CDs on the American Amazon.com website (I'm in Canada, but the Canadian website didn't carry them) that are produced by a psychologist, Carolyn McManus. There are a variety of them. I got the Progressive Relaxation & Autogenic Training and the Relaxation Body Scan & Guided Imagery for Well-Being CDs. I was sceptical, despite the excellent user reviews I read because a lot of the CDs I've tried in the past were really cheesy/"hokey" and had poor sound quality. But I can confirm that these CDs are excellent!
A warning to any newbies to relaxation exercises: do not expect to feel 100% relaxed immediately after trying the exercise. It takes consistent practice, but it's definitely worth it!
Hi Skye,
I've experienced those symptoms in the past too. I wouldn't be surprised if they were linked. I found paying attention to my diet and reducing fatty foods helpful, as well as regular exercise. Hope you're feeling better.
Hi Janet,
Thanks for sharing. Good for you for starting the program. It can really help you take control of your anxiety! Feel free to post anytime. This is a great place to vent!
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