Since my therapy session on Friday morning my anxiety has been absolutely ridiculous. Normally I have somewhat of an on and off low grade general anxiety and a very high social anxiety. Then there is the panic attacks associated with my PTSD when I have a flashback or nightmare or something of that sort. Since Thursday night/Friday morning though, I have had intense anxiety. My heart has stayed at a high rate, I cannot seem to sit still, I actually feel incredibly exhausted from it all, and I am feeling somewhat depressed and have cried off and on.
My therapist told me to go walking as I used to do this quite a bit for my anxiety to get the energy out. I tried to do this on Friday and Saturday. Friday I just broke out into tears about 30 minutes into it. I wasn’t just slowly walking either, I was going in intervals of walking/jogging. But the energy and anxiety just wasn’t leaving me.
I recently changed anxiety medications. But my previous one wasn’t doing anything at all. I am not sure if this new one is making things worse or therapy is just bring up new emotions. I also just came back from the family reunion which was quite difficult for me and I think brought up a lot of memories too.
Getting through this weekend has been incredibly hard. I cannot wait until tomorrow morning when I can call my psychiatrist and beg him to raise this dosage or give me something to get through until the next appointment, or make the appointment earlier. This anxiety is really getting to me! It doesn’t even seem like my coping skills are helping me anymore.
If anyone has any insights into how they deal with anxiety when their meds aren’t working or if they don’t use meds at all, please let me know because I could really use the help.
Living, Breathing, and Surviving, and Coping with Mental Illness 
Hi. Firstly I want to say I understand. When we got to the point in my therapy that was surfacing long hidden memories I actually became much worse. My anger was worse. My emotions were all over the place and my flashbacks and nightmares became more severe. If you haven’t already worked on getting yourself into your “safe place” with your therapist I recommend that you do. I am starting this more next week before my EMDR treatment, but in summary, if I am in a bad place I go and take myself somewhere quiet, peaceful and comforting (my bed or in the back garden) and I close my eyes and breath slowly and deeply and take my memory back to a happy comforting place (mine is actually spending time with a really close friend). I imagine we are sat at her table with a drink and chatting and laughing like we do. I feel a sense of calm come over me. I hope this helps?
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Thank you very much! I do feel safe with my therapist and trust her a lot. Therapy is just hard for me in general. I definitely need to try and do imagery. When I was in the hospital at some point they walked us through it but I haven’t ever really tried it on my own. I will have to try that. Thank you for the input!
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Thanks for being willing to share things like this. It makes me feel less alone with my own anxiety.
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No problem, sharing it helps me feel less alone too.
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Hello! You commented on my blog today and I’ve been reading through your posts. It’s so nice to know I’m not alone. 🙂
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Yes! You are definitely not alone. I started following your blog earlier, and looking forward to reading more from you!
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