ilovebunnies94

I'm glad to hear that it has helped you in such a positive way. This has been really helpful to me and thank you for the kind reply, I have decided that I am definitely going to talk to my doctor about it and give it a try.

Thanks for the helpful and kind reply. It really helped clear my mind a bit to hear it like that and I think I will talk to my doctor about it when I get a chance to. I don't expect any kind of magical cure but it is good to know that it can ease the symptoms without changing much else because I suffer with them every day in varying degrees.

I want to start this thread by saying I don't have or claim to have a sleep disorder. Well maybe I might have one undiagnosed but I think my sleep issues all root from anxiety exclusively. I suffer really badly with anxiety at night when I'm all alone in the dark with my thoughts and nothing else and when I do sleep I am usually plagued by anxiety fueled nightmares that I wake from frequently. The only relief I get from this is when I'm together with my boyfriend and he makes me feel calm but we don't live together yet so I have to cope with it on my own a lot. But I think it is most relevant in this part of the site and I hope that is ok. My question is: What do you do when you can't sleep? When I can't stay calm and can't keep myself from thinking anxious thoughts at night so I can't sleep, I usually turn a calming podcast on (a story type of podcast so I can escape from reality is my choice) and focus on every single word and detail to distract from my other thoughts. This sometimes works but sometimes it isn't enough. When I need comforting and calming, I try to make a hot water bottle and cuddle a stuffed animal and it feels almost like having something soft and warm and real comfort you so it helps a bit. Those are the only solutions I have thought of so I'm interested to hear how others cope.

Hey everyone I'm new here and happy to find a supportive community! You can call me Bunny I suffer from diagnosed anxiety which my doctors are aware of for a few years now since it got really severe but I have avoided medication. My mom is really insistent that I should go on it but I'm unsure and looking for answers from some people who might have used or be using medication for their anxiety disorder. I avoid it because I don't know what affect it could have on me and that scares me. I feel things very intensely, more intensely than I should but in one way I think it is good that I have all of this emotion to show that I care about things so much, I would not want to appear careless. But I would not miss the regular sickness feeling throughout the day, the constant panicked thoughts, the irregular breathing and heartbeat that comes with those thoughts, the physical sickness that comes out when it gets really bad, the sleepless and restless feeling, the anxiety fueled nightmares that I get when I do sleep, the shaking and anxiety/panic attacks in general..... I would like to live life as close to a 'well' person as possible and have a more relaxed feeling throughout the day. My questions: 1) What kind of effect does it have on you? Is it useful? 2) Any negative sideaffects? Do you feel a loss of emotion in general or just less anxiety? t 3) Does it tackle all symptoms of anxiety? Sorry for my newbie questions! I hope it doesn't come off rude or anything I'm just really wary about if I should try going on it or not.... Thanks in advance