Trying to get help...

[Ride With Me 0]

So it has been a little while since I have been on.  I have recently decided that I will not accept my issues with anxiety anymore.  I have taken meds, and they worked for a while, but are not working near as well.  I have been going to see a psychologist for the past month.  I want to try and get off of meds.  We have talked about a few things, and while I have sometimes felt anxious during the session I usually feel better afterward.  We are going to start CBT this week.  So far I have gone to 5 weekly sessions that are about an hour each with my therapist. 

I have a couple questions. For the first couple weeks I felt SOOOOO much better after talking; however, for the past week and a half I have been EXTREMELY ANXIOUS all day every day for absolutely no known reason.  I get light headed, cannot stop shaking, heart racing, tingling everywhere.  It has gotten horrible the past few days.  What is going on?  I thought I was doing better?   Now I feel worse because I feel like going to see a therapist (which was a giant step for me btw) is not working and it was my last resort.  I cannot figure it out.  My mind just wont stop racing.  There are 50 thoughts in my head, and I cannot focus on any of them.  For some reason things that I love doing are making me anxious.   I absolutely HATE this.  I miss not worrying.   

[JOYCICLE 654]

Hello Ride, I wonder if this anxiety making ' one last stand' so to speak. Knowing you are getting better and trying to hang on . 

Could there be other things going on in your life , outside of therapy, causing you extra stress and maybe you're not even aware 

of it ? 

[LawrenceBell 3]

You were taking some adjustments but dont stop going through your session. After your session, try to do things that will keep you relax. It is important that through session you keep yourself optimistic. Dont lose hope. Recovery is a long process. Your worry will gone soon. 

[Gilly 1086]

Hey ride, I agree with both the above ^ Recovery can take time and when you are getting better the anxiety can fight back, Dr Claire Weekes talks about this in her books, she says to expect setbacks but to try and not get disheartened because as you are challenging the anxiety it will try and fight back and in fact that is totally normal and a GOOD sign you are doing the right things. Confusing right? But personally I can agree as I have gone through it myself whilst having therapy. I did CBT last year, and it was hard work but soo rewarding, you have to stick with it, the CBT will help, it rocks! And like Lawrence says don't lose the hope and optimism, you will get there, it can be a bit or a rollercoaster ride, embrace the anxiety free days, they will become more often, and don't lose hope when you have a flare up of anxiety, in my experience they get shorter and less intense as you progress with your recovery, and there is no 'set' standard on how this will go, everyone is different, life stress can affect us, hey I was even anxious to feel excited for a while, it doesn't make much sense, it's key to try and not over think the why's, and that was something I learned how to do in CBT.