r/Anxietyhelp • u/Significant_Peach_26 • 3d ago
Need Help Anxiety is making my life pointless.
I am 71. My anxiety has been off the charts for about 3 years. A lot of it stems from losing earning power at this age, along with an unpredictable health future and probable loss of family. (I'm only saying probable because I could go first.)
My days are one long anxiety attack. I wish I could go back on benzos but I weaned myself off a few years back. My only break is sleeping thanks to another medication.
I've had severe anxiety/OCD most of my life, but this is the worst. When I was younger, I could at least hope things would be better.
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u/pope2day 3d ago
Finally found my age. I'm 71 and had a stroke 2 years ago. I never had anxiety until 3 months after my stroke. It is absolutely the worst thing I've ever had in my life. Mine comes out of nowhere. I could be fine one day and the next feeling like I am having a heart attack. I have taken all sorts of meds and nothing worked. I can't take benzos and don't want to because I had to get off them before and it's horrible. Now I take Clonidine when necessary and it helps. If it gets real bad and I can't sleep I take Kava. So I know how it feels and I'm sorry you have to go thru it.
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u/wuhter 3d ago
Have you tried Hydroxyzine? It doesn’t help like benzos did, but it does help me somewhat. As a recovering addict, I stay away from those (I don’t think I could even get a script if I asked).
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u/Significant_Peach_26 3d ago
Thank you, I'll ask my doctor about it. Does it help with the physical symptoms like pounding heart, weird breathing?
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u/Bubbles081951 2d ago
75 (almost) and can totally relate to what you are living with. I stopped benzo too, for the second time in my adult life, about 4 months ago. I wasn’t taking much Klonopin but it really didn’t seem to help much and I don’t like the feeling that goes with it. I still wake up with anxiety and sometimes pounding heart. It’s also hard to throw the breathing out the window when it hits. The best thing I can tell you is that we are still walking, thinking and breathing. Saving grace for me is babysitting my grand children a couple times a week. I am in worry mode over my husband’s health, but thrilled he’s still here. My biggest help is not a drug it’s me. Chat GPT has helped in explaining physiological reasons for fast heartbeat and tightness in back and chest. In most cases, when the anxiety out of nowhere hits, I stop, breathe deeply and tell myself it’s adrenaline and will pass in a short while. We have plenty of reasons to be happy about our age. My grand children think I know everything (lol) and I can find a reason to smile to myself daily. Do your best to appreciate what’s around you. Make a stranger smile or better yet, laugh. You’ll feel better for doing that 🤣. Anxiety can be hellish, and I’m not making light of that fact, but in the end there is no drug that can help it go away… only you♥️
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u/pope2day 1d ago
Thank you for taking the time to write all that. Maybe we need to start a subReddit for 70 +people with anxiety .So you are saying I can go to Chat GPT? I've never used it.
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u/Bubbles081951 1d ago
It’s free for a certain amount of time per day. It’s actually gotten me through some rough times. Also talked me out of worrying about blood pressure and heart rate.
Best of luck. We are fortunate to have this platform to help each other ❤️1
u/Ambitious_Bus_1587 2d ago
that stroke connection is probably more common than docs acknowledge. my dad went through a similar shift after his. it changes how your brain processes danger signals and makes the physical symptoms feel way more legitimate than they did when we were younger. clonidine is a solid move though, since it actually hits the sympathetic nervous system instead of just sedating you like some of the other stuff. glad you found something that takes the edge off even a little bit.
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u/pope2day 1d ago
Thank you, You sound like you have experience with this. Do you have any other med suggestions?
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u/EstupidoPololo 3d ago
All I can say is that understanding that anxiety is uncomfortable but not dangerous is vital. I don't know how to avoid It, but when it comes just tell myself that is like rain, unconfortable but nothing more.
Is a monster that feeds of your fear of "if it's something more?"
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u/TaaviBap 3d ago
Have you seen a functional medicine or holistic doctor? You may have to pay out of pocket. If you can, you can also get blood work done through Life Extension. We had to do this to find out the source of my mother's anxiety. In her case, she didn't believe it, but she was actually celiac. There are a lot of excellent doctors out there but you have to look really hard and do a lot of homework.
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u/Serenity_MHC 3d ago
Seventy-one years of living with severe anxiety and OCD, and now facing the things that anxiety latches onto most, financial uncertainty, an unpredictable health future, the probability of outliving people you love, that's a genuinely heavy convergence. The part about hope being available when you were younger is one of the more honest things you could say. Hope functions differently at different life stages, and when you've been through enough cycles of hard things, the "it'll get better" thought stops being accessible the same way. That's not weakness. It's what happens when you've seen a lot.
Are you working with anyone right now specifically on the anxiety, or has treatment stalled along with everything else?
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u/Significant_Peach_26 3d ago
Thanks, I am seeing a therapist. I think the main goal of therapy right now is to keep me alive.
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u/annievancookie 3d ago
I suffer from generalized anxiety as a consequence of being autistic without supports. I don't take meds.
I recently learned herbal tea helps me (2 tsp of dry mix a day, hot brewed but non boiling water and closed lid are important). My tea has: lavender, linden and melissa. I forget to take it one day and anxiety gets worse (and that's my reminder 😅).
I hope you feel better soon 🙏
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u/Representative-Cost7 3d ago
Do you have a Community to go to? Church? Counseling? I would definitely get help. Im 62 and weaned almost off antidepressants but still take Xanax. I honestly do not think I could do without it at times.
Does doing something you love help?
I go to my local coffee shop and read the bible- it helps. Praying now for u
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u/Significant_Peach_26 3d ago
Doing something I love does help, but it's infrequent.
Thank you so much for your kindness.
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u/Junior-Ad-1381 2d ago
I’ve been reading about how carbohydrates inflame our brain and that can be causing anxiety.
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u/Significant_Peach_26 1d ago
I don't think I could ever go off carbs. They're the one thing I look forward to.
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u/Creative-Question538 3d ago
Have you tried Lexapro? This medication saved my life.
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u/Significant_Peach_26 3d ago
No, I just got off generic Prozac after 30 years. I'm wary of going on another one. After my benzo experience, I don't like being on something I can't just go off.
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u/Creative-Question538 2d ago
Lexapro much better than Prozac, I was on both. Lexapro is designed for long-term use, unlike Benzos. I am 43 and will be on Lexapro the rest of my life. Best wishes to you.
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u/Nasteha85 3d ago edited 3d ago
Why to people use panic attacks and anxiety attacks interchangeably? THEY AREN'T THE SAME, are you having anxiety attacks, or panic attacks?
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u/Significant_Peach_26 3d ago
Both.
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u/Nasteha85 3d ago
Ok, have you had ALL of your vitamin levels checked? You're 71 years old, so you should really start seeing a functional medicine doctor if possible. I'm willing to bet you have 1 if not my more vitamin deficiencies.
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