Happy New Year AG family! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.

For me, is mostly positive. Last year, I got sick the first week in December, and it ruined my holidays. My anxiety was at an all-time high. It was so bad that I decided to get back on the meds because I thought my GAD was coming back full force. What I should've done is just dealt with it. Fast forward to this year, and I decided to just let things happen. I did get sick about 3 weeks ago, but I didn't let the anxiety that came with the illness affect me...

Until a few days ago. Not sure what happened. First off, I got a little panicky driving across a bridge. The problem was that the day before, I drove across 2 very long bridges, and felt great after sipping on some water. We took a different route the next day, and drove across a bridge which is 1/3 the size of the other ones. I couldn't handle it. But, I got through it. I was upset for a second, but my fiancee told me to forget about it and move on. And then on New Years Eve, I had to work. On the drive, I felt very anxious, but I dealt with it. The next day, we went to lunch with my mom, I felt a little panicky, and I had the urge to just "fall asleep". I felt weak and groggy, and very anxious. I did only sleep about 4 hours, so I just told myself that I was tired, and needed a nap (trying to change the thoughts around you know). I dealt with it, but it bothered me. And then yesterday, after doing some reorganizing, washing some clothes, and blogging on other anxiety forums, I felt as if my tongue was going numb. I started to "will myself" to have a stroke but it never came. I felt the same grogginess and weakness I felt the day before. I felt the adrenaline rolling through me as well. So I took a Lorazepam, punched up Slacker radio on the cell phone, and took the dog for a walk. As you can imagine, it all went away.Oh, and I did get a good nights sleep the night before, so not sure what caused (or should I care?)

I'm laying in bed now ready to take on the day. But I'm hoping the AG community can expound on what happened to me. Am I having a stroke? Or is it because I'm sick that my body is a little weak (I'm still coughing, which is not unusual for flu's this day)? I'm not going to stress about it as much. I'll just deal with the symptoms and live life. I've had GAD for 5 years, I think I can take one or two bad days, which is the attitude I hope a lot of you take. It still sucks though, but I can handle it for the most part.

Peace and Calm,
Arturo

Thanks Sarah for the advice. I actually posted on another site I frequent about my incident, and received a very interesting response. The guy who wrote it stated that he noticed that I talk alot about "anxiety"> He mentioned I should just live life, move forward, and not focus on "anxiety". Easier said than done, yes, but I've made great strides. I think I can make this a habit. However, practice makes better so I need to start to practice.

Of course I can't will myself into having a stroke, which is what I was doing. In one of the replies, if we can will ourselves to have a stroke or heart attack, then why can't we will ourselves to win the lottery? Pretty funny I think. Then I got to thinking. Why can't we will ourselves to get better. Instead of focusing on the negative stuff "we hope" happens, why not do the opposite?

Anxiety is a funny thing, and I know I will get better. I need to continue implementing healthy habits in my life, to include working out, eating right, not drinking (as much), having faith, and believing in one self.

Hope you're doing well.

Arturo

"The next day, we went to lunch with my mom, I felt a little panicky, and I had the urge to just "fall asleep"."
--Gurumiche

I have had on and off trouble with sleepiness which seems like it's due to anxiety. It seems that when I feel very stressed, it's as if my body wants to protect me by just shutting down for a while. I can usually stay awake but sometimes it's hard. I try to have food to nibble on when I'm driving and drink coffee at work. This seems to help a bit. Does anyone else have trouble with staying awake because of lots of anxiety?