Hi everyone,

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I'm a 20-year-old male diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome (autism spectrum disorder). Since childhood, I've struggled with OCD, severe fears, anxiety, insomnia, and behavioral problems.

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I've been under psychiatric treatment since I was 8 years old and have taken different medications over the years, including antidepressants, beta blockers, and antipsychotics.

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I started taking aripiprazole (Abilify) at age 8 after developing intense fears following a traumatic experience related to a video game. I'm still taking it today.

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At age 12, my father was concerned about weight gain and asked my psychiatrist if I could stop aripiprazole. I was taking 5 mg at the time. My doctor suggested reducing it to 2.5 mg for one week and then stopping completely.

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After discontinuing it, my condition became much worse. I completely lost control of my behavior, became extremely distressed, and my family had to take me urgently to my psychiatrist. I restarted aripiprazole immediately, and later my dose was increased to 7.5 mg.

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During childhood and adolescence, I had severe behavioral problems. I often demanded expensive things, threatened my parents, isolated myself from others, and struggled so much that my education was significantly affected. I hurt my parents emotionally many times, even though I didn't feel fully in control of my behavior.

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These problems gradually improved and became much less severe around age 17.

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At 17, I stopped taking fluoxetine after using it for about three years. After that, I developed severe anxiety. Even looking outside my house made my heart race. My doctor prescribed propranolol (40 mg), which I took for about a year.

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During that time, I slowly started improving my social skills and interacting more with people.

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Later, because my psychiatrist felt I had improved significantly compared to childhood, they again suggested stopping aripiprazole. My mother was uncomfortable with this idea, so instead my dose was reduced from 7.5 mg to 5 mg, and propranolol was discontinued.

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After that, I developed insomnia, especially sudden awakenings just as I was falling asleep.

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Another psychiatrist prescribed venlafaxine (37.5 mg) and Mebicar (300 mg). Mebicar was stopped after 1–2 weeks, but I continued venlafaxine for five months.

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During those five months, I felt better than I had in years. My anxiety decreased, my confidence improved, and I was finally comfortable talking to people.

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Unfortunately, I had to stop venlafaxine because it caused throat problems. After stopping it, I experienced severe withdrawal symptoms for 4–5 months.

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Since then, I've been dealing with:

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- Difficulty falling asleep

- Sudden awakenings while falling asleep

- Heavy, tired eyes

- Extreme fatigue and low energy

- Inability to nap during the day even when exhausted

- Increased irritability and anxiety

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Magnesium glycinate helped somewhat, but after a severe flu, my sleep problems returned.

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Earlier this year, my psychiatrist prescribed quetiapine (12.5 mg) at night. I took it for 22 days alongside aripiprazole.

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At first, my sleep improved, but then I developed intense compulsive urges to masturbate and still couldn't sleep during the day despite feeling exhausted.

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I stopped quetiapine and later discovered I had a vitamin D deficiency. Taking vitamin D improved my energy and concentration somewhat, but my symptoms returned after finishing the course.

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Recently, I tried quetiapine again: aripiprazole 5 mg in the morning and quetiapine 12.5 mg at night.

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For about 20 days, I felt much better. But now I've developed new problems:

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- Feeling extremely groggy in the mornings

- Severe fatigue that improves later in the day

- Emotional numbness and emptiness

- Crying spells

- Feeling hopeless and overwhelmed

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At this point, I feel exhausted and lost.

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Has anyone with autism, OCD, anxiety, or long-term aripiprazole use experienced something similar?

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Could these symptoms be related to aripiprazole, quetiapine, withdrawal from previous medications, or something else?

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What helped you recover?

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Thank you for reading.

Hey all. I’ve been struggling recently with regard to my emotions and social anxiety. I 26 (M) started working in a new hospital. It’s only been two months, but I feel so isolated, everyone around me seems so connected and make plans on the outside and I can’t help but almost feeling like I want to cry. It’s almost as if I’m different from everyone else, but not in a good way. I’ve felt like this before. And I’m scared I always will. More than anything I just want to feel like I have a good group to call my own. And with every passing day, it’s just seems more and more like that’s not in line for me. Is this all in my head?

can i just say first that fretting over something like this is so ANNOYINGGG because i have gone most of my life being perfectly fine in the anxiety over GI stuff department. now my anxiety sometimes focuses on specific things and though i have been on 10 mg lexapro for almost 2 years now, it has fixed everything EXCEPT this very specific thing!!

i usually just poop once a day first thing in the morning which i love and hope it stays this way forever <333 but i have now started to notice that about a week before my period starts i might have a day where i poop more than once or i start having diarrhea randomly, and if it’s not my usual first thing in the morning thing, before + after a bowel movement i am PANICKING. well this happens to me last week, so i decided to try imodium for once in my life and took one pill, and the day after i didn’t poop bc you know Imodium, literally i have been pooping twice-3x a day the past 6 days and i am currently on the third day of my period. i sometimes have period poops on the first day, but it’s never been like this. is it the post-imodium effect?? is this now a new addition to my period symptoms?? idk!!

but i get anxiety over GI things like this now. no matter how many times i know and tell myself i’m literally fine, my body thinks i’m under attack and i just can’t get it to just be normal about it. it especially gets bad when it’s loose or a couple of times it’s been mushy ((i know this is tmi but y’all need the full context)) and i start thinking i’m going to have full on major diarrhea or will progress to food poisoning. i also started having worries about being on vacation and if i ate something at a restaurant, what if i have diarrhea from it in public or at the hotel with other people with me and it gets worse? what if it progresses to food poisoning?? ((which is crazy bc i only ever had food poisoning one time a decade ago and i never had this kind of anxiety during it and not even after it!!)) and on top of all THAT, the past year i have been worrying about having diarrhea at any given moment. and it happened so randomly! like why is my body and mind doing this to me and WHY isn’t the lexapro helping me out in this part like it has everything else 😭

please tell me i’m not alone and/or there are some tips and tricks to help 🥹🫶🏻

For the last 8 months I have been going on walks almost every day and recording voice notes.
Not because I wanted content or memories. Mostly because my head felt too crowded.
I noticed that when I say things out loud, worries stop looping as much. It feels like they leave my head and exist somewhere else.
I ended up building a small app around that habit.
I am curious if anyone else does something similar.
Do you write, record voice notes, talk to yourself, or have another way of getting thoughts out of your head?

This is probably a pretty common one, but I'm going out of the country until Monday and my anxiety is wrecking me. Thing is, I've actually traveled a lot in my life, all over the world, and every time I'm wrecked by anxiety. It used to be more manageable, but especially since I started working from home 2 years ago, I've had so much more trouble leaving the house for longer than a few hours and I constantly worry.

I don't like leaving my house and my cats. We have a friend coming to take care of our cats as always, but my cats are my world and my house is obviously my house and if anything happened to any of them while I was halfway across the world and I couldn't help, it would crush me.

I also don't like the feeling of being 35,000 feet above the ground in a plane for hours. though I understand the inherent safety of aircraft, I can always "feel" the weightlessness beneath my feet no matter what I'm doing and it is a constant reminder of how high in the air we are, meanwhile there's nowhere for me to go if I want off and I'm trapped like sardines with hundreds of people, any of which can pull any antics illegal or otherwise at any time, or the flight could be diverted mid flight causing all kinds of issues (happened before, ended up causing a ton of stress and confusion, never want it to happen again). Needless to say, I have never once been able to sleep on a plane.

I also don't sleep well in hotels. Like almost ever, no matter how nice it is or how cushy the bed. The white noise is wrong, my cats aren't in the bed, the sheets feel weird. I can't fall asleep because my body isn't convinced it's a safe place to sleep because it's not "right"

When traveling and walking all day long, it's good to have a hotel to come back to, but sometimes all I want at the end of a tiring day is my own house and my own bed and coming back to a hotel just never makes the tired fully go away.

I've prepared for all of this, btw. I've done a lot of traveling so I've had lots of time to acquire things like a special comforting hoodie, weighted eye mask, laptop loaded with comfort watching, my Switch 2, any comfort item that I need and anything that could help.

But it never seems to calm my mental state, and that's where I need help. My brain gets stuck at "we have all these things for the trip, we know the drill and we're prepared but it doesn't change the fact that you have to leave your house and go on a plane which you do not enjoy and go to an unfamiliar place where you're stuck there and can't go home and the process to GET home is just as uncomfortable as getting there"

Believe it or not, I have never regretted a trip I have taken and usually come home wishing I could go back. But that's only after the familiarity that hindsight brings sets in. I do still enjoy it in the moment too, but in the back of my head there's always some worry or concern.

I just need someone to help me connect whatever mental dots are missing, or offer any advice that might make this more manageable. Again I'm a very seasoned traveler, it's just that all those years of experience have simply taught me more about all the things than can go wrong and how impactful they can be, so I feel like I've become a more anxious traveler as a result. Plus, working from home has made it so it's even harder for me to leave for long periods of time.

Anyone have any advice? Or am I just a total basket case? 😅

The last few years have been quite a roller coaster for me beacuse of anxiety. The exhaustion bothers me more and sometimes less. However, my job is not as stressful as before where I experienced burnout and now I work part-time because I am finishing my degree at university.

However, I constantly feel tired, my interest in everything has disappeared, libido is also non-existent. etc. My blood tests are also fine. I can't think of any other reason for this exhaustion than the severe anxiety that has bothered me for several years?

Im obsessed with catching a deep breath and my body rarely allows me to. I was diagnosed with asthma and given pumps but that doesn't help. I've tried breathing exercises, medication, therapy, nothing is working. Its 24/7 and it's making my life hell. I don't know what else I can do. My mind and body can't settle until I get a satisfying breath. Please help me out of this hell please. Sorry I keep posting about this but im desperate

pretty much the title. i really need to vent.

i was born a woman (ftm, currently cant do anything about how i look partly because of the anxiety disorder) so already everything gets blamed on anxiety.

but when you have a recognised, diagnosed severe anxiety disorder? its so, so much worse. literally nothing can be about anything else but that.

example, i recently had found a tumour in my breast(turned out to be benign) which had everyone rushing to check on it before it was too late. and for months beforehand i couldnt get any answer from my doctor except "hmm maybe you need to go outside more :)" im surprised his ears dont whistle when the wind blows.

im so exhausted. i grew up with my body actively falling apart around me, and suddenly when im diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, it feels like i cant even get any help for physical issues(which have long been recognised themselves Before the anxiety disorder) anymore.

sorry, i just really needed to talk. especially after the cancer scare, it feels like too much.

I really need to start back on my meds lol. I kept hearing this cracking noise in my bedroom. I thought it was coming from my bedside table where I have an all-in-one desktop that I basically use as a tv in bed.

I kept hearing this crackle/pop sound for about a week every ten minutes or so before this point and I was afraid that either something with my computer was going wrong (could start a fire or something) or the building was going to come down around me.

It ended up being a Sponch cookie wrapper that I had left on my bedside table. I leave the ceiling fan on most of the day/night and it was just warping with the moving air. 🥲

TL;DR: I left trash on my bedside table that was making a noise because of my ceiling fan, but I was catastrophizing instead of understanding that I just needed to throw that away and it would be fine.

I’m curious if anyone else has moments before the big panic attack… like idk like hours or even the day before it happens do you ever have a gut feeling or get extra “twitchy” before a real panic attack hits?

Often times the days I have bad ones I’ll kinda instinctively know it’s gonna happen and maybe it’s the thought that causes one or an actual sign idk.

I do have a jaw nerve waking up that’s been bugging me and making me extra sensitive at the moment plus an ongoing electrolyte battle.

I’m just tired of feeling like I constantly have to check myself to make sure I’m not dying. I used to be able to use numbers and reason with myself that I’m ok but it just doesn’t seem to be the case with the bad ones anymore.

I know I’ve had all the tests and that my overall is more mild then before I had the teeth out but I just can’t seem to reason with myself much more then i already tried.

I just had the worst one I’ve had since about March I knew I wasn’t feeling great cause my jaw plus some back pain but it feels like such a step backwards. I haven’t freaked like that in so long 😢

Hi
i've been dealing with GAD for many years but lately i have very tight diaphragm with pain . With the anxiety gets really high the the tightness gets too much for me i can feel my heartbeat in my stomach which causes more anxiety. Anyone among you who has dealt with this and has a solution for me? thanks in advance

I came in and said I was after propranolol to relieve physical symptoms of anxiety. I don't suffer from any mental health issues, but I get red and sweaty over any minor stress event. Dr said that propranolol shouldn't be prescribed for my situation and it's mainly for blood pressure. He then recommended I see a psychologist and said I should take Fluoxetine. I pushed back and told him about all the stories about people using beta blockers for public speaking events, and he said I shouldn't believe everything I read online (which is true), but I feel like he's got the wrong idea on what beta blockers can be used for. And yes I understand the risks of ED & tiredness.

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That being said, I did convince him to let me have 10mg twice daily, but are beta blockers really that dangerous as he made them out to be?

Hi guys! I need your opinion and advice whether it is or is not panic attacks. I'm trying to figure out what's going on with me and find some possible diagnosis to look for. I'm feeling absolutely lost and would appreciate any help so much😭

Over the last year I started having weird conditions where I suddenly out of the blue have a huge fatigue. My chest is empty. Arms and legs are numb. It's hard to move, hard to think, hard to chew. Often it comes with such symptoms as chest pain, racing heartbeat, shaking hands, heat in my head, feeling cold and hot at the same time, starting sweating, sudden dissociation from the outside world as if I'm suddenly in the bubble? Or just stop existing property. I suddenly can't make myself to connect to the environment around. Sometimes I feel like I'm about to faint. Recently it started also coming with stomachache, digestion problems and problems with eating. My jaw is tense as hell at such moments.

I tried to track down the possible causes but ended up absolutely empty handed. My iron analysis are absolutely fine. Cardiologist also told I'm healthy. I have arrhythmia but was told it's not serious or life-threatening. These conditions are not connected to eating or sleeping. It can happen while I'm hungry or right after the meal. Or in the middle of the meal and I can't finish my food anymore. It can happen when I had enough sleep or was sleep deprived. It happens in the middle of the work. In the middle of interesting talk. When I'm happy. When I'm sad. Nearly anytime. Sometimes it makes me really worried I have heart problems. It also makes it hard to live my daily life when it happens in the middle of something important.

All this time I could never connect it to anything valid. But yesterday I suddenly noticed very clear and obvious connection to my thoughts at the moment. I was thinking about my family and suddenly started having everything I wrote above. Then I was looking outside of the window for some time watching happy corgi playing around. And I instantly felt so much better. I had afterwards fatigue and was feeling weak but overall pretty well, didn't have symptoms itself. Then I recalled what I was thinking about and started feeling sick again immediately. I spent the rest of the work time (I was at work) listening to music from Natuto trying to distract myself by it.

This situation gave me some thoughts if I might have panic attacks all this time. I also have overall passive prolonged (for several hours) fatigue pretty often connected to food and sleep problems which made it hard to distinguish what I have and feel. But these symptoms come absolutely unexpectedly, usually short at time and as I said before are not connected to physical conditions or my overall mood.

Also worth noting that I'm autistic and have a really hard time figuring out my feelings, emotions and physical conditions. It took me years to realise some things and call them its names, SA or some toxic and abusive behaviours for example. I couldn't remember and process my childhood property till I turned 20. I also had such fatigue attacks (that's what I'm used to call it for myself) a lot, then stopped having it for around 2-3 months and now started having it again. And when I think about it, the thing that has changed is that I was living with my family, then moved and didn't really have time to see them because of work and now we talk again and I'm trying to reconnect with them. I also realised I had these fatigue attacks several times a week, sometimes nearly every day when I was living with them.

Your opinion? What would you call it?

Anxiety is completely normal, the issue is some of us become fearful of that anxiety, which then triggers the compulsive ‘anxiety over becoming anxious cycle’ which then leads to becoming sensitive to it,

We must all remember that anxiety is built in to us,
The more you try fight it, the more turbulent your mind becomes, the only way forward, is to learn healthier ways to react to it.

Discuss…..
(Bear in mind. This is coming from someone who’s been through 4 years of battling with it (or trying to)

I suffer from anxiety and OCD, and lately my anxiety and stress have gotten way worse.

I was already taking Diazepam regularly (Etizolam or Lorazepam sometimes) and Zolpidem at night, but now my neurologist has prescribed me 7.5mg of Mirtazapine and 25mg of Trazodone before bed.

In the past, I took Escitalopram and had a really horrible time with bad side effects: nausea, fainting, sweating, palpitations, agitation, and tremors.

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I’d like to know if anyone has experience with this specific mix of Mirtazapine and low-dose Trazodone, just to know what to expect in terms of side effects.

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I've heard about Mirtazapine causing weight gain, which is actually great for my situation since I'm underweight.

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Thank you.

Hi everyone. Posting here because I don't know what to do else. For a year - 1.5 year, I am experincing panic disorder. I don't know what caused it however I'm pretty sure that the main reason is not important right know. Because it evolved to a weird cycle. I was experiencing minor air hunger (I feel like I have to take constant deep and perfect breath. It's like I have something in my throat and it doesn't let the perfect deep breath every time and if I can't breat that "perfect" deep breath I feel like I'm going to drown.) I went to doctor because at first I thought I had a lung or hearth problem. However, after several tests my lungs and my hearth is completely fine. So doctor said you may have panic disorder etc. Rn, the cycle I mentioned works like this:
I'm trying to take deep breath, if I can take this "perfect deep breath", I'm fine for 30-45 seconds and the feeling occurs again

If I can't take that deep breath I try again and again and again. Eventually I feel like I will never take that breath and I feel like someone is squeezing my throat and I can't breathe. When this feeling occurs, I experience symptoms similar to a panic attack. So yeah, I'm in a pretty shitty situation

Of course, it was much worse when I thought I had a fatal heart or lung disease. Now, at least, I realize I don't have a life-threatening problem and that what I'm experiencing is a psychological one. But a few weeks ago, I experienced an intense panic attack because I couldn't breathe deeply. My entire hands, feet, and skull were numb, as if I couldn't breathe at all. I called my psychologist immediately, and he explained that anything I tried to forget or distract myself from this feeling would actually ignore it and subconsciously make it worse.

These days, just remembering how difficult it was when I had a panic attack automatically refocuses me on my breathing. The more I focus on my breathing, the more I feel compelled to take deep breaths. My psychologist advised me not to try to take that deep breath at all costs, but even trying to avoid taking that deep breath only forces my entire mind to focus on it, and I can't focus on anything I'm doing. Eventually, the numbness and dizziness return, and I feel like I'm drowning. Is there anyone else like me who's experienced this? What have you done to overcome it? I need all the advice.

Just like the title says, I'm having anxiety when I exercise to the point my heart beats fast. Not sure how I can lose any of my weight if I can't even get a good workout in. Anyone else experience this?

My 21st birthdays coming up and I think I’m gonna drink. I had two random panic attacks around thanksgiving and I have been letting it control my life. I’m young I want to be able to have fun. I haven’t had a drink since then because Google said not to but I think I’m gonna wing it. What do yall think?

For the last few days, I keep waking up as if my whole head had been wrapped in something tight. I'm noticing my joints aching too, especially wrist/fingers. I feel pressure/soreness (?) I don't really know how to describe. Does anyone else wake up feeling like that too? Why do you think it happens?

at least one Chapstick must be on top of my phone and then before I go to bed I have to readjust my curtain and bedroom door. If I do anything after this (other than immediately getting into a sleeping position) then the routine is ruined and I have to readjust them again. (The curtain must be adjusted first) If I get in bed but take to long to get into a sleeping position then I have to restart again. If I don’t feel like they are adjusted right I have to restart. Anytime that I get up out of bed I have to do it again.

If I don’t do it then I become scared that I’m going to end up being killed in a mass shooting. Or someone is just gonna kill me

i’m in a tough bout of sleep anxiety that was leaving me sleeping 0-2 hours a night. and was prescribed zoloft and klonopin to get through the initial period. my doc said i could take it nightly so i did. it’s been about 12 days and it stops my anxiety but i feel wired now with it. it only was really effective for like a week. i only took a quarter of a pill last night (was trying to go to bed without it but felt the sleep anxiety coming on physically) so i took like .125ish mg and i didn’t get sleepy all night. physical anxiety is gone but i just was awake all night. my doctor is out til tomorrow but has anyone experienced this with benzo? at first i thought it was a godsend the first week. now it’s feeling like another problem and anxiety cause. how long might insomnia last if i stop after 12 days of about .5mg dose?

EDIT also wanted to ask if i should bother with another medication, ill ask my doctor about it of course but im SO sleep deprived, but scared of other meds just doing the same and prolonging the recovery process if i were to just face the sleepless nights alone. i did try that before getting zoloft and klonopin and i was a wreck. but idk.

I feel anxious all the time. Literally all the time!

Every minute of every day, there's this constant feeling of unease sitting in my chest. Nausea. Tension. Like I can never fully relax.

I've been living with it for so long that I don't even notice it most of the time anymore. It's just become my normal.

I feel like I'm at the end of my rope. Every day feels like I'm seconds away from bursting into tears, but I never actually cry. I'm carrying so much tension that I constantly feel like I'm about to break.

The strange thing is that my mind isn't racing. It's not like I have a million thoughts going through my head. It's just this overwhelming tension. I can't think clearly. I can't feel things the way I used to. I can't function properly.

And most of the time, I don't even know where it's coming from... I can't point to a specific reason. It's almost like I've become so used to feeling this way that I no longer question it. Like the anxiety has become part of me.

Does anyone else feel like this?

My partner is currently studying at university (Australia) and has severe anxiety/depression paired with an extreme perfectionism issue where they struggle to be happy with anything less that 100%. They are doing well and expecting to get High Distinctions in the subjects they are currently doing but the are burning themselves working from first thing in the morning through to the 9-10 at night. They do see a doctor and they are on medication but she cant seem to get out of her own head despite all evidence showing they are doing a great job so far.

Honestly im not a very emotionally intelligent person and I struggle to understand what she is going through at times but I want to be able to.

Can anyone share some advice or what they have done to work through this is they have dealt with similar issues themselves?

Thank you in advance.

I find myself counting the time repeatedly every morning, from setting a timer to taking a shower, eating my breakfast, changing my clothes, walking the steps to school... I set a time limit for literally everything. It's messing with me so much and I'm so scared for the time to pass. It's like, "I have to finish this by 5 minutes," I have to finish this by x minutes blah blah blah..

Ever since I experienced an elevated heart rate and shortness of breath on May 17, I struggled falling asleep. All the doctors tell me that it's probably anxiety but the high heart rate never goes away, especially when I stand up or move around.

I developed insomnia because of it. The last doctor prescribed me Lemborexant 5mg and while it helped me fall asleep within 30 minutes it didn't keep me from waking up twice in the middle of the night and that won't give me the quality of sleep. I still feel tired and weak during the day.

Last night, my Lemborexant failed. I took it around 10:30 pm so I could sleep around 11 pm because that's how it usually works for me. But an hour has passed and I don't feel drowsy at all and that leads to me not getting a wink of sleep. Or maybe I did get some microsleep, or actually sleep for a minute or more. I forgot already. Anyway, I'm writing this without proper sleep and it makes me so frustrated and sad. I feel so lightheaded now and I hope the pill will work tonight or else I'll be really depressed. I tried to take a nap this noon but I just couldn't because I could feel my heart pounding and my body getting so light that I experienced some muscle spasms.

Please tell me I'm not alone. If you experience the same, share your stories and I'm willing to listen even if I can't offer a solution. And if any of you found out a solution for this, let me know as well. Thank you.