Hi, I'm Heather, a proud nurse from Florida. I wanted to share my story with you today about my experience with my husband's battle with anxiety.
I hope that by sharing my story you may find it helpful in your journey to understand anxiety, reduce stigma and help support people in your life who are struggling with anxiety.
Family members and friends of an individual diagnosed with an anxiety disorder often feel helpless when they know that the person they love is suffering from a mental illness, and sometimes it definitely can be overwhelming.
I've been supportive of my husband and his struggle with anxiety for over 10 years now. We love each other very much and have been through a lot together in the last 10 years - definitely have seen highs and lows!
Our journey with anxiety began in 2013 when his grandmother passed away. This was a very difficult time for my husband as he had a very close relationship with her.
After the loss of his grandmother, what followed was endless months of continued struggles that led to countless panic attacks. During this period there were other triggers in addition to the death of my husband's grandmother that also seemed to contribute to his anxiety.
I remember that on one occasion while sitting by the pool with my family, I was calling out his name to see if he wanted a drink or snack. He kept having an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, but couldn't figure out what it was. My husband knew something wasn't right with him, so he went inside and laid down to rest for a minute. I remember he was laying there and he felt extremely anxious and restless - his heart began to beat fast and all of the sudden his chest became heavy. He went outside to sit on the balcony, hoping that fresh air would help him relax.
This continued on until later in the evening when we were at a restaurant. While we were waiting to order, he began having anxiety and panic attacks, so he quickly went outside to get some fresh air. We left the restaurant before ordering our food because sitting there was too uncomfortable for him.
I remember feeling helpless at that point - I knew something wasn't right and something had to be done because this wasn't just a few isolated incidents. At this point, I knew he was really suffering from anxiety and it had to be dealt with.
I discussed my concerns about his health with him and suggested that we go see our family doctor as soon as possible. We went to the family doctor and my husband's blood pressure was elevated. His doctor ran some tests, but everything came back with normal results.
After years of trying different medications for anxiety, we finally decided that long-term use of medication wasn't enough to see substantial improvement in his symptoms. Over the last few years, my husband tried a few different medications.
These different attempts over the years of medication included: Zoloft, Cymbalta (which was also used to help with back pain), Klonopin and Valium. He tried using Lorazepam in 2016 as well around April or May for three months - this helped after some initial side effects that he was experiencing.
After years of struggling with his anxiety, he found a combination that works for him - that includes breathing exercises, ashwaganhda supplements, and essential oils - I can say from experience that after combining the three it gives him the perfect balance to help manage his symptoms.
Overall, my husband has been able to lead a healthy lifestyle and so far he is in complete control of his anxiety - the progress that he has made over the last few years is absolutely amazing!
I hope our journey can help others going through the same battles and hopefully help them know they aren't alone.