Anxiety Runs in the Family

Anxiety has a way of creeping into a family—sometimes quietly, sometimes crashing in—but it rarely leaves just one person carrying the weight. Anxiety takes many different forms and I know our story is not going to be the same as yours, but by sharing I hope it helps make it feel more normalized. I know for me, it helps when others tell me their stories - it seems to take off a wee bit of the weight anxiety can carry.

For example, after listening to others, I catch myself saying things like:

-Okay it is not my fault, others are also struggling with this

-We are taking the correct steps to deal with this, others are doing the same

-It does get better, it just takes time

-Anxiety is hard on the whole family, not only the person who has it

When others share with me, I can step outside myself for a moment and see the bigger picture and it does help. When you are in the moment, you can get surrounded by anxiety's heaviness.

So where are we today...

Kid #1 - Jasmine never really had anxiety before, but when it came, it hit hard and fast. She is doing MUCH better. Her anxiety meds have hit their full dosage effects and it seems to be a great match for her needs. She has moved into a brighter, warmer space... like literally, she moved apartments. She has a 3rd roommate now, so that helps make sure people are around more often. She adopted a cat to take care of named Soda Pop. I admit he is super cute, even though I am super afraid of cats. She does find her meds make her fatigued and she naps a few times a week, but she is hoping that will get better with time. Jasmine also needs to find work now, which will be the big test. Fingers crossed she finds something that suits her and allows her to work on her script writing.

Kid #2 - Devin is still a work in progress. His anxiety ramped up later than Jasmine's did. He has had anxiety to some degree since he was quite little, but it has never been debilitating like this in the past. Devin's slowly crept up and got worse and worse until it affected his stomach to the point it really could not recover. He is down 10 lbs right now from vomiting and lack of appetite. He also worked with a doctor and was put on some medication, although he really had been avoiding this for years. We think the meds are starting to work, but it is hard to tell at this point.

He still feels nauseous every morning and has not been able to make it to his university classes very often. The vomiting has stayed at bay with the help of some intense anti-nausea meds from the doctor. (It is what they give Cancer patients going through chemo treatments). He upped his anxiety meds dosage last week which set him back again, as that made his nausea worse, of course it did! However he was home on the weekend and after mom and dad took care of him a bit, making food, taking him out for walks, making him sit up for longer periods of time... he seems to have perked up a bit more AND he made it to class yesterday. Fingers crossed the new dosage starts working for the anxiety and his stomach has some time to recover from the damage all the sickness caused.

Mom- I have been on my anxiety meds since Devin was little. Devin has always been prone to vomiting and one of my major triggers became him not feeling well. It got to the point that every time he did not feel good, then I did not feel good because the anxiety set in. In my case my stomach would get upset and I would be on the toilet within minutes. My anxiety meds really helped, it was only recently that I changed from a SSRI to a SNRI. (Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors are a class of anti-depressants that increase levels of both serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain. They are used to treat depression and other conditions like anxiety and long-term pain.) Overall though, my meds really help me be more independent. I can travel now with much less issue, even taking a train of flight on my own... things I would not have wanted to do before.

Last night for the first night in a few months, I went to bed thinking - yeah, both my kids had a good day... I can sleep and not worry about them - it felt great!

Are you wanting to share your story? Feel free to do so in the comments, sometimes just admitting it and sharing can take a load off. You can always post anonymously to keep your privacy.