Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:43 am Post subject: posting this here as well...
hi, i'm new here. i have had social anxiety since i was a young teenager, and i have joined this forum tonight because things feel as though they have recently taken a turn for the worse.
i believe that this whole pattern began when i was in jr. high and came from somewhat normal levels of low self esteem and low self confidence, but at some point shifted into a more painful and serious condition. i started to experience chronic sweating, which made visible stains under my arms. later i began to experience blushing, which when its at its worst will creep down to my neck and chest creating a hot blotchy rash.
over the years i have tried a host of different medications the most recent being a 3 yr stint on klonopin and effexor. after graduating from college in the spring i made the decision to slowly and carefully ween off of these drugs, making this the first time in yrs where i am "myself" again. coming off of effexor was nightmarish, i cried every day and felt like all of my organs were electric. finally however, things did return to normal, and i was able to, a few months later begin the slow klonopin taper.
it has now been about 2 weeks since by last dose of klonopin. i feel really healthy and surprisingly clear and lucid, ive even lost 20 lbs.
im scared though, because i can feel this next debilitating wave of anxity coming on hard. it is something that gives me a painful instinct to hide myself away. i dread interactng with other people not because i dont like social interaction (i have figured out that having people in my life is actually very crucial and fulfilling) but because i hate the phisical symptoms that come when i am experiencing anxiety.
i am afraid of blushing, and i dread the feeling of sweating profusely. i have had to carefully select shirts that are dark in color and made of knit fabric so that the sweat won't be visible, and i have recently been drawn to shirts with high neck lines so that the blush/rash will be hidden. i only own 1 shirt that fits both requirements.
i dont kknow what to do. there are so many ways that my life has been carefully formed around this "disorder"; it feels as though i am bearing a crown of thorns at this point. it is really hard to imagine being truly happy.
if you have any suggestions or ideas for how to stay hopeful, i am open to all of your wisdom. i know im not the only one, but by the nature of being socially phobic, it is probably common to feel that we are suffering alone; thank god for the internet...
hi marie26. First of you are not alone. I know exactly what you're going through. I think you suffer from Hyperidrosis (excessive sweating), have you tried the 20% aluminium cloride roll ons for under your arms, that should help. I think there's probably a link between blushing/social phobia and sweating, as i to suffer from these and its a real pain in the butt but I manage some how. I'd like to talk to you more about this as I think we both are in a very similar situation. speak soon.
is hyperhydrosis when u sweat excessively all of the time? i only sweat when i am in a situation that includes an anxiety trigger... either way, it is a real uncomfortable situation.
i havent tried the aluminum stuff because ive heard it causes cancer, and it isnt worth that fear for me.
wish it would just stop! id love to be able to wear shirts withou t having that stupid fear.
There's different kinds of hyperhidrosis, sometimes it can be caused by anxiety or if you're in a stressful situation and you can also swaet all the time. I think you should give the aluminium stuff a try, I'm not sure about the cancer risk though, I've never heard of it and people have been using this stuff for years and what things don't give you cancer these days anyway
Joined: Feb 03, 2008 Posts: 198 Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:32 pm Post subject:
i think that's fairly common physical symptoms. what i did to stop that from happening is to not -try- to stop it from happening... so when you feel your face blushing or feel yourself sweating, dont try to stop it, just let it do it's thing and distract yourself away from thinking about it. it sounds difficult but it's really not. the sooner you learn to 'forget' about these things and just live with them, the sooner they will go away. and trust me.... they Will go away and over time they will happen alot less.
Hi Marie26. I don't have the profuse sweating but I do have the extreme blushing and anxiety at times. You know, it's weird though. I am not currently on any medication. I've had brief stints in the past (Paxil. zoloft, prozac to name a few) but never felt they helped (quite possibly because I never stayed on them long enough...) Today, I felt pretty good though. I took an over the counter diet pill. And I swear it did something to my mental state. Like coming out of a dream, sort of. At one point today I suddenly thought to myself "What am I always making such a big deal of??" I just felt more clear-headed today when usually I feel so cloudy and grey. (Can you feel grey? Cuz' I swear I've felt grey- not to be confused with feeling blue mind you. totally different feeling) As I was saying though, I was able to interact w/people more freely than usual. Not thinking so much! Not worrying so much! I've had moments like this in the past. Kind of like "Ah-Ha" moments where I wonder what the heck I've been doing all this time. Sadly, I have not had much success in making those moments become days, months or years. At best, a few hours. Perhaps this is my own testament that I need to get on medication??... What made you decide to go off the meds.? And did you feel they helped you when you were on them? And oh yeah, I believe you responded to my Birthday post. Happy upcoming Birthday to you as well. May we not be red (or sweaty) for the one day!
Last edited by krs2snow on Wed Feb 13, 2008 1:05 am; edited 1 time in total
18 years now, every day i felt got worsened. Now in a simple conversation i blush..! Fucking idiot question i turn to red color. Just ordinary "what did you do on your off day" Fuck that red again
Herringman, would you want to live those years again?
no Aldebe i would not want to relive it..But i relive it almost every day even when i dream i blush..I grew up in a small fishing town of 200 people so everyone knew each other..I grew up in the days of radio and jukebox..We had a small caf'e where all the teenagers went to play jukebox and dance..i walked the road outside. i would not want to relive that.In highschool everyone would turn to stare at me when the teacher asked a question ..would not want to relive that..dealing with dates, family,friends,coworkers has all been a nightmare..just the simple things in life like getting groceries is a nightmare..riding buses etc etc....would not want to relive any of it....nice to finaly meet a support group after thinking i was the only one in the world for 48 years...thanks again
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