For the last 6+ months, I feel like my anxiety has really been non-existent (words I never thought I’d say) but yesterday and today that is definitely not the case unfortunately. I’m not really ready to get into everything but long story short, from a combination of factors, I ended up having an anxiety attack which turned into a vasovagal episode (me fainting/blacking out). Luckily, I was at home and sitting down and Stephen was with me, but in general, not ideal. So, yeah still feeling a little on edge today. That being said though, I thought I would share some things that I’m implementing to help with my anxiety right now. I know that I am not alone in this struggle, so I wanted to share these in case they are helpful to you as well.

1. Skip the coffee/caffeine – At baseline, caffeine isn’t great for anxiety but with my Prozac, I could have caffeine regularly and not feel affected (yay for modern medicine). But on days like today where clearly the Prozac isn’t enough, I skip all caffeine. I don’t need anything else making me feel any more jittery or on edge.
2. Cancel plans/set boundaries – During times like these, you need to make sure you’re taking care of yourself. Your mental health comes first. For example, yesterday I canceled a meeting and a phone date I had with a friend.
3. Take mini-meditation breaks during the day – I meditated this morning but instead of doing my 7 minutes of “Daily Jay” in the Calm app (which is more personal development/meditation), I did a meditation in the Calm app focused specifically on anxiety. I’ll do another one mid-afternoon and then in the evening as well. Also if you don’t have something like Calm or Headspace app, just google “anxiety meditation” on Youtube and guided meditations will come up.
4. Get additional sleep – I know that when you’re feeling anxious, it can be difficult to sleep. So for starters try to be extra mindful of your nighttime routine. Reduce screentime, do things that help you wind down (reading, a hot shower, a cup of tea, lighting a candle, etc), and get into bed earlier than you normally would. For me, getting an additional couple of hours of sleep and still being able to wake up earlier/at my normal time is really helpful. So even though I was still feeling anxious when I woke up, I felt much better having a good sleep and not feeling frazzled going into the day.
5. Identify typical triggers – I know you can’t avoid triggers forever necessarily – for me when my anxiety was bad going to the grocery store alone, a workout class, or driving on the highway were all things that were triggering and would spike my anxiety. So while I won’t avoid doing those things forever, for right now I am laying low, and let’s just say I’m not planning on doing any grocery shopping today.

If you have anything else that you feel like it helpful during times when your anxiety is higher, I would love for you to share it with all of us below! xx