Chronic anxiety since I was 3

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Ever since I was 3 years old I've had anxiety in my whole body. I don't know why, but my whole body is tensed the whole time. I'm always "on alert" and it's impossible for me to relax. It makes it harder for me to sleep and concentrate on the right things, gives me occasional headaches and negatively affects me emotionally and in my thinking habits. Additionally, I've always had a poor taste/smell as a result of my anxiety. I've been living with this for 17 years now, and the anxiety is making me completely uninterested in life and making me feel like I'm constantly wandering around with 100 kilograms on my shoulders. I've been on Sertralin anti-anxiety/depression medication for 1 year on full dose (200 mg) and recently I gradually stopped taking it, and now it's completely gone. I've repeatedly tried to talk to myself to get rid of the anxiety, but it doesn't help at all.

As far as I know, medication can't remove the anxiety, only relieve it. What should I do to get rid of the anxiety, once and for all?

Anxiety isn't just going to pack up and leave. Generalized anxiety is likely going to be with you for life. I suggest you try some form of medication on an ongoing basis. Anxiety is very common on the autism spectrum.

Maybe try some buspirone or gabapentin or Pregabalin along with a sedating antidepressant like Mirtazapine or Paroxetine. They should be easy enough to get from most doctors and all of them should be cheap except Pregabalin if you pay out of pocket for drugs in Sweeden.

You just gotta keep trying different treatments till you find something that works.

Buspar/Buspirone is the one med that has helped my generalized anxiety without side-effects; thou some have noticed side-effects. It's specially for anxiety instead of being an antidepressant & it's not addicting or a sedative like benzodiazepines. It can be taken with lots of other psych meds including most antidepressants & benzos. Like antidpressants you have to take it regularly for a while before you notice it's full effects but I noticed improvement after a couple days of the starting dose. I read it's approved for the physical symptoms of anxiety but some like me found it helps with the mental 1s too.

Like Noca said~ You have to keep trying different treatments. It sometimes takes a few or more tries before you find the rite one for you sense different people can respond very differently to psych meds. Talk to your GP or psych about how your responding or not responding to a med & what side-effects are bothering you.

Thanks for the responses. I get that anxiety is common on the autism spectrum, but that doesn't take away the fact that anxiety always has a trigger. Which I believe is the confusing nature of the world due to my Asperger's. Is there absolutely nothing I can do to myself (apart from medication) to address the anxiety?

When it comes to medication, I don't care about side-effects as long as it actually works against my anxiety.

You can try some sort of therapeutic (including self-therapy) intervention. Change your thinking about whatever is making you anxious to decrease or eliminate the anxiety.

I'm hesitant to suggest shrinks to people, but your having had anxiety for so long and since such a young age may mean that professional therapy is your best option.


Are you sure about that? That's like saying that you don't care what happens to your body.

I do care about being alive, because this is my only chance to live. But as long as it's not dangerous, I don't care.