Its good to came across this AD discussion here...pls allow me to share my experience

I was once a AD sufferer 2 years ago and seriously, it was not an easy experience as we need to deal with it by our own mental strength. The symptoms I get is similar to what being mentioned from previous post. I had tried consume xanax, klonopil, alpazolam, etc...but the effect only last temporarily and will haunt you back if you stop taking the meds.

What I can remember clearly that my anxiety is much related to my stomach. It started when I got this serious gastritis which leads me to bloating, cramp, difficulties in swallowing, constipation and difficulty to fart. I lost about 7 kg at that time and my condition is worst at that time...quit my job for half a year (coz too weak to focus in work). Had done a blood test, ECG, ultrasound, endoscope and the results are normal. The docs prescribe me some Nexium, famotidine, charcoal, an other GERD meds but it doesn't help at all. My stomach continues keep bloating with excessive gasses bcoz I can't pass down my gas to the bottom. Then the doc conclude it's due to stress.

Then I go try TCM approach and the sinseh prescribe me some herbs to boil and drink for few weeks. Upon taking the herbs for few weeks, I got diarrhea every morning but the sinseh told me its fine coz it's removing the toxin from my intestines, so I continue with the medication. Later on, I felt much better ...my bowel movement is going from top to bottom (means i got no constipation and can release gasses easily, got more appetite and gain some weight). According to the sinseh, OUR EMOTION CAN AFFECT OUR STOMACH. Therefore, all my physical symptoms is started by my mental problem. After considering the sinseh words, I r'ber that before I have this AD, I was a person with no patience, easily get irritated, annoyed and angry. I guess this is the root problem.

From that day onwards, I decided to change my lifestyle totally...
- dont be a workaholic...take short breaks regularly at work...dont sit in front of the PC for a long time
- sleep early and wake up before sun rises...go for a morning walk or brief jogging
- do charity on weekends by visiting orphanage or old folks home...u'll noticed that by helping the needy, u'll feel that u're more fortunate and u'll appreciate ur life more and this will lead to more positive thoughts.
- if u're single, go find ur soulmate...have some fun and intimacy together.
- i changed my diet by taking more vege and less meat. Seldom take coffee and alcohol.
- but the most important thing is worry less and be happy.

I still get some mild AD on-and-off when I really stress at work now but it's still managable coz I know how to deal with it from my experience. Luckily my condition has improved now and I won't blushed away when talking to strangers and won't get panic in crowded areas. My simple advice is u need to change ur lifestyle and get rid of ur old habit/thoughts.

After going through this period, I somehow feel grateful that I get this AD. This had made me to understand my body and surroundings more

*p/s: if you need someone to talk to, feel free to PM me...TQ

Something I would like to share (copied from my company's email) for this new year...

5 Keys to Living Longer and Better

Key #1: Eat fewer calories, but more food.
That’s no misprint. When nutrition researchers invited themselves over for dinner in kitchens across the globe -- from Greece to Japan to the state of Pennsylvania -- they discovered a tummy-satisfying secret to good health: Pile your plate high with vegetables and fruits, add respectable portions of beans and whole grains, and downplay high-calorie fare like cheeseburgers, cream sauces, and fatty meats.

The result: Fewer calories, more health-boosting antioxidants, and longer, happier, more active and independent lives.

Why? "People on Okinawa eat more food by weight than people who eat a Western-style diet,” says Bradley Willcox, MD, of the Pacific Health Research Institute in Honolulu and lead researcher of the Okinawa Longevity Study. “They eat a lot of produce and grains and smaller portions of higher-calorie, higher-fat foods. It’s the combination of high nutrition and lower calories that gives them a tremendous health advantage: Their risk for dementia, heart attacks, strokes, and cancer are among the lowest in the world.”


Key #2: Use exercise as an anti-aging vaccine.
It’s no secret that physical activity tones up muscles, burns calories, and puts a happy bounce in your step. But recently, researchers uncovered a new, bonus benefit: Exercise acts as a powerful vaccine against the aging process itself.
When University of Florida exercise physiologists put healthy people ages 60 to 85 on weight-training programs for six months then tested them for signs of free-radical damage, they were surprised by the results. By the end of the study, low-intensity exercisers had a drop in free-radical damage, while high-intensity exercisers had a slight increase. And a control group of nonexercisers had a whopping 13 percent rise in free-radical damage.

The message: low-intensity exercise might be the best kind to protect your heart and arteries. Need more convincing? Not exercising nearly doubles your risk of a heart attack, says Robert Nied, MD, a sports medicine specialist in California. And it’s not too late to start: “People who go from no exercise to some exercise receive the biggest benefits,” Dr. Nied notes.


Key #3: Find something interesting to do.
Life is perpetually busy no matter what your age. But the truth is, as careers reach their later stages, as children mature, and as home-improvement ambitions are fulfilled, time usually does become more available for adults after 60.
With this time comes choices. The easy one is to merely to relax: watch more TV, eat out more often, talk on the phone as much as you want.

The better choice? Discover something more meaningful to devote yourself to and pursue it wholeheartedly. Why? A growing body of scientific research shows that doing something that interests you offers big health benefits in your 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond.
An example: When psychiatrists at the University of California, San Diego, checked up on 500 adults ages 60 to 98 who were living independently, they got a pleasant surprise. By standard definitions of successful aging, which focus mostly on physical well-being, this group had plenty of challenges. Most were coping with a tough health condition such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and mental health problems. Just one in 10 met the usual criteria for healthy, successful aging, the researchers noted. The study volunteers, however, weren’t buying into conventional wisdom.

When they rated their own degree of successful aging on scale of 1 to 10, the average score was a very happy 8.4. "People who think they are aging well are not necessarily the healthiest individuals," notes lead researcher Dilip Jeste, MD, chief of the university’s geriatric psychiatry division. "In fact, optimism and effective coping styles were found to be more important to successful aging than traditional measures of health and wellness."


Key #4: Connect with friends and family.
Close connections are a source of joy and offer a sturdy shield against the stress that can lead to health problems down the road. Scientific journals prove time and again that having friends around changes the biochemistry of your brain, pumping up feelings of joy and well-being that bolster immunity.

The message: When you’re alone for too long (and the definition of “too long” is different for each of us), levels of the stress hormone cortisol rise, ratcheting up your odds for heart disease, high blood pressure, depression, muddled thinking, and sleep problems.


Key #5: Flex your mind in positive ways.
By stressing your mind in productive ways, you can lower your risk of mental decline. And you don’t need fancy computer programs or complicated “brain games” to do it -- simple “brain calisthenics” (one neuroscientist calls then neurobics -- aerobics for your brain cells) that involve new ways of doing everyday things are all it takes.

The idea behind neurobics comes from a remarkable discovery: During autopsies of 137 people with Alzheimer’s disease, researchers realized that even though these women and men had all the brain plaques and tangles of full-blown Alzheimer’s, their symptoms were much milder than they should have been. When the scientists looked further, they found a possible explanation: The patients’ brains weighed more and had more neurons than usual, suggesting that they had “cognitive reserve” -- a savings account of extra pathways that allowed them to function more normally for far longer.

What's more exciting? People who use their brains more often -- on the job and at play -- seem to possess these brain-saving reserves. And they believe that stressing the brain in ways similar to the way we stress muscles during exercise can produce similar benefits: a stronger, fitter, more flexible brain.

The herb was actually prescribe by a sinseh which I visited last time. The clinic is somewhere at old klang road. If you guys wanna know the place, kindly PM me

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Added on May 28, 2012, 10:50 pmI suggest you should share this with your parents. Please bear in mind that AD is not a sickness/disease, it happens because you had been strong for too long...now you need someone to support you.

Do let your parents know and ask them to bring you outside for some meals. This will help you alot...trust me

This post has been edited by activexxx: May 28 2012, 10:50 PM

Seems the group closed already...