Cut way back on Caffeine!

Although I had several glasses of ice tea at the Desert Fire this morning over breakfast while watching the Seahawks game, I have cut WAY back on my total caffeine consumption. I only had a couple of glasses of died Pepsi today, and the rest of the day I drank only herb teas. I have a rule now that there is no caffeine after 5:00 pm, and that means that I check the labels on the herb teas to make sure they say "decaffeinated." Right now I am drinking Red Tea from The Republic of Tea.

A few years ago my son Mark gave me a very cool pot for brewing teas. It holds enough for two big cups of tea and has a basket in which to put either a round tea bag (although the square ones also work) or loose tea leaves. I use it all the time (thank you Mark!). I also have a small collection of herb teas, most from The Republic of Tea. At some point, I'll go back to the website and get more of the decaffeinated variety, but right now I have enough to last me a few days.

I am not feeling at all affected by cutting back on caffeine. Perhaps if I cut it out entirely, I would, but I'm not doing that. I'm drinking caffeine in moderation. I'm sure it's much healthier, and maybe cutting back will help me sleep better and perhaps reduce my anxiety level?

Finally a Solution!

My therapist says "It's like night and day." That's been the effect of the Klonopin. I haven't had anxiety since I started taking it yesterday afternoon, and I've actually been able to get stuff done today. It's amazing. I hope it continues to work and doesn't wear off or lose effectiveness over time. At this point, I'm not even sure I need to see a psychiatrist. I don't want to get back on that treadmill!

Anxiety -- again

Saw my doctor and she prescribed me another anti-anxiety med, but Puget Sound Health Partners doesn't even cover the generic on "this category of drug." What -- you can't have anxiety with this health insurance? Grrrrr.

She's given me Klonopin (generic=Clonazepam). We also decided I would find a psychiatrist. Got the list of psychiatrists with this plan. Gosh, there are only a couple of pages of them for the whole state of Washington, and only one in Bellevue. I've called her and left a message.

Gotta get past THIS phase of my life...

To get rid this anxiety...

Trying new things. Like yesterday I noticed that I felt better without the nicotine patch. So I took it off completely.

Still some "butterfly in the stomach" feelings, but not nearly as much.

Read online that being addicted to Xanax can cause anxiety when it wears off. So you might not know the difference between "Xanax is helping me" and "I feel better because I'm feeding the addiction."

I don't really know what causes these anxious feelings. Maybe it's also NOT smoking, not just the patch. Or maybe I'm just an anxious person.

But anxiety is uncomfortable.