Change and Anxiety

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I am so tense. I'm trying my breathing and muscle relaxation techniques, but my anxiety is unrelenting.

I'm moving at the end of the month. My apartment turns out to be illegal and my landlords were arrested for grand theft. And I've found a new spot, which is great! It's in a historic building downtown and is cheaper than what I'm paying now. So it's good anxiety, for the most part - it's just the unpleasantness of moving that worries me.

I'm also going to be starting a work placement at the beginning of the month. Again, that's good, but I'm pretty anxious about this too - I don't know where it is yet.

So, I'm just physically aching, even my teeth hurt from clenching my jaw.

I don't enjoy change and this is a lot. It is overwhelming.

I'll be moving too, in a few months, and I remember how scary anxious I was last time. I definitely feel for you! One thing I've learned since is that chronic stress can lead to inflammation, which makes all that hyperarousal stuff worse on you. A colleague advised taking ibuprofen in those kinds of situations to reduce the inflammatory response. You could try it. I'm planning on trying it when I move (or this weekend, when I fly around the world...ugh).

Hot baths can help, and I hear weighted blankets help even more (I ordered one and am waiting for it). If you are OK with being touched (I am not), a deep-tissue massage can calm you down, too.

Good luck with the move -- it sounds like you have a cool place lined up -- and take lots of deep breaths!

Fly around the world?



It's above what is now The Royal Tavern on the second floor.

In 1841, Sir John A. MacDonald (Canada's first prime ministry) bought the building and it became the unofficial headquarters of the conservative party. (MacDonald was a big drinker.)

This is what it looks like now:

Awesome place! I'm going to go get a glass of wine to toast your new digs.

I live in Okinawa, Japan. Nothing here or there is that old and cool. It was all bombed to hell exactly 70 years ago.

But I'm from the States (my grandfather was even kind of in on that bombing the Pacific stuff) and I'm flying back for a trip this weekend. In coach. On United. For work. Ugh. I'm trying not to let any of my friends know, cause then I'll have to socialize on top of it all. I mean, they are nice but...

When I'm REALLY anxious, I play my ukulele, because the sound and vibrations are rely calming. But they don't let you play the ukulele in coach, so I'll be out if my mind by the time we're on the ground.

ANYway, at least you have a nice reward waiting for you after all that stress.

Yeah, keep it as simple as possible.
Flying is so unpleasant. On top of the inconvenience and discomfort is all the security issues. I recommend sedation. Maybe you could get a prescription for something for the flight. I bet that's a long flight too. You have my sympathies.

I just recently started taking Valerian Root capsules for anxiety and it works great.

Normally, I use Chamomile, and that does take the edge of my everyday anxieties, but the Valerian Root is as strong as a pharmaceutical anti-anxiety med, I was quite amazed at how well it works. The only natural substance I know of that would work any better would be marijuana, but I couldn't function and get anything accomplished if I were stoned all the time.

I've been a chronic since 1991. If it weren't for weed I don't think I would have coped as well as I have in life. It helps both physically and mentally.

At least you got out of that situation....and will be moving into an historic apartment--which would cost a fortune in NYC.

I'm excited! I'm pretty lucky to have gotten the apartment. Over 100 people responded to the ad! It's a bachelor with four massive windows. The light is spectacular!

LOL....you're lucky I've read Canadian classified--otherwise, I wouldn't know what "Bachelor" meant. NYers call those types of apartments "studios."

"Hydro," too, for electricity.

Studio and hydro are acceptable terms here too.

I am trying to downsize prior to the move at the end of the month. My Mom is taking some furniture and I'm taking a bunch of clothes and books to the thrift store.
I want to take only what I actually want. The week of the 30th will be a busy one as not only am I moving but I'm also doing my job trials for the program I'm in.
I'm stressed now and I anticipate becoming more so. I'm too old for this stuff.

Have you definitely gotten the other apartment yet?

Hydro is "electric" to us.

Oh yes. He and my friend go way back. I didn't even have to give a deposit or last month's rent.
I'm lucky to have gotten it. I'm just so stressed I feel like my head is going to burst.

I know what you mean....

but you've gotten a pretty good deal there. I would hope that it would make your anxiety less.

It seems like it might be in a better neighborhood, too.

Oh it does! I'm glad to be making the move.


It's downtown on the main drag. And adjacent to "The Hub." The Hub is an area with a lot of bars which cater to the students, mostly from Queen's as it's close to the student ghetto. So a lot of rowdiness on the weekend evenings. There are tons of foreign restaurants - Indian, Vietnamese, Thai, Greek and the smell is wonderful. There's also a thrift shop across the street.

Except for some drunken rowdiness, I tend to like student areas. When one is in university, one is, at times, in an oasis away from the crap of the "real world." The neighborhood just might reflect that.

Maybe you'll meet someone nice who's a grad student, a professor, or even an older student (unless you like young guys--which is perfectly legal and okay to me--no moral compunctions about that).

I think you would get on well with student types, actually.