Panic Disorders

Is this social anxiety and can Celexa help?
I have been diagnosed a couple years ago with agoraphobia and panic disorder- came as absolutely no surprise because I've been dealing with those issues since I was an adolescent (I'm 26 now). Now it is a couple years later and I went to my GP for a refill on my klonopin. My agoraphobia is much more under control. But another issue I have never ever brought up is how down I feel all the time. She asked me some questions and feels I may very well have dysthymia. Also I do feel anxious in some cases still so she prescribed me Celexa. One thing I have never brought up is my curiosity over whether or not I have social anxiety. I feel like it is just my personality but it really may not be, it could be something treatable or changeable. I feel like by giving it a name takes away some of its power. My husband's friend has a BBQ coming up and I am dreading it. These types of things cause me dread and anxiety up until then. It is weeks away. I hate this feeling. Then I now think my neighbors think I'm a jerk because I always avoid saying hi and totally avoid eye contact. I am so sick of feeling like I have to hide from the world!! And doubly sick of dreading upcoming events. Then my husband will get a call asking us if we want to meet someplace and my stomach drops, I get anxious, I don't want to go!!! Once I'm there it takes a little time but then I get over it but I'm not ever totally loosened up and am rigid. Do people without social anxiety go to these things and not even worry? And maybe even actually look forward to it?

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Does Stanford check freshman grades?
Most people I have asked say that they don't, but my research has left me in a cloud of confusion. Does Stanford University check your grades from your freshman year of high school? My first semester gpa was a 2.6 (Unweighted. Terrible, I know,) but then I switched into independent studies for the second semester, so I had to drop biology because the independent studies program didn't teach it, which I had a C in, (I'm retaking it next year), and Latin, which I had an A in (which I am also retaking next year.) I know that most schools don't count half-credits, so I factored those out of my second semester gpa. (My second semester gpa was 4.0.) I will be returning to conventional high school for my sophomore, junior, and senior year. (The reason I went into independent studies in the first place was being I was diagnosed with anxiety/panic disorder and my therapist recommended it. Also, I've had serious home problems that I've had to learn to overcome. I suppose I could include those things in my college essays.) I guess my question is, if I take advanced classes in everything but math, (which I am terrible at,) and non-academic electives for the rest of my high school career and stay involved in extra curriculars, do I have a shot at Stanford University? Thank you for your time. :) Any advice is appreciated. :)

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Odd Type of Anxiety/Insomnia?
Hi everyone I'm a middle-aged male with a history of GAD, OCD, Panic Disorder, ADHD, Insomnia, Hypochondria, Stress Intolerance/Adrenal Fatigue, Tourettes, Chronic Sinusitis, Allergic Rhinitis, Deviated Septum, IBS, GERD and Gastritis. While I've listed most of my ills and ailments above, the primary reason I'm here today is to talk about my anxiety and insomnia. I've been under loads of stress for about a year and normally, when I have bouts of insomnia they last a week or two and no matter what time I go to bed, I always end up awakening too early and only getting about 5 hours (or less) of sleep and then feel exhausted and run down for the rest of the day. I usually never have trouble actually falling asleep though. This time around however, instead of early awakening, I've been having trouble getting to sleep. Either it's anxiety or disturbing thoughts. Sometimes I'm really tired but my mind is in overdrive or my thoughts are racing and other times my body is tired but my mind is wide awake. Sometimes I'll get multiple "rushes" of anxiety that seem to be shooting through my brain or traveling around my brain and this will wake me up throughout the night. Sometimes I'll have nights where I lay down to sleep and each time I start to drift off my anxiety will wake me up again until I finally fall asleep only to be awakened many more times during the night with anxiety and then have anxiety when I finally wake up. I also have these weird anxiety attacks in the middle of the night where I can almost feel and "see" the little zaps of anxiety traveling in a circle around my brain like a shoe in a clothe's dryer (really weird and scary). Another thing I get are these really super-intense dreams where I spend hours trying to solve some very complex imaginary issue that doesn't even exist in real life and when I finally wake up I'm exhausted from all the effort I put into it. Anyone else deal with any of this?. Can the type of anxiety and/or insomnia a person has suddenly change it's pattern so that it behaves differently?. I've had GAD and bouts of insomnia for years but can't ever remember having trouble falling asleep or having anxiety at night, in the middle of the night or early in the morning so this is kind of new and strange for me. I'm on Ativan and sometimes take Benadryl or Atarax for sleep but lately, none of these have been helping all that much and some of the antihistamines make me feel really anxious and wacked out the next day. Thanks for any help or input - Nick

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