I just moved to a new area and got a new job that I really enjoy. I hadn't had an anxiety episode in several months. Suddenly this morning I woke up super early and started getting that weird tightness in my chest. It didn't come out of nowhere; this last week I have "been burning the candle at both ends" to make ends meet. (Rent is super-expensive where I live.) To supplement my income, I had been substitute teaching during the day and working my regular job in the evenings. I had worked a few 12 hour days. Also, I have been running low on the Xanax which has been my go-to medicine when anxiety got really bad. (And the doctor that I will be seeing has said he doesn't want to prescribe more benzos.)

Between getting up super-early and insomnia, I haven't been able to get enough sleep which is one of my big triggers. I want to nip this thing in the bud so it doesn't flair up and become the dreaded ongoing anxiety that has caused me to quit jobs and drop out of programs. Besides taking less hours substitute teaching (and lower my stress) I'm trying to find ways to get rid of this anxiety before it blows up in my face.