Note: This post could be seen as bragging about how mentally healthy I feel, and that might feel bad to read about for some people. If you think it would make you feel bad to see this while you're suffering, you might not want to continue. I hope that this does help some people, though. If even one person who reads this would benefit from Clonidine the way I have, that would be great!

I don't know why no doctors even thought of trying it for well over a decade, but here we are. Taking it twice a day has obliterated my anxiety. Nothing else worked before. I even hated benzos! They had a paradoxical effect for me! (Probably a good thing... if they'd worked, I would have gotten addicted.)

My husband had a suggestion that made it extra effective: He said I should try taking the morning pill 1 hour before I plan to wake up for good. His reasoning was that mornings are always my worst time (I was waking up terrified with my heart pounding out of my chest every day), so I should try to smooth them out before they even start. Anyway, his suggestion made a huuuuge difference.

I was very hesitant to try it. As I'm sure many of you know, it's impossible to fall asleep when you're terrified and you can feel your pounding heartbeat even in your toes. I expected that I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep after taking the morning pill. 

However, this new routine is so effective that I can easily fall back asleep!

Here are the changes I've noticed in myself as a non-anxious person:

* I can fall back asleep if I wake up too early

* I can nap later in the day if I want. I could never calm down enough for naps before. 

* If my sleep is disturbed, I don't jump out of my skin. It used to be really easy to wake me up, and my brain would go straight to terror.

* I can do more chores and tasks without getting overwhelmed or confused. 

* I'm not nearly as scatterbrained

* My face apparently looks more happy and content. My husband and friends observed this.

* I find it easy to respond to messages right away, make calls, and so on. I used to find those things scary.

* Even when stressful things occur, I'm not very anxious about them. I might be unhappy about them, but I'm not actually scared. My life is actually pretty stressful right now, so I think this is a compelling data point to show how well the Clonidine is working.

I'm in my thirties, and I didn't expect to ever find this kind of relief. I really hope that every person here can also find something that works so well for them.