i throw up before every single club night and ive been doing this for 3 yrs, when does the anxiety go away
genuine question, not being dramatic. im 36, husband is 38, been in the LS just over 3 yrs, glasgow. we love the scene. we love our community. we have great regulars. we've had some of the best nights of our entire marriage at our local club. and yet — and i mean every single time — the 4 hours before we leave the house i am physically ill with anxiety. like dry heaving in the bathroom while doing my makeup ill. heart rate hitting 130 just sitting on the edge of the bed in lingerie unable to put my shoes on ill. ive been late to literally every meet we've ever had bc i need an extra 30 min of "panicking with a fizzy water" before i can leave. once we're THERE im fine. genuinely. like the second we walk thru the door and i see ppl i know and i have one drink in my hand the anxiety just evaporates and i have a great night. coming home is fine. the next day im fine. its specifically the 4 hours before, every single time, for 3 yrs. ive talked to my therapist about it (she knows about the LS, no shade there) and she says its anticipatory anxiety and its actually quite separable from how i feel about the actual thing. like my body still treats it as "scary new social high stakes situation" even tho rationally my brain knows the club, knows the ppl, knows the night's gonna be lovely. she said for some ppl this never fully goes away no matter how many times u do it bc the anxiety isnt about the event its about the LIMINAL space between normal life and the event. so. has anyone had this and had it actually resolve. or do u just learn to live with the dry heaving lol. ive tried propranolol once and it was fine actually but i didnt love the idea of taking a beta blocker every fortnight just to get to a club. ive tried "going earlier so the wait is shorter" — didnt help, anxiety just compressed. ive tried not going (obvs) and i miss it and resent missing it. im at the point where im wondering if my body is telling me something my mouth isnt or if this is just my baseline nervous system being a drama queen forever