Thanks for links, Lisa. I guess "doing fairly well" is a relative thing. It's still a major struggle.

I had my first anxiety attack at 19, and struggled through most of my 20s. At around 30 or 31, I met a psychiatrist through an anxiety self-help group. He convinced me it was a brain chemistry issue, and put me on a Prozac and Clonazapam. It kicked right in and I would say that my anxiety was under control — often not even a factor — for 35 years. I would have setbacks occasionally, but was able to work through them. I retired from full-time work in late 2018, and everything was bliss. I had a nice freelance writing business. We were all set to travel, get out of Florida in the summer. Then early last July, shortly after returning from a three-day trip to a resort in Pennsylvania for a travel writing assignment, I got hit with a massive case of itching. That quickly transitioned into tingling in my hands. I was having nights with only intermittent sleep. On advice of a neurologist, I increased my low dose of Clonazepam.

My anxiety spiked way up and stayed after the neuropathy took hold. Switching to LexaPro helped. But I'm still struggling. Probably worst of all, my neuropathy has worsened so that my toes and fingertips are numb, my feet often burn, usually at night, and the tinging in my hands is more like stinging. It ebbs and flows in intensity, but it's never gone.

My biggest fear at the moment is the potential for continuing spread of my neuropathy. I really don't have health anxiety. I'm not consciously afraid of catching the coronavirus. I know I'm doing all that I can. I am concerned about a continued stretch of isolation, although my wife and I get along great. Now and again, my mind wanders into: Am I going to be able to handle this for two, three months? Will I end up a basket case in a rubber room? Ultimately, I know that's not what happens with anxiety disorder, that the spikes always recede.

I recommend to all folks who have anxiety disorder a book and app called "The Dare Response," started and written by an Irishman named Barry McDonagh. https://dareresponse.com

Also, for pain, an app called Curable that takes a mind-body approach is effective. https://www.curablehealth.com

And finally, as very good program by a psychologist in California named Alan Gordon. He has a free 21-day program that takes a different approach to managing or eliminating pain. https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/painrecovery/

While the program has not improved my PN symptoms, it has helped me cope and given me new insights.

I've just written a memoir. I'll stop now. Thanks for responding. I just did 90 minutes in a dentist chair w/o anxiety to speak of. We're supposed to acknowledge our victories, however small they may seem to others. So, yipeee. OK, I'm really going to stop now 🙂 — Eric