Does anyone else feel like anxiety just cascades with their bipolar?

I feel like once my anxiety starts, it can snowball so quickly. One anxious thought turns into another, then I’m overthinking, getting more worked up, having more physical anxiety, and before I know it I’m completely overwhelmed.

It’s like my brain just keeps feeding into itself. And then once I’m anxious, it can affect my sleep, my thoughts, my mood, and just everything else. It feels like one thing triggers another and then another and another.

I’m curious if anyone else with bipolar experiences this kind of anxiety cascade and what has actually helped stop it before it gets to that point.

Especially medication-wise what has helped you without making your bipolar symptoms worse? I’d love to hear what has worked for you, whether that’s a mood stabilizer, anxiety medication, Buspar, propranolol, pregabalin/gabapentin, an antipsychotic, etc.

I’m not really looking for advice on whether I have anxiety or bipolar ~ I know both are part of the picture. I’m more interested in hearing how other people manage that snowball effect when anxiety starts triggering everything else.
💙