Major Nay, Anxiety/Panic Attacks

[~Ğǿǿmy~]

I don't know if there is a post about this already but I couldn't find one. I want people to share their stories and we could collectively try and fix anxiety.

 

Anxiety sucks. Anxiety attacks are worse. Just having my first one scared me to wits end. One second I'm about to fall asleep and the next i look up and boom mind is racing and heart is beating crazily. I get up and start walking around, having a tingly sensation in my arms and face. My mind is racing so fast I can't tell what is giving me this anxiety or anything. After this I just break down. Tears rush down my face and my nose is stuffed up. I try doing breathing exercises and drinking water but it wasn't helping. I call my sister at college and she helps me through it, but my mind is still racing.

 

I have begun to calm down now and I believe i would know the causes of this random anxiety attack. Recently we dropped off my sister at college and I was super close to her, I would always talk to her at night, now she's gone and I feel alone. Another cause could've been my recent visit to the ER for my heart beating through my chest. Another reason could have been receiving a mysterious letter from a person with no return address, and my mind ran to the 2001 Anthrax attacks. Another reason could be school stress.

 

As I write this, my mind is calm again and I gladly feel tired as I only got 4 hours of sleep last night due to the Emergency Room with my Heart. School starts really early, 7:20 to be exact so I have to wake up at 6:30 the latest.

 

But yeah I just had to share this experience and I wanted to see if anyone else on here has had a bad anxiety attack and to share their stories.

[KyokoHateshinai]

I'm the same as you. One of the reasons I like university better than high school is that I don't have to do public speaking anymore.

 

I don't have such a big reaction such as yours, but as soon as I walk out of my front door, I get anxious. I hate seeing people walk on the same side-walk because I feel like I have to do something (should I look away? Smile? say hi?)

 

Although this sounds counter-intuitive, really the cure is to get used to it. The more public speeches you do, the less you're scared about it. The first few times are always the hardest :( Good luck! -hugs-

 

P.S About your heart? I've been to the doctors so many times because I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Doctors can't do much really about these kinds of problems. Usually they end up sending you to the counsellor/psychologist/give you meds. But please, don't go to any of those! I know for sure now that none of those work and are only wasting your time. They won't help! As for a positive outlook, think of at least you got 4 hours of sleep! It's not that you only had 4 hours of sleep, it's you had an omigosh 4 hours of sleep! And talk to your sister. Talking cures all :3

[blowupthesun]

That sucks! I also have an anxiety disorder, the severity of it comes in waves. Sometimes I don't notice it, or at least I've gotten so used to always feeling that way that it's just normal for me, other times it gets worse and really bothers me.

 

Lately, I've been so busy with school that I actually feel like my brain is able to switch over to just "stress" mode and I don't have the time/energy to have the anxiety loop I would probably otherwise be having. Like somehow legitimate stress and anxiety is easier for me to process. Although I've been sort of where you are, maybe not quite as extreme (you're not going to get anthraxed!!), it's harder to relate to since I've been in a good period recently, so I'm not currently in that intense of a place in my head.

 

I do remember those nights though. I had a close group of friends bail out on me, they found some place to live/hang out that was far from me and I lost touch with them suddenly and didn't really have anyone else. That was probably similar to what you've been going through, and also happened to be some of my worst nights of anxiety, where I didn't even know what to do with myself and couldn't pull out of it. I never ended up in the ER, but I can recall checking my pulse and feeling like I couldn't breathe sitting up at 4am.

I wish I could say something to help, but for me, it never would have worked that way. Nobody could have said or done anything to make it any better or easier. Mine has gotten better just with different circumstances in my life, so hopefully yours will too. Distractions are good.

[Ruto]

P.S About your heart? I've been to the doctors so many times because I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Doctors can't do much really about these kinds of problems. Usually they end up sending you to the counsellor/psychologist/give you meds. But please, don't go to any of those! I know for sure now that none of those work and are only wasting your time. They won't help! As for a positive outlook, think of at least you got 4 hours of sleep! It's not that you only had 4 hours of sleep, it's you had an omigosh 4 hours of sleep! And talk to your sister. Talking cures all :3

Just because you did not have success with counselors or meds does not mean that you should apply that logic to other people. Giving that kind of advice can be harmful. Everyone copes with their issues in different ways, especially with regards to anxiety.

 

I would only suggest therapy if you think it would help or would be willing to give it a shot. There's no point in pressuring you either way, Goomy. I just hope you get to feeling better soon.

[Ali Cat]

I'm personally a fan of breathing exercises to calm heart rate and relax the body. Breathing exercises can be really difficult to learn and trying to implement them for the first time during a panic attack probably won't be effective. You have to train yourself up to it, teach your body how to breath correctly and associate the deep breathing with a more relaxed state, e.g. slowing heart rate and focusing the mind. Once the association is there, it will likely be easier to use the exercise to calm yourself down from the more intense moments. I highly recommend finding a professional to teach you how to properly do the breathing exercises and set up a regimen for training yourself in them if that's a path you're interested in exploring. Yoga is a very similar meditation practice, if you want to get in some physical exercise, too. Physical exercise tends to help mild forms of depression and anxiety by releasing the good hormones in your brain.

 

On a similar note, progressive muscle relaxation is another technique I've had mild success with. Again, I highly recommend finding someone proficient in the technique to train you.

[ranga_muffin]

I second Ruto, counselling and therapy are incredibly helpful for so many people, so to completely advise someone against that is harmful. I say this as someone who has worked with clients with mental health problems, and as the daughter of a social worker and a psychology grad myself.

The thing about anxiety is to realise it is just that. Anxiety is feelings or thoughts, but that's all, it can help to recognise this and to try to accept it. It is normal to have anxiety, but of course you don't really want to spend your whole night worrying and not get any sleep!

I personally would advise talking to someone about it, especially your sister and maybe your parents or friends, or even us people on tdn? I also recommend listening to relaxing music to get you to sleep, there are lots of apps for that, or there's the radio, and the things people have said above are really good too. Good luck goomy/marshmallowspuff! :)

[Naamah D.]

I have severe panic attacks. One time I had one and was crying so hard that I got sent home. I was crying so hard to the point where part of my face and nose were going numb. My mom was called and I went home and took a Xanax.

 

I've gotten a lot better though, but occasionally a thought crosses my mind and I lose the ability to be rational. My mind seems to be divided into halves. There's the rational half and the half that's irrational and fearful.

 

If you ever need to talk about panic attacks please message me. I know exactly what it's like.

[missmadiemay]

I have these issues as well - 8 years ago they were a LOT worse. ER for panic attacks b/c I thought I was having a heart attack. I promise I know the feeling! It definitely can be tough to cope with.

I agree with what others have said about the counseling - it's worth a shot, and if it doesn't work for you no harm done.

Klonopin helped me in the beginning to manage it when it was so severe. We couldn't afford anymore ER visits (by the 3rd I think we had had enough)... Xanax just knocked me out too much.

I went to a heart doctor as well though, all he did was put me on a heart monitor for 24 hours. EKG's normal, MRI normal... I guess since anti-anxiety meds are so addictive, they don't want to try placing you on them at first. Plus they make too much $$$$ when they're testing you for all kinds of crazy things.

 

Over the years though, like Ali Cat said, you learn to teach your body how to react (or not react?). Breathing calmly and exercise have certainly helped me. I'm usually too tired at night anymore to stay up late stressing myself out.

[neopets98]

I don't know if there is a post about this already but I couldn't find one. I want people to share their stories and we could collectively try and fix anxiety.

 

Anxiety sucks. Anxiety attacks are worse. Just having my first one scared me to wits end. One second I'm about to fall asleep and the next i look up and boom mind is racing and heart is beating crazily. I get up and start walking around, having a tingly sensation in my arms and face. My mind is racing so fast I can't tell what is giving me this anxiety or anything. After this I just break down. Tears rush down my face and my nose is stuffed up. I try doing breathing exercises and drinking water but it wasn't helping. I call my sister at college and she helps me through it, but my mind is still racing.

 

I have begun to calm down now and I believe i would know the causes of this random anxiety attack. Recently we dropped off my sister at college and I was super close to her, I would always talk to her at night, now she's gone and I feel alone. Another cause could've been my recent visit to the ER for my heart beating through my chest. Another reason could have been receiving a mysterious letter from a person with no return address, and my mind ran to the 2001 Anthrax attacks. Another reason could be school stress.

 

As I write this, my mind is calm again and I gladly feel tired as I only got 4 hours of sleep last night due to the Emergency Room with my Heart. School starts really early, 7:20 to be exact so I have to wake up at 6:30 the latest.

 

But yeah I just had to share this experience and I wanted to see if anyone else on here has had a bad anxiety attack and to share their stories.

Agreed. I used to be very close with my sister as well, and it made me a lot more comfortable in my own skin & calm. But we haven't been close ever since she started high school.

 

Recently, I've been overthinking a lot and that gives me anxiety. I think I haven't been hard on myself enough so I've been letting my mind overthink/wander too much. I used to overthink to the point where my mind was pretty much cluttered (basically I worried about a lot of things at once). Deep breathing outside & getting fresh air helped me. My mom believes that if you don't get enough oxygen, you get very stressed/nervous.

 

Also I'm sorry about your heart :/

[Koakuma_Heaven]

apologies, I know this thread is a little old but I wanted to add.

 

Firstoff, i'm sorry to everyone who's had an anxiety/panic attack, they are the textbook definition of not fun. I don't want to speak down to anyone but I know firsthand how utterly useless Doctors are at dealing with mental health and so I wanted to just emphasis one thing:

You cannot die of a panic attack

I know at the time it feels like you're dying, fainting or losing your mind (or all of the above) but it can help in the build-up/aftermath of a panic attack, when your rational mind starts to work again, to know that.

 

I have PTSD and have spent as long as I can remember struggling to cope with panic attacks, anxiety, depression etc along with a million misdiagnosing or uncaring doctors. A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to find some friends who cared enough to get me some real help and I honestly can't describe how much of a difference it makes, i'd advise anyone who can to try and speak to someone who actually works in the mental health field- GPs are undereducated in mental health but there are people out there who know their stuff and it does help.

 

I'm from the UK so i'm afraid I can't advise how to access help for any other country but anyone in England should find out about IAPT in their area- some places don't need to speak to your GP and you can just sign yourself up for help http://www.iapt.nhs.uk/services/

 

If anyone is in therapy or considering it i'd encourage you to stick with it, not everything works for everyone. For me breathing techniques send me into hyperventilation and CBT is near useless, but if you stick with it and talk to your Therapist you'll eventually find someone or something that can help you.

 

Won't say anything more here for fear of making this 100 pages of angst :p but if anyone wants to talk privately feel free to PM me :)

[HoneyTediz]

Oh, friend, I feel you. My anxiety isn't for the same reason as yours, but it's been bugging me just as much. Especially since I was just recently diagnosed.

It's not fun to deal with but I'm always here for you! ♥

[lizzyjane101]

apologies, I know this thread is a little old but I wanted to add.

 

Firstoff, i'm sorry to everyone who's had an anxiety/panic attack, they are the textbook definition of not fun. I don't want to speak down to anyone but I know firsthand how utterly useless Doctors are at dealing with mental health and so I wanted to just emphasis one thing:

You cannot die of a panic attack

I know at the time it feels like you're dying, fainting or losing your mind (or all of the above) but it can help in the build-up/aftermath of a panic attack, when your rational mind starts to work again, to know that.

 

I have PTSD and have spent as long as I can remember struggling to cope with panic attacks, anxiety, depression etc along with a million misdiagnosing or uncaring doctors. A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to find some friends who cared enough to get me some real help and I honestly can't describe how much of a difference it makes, i'd advise anyone who can to try and speak to someone who actually works in the mental health field- GPs are undereducated in mental health but there are people out there who know their stuff and it does help.

 

I'm from the UK so i'm afraid I can't advise how to access help for any other country but anyone in England should find out about IAPT in their area- some places don't need to speak to your GP and you can just sign yourself up for help http://www.iapt.nhs.uk/services/

 

If anyone is in therapy or considering it i'd encourage you to stick with it, not everything works for everyone. For me breathing techniques send me into hyperventilation and CBT is near useless, but if you stick with it and talk to your Therapist you'll eventually find someone or something that can help you.

 

Won't say anything more here for fear of making this 100 pages of angst :P but if anyone wants to talk privately feel free to PM me :)

 

Yes. I'm going to add my voice to the pro professional help issue. It really upsets me when people think that all doctors are incompetant or liars. They are there to help and will do their absolute best to do so. Maybe some might not fit with you, that's always a risk with mental health issues- it's important to keep trying until you find someone who suits you.

 

Regarding the "You cannot die of a panic attack," this is something very important to remember. By it's very definition, anxiety is accompanied by a debilitating fear. I personally have very few and mild attacks, but the constant irrational fear is something that haunts me constantly and prevents me from communicating well with people. Social anxiety is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Anyway, obviously, this is completely different from you experience, but the thing that helps with soothing an attack for me at least is to remember that it is an irrational fear that is making me like this. I know some people with more severe anxiety actually fear death during an attack, and I know it's totally useless to try to tell yourself to calm down, but I find that the knowledge that it doesn't matter whether I'm calm or not, that I can just sit until it passes and cry as much as I need is in itself comforting.

A year ago, I never would have thought I'd even consider this, and it sounds utterly ridiculous, but hear me out. Reiki is a non-scientific 'holistic therapy' that does absolutely nothing on a medical level, but my aunt took me through a few things and in this instance, tricking your brain into thinking it's getting better is the same as making it better. I've developed some techniques for calming myself which involve imagining vividly sights, textures, sounds, tastes, and smells that I associate with feeling secure and safe. I find smell is a very powerful one to elicit certain emotions. It also makes me feel calm when I put my hand on my forehead and sometimes even lightly massaging the edges of my ears can help.

 

As I said, this is just my personal experience and what works for me, it might not apply to everyone. Try different things and see what works for you. Also, Reiki is a load of hogwash and I do not reccomend it for anything other than as a tool to relax and focus your mind. Sorry if I offended anyone. Hope some of that was at all helpful.

[Psmucker3]

The first time I had a panic attack I thought I was having a heart attack, however my parents told me calm down because they knew I was simply getting myself worked up. As hard as it may seem during an anxiety attack, it is so important to simply breathe and remind yourself it will pass. My ex boyfriend used to have extremely bad anxiety and he often met with a therapist. Maybe you could try this out? Either way, push through it and find a way to calm yourself down! Good luck :)