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Anxiety Troubles.
Hi, i'm new here. I've been here reading for a few days and thought this may just be the place for me.
Im Missy. 23 yr old female. And for the past month or so, I've been suffering with what I assume to be anxiety attacks.
I don't want this to be long and boring. I am just new to these attacks and feelings.
First attack came almost from no where. I was worried about my health and when the attack came I thought I was indeed dying. After I was fine and didn't die, ive been living in fear of having another attack. I feel tense and shaky and scared almost constantly. But I have gone from having two - three attacks a week to having one. None last week. I thought I was better. So I did have a coffee and last night I had an attack. Lesson learned.
Sometimes I am unsure of if what is happening to me is really anxiety or that something is seriously wrong with me.
I feel the physical symptoms before my mind will get on board. Its hard to explain. Ill just feel weird. Very aware of my body. Waves of light headedness. Like I cant breathe. Like I cant swallow. Like im going to freak out and have to go to hospital. Tight chest. Tingling in my body. Like I want to throw up. My heart rate never gets extremely fast though. A little higher than usual but nothing extreme. I feel like I can do some good breathing but im still scared and uncomfortable. And this can last for quite some time. A few hours until my body has stopped reacting. I tried to explain to my doctor that I can relax and get my heart rate down but my body still reacts for awhile after. I don't know if its because of adrenaline or what. She did say it was unusual.
Any one else experience this?
I guess that's why I hate anxiety. Because I know once im having an attack its going to be awhile before im feeling okay again.
Im losing sleep. Not wanting to go out anymore. Its really effecting my life. I cant eat. Its weird. Ive never had any real anxiety problem before. I feel like im losing my mind and will end up in hospital. Even talking about it now makes me feel very awful and nervous.
The doctor has given me Prozac. Fluoxetine. 20mg. To take every morning.
Has anyone else been given this for anxiety problems?
Ive been on this in the past for depression. I haven't started taking this yet. She warned me it may make things worse or I may feel sick for awhile while my body gets use to it. Which makes me feel uneasy, But, I guess ill bite the bullet and just start it tomorrow and hope it helps.
She gave me a beta blocker too. Propranolol Hydrochloride to take at night.
Which I haven't taken. I am afraid of pills! Id have to be near death to pop a pain killer for a headache too.
I get very nervous about putting things into my body, like medication. I don't know whats in it or how im going to react to it. But that may just be another face of my anxiety.
Anxiety attacks are just the worse.
Any advice would be so much appreciated.
Im Missy. 23 yr old female. And for the past month or so, I've been suffering with what I assume to be anxiety attacks.
I don't want this to be long and boring. I am just new to these attacks and feelings.
First attack came almost from no where. I was worried about my health and when the attack came I thought I was indeed dying. After I was fine and didn't die, ive been living in fear of having another attack. I feel tense and shaky and scared almost constantly. But I have gone from having two - three attacks a week to having one. None last week. I thought I was better. So I did have a coffee and last night I had an attack. Lesson learned.
Sometimes I am unsure of if what is happening to me is really anxiety or that something is seriously wrong with me.
I feel the physical symptoms before my mind will get on board. Its hard to explain. Ill just feel weird. Very aware of my body. Waves of light headedness. Like I cant breathe. Like I cant swallow. Like im going to freak out and have to go to hospital. Tight chest. Tingling in my body. Like I want to throw up. My heart rate never gets extremely fast though. A little higher than usual but nothing extreme. I feel like I can do some good breathing but im still scared and uncomfortable. And this can last for quite some time. A few hours until my body has stopped reacting. I tried to explain to my doctor that I can relax and get my heart rate down but my body still reacts for awhile after. I don't know if its because of adrenaline or what. She did say it was unusual.
Any one else experience this?
I guess that's why I hate anxiety. Because I know once im having an attack its going to be awhile before im feeling okay again.
Im losing sleep. Not wanting to go out anymore. Its really effecting my life. I cant eat. Its weird. Ive never had any real anxiety problem before. I feel like im losing my mind and will end up in hospital. Even talking about it now makes me feel very awful and nervous.
The doctor has given me Prozac. Fluoxetine. 20mg. To take every morning.
Has anyone else been given this for anxiety problems?
Ive been on this in the past for depression. I haven't started taking this yet. She warned me it may make things worse or I may feel sick for awhile while my body gets use to it. Which makes me feel uneasy, But, I guess ill bite the bullet and just start it tomorrow and hope it helps.
She gave me a beta blocker too. Propranolol Hydrochloride to take at night.
Which I haven't taken. I am afraid of pills! Id have to be near death to pop a pain killer for a headache too.
I get very nervous about putting things into my body, like medication. I don't know whats in it or how im going to react to it. But that may just be another face of my anxiety.
Anxiety attacks are just the worse.
Any advice would be so much appreciated.
Yes, that is what we all hope for you dear. That you start to feel better and beat this thing with time. Education of your own health is key including the meds you take but giving them time to work is important. Work with your doctor and let him/her know what is going on. peace and best wishes for you.
Thank you all for taking the time to write and give such good advice.
It really means a lot to me.
Hopefully i'll start to feel better and beat this thing in time!
It really means a lot to me.
Hopefully i'll start to feel better and beat this thing in time!
I have all the symptoms you are describing and more! The reason your body is taking so long with the physical symptoms is because you are thinking about them! Even if your not, you are! That's what I have discovered, I feel every small sensation in my body and think it is death knocking on my door! The best thing to do is get up and clean, or go for a walk, read, anything to take your mind off it! The worst thing you can do is be afraid to leave your house because very soon your anxiety will take over and you will find it almost crippling to go to the store! You have only been experiencing this for a short time and hopefully you can get control of it before it controls you completely!
Ditto to what Nursegirl said. Anyone who tells you to just blindly trust your physician must be assuming they're not human beings. Some are clearly better informed than others. With short appointments, they are not likely to tell you what to expect, and since we react differently to medications anyway they can't actually tell us how we're going to experience the medication. So as Nursegirl says, any concerns you have, bring them up with your physician, and if you don't like the answers, find someone you trust. Beta blockers, for example, are usually used for social anxiety and for people with certain heart irregularities. Researching the web requires some common sense and discrimination -- there's good information out there and terrible information. But when you put it together, you get some idea of what to expect and become a more informed patient who can help your physician help you. Without education, you have no idea what to ask, and don't know when to tell your physician something seems wrong. My psychiatrist tells me one of the biggest problems she has is many patients go for long periods of having problems but don't tell her so she can work with them on it. So again, I'm with Nursegirl here.
You should always educate yourself when starting a new medication. While some of the info can be presented in a scary way, it's never a good idea to go in blind, not knowing what to look for or expect, and while I totally agree that the doc or pharmacist is a great go to person for info, I don't agree with having blind faith in them in the respect that if they prescribed it, it's the right approach. And, I just respectfully disagree that if a person hasn't "died" after the first hour of taking a new med, that they are in the clear as far as serious adverse reactions to look for.
It's more important than ever for patients to be educated and proactive. It's a law that every prescription filled in this country be accompanied by a educational monograph. They are usually very user friendly and easy to read. Certainly they should be read and not disregarded. If more people DID read them, people would have a MUCH better understanding of what to expect with a new med.
If you have a fear of meds, like a lot of people do, then work with your doc or pharmacist to help you sort through the info, and stay away from excessive info searching (like numerous internet searches). Now THAT will lead to more anxiety, but just basically educating yourself about any med you're going to take is crucial. Just because you may fear a new medication, sticking your head in the sand and hoping that the doc's idea was a good one isn't the way to become empowered about your own mental health care.
I would always encourage people to remain vigilant about being an informed patient and while having trust and faith in your doctor is important, blind faith is never a good idea,.
Take care!
It's more important than ever for patients to be educated and proactive. It's a law that every prescription filled in this country be accompanied by a educational monograph. They are usually very user friendly and easy to read. Certainly they should be read and not disregarded. If more people DID read them, people would have a MUCH better understanding of what to expect with a new med.
If you have a fear of meds, like a lot of people do, then work with your doc or pharmacist to help you sort through the info, and stay away from excessive info searching (like numerous internet searches). Now THAT will lead to more anxiety, but just basically educating yourself about any med you're going to take is crucial. Just because you may fear a new medication, sticking your head in the sand and hoping that the doc's idea was a good one isn't the way to become empowered about your own mental health care.
I would always encourage people to remain vigilant about being an informed patient and while having trust and faith in your doctor is important, blind faith is never a good idea,.
Take care!
Hi there -
We suggest that if you have any questions about your medication, you should check with your doctor or pharmacist. They are often able to tell you more about possible side effects.
Best wishes,
Emily
We suggest that if you have any questions about your medication, you should check with your doctor or pharmacist. They are often able to tell you more about possible side effects.
Best wishes,
Emily
PS: I feel it should be made clear here that it is NOT SAFE to stop taking medications without consent and supervision from your doctor. Doing so can cause awful withdrawals, even when you take them correctly. Most meds in this category require a tapering schedule that you get from your doctor when stopping a med. Also never attempt to taper on your own. You cannot know how fast or slow to do it yourself. Tapering with your doctor will give you the least amount of withdrawals while lowering the dosages at rates that your body can handle.
Fear of new medicine is common among anxiety sufferers. I have had long and rough experience with this. I used to look my meds up on the internet and read all about them until I was too scared to take them. Stupid. Don't do that. Don't read the info pamphlet that comes with your meds. Don't look them up in the library or ask your doctor friend to tell you about them. All it does is scare you into not taking them. You need them, and your doctor would not prescribe you something that would hurt you. Trust in that. Take your meds, then immediately after, get busy doing something (anything, like clean out your closet) and get your mind off it. By the time an hour has gone by and you have not died, you will know the med is okay. Blessings - Blu
I have had anxiety problems for some time and my doctor gave me clonazepam and diazepam i was taking them but suddenly i stopped them(i should not have stopped because now i am once again having problems with anxiety)because my anxiety levels were down and i had some side effects with the medicines.
The medicines help but only if you take them correctly and results will be good.
Good luck and start with the medicine!!!!
The medicines help but only if you take them correctly and results will be good.
Good luck and start with the medicine!!!!
13 years ago I started having panic attacks - I had no idea what it was or why it was happening to me.. my doctor started me out on Paxil (same group as Prozac) and I was just as nervous as you about taking these pills... it took a little convincing but finally I started up on them.. and yes - the first 3 weeks were filled with anxiety and nervousness but then over a couple of days I began to be able to not let the anxiety escalate.. and after week 4 I was ready to begin working with myself with regards to the anxiety and depression...
My advice - start taking the prozac and keep in mind until it helps that your mind is merely playing tricks on you..
My advice - start taking the prozac and keep in mind until it helps that your mind is merely playing tricks on you..
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