Aa
whats everybody's anxiety like?
Hey guys, i have a question for you all- how would you explain your anxiety? It can be so different for everyone and I'm curious to see how you describe it to someone who has never had it?. when you have a panic attack (if you get them) what do you feel like? what are your symptoms? what happens? what triggers them? what comes them down?
I have really only had one bonafide panic attack. My symptoms of anxiety are more chronic in nature... wake up and within a few minutes of getting up and moving around i feel nervous, legs and hands tingle or feel restless, tinnitus (ringing in my right ear mostly) some lightheadedness. My doc and my psychologist (yes I am in therapy as well and believe it is crucial to beating this) both say that my breathing patterns are erratic (shallow breathing most of the time) and that is what is causing the bulk of my physical symptoms so I am on breathing exercises 2-3 times per day to try to restore the Oxygen/CO2 balance in my blood which apparently gets messed up over time while you body remains in the fight or flight state for too long....
I tried some meds... take Klonopin on bad days.... tried Lexapro, didn't like the side effects and got off it within the first few days but realizing now I didn't give it enough time so will give it another go....
Managing the physical symptoms will go a long way to ensuring success in therapy and keeping an open mind as stated above has been a hard thing for me but now I realize its prob the best route to getting over this... so yeah don't be afraid to work with your doc and tell him/her what is and is not working for you... there are alot of options out there.. and most prob one will be the right one for you!.... Keep us updated!
I tried some meds... take Klonopin on bad days.... tried Lexapro, didn't like the side effects and got off it within the first few days but realizing now I didn't give it enough time so will give it another go....
Managing the physical symptoms will go a long way to ensuring success in therapy and keeping an open mind as stated above has been a hard thing for me but now I realize its prob the best route to getting over this... so yeah don't be afraid to work with your doc and tell him/her what is and is not working for you... there are alot of options out there.. and most prob one will be the right one for you!.... Keep us updated!
I have had a lot of success with therapy and medication like Lexapro. You will definitely learn a lot about your anxiety in my opinion, and when you do, you will have the tools to enable you to confront this.
Skepticism and fear about counseling and medication is quite normal in my experience. For months, I would not even consider therapy let alone medication, but in the end, I decided to stop fighting the people that are trained to actually help me and give both a try.
Therapy can be slow going and frustrating at times, but it allows you to learn about why you are thinking the way you do. At first, I was in complete denial about it even being the possibility that it could all be anxiety...afterall, I just knew something was physically wrong with me despite what the doctors told me. I had read about the side effects of medication and did not want to take the necessary steps to get through it, so I think your experience pretty much sums up what we go through when I first went through this.
How do you know there are not any triggers to your anxiety? You may be surprised what you learn about it, once you get into counseling. Anxiety and panic is confusing and scary, but you are going to learn a lot about it and you are going to get through it and become a better person for the experience, in my opinion. I believe we learn more about ourselves during times of distress than when everything is going smoothly...it also makes the good times that much better and there will be good times again. Going through this has made me a much more understanding and patient person. I am a better husband and father for it and I am actually glad that I went through it (although if anyone would have told me that at the time, I would have thought they didn't know anything about what I was going through).
Keep your head up and keep an open mind with this....you will get through it! Keep us posted!
Skepticism and fear about counseling and medication is quite normal in my experience. For months, I would not even consider therapy let alone medication, but in the end, I decided to stop fighting the people that are trained to actually help me and give both a try.
Therapy can be slow going and frustrating at times, but it allows you to learn about why you are thinking the way you do. At first, I was in complete denial about it even being the possibility that it could all be anxiety...afterall, I just knew something was physically wrong with me despite what the doctors told me. I had read about the side effects of medication and did not want to take the necessary steps to get through it, so I think your experience pretty much sums up what we go through when I first went through this.
How do you know there are not any triggers to your anxiety? You may be surprised what you learn about it, once you get into counseling. Anxiety and panic is confusing and scary, but you are going to learn a lot about it and you are going to get through it and become a better person for the experience, in my opinion. I believe we learn more about ourselves during times of distress than when everything is going smoothly...it also makes the good times that much better and there will be good times again. Going through this has made me a much more understanding and patient person. I am a better husband and father for it and I am actually glad that I went through it (although if anyone would have told me that at the time, I would have thought they didn't know anything about what I was going through).
Keep your head up and keep an open mind with this....you will get through it! Keep us posted!
yeah these all sound too familiar.. to be honest a few months ago when these symptoms started with me- anxiety didnt even cross my mind. i had no trigger and i didnt feel particularly anxious about anything. i also had a normal childhood, nothing traumatic and nothing that i was bottling up inside. but out of nowhere i would get these surge, this insane rush that felt like liquid nervousness spread throughout my body and a second later it would make my heart rate sky rocket to 155 beats per minute. i would feel like something horrible was happening, impending doom- like i was going to die. id get shaky, weak and my mind stopped what it was doing and couldnt comprehend anything around me. ended me up in the emergency room a couple of times. long story short- docs checked literally for everything and suggested anxiety and i read up on it and joined this forum and realized i felt exactly like all these people who suffer from it felt.
my doc prescribed lexapro but I've been too afraid to try it. and 2.5 mg of valium help me fall and stay asleep at night. how many of you see a therapist for this and does it work? im skeptical because i dont know what he would even tell me- its not like i have a trigger for this anxiety or the attacks- they come whenever they feel like it and i want to jump out of my skin when it does. what do you all do to combat this crappy thing? anything working?
my doc prescribed lexapro but I've been too afraid to try it. and 2.5 mg of valium help me fall and stay asleep at night. how many of you see a therapist for this and does it work? im skeptical because i dont know what he would even tell me- its not like i have a trigger for this anxiety or the attacks- they come whenever they feel like it and i want to jump out of my skin when it does. what do you all do to combat this crappy thing? anything working?
That is a big question :).
My original source of anxiety was due to concerns about my health. I believe we share a lot of common symptoms during a panic attack, but we all experience it a differently in my opinion. For me, my chest would tighten and I would have a hard time breathing. Naturally, alarm bells would go off and I would believe that something was physically wrong with me, thus sending me further into panic.
For me, confronting the root cause of the anxiety helped me deal with it. I wholeheartedly believe in the power of counseling...there is a reason for the saying, 'knowledge is power.' In my opinion, we can tend to fear what we do not understand and once I started to learn about it, just like any other challenge, I was able to see that it can be overcome.
I also believe that keeping a positive attitude helps as well, which of course is much easier said than done. In my experience, we tend to really get down on ourselves because of this experience. First, remember you are not alone with this....millions of people have successfully and continue to not only deal with it, but actually thrive with it. Second, there is nothing 'wrong' with you. So many people ask me what is wrong with them...there is nothing wrong with them...people are challenged in different ways and that is what this is in my experience.
Keep us posted!
My original source of anxiety was due to concerns about my health. I believe we share a lot of common symptoms during a panic attack, but we all experience it a differently in my opinion. For me, my chest would tighten and I would have a hard time breathing. Naturally, alarm bells would go off and I would believe that something was physically wrong with me, thus sending me further into panic.
For me, confronting the root cause of the anxiety helped me deal with it. I wholeheartedly believe in the power of counseling...there is a reason for the saying, 'knowledge is power.' In my opinion, we can tend to fear what we do not understand and once I started to learn about it, just like any other challenge, I was able to see that it can be overcome.
I also believe that keeping a positive attitude helps as well, which of course is much easier said than done. In my experience, we tend to really get down on ourselves because of this experience. First, remember you are not alone with this....millions of people have successfully and continue to not only deal with it, but actually thrive with it. Second, there is nothing 'wrong' with you. So many people ask me what is wrong with them...there is nothing wrong with them...people are challenged in different ways and that is what this is in my experience.
Keep us posted!
When I have a panic attack I usually feel dizzy, shaky, I get a super tingly feeling in my arms and legs, and my thoughts race. Sometimes I feel like I can't breathe, other times I can breathe just fine. Once in a while, when the attack is especially bad, my teeth chatter like I'm freezing, though I'm usually really hot. I don't usually cry, I just feel really panicked and disconnected from reality. It always starts with a burning, heavy feeling in my chest that then spreads throughout my body.
The main thing that triggers mine is feelings. If I feel a little bit weird my mind takes that and runs with it. I immediately think I must be about to die, something horrible is wrong, something horrible is goin to happen, I'm going crazy, etc.
I've gotten pretty good at nipping attacks in the behind. I usually have to wrangle my thoughts, realize that I'm fine and repeat over and over that it's just anxiety. Deep breathing also helps.
The main thing that triggers mine is feelings. If I feel a little bit weird my mind takes that and runs with it. I immediately think I must be about to die, something horrible is wrong, something horrible is goin to happen, I'm going crazy, etc.
I've gotten pretty good at nipping attacks in the behind. I usually have to wrangle my thoughts, realize that I'm fine and repeat over and over that it's just anxiety. Deep breathing also helps.
i actually dont know if i have anxiety attacks. Im caring for my mother who has experienced recurrent strokes due to atrial fibrillation. Everytime the thought of her having another stroke, I would get really frightened and I cry.
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