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"Trigger" caused anxiety to re-surface?
Hi people
I haven't posted here in awhile but during my absence, I got involved in a really exciting new hobby that gave me months of endless joy, plenty to learn/do and allowed me to completely get my mind off of my issues because I was so busy having fun!. I was pretty much on cloud nine the whole time. I even joined a large group of people who shared the same hobby and interests as myself and everything was going just great. For awhile, that is.
But lurking deep beneath the facade of distraction-filled happiness was still a nearly full "anxiety bucket" brimming with underlying fears, phobias, worries, stressors, what if's and uncertainties. One day something happened (long story) that triggered me and caused my anxiety bucket to overflow. Over a period of days, I found myself right back where I started with waves of anxiety and panic attacks, fears, worries, what if's, feeling hot and flushed, nervous, jittery, constantly fretting and worrying about everything, etc.
It was really quite amazing actually...the stark contrast between feeling so motivated, happy and enthusiastic and then suddenly being slammed down to the point where I felt like a complete basket case. This afternoon I was just sitting here at the computer and could feel wave after wave of anxiety/panic/adrenalin flowing through me - almost like electricity. It was an AWFUL feeling!. A few nights ago I was laying in bed and was just about asleep when I suddenly had a panic attack and just laid there for a few minutes with my eyes wide opened. Last night it wasn't much better. I just felt really strange.
Has anyone else ever experienced this?. Where you are feeling just great for several weeks or months and then something suddenly triggers you and snowball's out of control and leaves you feeling like a quivering mass of anxiety?. It's like my anxiety was in remission for awhile or something and the thing that recently triggered me made it all come back to the surface again worse than ever.
I haven't posted here in awhile but during my absence, I got involved in a really exciting new hobby that gave me months of endless joy, plenty to learn/do and allowed me to completely get my mind off of my issues because I was so busy having fun!. I was pretty much on cloud nine the whole time. I even joined a large group of people who shared the same hobby and interests as myself and everything was going just great. For awhile, that is.
But lurking deep beneath the facade of distraction-filled happiness was still a nearly full "anxiety bucket" brimming with underlying fears, phobias, worries, stressors, what if's and uncertainties. One day something happened (long story) that triggered me and caused my anxiety bucket to overflow. Over a period of days, I found myself right back where I started with waves of anxiety and panic attacks, fears, worries, what if's, feeling hot and flushed, nervous, jittery, constantly fretting and worrying about everything, etc.
It was really quite amazing actually...the stark contrast between feeling so motivated, happy and enthusiastic and then suddenly being slammed down to the point where I felt like a complete basket case. This afternoon I was just sitting here at the computer and could feel wave after wave of anxiety/panic/adrenalin flowing through me - almost like electricity. It was an AWFUL feeling!. A few nights ago I was laying in bed and was just about asleep when I suddenly had a panic attack and just laid there for a few minutes with my eyes wide opened. Last night it wasn't much better. I just felt really strange.
Has anyone else ever experienced this?. Where you are feeling just great for several weeks or months and then something suddenly triggers you and snowball's out of control and leaves you feeling like a quivering mass of anxiety?. It's like my anxiety was in remission for awhile or something and the thing that recently triggered me made it all come back to the surface again worse than ever.
I know how you feel. Everything could be going so well and then bam!! You get hit with these awful feelings and for me I had to leave my job and I suffer every day and my anxiety just cripples me and I am a religious pers on so I pray often and it seems like God does help me. I feel that anxiety is a vicious cycle but just expressing your feelings and realizing that you are not alone helps and I thank people who have set up this forurm
For people like us it is so helpful because most people including doctors and therapists just don't understand and I know this to be true from what I go through but I refuse to let anxiety ruin my life even though I feel so hopeless but I remain active and determined to get my life back and you should too with everything you have inside and I know it's hard but it can be done
For people like us it is so helpful because most people including doctors and therapists just don't understand and I know this to be true from what I go through but I refuse to let anxiety ruin my life even though I feel so hopeless but I remain active and determined to get my life back and you should too with everything you have inside and I know it's hard but it can be done
Interesting. My bouts of anxiety usually start out like this...
- Feeling just fantastic for a month or two. I even forget I have anxiety.
- Something triggers me (a phone call, a surprise bill in the mail, a news story about some disease, a word I read or hear, etc)
- All the symptoms begin...the fear, adrenalin, scary thoughts, what if's, etc.
- Within a few days the hot/cold flashes start along with a weird feeling in my head (ie; dazed, spaced out, zombie-ish), feeling very hot inside and out of my body and even burning sensations in my arms/legs (but never a fever), tingling/prickling, eyes feel very buggy and un-focused/dry/moist, etc.
- Within a few more days I'm really starting to freak out and wonder if it's "something else" or if I'm dying or losing my mind. Lots of random thoughts and time spent trying to figure out why my tests always come back normal and yet I feel horrible.
I have noticed that even exercise makes me feel really strange when these attacks come on. I feel tight and like I'm burning inside. I also suffer from situational and anticipatory anxiety.
I forgot to mention that I also have cervical arthritis so maybe that has something to do with the burning (or maybe not).
Yes it's a miserable thing to have to live with. I was actually starting to feel a little better this evening and was really thrilled thinking that I was finally on the mend. Then, I went into the living room and was sitting there having a snack, watching a movie and enjoying myself when some random thought suddenly popped into my head and I pretty much spent the whole evening jumping from one worry to the next. Anxiety seems to ruin everything it touches.
Sometimes the thoughts won't leave me alone. It's like my mind is running on turbo with all these things that could possibly go wrong. Almost like a really busy "conversation" going on up there. I am super-sensitive to everything also. I'll go from being on a natural high to being slammed down to the lowest low. Do any of you ever get depression along with your anxiety?.
- Feeling just fantastic for a month or two. I even forget I have anxiety.
- Something triggers me (a phone call, a surprise bill in the mail, a news story about some disease, a word I read or hear, etc)
- All the symptoms begin...the fear, adrenalin, scary thoughts, what if's, etc.
- Within a few days the hot/cold flashes start along with a weird feeling in my head (ie; dazed, spaced out, zombie-ish), feeling very hot inside and out of my body and even burning sensations in my arms/legs (but never a fever), tingling/prickling, eyes feel very buggy and un-focused/dry/moist, etc.
- Within a few more days I'm really starting to freak out and wonder if it's "something else" or if I'm dying or losing my mind. Lots of random thoughts and time spent trying to figure out why my tests always come back normal and yet I feel horrible.
I have noticed that even exercise makes me feel really strange when these attacks come on. I feel tight and like I'm burning inside. I also suffer from situational and anticipatory anxiety.
I forgot to mention that I also have cervical arthritis so maybe that has something to do with the burning (or maybe not).
Yes it's a miserable thing to have to live with. I was actually starting to feel a little better this evening and was really thrilled thinking that I was finally on the mend. Then, I went into the living room and was sitting there having a snack, watching a movie and enjoying myself when some random thought suddenly popped into my head and I pretty much spent the whole evening jumping from one worry to the next. Anxiety seems to ruin everything it touches.
Sometimes the thoughts won't leave me alone. It's like my mind is running on turbo with all these things that could possibly go wrong. Almost like a really busy "conversation" going on up there. I am super-sensitive to everything also. I'll go from being on a natural high to being slammed down to the lowest low. Do any of you ever get depression along with your anxiety?.
Yes it happens to me quite often. I'll be anxiety free for a time and then BAM it comes crashing back in. I used to go lengthy periods of time in between my anxiety spells but now they are coming more often. I probably spend 95% of my life right now with anxiety. It's really frustrating because it makes me feel there is no way to ever beat anxiety for good. I'm sure you've felt that way too. Hang in there.
I feel for you this is exactly what has happened to me. I had really bad anxiety for 5 years then I divorced my husband and it went away and I felt the best I had in 14 years. I felt like I could do anything, go anywhere and wasn't afraid of anything. I even got remarried to a great guy. Then one day my new husband and I had a terrible fight he was drinking to much and acted really stupid drunk, said things he shouldn't have and it reminded me of my ex because that is how I lived for 14 years on and off. My husband figured out he had anxiety from being a forman at work ans started anxiety meds they are helping him. But my anxiety came back triple fold it was awful and I can't make myself take meds because that is part of my anxiety taking medication. Now I am trying to pick up the pieces and get back to the place I was 2 years ago not a care in the world. Good luck to you hope you find your happy place again. And yes I get all of those feelings also when I have anxiety. I also have bad sinus problems maybe they are linked.
Do any of you ever experience hot or cold flashes, tingling or prickly sensations, feeling really hot even though you don't have a fever or feeling really weird in the eyes as part of your physical anxiety symptoms?. I know my head feel especially weird lately. Sort of like I'm a zombie walking around all bug-eyed in a trance-like state. It's difficult to explain but really freaky and scary sometimes.
I have really bad sinuses and stomach issues so I often wonder if these are part of the problem.
I have really bad sinuses and stomach issues so I often wonder if these are part of the problem.
Thanks so much for the reply!.
It feels so absolutely good when it goes into remission for awhile and then just miserable when it comes back to haunt us again. It's like being hit in the stomach. What gets me is how suddenly and unexpectedly it strikes.
I hope so much to get back to that place where I can get involved in some fun new project and get my mind off of this. Along with the anxiety comes all of the physical symptoms and along with the physical symptoms comes all of the "what's ifs" and then even more anxiety. It just feeds off of itself. I find myself just devoting tons of time trying to avoid triggers and it is very exhausting. I am also very sensitive and it only takes the very slightest thing to send me into full panic mode again.
Thanks again for the words of encouragement. It's so sad to know that other people have to deal with this as well but at the same time, a sense of relief that I am not the only one.
It feels so absolutely good when it goes into remission for awhile and then just miserable when it comes back to haunt us again. It's like being hit in the stomach. What gets me is how suddenly and unexpectedly it strikes.
I hope so much to get back to that place where I can get involved in some fun new project and get my mind off of this. Along with the anxiety comes all of the physical symptoms and along with the physical symptoms comes all of the "what's ifs" and then even more anxiety. It just feeds off of itself. I find myself just devoting tons of time trying to avoid triggers and it is very exhausting. I am also very sensitive and it only takes the very slightest thing to send me into full panic mode again.
Thanks again for the words of encouragement. It's so sad to know that other people have to deal with this as well but at the same time, a sense of relief that I am not the only one.
Hi need2behealthy
Your post is very interesting to me as this is a capsule describing my life and anxiety....I belonged to an anxiety group on line after 9-11 and many many members would go along, like you said, in a sort of remission, and then out of the blue, the anxiety and panic would appear and drive most of us right to our knees....Some of the members would actually drop the extra curricular activities that they had really enjoyed because they thought maybe the stress was too much and that is why they relapsed. I am not a doctor so I can't say for sure why this happens, but it happens quite a bit when we suffer with anxiety....Never sure what thought processes start the relapsed anxiety to surface, it is enough for me to be sure to keep my thinking positive and I use meditation and journaling here and in a private diary at home. I never talk about how long it has been since having a genuine panic attack with the heart pounding, road sliding off in front of my eyes while I am driving, dizziness and total panic because like everyone else who has anxiety, I am only a thought away from another one.....
Take care and Blessings to you
M
Your post is very interesting to me as this is a capsule describing my life and anxiety....I belonged to an anxiety group on line after 9-11 and many many members would go along, like you said, in a sort of remission, and then out of the blue, the anxiety and panic would appear and drive most of us right to our knees....Some of the members would actually drop the extra curricular activities that they had really enjoyed because they thought maybe the stress was too much and that is why they relapsed. I am not a doctor so I can't say for sure why this happens, but it happens quite a bit when we suffer with anxiety....Never sure what thought processes start the relapsed anxiety to surface, it is enough for me to be sure to keep my thinking positive and I use meditation and journaling here and in a private diary at home. I never talk about how long it has been since having a genuine panic attack with the heart pounding, road sliding off in front of my eyes while I am driving, dizziness and total panic because like everyone else who has anxiety, I am only a thought away from another one.....
Take care and Blessings to you
M
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