anxiety atack (srs)

[jestdoit86]

I've been having my first serious anxiety attack in about a year. My perception on everything is distorted and my motivation for working out and life in general is extremely low. I know this sounds beta but it is what it is. Any advice/encouragement.....medical, spiritual, physical..... will be repped.

[erkl]

Do alot of cardio, eat healthy, get on a good sleep schedule, and dont drink or do drugs..
Ive been dealing with anxiety for years, but doing the above seems to help when i can keep up with it all.. Occasionally I fall off and sure enough my anxiety comes back.

Try to avoid anxiety meds, in my experience they are usually addictive and end up making things worse

[zenzone]

i would try to avoid all prescription medications if possible.

[jestdoit86]

Do alot of cardio, eat healthy, get on a good sleep schedule, and dont drink or do drugs..
Ive been dealing with anxiety for years, but doing the above seems to help when i can keep up with it all.. Occasionally I fall off and sure enough my anxiety comes back.

Try to avoid anxiety meds, in my experience they are usually addictive and end up making things worse

I think you're right. I think the sleep schedule and eating has a lot to do with it. Amidst getting the swine flu and having my shift changed twice at work I guess as you put it, I've " fallen off". I can't wait til I feel confident enough to get back in the gym. I think I'm gonna take it slow and keep it light at first til I get my feet under me again.

On a side note, what supplements can increase anxiety? I noticed for instance some pre workout stuff with lots of caffeine or niacin messes me up.

[jestdoit86]

i would try to avoid all prescription medications if possible.

I agree. Medications have complicated things in the past. I've weened myself off zoloft 3 or 4 times over the past 5 years but every time something happens I end up back on it at doctors orders.

[TNetz]

Hmmm, I must be the exception then. My meds are awesome.

[DanTheManB]

Find out what lights your fire. Take that and increase it. Anger will motivate you. Get sick and tired of the BS and TAKE CONTROL over what you can take control over. All I have is lifting and controlling diet. So I use that until I have nothing left to give. And it's all because of one person that influenced me.

Use the anger until you can find a substitute

[chickeneater]

I thought "the Secret" was a great book as far as connecting science and spirituality. Also the book "awakeinings" I think said that when you have decisions to make, or changes, just keep your eyes open for the signs, they will be there, and you will feel comfortable choosing your decisions.

As far as anxiety, panic attacks, go read "hope and help for your nerves" by Dr. Claire Weekes, written decades ago, it still applies. Remember, attacks are harmless and as long as you know they last only 10 min to an hour, do zero damage to your insides even though you think your'e gonna die and you'll be fine, and they will reduce and go away over time. Her method is incredibly simple as her writing is repetitive to give you the same method over and over citing examples and clients and her own recovery. "accept", "float", "let time pass".

cheers, good luck!

edit: all books available at your library

[Zee Deveel]

What do you mean when you say your perception is distorted, are we talking literally here?

I suffer from anxiety myself, if you wanna chat send me a pm.

[zjpj]

Paxil

[TNetz]

As far as anxiety, panic attacks, go read "hope and help for your nerves" by Dr. Claire Weekes, written decades ago, it still applies. Remember, attacks are harmless and as long as you know they last only 10 min to an hour, do zero damage to your insides even though you think your'e gonna die and you'll be fine, and they will reduce and go away over time. Her method is incredibly simple as her writing is repetitive to give you the same method over and over citing examples and clients and her own recovery. "accept", "float", "let time pass".

cheers, good luck!

edit: all books available at your library

Good book but all that endure the attack BS only works when you're sitting in a room by yourself. Try letting an attack "pass" while driving or in a room full of other people. ie, not gona happen.

Different strokes for different folks but for some, proper medication is the *only* solution. No amount of meditation will correct faulty wiring.

[boon9484]

I've been having my first serious anxiety attack in about a year. My perception on everything is distorted and my motivation for working out and life in general is extremely low. I know this sounds beta but it is what it is. Any advice/encouragement.....medical, spiritual, physical..... will be repped.

I'm seeing a counselor at my UNI now for anxiety... surprisingly I've found working out & then baking in the sauna to be one of the only things that I can do to rid my anxiety... before it returns in a few hours.

My anxiety mostly effects my walking, It sounds stupid but I feel awkward in my own body and if anyone looks at me its like I forget where my legs are and I kinda freak out. After working out and spending 20-30 minutes relaxing in the sauna I can do anything without caring about what anyone thinks and stay totally relaxed (cant even explain why)... wears off after a couple of hours tho :-/

[chickeneater]

Good book but all that endure the attack BS only works when you're sitting in a room by yourself. Try letting an attack "pass" while driving or in a room full of other people. ie, not gona happen.

a lot of the anxiety comes from social settings and people get confined to their houses because they know it's triggered when theyre out in social settings (agoraphobia I think).

The solution? Exposure therapy. Go to a social setting and refuse to move as an attack ensues. Welcome and accept the attack. Refuse to run to the exit door, you won't pass out. You may be unable to have a conversation but you must break the fear/panic/fear cycle. The social settings will become easier over time. And then go away altogether.

Different strokes for different folks but for some, proper medication is the *only* solution. No amount of meditation will correct faulty wiring.

can't disagree with absolutes (only, always, never, none etc). But if you had a normal life with no medical/psychiatric problems and then in the last few years the anxiety has consumed your life with real physical symptoms or psycho****tic chronic pain, and yet underneath you think your'e a normal person and don't know why you feel this way then it's up to you to investigate if living the way you've been living like a people pleaser, worried about what others think, a striver, a "can't live till I achieve this or that" then you're nerves are shot and you simply need to learn to "let go" and float thru life for a while while your nervous system heals and returns to normal. Not over night.

If you cover it all up with medications and stay in your house all day and not learn how to live in a way where you go with the flow more, accept or recognize the "ego" and how it stresses you out (Eckert Tolle) then.........well.....your'e just treating the symptoms not the cause.

edit: surely short term drug use and relaxation methods can help treat the symptoms and get you in the right direction providing your long term goal is to treat the cause and not just the effects.

[TNetz]

The solution? Exposure therapy. Go to a social setting and refuse to move as an attack ensues. Welcome and accept the attack.

Good luck with that. A lot easier said than done.

The social settings will become easier over time. And then go away altogether..

Bull sh!t. Have you ever had an anxiety attack? It's not something that goes away in time. The incident will, not the disorder.

you simply need to learn to "let go" and float thru life for a while while your nervous system heals and returns to normal. Not over night..

Again, BS. Tell that to those of us with generations of disorders that run in the family.

If you cover it all up with medications and stay in your house all day and not learn how to live in a way where you go with the flow more, accept or recognize the "ego" and how it stresses you out (Eckert Tolle) then.........well.....your'e just treating the symptoms not the cause..

Again, if the cause is genetic, than you have no choice but to treat the symptoms. Chemical imbalances are not healed through meditation.

Medications allowed me to live. Not the other way around

[TNetz]

The only way I see your argument having any merit is if you're talking about a subject that just feels anxious some of the time. I don't think meds would be suitable for somebody that has a little social anxiety before going to a social event. I'd call that normal.

Where your argument makes zero sense, other than a little self exploration, is in dealing with a full blown disorder. Anxiety attacks are not to be taken lightly. If you have to ask your self if you've had one than chances are you have not, otherwise you would know.

[chickeneater]

I've been having my first serious anxiety attack in about a year. My perception on everything is distorted and my motivation for working out and life in general is extremely low. I know this sounds beta but it is what it is. Any advice/encouragement.....medical, spiritual, physical..... will be repped.

Just doing my part to share with someone with what helped me recover. I went thru the western medical gauntlet for a long time.

Yes I had the family history, yes I had full blown anxiety/panic attacks, and depression where I could'nt stand or talk. Psycho****tic pain etc.

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

If medications are treating your symptoms then continue, if you feel your "cause" is purely genetics then perhaps your'e right.

As far as the family history, just ask your self it the following could be true.

If emotional, and or physical abuse is handed down generation after generation, and the offspring gets western medication to deal with the defacto anxiety/depression, because the children have been suppressed of their emotions, then the doc could tell the patient or the patient could tell the doc that medication had been needed in the family for eons.

Therefore, the belief that brain chemicals are messed up could be false. There may be a larger picture.

I can only assume that one coming to a chat forum is not one of the exceptions, and is looking for answers not given by the doc or the anti-depressent companies. Yes there are exceptions, yes there are some absolutes. Only the OP can listen to someone whos been there and decide if he's hearing the same common denominators of people who have recovered from a lifetime of hell.

-cheers

[TNetz]

Cheers, and good post. I'm not sure why I'm trying to debate when you're just offering a different alternative . Like I said before, different strokes for different folks. Some people really do need meds though. I went through the "natural" remedies myself when my mother was first diagnosed. I did not want her on meds but unfortunatley my wishes for her didn't make her better. She's happy now though.

I think that's awesome that an alternative to meds worked for you. Unfortunately, I'll be on them for some time. At least until I have the opportunity to "experiment".

Edit: Reps on recharge.

[chickeneater]

just want to apologize because I felt I got carried away here. AD's are so important and valuble and the abuse of them can be argued ad nauseum.

I found some books helpful, and when it was called BS I was put off and came back too hard probably pissing those off who have benefitted from AD's.

Tnetz, if I made it sound like you were wrong for using them (and I probably did) then I'm an azzhole, sorry bro. Who knows, maybe I am messed up internally and will be on them someday too...and this relief is only a temporary placebo. Who knows, not even doctors. Theres no absolutes.

[TNetz]

just want to apologize because I felt I got carried away here. AD's are so important and valuble and the abuse of them can be argued ad nauseum.

I found some books helpful, and when it was called BS I was put off and came back too hard probably pissing those off who have benefitted from AD's.

Tnetz, if I made it sound like you were wrong for using them (and I probably did) then I'm an azzhole, sorry bro. Who knows, maybe I am messed up internally and will be on them someday too...and this relief is only a temporary placebo. Who knows, not even doctors. Theres no absolutes.

No big deal! I got defensive, maybe you got defensive. The point is, we're all crazy here

I read this part of what you wrote and it got me thinking. It's sort of like the chicken or the egg question, to me. The problem is that it's difficult to fix either way. More than likely one couldn't exist without the other. Either way, it's a good point.

"As far as the family history, just ask your self it the following could be true.

If emotional, and or physical abuse is handed down generation after generation, and the offspring gets western medication to deal with the defacto anxiety/depression, because the children have been suppressed of their emotions, then the doc could tell the patient or the patient could tell the doc that medication had been needed in the family for eons.

Therefore, the belief that brain chemicals are messed up could be false. There may be a larger picture".

[chickeneater]

cool man. It was nice that I sprung a nugget of thought.lol.. I suffer from playing armchair psychologist.lol. I think the only reason, maybe fortunately the AD's did'nt stick with me was because I could'nt get past the sides. I tried 3 different ones, no longer than a week, I think ya gotta go a month to get past the major sides.

Anyways, I mentioned "stiving" in my 2nd post and low and behold you say your'e a striver in your profile..hmmm Also the addictive personality thing too, yep, me there as well. No wonders we both suffered from anxiety.

This is probably too personal, but I find that dudes who suffer from episodes of anxiety or psycho****tic pain have been as I said before suppressed emotionally as a child, but also, due to neglect from their fathers. Even if there was a father in the picture, the neglect could've been worse then if he was absent.

If one has been thinking their chems are messed up, and need meds to right them, then this may come as a shock, or relief. If you've been labled bipolar, or schitzy, then what I'm saying does'nt apply, but if you look at dudes who have anxiety, low back pain all the time (don't get me started there), ...It seems theres a common denominator of self esteem issues that manifested from childhood abuse (physical or mental) or neglect from Dad.

Like I said, I'm no doc, but I keep finding nurture seems to outweigh nature in the case of anxiety. I don't want to get too personal, but I'd bet money on you and the OP having major childhood issues that have been suppressed. I know I realized I did. But your'e too tough to talk to anyone about it right? We're dudes after all, we naturally supress it. And one theory is the energy so to speak gets stuffed deep and comes out in anxiety or aches and pains. Or we become strivers, or ocd'rs, people pleasers...etc......Ok, I'm getting nutty now, I admit. But this is where good ole psychotherapy would help.

Theres this guy at work, whos on AD's and swallows ***** like candy 3x a day to ward off the panic attacks. His low back is always stiff. He says his doctor just says his brain is this way. But later he tells me issues he had with his dad, and how at 13 his dad had a heart attack in his arms and died.....sheesh....but that has nothing to do with your anxiety now a days? Right?

[TNetz]

It's definitely something to think about, and I am. You can find, if you haven't already, the thread I started about me quitting drinking. It tells more than enough about the crap my father put my family and me through. There could be something to what you're saying.
I've learned a little about psychotherapy in college. It seems very interesting assuming the patient is smart enough to go through with it. Supposedly it does take some brains to be analyzed, who knew? It's also difficult to find a good therapist. At least one that could begin to hypothesize what you're implying. Even if I found some yoyo that could perform psychoanalysis, it would be interesting to see if the process would eliminate some of the "stresses" that we endured as a child. Assuming we could even "live" through it all again.

The subconscious is still a mystery to me. There could be something there but why it hasn't been tried yet I'm not sure. Or maybe it has and I'm just not aware. Could be. It's difficult to say whether anxiety disorders come down to actual physical wiring. If so, than ADs are a means to an end. If not than they really do just cover up the causes.

Either way, it's worth looking into and possibly a good subject for a thesis in school.

I'm on a serotonin uptake inhibitor called citalopram. 20-60mg is the effective dose and I'm on 30mgs. It's categorised as an antidepressent but I have never suffered from depression. According to my phsychiatrist, anxiety and depression go hand in hand. I guess they're a part of the same big happy family. Apparently my brain wasn't producing enough serotonin on it's own. Or so I was told.

My mom is on something else. I can't remember but it's not ***** or anything habit forming.

[jestdoit86]

Great posts here guys. I've repped quite a few of you but keep the advice coming and I'll give out more. Before I get into the more technical aspects of the debates I'm seeing above let me give an update on my current situation. What got me here is the same thing that always gets me in these situations. That is to say a series of catalysts formed the perfect storm and sent things into a tailspin. I was doing great, coasting on a regular schedule for almost a year. I went to work overnights, got plenty of sleep, ate well and did the things I love doing and have control over. I was on a bowling league, doing plenty of juggling and working out 4 times a week. I felt in control and on top of things. Then they changed my shift temporarily and have been bouncing me back and forth between overnights and 2nd shift. My sleep schedule has suffered and I havn't been bowling because I have to work during league hours. Then I got the swine flue which knocked me completely out of comission for a week and kept me out of the gym for two weeks. I just got back in last night and found I still have very little energy. I was feeling heightened anxiety which turned into full blown atacks after I went to visit my girlfriend and we had a fight. She hasn't been returning my phone calls.

Where I'm at right now then, is I'm waiting patiently to get back on a regular shift and trying to keep some sort of normalcy in my schedule in the meantime. I'm taking my usual 50 mg of zoloft along with some melatonin wich i'm finding helps to mellow me out. I'm still taking diphenahydramine ( benadryl) otc before bed to help me sleep. Sleep issues go very far back with me all the way to childhood. I'm trying to get back into the gym and do some light exercises and cardio until my strength comes completely back. I am doing my best to ride this out but what bothers me the most is the effect the anxiety has on my stomach and my eating. My normally mild acid reflux issues skyrocket during periods when I am having atacks and I find it very difficult to eat much. I take acid blockers which normally work fine but it seems nothing can match the power of the anxiety to make me nautious and unable to eat. This is causing me to lose weight/muscle and is my greatest concern at this point.

[jestdoit86]

"My anxiety mostly effects my walking, It sounds stupid but I feel awkward in my own body and if anyone looks at me its like I forget where my legs are and I kinda freak out"

I'm no expert but this sounds a lot like what I've read about OCD. It makes sense, after all, sinc OCD is really just a special type of anxiety problem. I find when I'm having serious anxiety some compulsive thoughts sometimes creep in. What did your therapist say about your walking issues?

[jestdoit86]

It's definitely something to think about, and I am. You can find, if you haven't already, the thread I started about me quitting drinking. It tells more than enough about the crap my father put my family and me through. There could be something to what you're saying.
I've learned a little about psychotherapy in college. It seems very interesting assuming the patient is smart enough to go through with it. Supposedly it does take some brains to be analyzed, who knew? It's also difficult to find a good therapist. At least one that could begin to hypothesize what you're implying. Even if I found some yoyo that could perform psychoanalysis, it would be interesting to see if the process would eliminate some of the "stresses" that we endured as a child. Assuming we could even "live" through it all again.

The subconscious is still a mystery to me. There could be something there but why it hasn't been tried yet I'm not sure. Or maybe it has and I'm just not aware. Could be. It's difficult to say whether anxiety disorders come down to actual physical wiring. If so, than ADs are a means to an end. If not than they really do just cover up the causes.

Either way, it's worth looking into and possibly a good subject for a thesis in school.

I'm on a serotonin uptake inhibitor called citalopram. 20-60mg is the effective dose and I'm on 30mgs. It's categorised as an antidepressent but I have never suffered from depression. According to my phsychiatrist, anxiety and depression go hand in hand. I guess they're a part of the same big happy family. Apparently my brain wasn't producing enough serotonin on it's own. Or so I was told.

My mom is on something else. I can't remember but it's not ***** or anything habit forming.

Hmmm, I must be the exception then. My meds are awesome.

I havn't seen much of a difference between ssri's. What differences have you guys seen? Please list the good and the bad. I like the zoloft because it seems to work and is cheap ( really important for those of us without insurance).

My stance on medicine is that in an ideal world it should be like a crutch. It should be used to keep us on track while we heal ourselves and learn how to cope. Unfortunately as we all know we don't live in an ideal world and as you pointed out there are underlying genetic and chemical problems that make this very difficult. But I don't think that should prevent us from trying. In a worst case scenario you try to get off the drugs and the atacks come back so you go back on them. This is what seems to happen to me, but i'm unconvinced they flared back up because I was off the zoloft. I was taking my meds regularly before this last bout and it still came back full force. With or without the drugs I think it's just something I'm going to have to deal with periodically in my life. Perhaps I'm being cynical, but I don't think there's a permanent solution to anxiety, only ways to cope and make it less powerful and go away faster.

[jestdoit86]

"As far as the family history, just ask your self it the following could be true.

If emotional, and or physical abuse is handed down generation after generation, and the offspring gets western medication to deal with the defacto anxiety/depression, because the children have been suppressed of their emotions, then the doc could tell the patient or the patient could tell the doc that medication had been needed in the family for eons.

Therefore, the belief that brain chemicals are messed up could be false. There may be a larger picture".

aaah the old nature vs. nurture question. I'm not going to make a broad sweeping assertion here but I can speak to my own experiences. In MY situation, I believe the cause is nature. I've had anxiety as far back as I can remember. From having panick atacks in movie theaters watching the power rangers at age 8 to being terrified of sleeping in my own bed until I was 10.....I've always had those kind of issues. My mother is bi-polar and my dad has had panick atacks in the past as well. In addition, as a kid I was diagnosed with ADHD which, I'm told is often coupled with anxiety. I've often wondered if taking ridallin or some such drug as an adult might stop the anxiety. I can only remember not liking it as a kid because I didn't feel like me while I was on it.

[TNetz]

I havn't seen much of a difference between ssri's. What differences have you guys seen? Please list the good and the bad. I like the zoloft because it seems to work and is cheap ( really important for those of us without insurance).

My stance on medicine is that in an ideal world it should be like a crutch. It should be used to keep us on track while we heal ourselves and learn how to cope. Unfortunately as we all know we don't live in an ideal world and as you pointed out there are underlying genetic and chemical problems that make this very difficult. But I don't think that should prevent us from trying. In a worst case scenario you try to get off the drugs and the atacks come back so you go back on them. This is what seems to happen to me, but i'm unconvinced they flared back up because I was off the zoloft. I was taking my meds regularly before this last bout and it still came back full force. With or without the drugs I think it's just something I'm going to have to deal with periodically in my life. Perhaps I'm being cynical, but I don't think there's a permanent solution to anxiety, only ways to cope and make it less powerful and go away faster.

I agree regardless of what I said above. ssri is the only thing I've ever been on. I guess I got lucky with it and got a proper diagnosis the first time. Which is rare. Thank you VA lol.

I guess I'll list my symptoms and then list what's changed. I've had anxiety attacks but nothing compared to what my mother has gone through.

Symptoms:
Red faced
Persistant sweating
Trouble breathing
Irritability
Compulsive behavior
Heart beating through my chest while trying to sleep.
Trouble sleeping and all around unpleasant person to be around.
Constant conflicts (probably because of the above list)
Ahh, I can't forget worrying. I use to worry about everything. I would lay in bed making up stuff to worry about. I use to ask myself why the hell am I thinking about this crap.

My panick attacks were basically times when I felt like I couldn't breath. I would try to catch my breath and there would be nothing but a pit in my chest.

What changed: all of the above. I still suffer from anxiety but on a manageable level. This is important because everyone has anxiety to some extent. Manageable anxiety is what you should be after. I still have the personality traits but they're not effecting my everyday living like before.

I did not want to go on meds before. I looked down on them. But, I also realized that there was something wrong with me so I went to see the doc. I knew that the way I felt wasn't normal. When I was diagnosed I was surprised but I also knew that I had a family history and everyone of them is medicated for something or another. Hell, half the population is medicated for something. Looking back now, I'm glad I did. I was 26 when I went on meds so I've been on them for ~3 yrs.

Side effects: I haven't noticed any. It took a little over a month for the meds to take effect and when they did I did notice a bit of dry mouth for a few days but that went away. Some people do have sides though. I'm on a very low dose.

I do not miss a dose though. If I forget to take a pill I get all sorts of weird feelings in my head. Dizzy spells ect. It's the only thing I don't like about ssri's but I don't want anything like ***** or anything that people use as a recreational drug.

Right now I'd like to see if quitting drinking has had an effect on my anxiety level. I talked to my psychiatrist and told her that I'd like to lower the dose. She said sure but it would be better to do it during a time when I can experiment with it. Right now probably wouldn't be best with school and finals and bla bla bla. If somethings not broke then don't fix it is what she said. We'll see.

Remember, the key is management. If it's not manageable than it might be time to talk to someone.

[jestdoit86]

thanks tnetz. Any ideas about the eating problems i referenced above? that's what's bothering me the most right now.

[TNetz]

thanks tnetz. Any ideas about the eating problems i referenced above? that's what's bothering me the most right now.

If I had to guess I'd say it simply has to do with having an addictive personality. Or, being impulsive. At least those are some traits that we crazy people seem to have in common.

I'm far from an expert though. I just gave up my one "bad" habit and I'm not looking forward to see what's next. I'm trying to focus on the good things.

It's tough to find a "mean" or happy medium in things when you're impulsive.


It might be worth researching though.

[AnthonyBishop]

I've been having my first serious anxiety attack in about a year. My perception on everything is distorted and my motivation for working out and life in general is extremely low. I know this sounds beta but it is what it is. Any advice/encouragement.....medical, spiritual, physical..... will be repped.

is there something u can tie to triggering an attack?

[jestdoit86]

is there something u can tie to triggering an attack?

I'm having one right now at work. I can only speak on a case by case basis about what triggers these. This time I am running on little sleep and doing a shift that I'm not used to doing. I was doing ok until I stepped out to talk to my girlfriend. We had a fight when I went to visit her and she hasn't talked to me since. So I took the call and.....well let's just say it didn't go well. She ended up hanging up on me, and I know if I call her back she won't answer. So the control of the situation has been taken out of my hand and I find myself kind of helplessly waiting and hoping she'll call me and explain what the **** is going on. In the meantime I'm just trying to stay strong cuz I know leaving a bunch of pussy messages on her machine isn't going to help. Like I said, what bothers me most is the effect this has on my stomach. Almost instantly after she hung up on me my stomach clenched and I've been feeling like puking ever since. I know from experience I won't be able to eat anything til I can calm myself down...... let me know what you think. I'm struggling over here.

Edit: btw I told her I was having anxiety issues and I would continue to have them until she sat down and talked to me. Her response was " stop guilt tripping me".....kind of a beta move on my part. Won't make that mistake again. But **** it's hard to remain alpha when everything in your body is screaming.