Anxiety and panic attacks, not health related!

Mental health
1

Hi

I have had on going issues with anxiety and panic attacks for some time now and it is really affecting every aspect of my life. I try my best to live life and carry on in a relativley normal way but the anxiety affects everything I do, to the point where I constantly feel sad. So far I have tried, 2 types of anti deppresent's, Citalopram and Fluoxitine but couldn't really say for sure if they helped or not. Currently not taking any anti-deppressents. Also been prescribed Prorananol but again not sure if it helps, think this just eases fast heart beat which is only one of my anxiety symtoms. Also lost weight, followed a super healthy diet, lots of excersise.

Currently having CBT, for the second time. Which everyone says is 'the holy grail' of axiety treatment. This has definatley helped. It has made me realise that I need to change my behaviour, negative thought patterns, body scanning etc and that panic attacks are just a collection of syptoms that could be experienced at any time but I find that putting this knowledge into practice is easier said than done. 

Has anyone else come to this point and still can't manage their anxiety/panic attacks. I know that anxiety can't be cured and that we will all go through anxious periods but I need to be living my life in  a better way than this. 

Any thoughts of where to go from here would be appreciated. Many thnaks in advanced.

2

It's always a battle of finding what works well for you. Something I've realized is that it's important to practice these methods (I.e relaxation) daily not just when we are unwell but when we are well too.

And maybe you need to explore a different type of AD. As frustrating as it is, it can take a bit to find the right one but it's worth it! I'm starting CBT this week too

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Hi there Jenny

I wouldn't say that CBT is the Holy Grail for anxiety treatment

It is merely a tool, not a cure, to help you deal with Anxiety/Panic Disorder. I say this because there is a  danger in raised expectations of CBT erasing AD/PD and a  danger of feeling hopeless when it fails to do so

It's a pity you have not found a suitable anti depressant to help you cope with the worst of the symptoms. However many people can and do overcome the problem without

You are beginning to understand that much of the cure must come from you. This appears to be a huge mountain to climb, too onerous to tackle and, as you mention, makes one feel sad. Far easier if our GP could write a prescription and after a few days of meds we were cured

It's difficult to be patient when one feels afraid and the symptoms are attacking us on a daily basis. It is here where one's attitude towards AD plays a great part in changing not only our mind set but our behaviour patterns where the illness is concerned

I say illness because I believe that AD/PD to be an emotional illness which in turn triggers unpleasant physical symptoms

It's apparent that at this moment in time you feel overwhelmed by it all. That you have no control over the anxiety and the subsequent symptoms. This in itself can be self defeating

Not that that is true by the way Your mind is bluffing you because you are frightened

The way forward is to take each day as it comes. Not to worry about how yesterday was awful, not to fear what you will be like tomorrow.

The here and now, this moment in time, is what is important

You are going about dealing with it in the right way. CBT, excercise, healthy eating. These are the self help tools, along with Right Breathing, Right Thinking, to help you cope with the symptoms

It isn't the symptoms that are the problem, Jenny. They will not harm you, they will not kill you, no matter how nasty they are.

It's the fear of them you must overcome

Fear of the symptoms entrenches them, worsens them, makes them hang around longer and can and often does make life miserable

Right Thinking

When symptoms strike it's about not thinking, OH God! I feel awful! My legs are shaking! My heart is pounding! I can't breathe! And so on and so forth.

That piles fear upon fear until you have added panic into the mix.

When symptoms strike implement your self-help tools Right Breathing. Right Thinking. Dealing with the here and now as calmly as you can.

The mind is very open to suggestion.

If you fear the symptoms then the mind will accept that fear and you will feel infinitely worse

If you accept that the symptoms are awful but nothing bad is going to happen to you, then the mind will accept that and the symptoms will dissipate

We have an inbuilt survival instinct, Jenny. Therefore unpleasant physical symptoms ring alert bells

It is those alert bells you must silence by accepting you are not in danger, at risk of harm

And you can do this

Positive attitude

Losing fear

Taking control

Not fighting to be "normal" but riding out the symptoms

Hugs Helen

 

4

I love your suggestions and reasoning Helen. Very inspiring. I think this should be trained to patients at the onset of symptoms, when they are still borderline. If anxiety response has already escalated into a disorder - i.e. affecting normal functioning most of the time, then I would pair it with a good anti-depressant. But I wish everyone just starting to battle with the very first signs of anxiety spoiralling into abnormal would read your response before the fear truly takes hold. It is all about the fear. exactly as you say. And brain is highly suggestible indeed. Just takes some discipline on our part - conscious effort....much like reasoning with a toddler Sending love

5

Absolutely everything Helen said!

I want to reiterate that you are not out to cure anxiety, but your abnormal responses to it. You are out to beat the fear. I think this is so very important.

You can keep trying, with CBT, self-help, prodding yourself to keep attempting all things that you find challenging since your anxiety escalated. You need positive experiences - the ones that make you go: HA I made it! ...no matter how small the feats. First of all - and this holds true for everyone in therapy be it with medication or without: You need adequate rest - this is very very important. You need good quality sleep and healthy sleep pattern.

I am thinking you can put yourself on a therapeutic schedule for 2 weeks (makes it a short term goal that is relatively easy to achieve) of going to bed at the right time, eating as much unprocessed easily digestible food you can. Treat yourself as if you have just had the flu and gentle recuperation is needed. And then each day take one step further until you are doing things the normal way.

Some tips: Menial tasks help ease the panic and jitters. Menial tasks that are repetitive and do not require much mental involvement are best: e.g. washing dishes, gargening (even just repotting plants), colouring (adult colouring books are nice), scrapbooking....you get the idea? Light but progressive activity helps you release endorphines, sunlight exposure when available, massage if you can afford it....

Choosing people you surround yourself with at first is important - no draining company for those two weeks - be a little picky.

Give yourself an inner holiday of sorts - journal it perhaps.

These are my thoughts inspired by your post and boosted by Helen's bbeautiful suggestions.

Wishing you the best!

6

Thank you for your kindness !

We all bring something to the table and I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with your suggestions...wonderful stuff!....Especially the inner holiday! Brilliant

Menial tasks are great too. They divert the mind from the physical symptoms. It's more important to do something when you don't feel like it because the anxiety has taken root

De-cluttering drawers and cupboards, tidying them, might be mind numbling but there's something satisfying in having things in order. I have the neatest knicker drawer in the whole wide world! LOL

Clutter is a killer. Cluttered untidy house equates to a sense of depression and hopelessness

I keep on top of everything now. Very minimal. It's a form of control. Controlling one's environment empowers and boosts self-confidence

I have adopted a Don't Use It Lose It attitude and feel mentally healthier for it.

I loved the "much like reasoning with a toddler"

from now on in I shall regard my "brain" as an arms crossed, lip jutting, scowling child about to hurl itself on the floor and start leg kicking and screaming

That made my day. Toddler, lol !

Hugs Helen

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Oh yes, totally agree.

We have the "move it or lose it" rule too!

xx

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hahaha yes...how could i omit de-cluttering! Basics! Absolutely. Top priority in fact. I still have a way to go on that. I had very weak OCD response, which was rather unhelpful for my therapy of GAD Must develop that a little. Always good to keep on top of it all, even after therapy. You want to have all the bases covered

 

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Hi Jenny, I started with health anxiety 8 years ago and started citalopram back then, I'm not sure if it was the medication which helped or the fact I slowly accepted and learnt my own coping mechanisms with the help of CBT. Anyway May of this year I came off my medication with the support of my gp and was absolutely fine, got married in August and then September came and BOOM so did the anxiety, but not like I've ever felt before. It's always been health related before but this time I have this consuming, anxious, panicky feeling 95% of the time and I have no idea why! I had 3 weeks off work (im a teaching assistant) and then came back part time and have started full time again last week. I feel no better from 10 weeks ago when this all began but felt that going back to work would at least give me some form of 'normality' and it does help distract me. I went straight back on my medication (citalopram) in September but had to come off it 3 weeks ago due to it affecting my liver enzymes in a blood test result.

What Helen says is spot on, and makes so much sense.

Sending you love

Sara x

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You need to understand your body and any reasons why you are feeling the way you are.

You could try Mindfulness, Relaxation Technique and Breathing  techniques that may help your mood. Ask your CPN regarding this and see how you go.on with those. The problem basically is you are sensitized to your body and you need to be able to control your fears

To be forwarned regarding this condition should help you to understand and anticipate these problems. Most body conditions you feel are not a serious problem it is your mind that you need to settle your fears down

B.

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Hello Helen well done

B.

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Thank you for your very in depth reply. It's really kind of you.I had only tried 2 anti depressants. No others have ever been suggested. I'm keen not to go back on them because like you say it's in my mind not a physical illness and I no it cannot kill me. It's just that the physical symptoms are hard to hard to bear and that feeling of 'dread', some how it's all the negative thoughts that stick with me not the positive ones ☹️️

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Thank you this is really helpful. You say all the things my CBT therapist says. I just need to remind my self of what I need to do. My normal healthy diet has slipped a bit recently which probably doesn't help. Mostly I sleep well but when I'm especially anxious I toss and turn a bit. Distracting my self by doing other tasks does help.

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Thanks, I understand that it's a condition of the mind but it does present difficult physical symptoms that are hard to deal with. I have tried mindfulness but I'm easily distracted! Guess it just takes lots of practice.

15

The fact that you believe it's in your mind and not a physical illness is perhaps the wrong way to view it. It gives it a more alarming form Like an invisible enemy whom you can neither fight nor control

Not true by the way

Whether triggered by emotional trauma, physical trauma or a combination of both the fact that it is not visible as in, say, a broken leg, does not make AD/PD any less an illness

I respect your decision concerning anti depressants. I mentioned them because many people find they help calm the worst of the symptoms.

That feeling of dread, about which you speak, is the fear, about which I spoke of

It's difficult to maintain a sense of optimism when battered by physical symptoms. I don't underestimate that for one minute, Jenny.But the fear/anxiety/panic cycle can be broken.

You have to take control of your illness. Hard I know, but it does boost confidence by doing so. Feelings of helplessness merely enhance anxiety

I know what it's like. I swear I know what it's like. But if I overcame the worst then you can too.

I'm not brave. I'm not particularly strong.  My AD/PD struck me at a time when there was little or no help. I had to help myself. The times are more enlightened now.

I would have given anything had this Forum existed when I was ill with AD/PD because it was the loneliest, scariest time in my life.

So I admit to being a coward. But what choice did I have? Live out the rest of my life afraid, miserable, ill?

Or do I take hold of myself. Use every self-help method there is?

Be kind to myself. Be determined, as a mother of two small boys, that this was not going to be how I lived. And that certainly my sons, my husband and loved one's were not going to live in the shadow of it

Dig deep, Jenny. Be firm with your "mind"

You are not going to let this ruin your life

You are going to cope, little by litte, day by day.

You are not going to live in fear of something that cannot harm you....it can only harm you if you allow it to, and only then by diminishing the quality of your life.

Please believe that!

If it makes you feel any better, I was so "ill" I went from  129lb to 84ib in a matter of weeks.

That's how bad I was

That's what fear of my symptoms did to a perfectly normal, otherwise physically healthy young woman

Take control, Jenny

If I did, so can you

Hand on heart I wish you well

Helen xx