Hi everyone. I'm new to the forums, and glad to see there are other people out there going through the same things as me. A little history:
My first anxiety attack, or rather, series of anxiety attacks, was when I found out my wife was having an affair for years, and left me. I had what seemed like constant panic attacks for about a week. I have been on paxil, taking half of a 30 mg tablet for years, so I upped the dose to 40 mg. It didn't help much. My symptoms were intense heart palpitations, panic, dizziness, sweating, this terrible kind of tingling all over my body, like you would get before a competition, and the fatigue that all of this brought. I lost 10 pounds in that one week. This was about a year and a half ago. When something else happened in my life that was super stressful (dealing with divorce negotiations), this happened again for a couple of days. I bumped up my paxil again, then went back down weeks later. Yesterday, I woke up feeling anxious, and I started having severe anxiety attacks until the afternoon, when it let up for an hour or two, then went right back to full anxiety attack level. I ended up taking the day off work today, because I feel like I can't go to work, and yesterday, I delayed doing a brake job with my friend until today, and I love doing brakes. This morning, I woke up feeling slightly anxious, as I seem to do normally now, but it didn't reach full anxiety attack level until a couple hours later (a half hour ago), and it feels like I'm going to have a repeat of yesterday, which, as you all know, is debilitating. I doubled my medication to 30mg yesterday after the first anxiety/panic attack (not sure of the difference), hoping it would end the attacks, but they didn't. How can I stop these series of attacks, and is it normal to have attacks all day? There really isn't a reason for me to have an anxiety attack right now, except for fear of anxiety attacks. It's like it's a positive feedback loop. Does anyone have similar experiences, and how do you deal with it? This is really debilitating, and I can't even get out of bed. Thanks everyone.
-Jordan
When I first started having anxiety, the attacks lasted most of the day and even into the night. I would wake up sometimes 2 or 3 times a night in a panic/anxiety attack. Mine started when I found out my husband was "talking" to other women and lying to me about what he was doing. He "said" there was nothing more to it other than "talking" and he would keep up with them on facebook. I ended up staying with him which made my anxiety even worse because then there were trust issues on top of everything else. I was in a constant state of anxiety and panic for almost 10 months. One day I woke up and told myself I am the one who decided to stay. I have to forgive and let go of it for MYSELF, not him. Anyway, I still have anxiety real bad for a couple weeks at the time. My anxiety seems to attack in chunks where I have it for a week or 2 at the time and then I will go a while without it.
However I refuse to take medications so that does not help me much. I tried it in the beginning after about a month of having anxiety and I think it was so out of control that the medications were not getting in my system fast enough and it was getting worse which from what I hear and read is normal. But I decided to just do it on my own. It gets better with time. I don't know if it will ever go away completely but it definitely gets easier. It has been almost 2 years for me.
I agree w/ smalltowngirl17, I've had anxiety for years and I've had that panic feeling last for days. I also do not take meds for it, I try to just get through it on my own by seeing a therapist and I find that very helpful. If you haven't seen one yet I highly recommend going to see one. I also suggest when you have these prolonged attacks that you try as hard as you can to make yourself stay on schedule with things. Sometimes there is a day where you just need a break and that's okay, but don't let yourself get in the habit of taking off work, canceling plans, etc. I know it's hard but I really think if you make yourself do these things it could help you. I always notice that, even when I really don't feel like going out and doing things, if I do go I am distracted and then that helps the anxiety to leave. When I sit at home I just think about it all day and it doesn't leave. So maybe try to just stay busy and distracted, and also try and see a therapist if you haven't! You can use pyschologytoday.com to find one, that's what I did. You can search by insurance, location, specialization, etc.
Hi jordan,
I think it is normal for some of us to feel like we are in a constant state of anxiety instead of just an attack. At least it seems to be my new normal right now. Mine also began from a broken relationship yet I overlooked the signs and just kept pushing through. Eventually though with each heartbreaking thing that would happen it would just build until finally my brain/ body gave into the anxiety. As soon as I started to feel some kind of relief then boom another th I'll ng would happen which I just didn't have the strength to deal with. I finally buckled and decided to give the antidepressants another shot because currently I am not able to be productive. I had tried an antidepressant years ago that made things worse for me and so I had alot of apprehension in trying a new one. My dr though told me I needed to trust the process and take a leap of faith. I too think that worries about having anxiety or if it could be something else cause us to have anxiety. The loop as you had said. I would get asked by the dr if I was thinking of anything over and over in my head but I couldn't pin point just one thing since i just feel like crap jn general and couldn't think about anything else other then how bad i'm was feeling. I do get some relief from knowing that it is anxiety and that yes big things happened in my life that contributed to the flareup ( as I call it) so once I am able to truly process it all it will subside and get better day by day.
My brothers also have anxiety and have been a very good support in showing me that it will get better it's just about finding the right technique for us
Thanks smalltowngirl. I have dealt with a wife that was having an affair, and that was actually my first week of panic attacks. For a couple days, it seemed like the upped dose of paxil was helping, but today, it seems like I am having a relapse. I applaud you for trying to deal with it without medication. I'm not sure if it helps or hurts in the long run, but I feel like I'm dependent on them now, and trying to go off would make me much, much worse.
Thanks smalltowngirl. I have dealt with a wife that was having an affair, and that was actually my first week of panic attacks. For a couple days, it seemed like the upped dose of paxil was helping, but today, it seems like I am having a relapse. I applaud you for trying to deal with it without medication. I'm not sure if it helps or hurts in the long run, but I feel like I'm dependent on them now, and trying to go off would make me much, much worse.
Thanks Philly89. I've been talking to my mom a lot, who also is a psychologist, so she has been helping me to cope. I think you're right about not just sitting in and doing nothing. I'll force myself to just keep on schedule. I went to work 3 days last week and felt almost normal, but the weekend seems harder when I have too much free time, and I have the option to just stay in and curl up with my cats. To me, therapy doesn't seem to work as well as just being distracted with my friends or by work. Thanks again for sharing. It helps me tremendously to know I'm not alone.
Thanks Melissa. Can you tell me a little about what meds you take, and how well they work? I am thinking maybe paxil is no longer effective for me.
Hi everyone. I figured I'd give everyone an update so others in the future can know about my experience. After I increased my paxil, for three days I felt terrible, and couldn't go to work. The next three days, I went to work, and I felt anxious, but I was able to eat a little, and only had a couple of panic attacks. On Friday night, I went out to the bar with my friends and had quite a few drinks. The next morning, in addition to a hangover, I had anxiety attacks for a few hours. I took a Valium, and when I woke back up, I felt a little better, and I worked on my friend's car with him all day. Things weren't bad during the day. This morning, I started having panic attacks as soon as I woke up, but they seem to be slightly less severe. I will give the paxil another week, I think, then I'm calling my Dr to see if there's another medication I can take that might work better. I should also add that I do have a family history of anxiety and depression. For now, I'll just keep on keepin' on.
Hi jordan,
I am currently only on day 12 of citalopram. I am still having side effects but I have some good days and some not so good days. My side effects right now are just increased anxiety, feeling tired ( which I think can be a blessing to some extent since I was anxious all the time.) I am not really hungry and sometimes have dizziness. The dr also prescribed me alprazolam for the panic attacks which I have been reluctant to take because of all talk of its addicting properties. So I cut the pill into 1/4ths and only took that to make the anxiety bearable. I was then told by my dr that I needed to take enough of the medicine till the anxiety attack was gone. I am fortunate that my dr has a family history of mental illness and has anxiety himself so it's easier that he can relate to me. But I still read the comments about how it is bad and so it makes it hard for me to feel like it is the right thing for me.
I do however think that my mood is a little better. I have a 2 week follow up next week and I know I will be increased but I am happy I started with a small dose. I hope that this was helpful. Sometimes I find I just ramble lol. It really does make it easier to have people going through the same things to talk with.
Divorce is very stressful and the legal negotiations (ANY legal negotiations) add to it. I went through a divorce about 20 years ago-I remember the 'get together' with the attorneys and my wife to hash things out. After that ended I had to get in my car and drive 5 hours up into Canada on a business trip-I can't remember anything about that drive, I was steaming all the way. That's how agitated I was, so I can feel your pain.
I've been on Paxil for over 25 years, since they diagnosed me with chronic depression. It's been reasonably effective for Depression, but I've found that for anxiety SSRI's really don't help me that much. When I'm going through an Anxiety period I usually go in and see the Doctor to get Xanax or some other tranquilizer to help shut-off the racing thoughts, panic attacks and help me get to sleep at night.
My mom died a year ago and I'm going through a probate battle right now with an estranged sister who thinks she should get more from the estate. So, the same things-attorneys, Court, legal affairs. I absolutely hate working with costly attorneys, so I'm going through Anxiety Attacks at the current time. Doc prescribed some Xanax (.25 mg/day, minimal dose to help me sleep at night) to help me through. Xanax is good for anxiety, but the withdrawal effects after you've gotten used to taking it for a long time can really be nasty. So if you can get it prescribed, take only small dose-just enough to get you through your issues-and get off it as soon as you can. But it IS effective for controlling anxiety. Good luck!
Hm okay, I guess you don't need to see one then if you have your mom. As long as you tell your mom all of your thoughts. I personally get embarrassed about a lot of them and wouldn't want to tell my friends or family the same things I may tell my therapist.