InAFog Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 Five a.m. and woke up into a panic attack and can't fall back asleep. Is anyone else dealing with alot of anxiety? Practically every day for the last three months i have woken up into panic attacks and have anxiety all day long. Not just about losing my ex, but losing everything! My house, my pets. Having to look for a new job in a new town and going through a move. Feeling like i've lost five years of my life, and that it will take years to rebuild. I'm no spring chicken. Its so totally exhausting.
stemac Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 @InAFog that's me too i wake feeling a cant breath and panic had to go to the doctors yesterday i have Anxiety all day all this started when my girlfriend left me 2 weeks ago :-(
Author InAFog Posted August 22, 2012 Author Posted August 22, 2012 @InAFog that's me too i wake feeling a cant breath and panic had to go to the doctors yesterday i have Anxiety all day all this started when my girlfriend left me 2 weeks ago :-( I really feel for you stemac. It's horrible. Wish i could afford to get to a doctor. It's getting kindof scary for me. Sometimes i feel like i won't make it through and i'm going to lose consciousness or have a heartattack or something! I get worried about being alone and having that happen...
stemac Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 Inafog all your emotions have been completely broken up just like me and this is how the body is reacting, y9our not going to die or have a heart attack i know its very scary but the worst thing you can do its panic, sit up take some Deep Breaths and try calm down till passes the joys of love :-) is it worth it!
Author InAFog Posted August 22, 2012 Author Posted August 22, 2012 the joys of love :-) is it worth it! Hmmm. I've asked myself that alot lately. Right now, no, it doesn't feel worth it. But i know that down the line i will still be able to look back and be happy for the time and experiences that we shared. Just can't believe they're over.
TooHonest123 Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 (edited) I won't get into my story cause i am so tired of rewriting it lol. The first few weeks were hell...I couldn't sleep...morrnings where horrible...i felt a pain in the center of my chest...i felt shortness of breath...i felt my heart beating fast...i had vomit and dhiarrea...i felt as if i had insects crawling on my hands and feet... All i could do was wait...it still hurts now 3 months later..but the pain back then was unbearable ... Reach out to friends and family, do exercise ...stay busy...do things you always wanted to do...take this chance you were given to inprove yourself ...become the person you always wanted to be. Eventually the pain will slowly fade away...i know it is a long process. and most inportantly stay away from things that bring you memories. And abstain from searching information that can cause you more anxiety and stress. Sometimes when things fall apart it is because they are fixing themselves. Stay Strong! We know you got this! Edited August 22, 2012 by TooHonest123
Feelin Frisky Posted August 22, 2012 Posted August 22, 2012 Have you taken any "supplements" at all? Some can cause biological anxiety. I have had experiences where I thought I was doing something positive for myself but wound up depressing my own ability to produce important neurotransmitters which are necessary to sleep and take life's circumstances without panic. One time I read about taking L-carnitine with super alpha lipoic acid. It supposedly improved cellular transmission of oxygen and nutrients. That stuff caused panic attacks that lasted for a month and every time I tried to sleep, I would get a flood of "fight or flight" adrenaline wake me back up. Another supplement is called GABA (which stands for gaba-amino butyric acid). The brain essentially floats in a bath of natural GABA and taking a supplement is said to help calm people. Well, in my case it shut down my own ability to produce GABA and that gave me panic and general anxiety for months. When you see a doctor ask about you GABA production. It may be that you could benefit from something called "neurontin" which is not addicting whereas something like Xanax is. Good luck. 2
Author InAFog Posted August 22, 2012 Author Posted August 22, 2012 Have you taken any "supplements" at all? Some can cause biological anxiety. I have had experiences where I thought I was doing something positive for myself but wound up depressing my own ability to produce important neurotransmitters which are necessary to sleep and take life's circumstances without panic. One time I read about taking L-carnitine with super alpha lipoic acid. It supposedly improved cellular transmission of oxygen and nutrients. That stuff caused panic attacks that lasted for a month and every time I tried to sleep, I would get a flood of "fight or flight" adrenaline wake me back up. Another supplement is called GABA (which stands for gaba-amino butyric acid). The brain essentially floats in a bath of natural GABA and taking a supplement is said to help calm people. Well, in my case it shut down my own ability to produce GABA and that gave me panic and general anxiety for months. When you see a doctor ask about you GABA production. It may be that you could benefit from something called "neurontin" which is not addicting whereas something like Xanax is. Good luck. Thanks Feelin Frisky, nope no supplements. Definitely will look into something to help curb the anxiety though...
TheUnthoughtKnown Posted August 23, 2012 Posted August 23, 2012 Five a.m. and woke up into a panic attack and can't fall back asleep. Is anyone else dealing with alot of anxiety? Practically every day for the last three months i have woken up into panic attacks and have anxiety all day long. Not just about losing my ex, but losing everything! My house, my pets. Having to look for a new job in a new town and going through a move. Feeling like i've lost five years of my life, and that it will take years to rebuild. I'm no spring chicken. Its so totally exhausting. Thanks for posting this InAFog. I've been dealing with something similar but I'm not sure what it is. My doctor says it sounds like panic attacks but I've never had them so I'm not sure. I'd never thought to post on here about it. Let me explain the process and you can tell me if you think it is panic attacks. I'm usually already awake when it happens but occasionally I'm asleep. It almost always happens at night though. First it's my heart rate. Goes so damn fast I begin worrying I'm about to have a heart attack. During one of these episodes I even got up and wrote an impromptu Will because I was convinced something very bad was about to happen. The next thing that happens is shortness of breath. I'm taking big gulps of air because I seem to have forgotten how to breathe properly. The final thing that happens is, I get very tired when I start to relax and my heart rate returns to normal, so I drift off, only to jolt awake just when I begin to feel myself falling asleep. As I said before, I've never had these things until fairly recently. My doctor says panic attacks caused by stress, so I took some time off work and took it easy for a week but nothing's really changed.
Bigbot Posted August 23, 2012 Posted August 23, 2012 One way I have learned to cope when having an anxiety / panic attack is to try and remain calm, easier said then done, trust me I know. Take a seat (chair / couch) and roll your ankles clockwise, then try and roll your wrists counter clockwise, if you cannot do it the first time, thats ok, just roll them clockwise with your ankles at the same time. Next step, while rolling your ankles and wrists is to count back words from 100, but do so in multiple of 3's. Be sure to breathe in deeply through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth while doing the exercise. If you finish the countdown but still find you are having some anxiety, repeat, try an concentrate on rolling the wrists and ankles in the opposite direction while doing the countdown. The exercise above works, what it does is makes your brain work at the task at hand and stops your brain from racing and creating your anxiety. Hopefully it will work for you as it did for me.
carhill Posted August 23, 2012 Posted August 23, 2012 Yeah, I had such issues while caregiving. The two aspects of change which seemed to mitigate them were, one, getting a full night's sleep and, two, getting psychological counseling. If the condition is chronic (mine was situational), medication and talk therapy might be efficacious. This presumes all paths of self-help have been exhausted. One tool our psychologist helped me with was taking one task each day and completing it and, when feeling overwhelmed with racing thoughts, to consciously focus back on that task as being the day's success and talking myself down off the ledge that everything needed to get done. Each situation is different and there are tools available to try. Oh, also, I did note the brain chemicals released during sex and orgasm (I was married at the time) seemed to have a calming effect, even if transitory. YMMV on that. Good luck.
scatterd Posted August 23, 2012 Posted August 23, 2012 I had from panic attacks off and on throughout my life. I went to a doctor, and he put me on an anti depressant. I needed something to calm me down long enough for my body to repair its self. There is natural products on the Market, but I have never tried any of them. Try getting on a good rest program and Exercise can help but do it when you are not panicking. Furthermore, do some research on the net. If you can do see a doctor because it could be a chemical imbalance.
Leegh Posted August 23, 2012 Posted August 23, 2012 Do you drink any caffeinated drinks? You may want to consider gradually tapering off, if you drink coffee, etc., as caffeine is a nervous system stimulant. On another note, I have tried non-addictive sleeping pills, and I've found that they leave me mildly depressed when waking up. Magnesium can help calm nerves, and magnesium glycinate is a good one.
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