New to This, Advice Needed. Posted: 04-23-04 04:58am
Hi, i'm new here and new to anxiety
attacks too.
I've been having anxiety/panic attacks
over the past 3 months. I had a bought
of anxiety related symptoms for about a
week or so back in february then it went
away. I didn't think too much of it,
thought it was some wierd bug to tell you
the truth. Then one day in march I had a
full blown panic attack (2 actually), then
for about 2 weeks I had a few panic
attacks and anxiety attacks quite
frequently. I was seeing a therapist and
it really seemed that I got a handle on
it. There were several things that were
going on at that time which kind of made
it make sence that I was experiencing so
much anxiety. But as I said, I got a
handle on it and things calmed down. I
thought it was probably a one time thing
brought on by so much stress.
Then last week, out of the blue, bang!
They started again. It has been a week
and a half of this again now.
Over the last day or so I can sort of feel
it easing off again, so hopefully it is
subsiding again. But for how long?
It is truely the most terrible feeling.
I just feel like I am losing complete
control of my mind. I'm scared of being
like this forever.
I have an appointment with my theropist
tomorrow morning. So I guess I will be
talking to her about this some more, but I
really wanted to find some support where I
can talk about this and maybe even find
some answers.
One thing my family doctor talked to me
about was medication. She gave me a
months supply of celexa to try. I
haven't decided if I want to do that or
not. I was wondering if any of you have
any experience with this drug that could
help me decide if I should start it or
not.
Anything you could tell me in regards to
how to manage this would really be
appreciated.
Thanks.
|
qt3
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 14 Nov 2003 Posts: 264
Re: New to This, Advice Needed. Posted: 04-23-04 06:32am
lonelygirl
wrote:
hi, i'm new here and new to
anxiety attacks too.
I've been having anxiety/panic attacks
over the past 3 months. I had a bought
of anxiety related symptoms for about a
week or so back in february then it went
away. I didn't think too much of it,
thought it was some wierd bug to tell you
the truth. Then one day in march I had
a full blown panic attack (2 actually),
then for about 2 weeks I had a few panic
attacks and anxiety attacks quite
frequently. I was seeing a therapist
and it really seemed that I got a handle
on it. There were several things that
were going on at that time which kind of
made it make sence that I was experiencing
so much anxiety. But as I said, I got a
handle on it and things calmed down. I
thought it was probably a one time thing
brought on by so much stress.
Then last week, out of the blue, bang!
They started again. It has been a week
and a half of this again now.
Over the last day or so I can sort of feel
it easing off again, so hopefully it is
subsiding again. But for how long?
It is truely the most terrible feeling.
I just feel like I am losing complete
control of my mind. I'm scared of being
like this forever.
I have an appointment with my theropist
tomorrow morning. So I guess I will be
talking to her about this some more, but I
really wanted to find some support where I
can talk about this and maybe even find
some answers.
One thing my family doctor talked to me
about was medication. She gave me a
months supply of celexa to try. I
haven't decided if I want to do that or
not. I was wondering if any of you have
any experience with this drug that could
help me decide if I should start it or
not.
Anything you could tell me in regards to
how to manage this would really be
appreciated.
Thanks.
hi lonely girl and welcome to the
boards.
Panic attacks are the worst and can take
over your life. The answer for me was
cognitive behavioral therapy (cbt). I was
on meds for many years before I found cbt
and it cured me and got me off meds in a
remarkably short period of time. Best of
all once you learn the tools in cbt you
have them forever so you are able to give
yourself relief almost instantly whenever
you are feeling stressed, anxious or down.
It's all about using the tools to learn
to think more clearly and accurately about
things and once you do your anxiety, panic
and depression will miraculously begin to
lift before your eyes. My favorite
starter book on cbt is "been there, done
that? Do this! By sam obitz
(www.Tao3.Com) like anything in life the
more you put in the more you get out of
cbt.
Also many universities offer cbt programs
for little or no charge :d
good luck!
Q
|
purple333
Extremely EHEALTHy
Joined: 01 Dec 2003 Posts: 1420 Location: Sydney
Posted: 04-25-04 14:16pm
Another alternative to pharmaceuticals is
natural meds eg valerian, vitamin b6,
dhea, sam-e, 5htp, but these as with other
natural therapies need about 6 months to
work properly, so patience is needed.
Also try taking a walk at around sunrise
(30-60 mins) this has a positive impact on
brain chemistry. Also use smilies
everywhere - again smiling has a positive
impact on brain chemistry.
You may think hold on what have these to
do with panic attacks - many of us who
suffer panic attacks are depressed
&/or stressed &/or have other
emotional issues which would benefit from
these natural things & this in turn
helps the panic attacks.
