Anxiety and Stress Forum - General Anxiety Symptoms

I am 21 years old, and I experienced my first attack 3 months ago. I was so scared I went to the hospital another three times. It has clearly taken control of my life! I am finding really difficult to cope. I a ok with the tightness of te throat, the thing that scares me the most is the muscle tensions. I keep thinking that I am having a heart attack, I will ljust lie down and die, (funny enough, I also consider that I will make a scene as well). I hate being alone just in case I might have a heart attack and no one can help me out. I have the occasional glass of wine, and I start thinking I might get liver damage , and guess what ? My liver starts to hurt, or at least the muscles in that area. I have just finished university , I am looking for a job, I have rent and bills to pay, which is making things very difficult, knowing that I am not even in my own country. I think I am going on, because I tend to keep stuff to myself, and this feels like a good idea , express myself to people who know exactly how I feel. I keep on wondering , will I know when something is really wrong with me or am I going to write off as being part of my disorder? Please anyone's advice on how ro cope, what to do will be very helpful. By the way, if anyone needs an recently graduated engineer who suffers from panic attacks please tell me. Haha!!!

Be well

Replies(4)

jurplesman

replied on August 11th, 2004

Experienced User

You must be feeling pretty hopeless when you have these attacks and don't know where they come from.

Yet the answer is simpler than we realize.

Anxiety attacks are caused by excess adrenaline production by your body in response to a sudden drop in blood sugar levels in the brain. This panic hormone raises blood sugar levels in preparation of a danger, except in that case there is no external danger in our environment to trigger this adrenaline upsurge.

Some people think that panicky thoughts trigger this release, but if this is so it would be easy to stop anxiety attacks by just stopping to think these thoughts. It does not work that way.

The only way to stop panic attacks is by stopping the unstable blood sugar levels feeding the brain.

Please read;

�beating anxiety� at our web site

which recommends that you go on a hypoglycemic diet to stop unstable blood sugar levels, as well as normalizing insulin and stress hormones.

Jurriaan plesman

qt3

replied on August 12th, 2004

Experienced User

I was convinced I had just about every serious ailment under the sun for many years. I eventually learned it has little to do with the symptoms and everything to do with the way I was thinking about the symptoms. Cbt has since changed my life. It's all about using the tools to learn to think more clearly and accurately about things and once you do your 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 and many universities offer cbt groups for little or no charge.

purple333

replied on August 13th, 2004

Extremely eHealthy

Being in a foreign country maybe without family or close friends &/or without outside "fun" interests &/or hobbies to take your mind off your worries can also cause stress/anxiety attacks.

So:

1) go join a club or social group or interest group & make friends (these may also turn out to be contacts to help get you a job!!)

2) go & volunteer somewhere (schools, hospitals churches etc) this will get you a current "work" reference (reliable, honest, etc etc) & may again get you some contacts to help get a paid job!!

3) don't drink alone - get out & do something. Walk, jog whatever this will also help balance the serotonin in your brain & reduce stress/anxiety.

qt3

replied on August 20th, 2004

Experienced User

Excellent advice purple :p

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