Wellness

[Shelbelle]

I have had these every so often for last 20 years. I take a small dose of Xanax when needed and within 45 minutes, the feelings of doom seem to be lifted away.

[Debra g]

My panic attacks stopped when my thyroid medication was tweaked. Both panic/anxiety attacks and depression are signs of thyroid hormone level being off. Just my personal experience.

[aydinsgma]

God Bless You and all who suffer with this. I also have anxiety/ panic attacks for over 20 years.I take Paxil everyday along with Xanax 0.25 when needed. My family and especially husband did not understand.My mom simply told me "it's all in your head.I had a panic attack once and told myself never again." Well, that's Definitely not me.The meds help but I still have a hard time in a room full of people. I like to sit on an aisle seat. I have been through the therapy route years ago,don't think it helped to much. But I am going on with my life. I just will Always have this problem, so I feel for all you others who suffer with this.Your Definitely not alone.

[expatgal]

Panic/anxiety attacks are completely different from depression or stress. The years I suffered through were stress-free and I was anything but depressed. My mother and sister both suffered with the attacks, so this leads me to believe there is a strong genetic link. My attacks were always triggered by specific situations/locations. A certain red light near my place of work that if I had to stop, brought one on. Rolling a shopping cart down the aisles of my grocery store brought one on. Sitting in the middle of an aisle at a movie/theater or dining table brought one on. It was a "fight or flight" response in a way. It's odd, but the few times during those years when I truly WAS stressed, they never happened. I had so many tests run and had so many false "maybe diagnoses" that I was desperate just to keep my position at work and function. I felt I had to go on a low-dose of Xanax. I did and it took 2-3 weeks, but finally I could see a difference. I stayed on the drug for 6 months, and then knew I had to go off of it or remain on it forever. After doing research on my own, I began seeing a self-hypnotist that specialized in biofeedback. I listened to his tapes every night and had sessions for 3 months. It changed my life completely and the attacks got fewer and fewer until they finally disappeared. I was able to go off Xanax and even today (20 years and a LOAD of stress later), I am able to control my breathing in such a way to avoid an attack if I feel on coming on. I really have come to believe it is a way to calm yourself/your body/your breathing that somehow for some people get all skewed. During my attacks, my breathing was so rapid, my heart raced, and for some reason I couldn't focus my eyes and felt like I was going to either die or pass out. The book mentioned above is a great place to begin, but I urge you to look into biofeedback and self-hypnosis (ie deep relaxation and focused breathing). The ability to immediately go into a relaxed mode, get normal breathing back, the ability to focus is well worth the effort.

[petepetey]

On 6/2/2014 Goldie76 said:

Not trying to bait a fight here, but from personal experience, I found that by googling my symptoms that were undiagnosed and untreated by my very attentive internist, I was able to discover -- and present to my doctor -- the correct diagnosis for what was going on with me. My doctor is also involved in research, and perhaps because of this, he is willing to listen to all sorts of input. This is not to say he doesn't caution against over-using the Internet and frightening myself needlessly. He does. However, he and one of the foremost gynecological surgeons in my area did pay attention to something I unearthed on the Internet that proved to be descriptive of my problem. Both welcomed my information, which they regarded as pertinent, and acted accordingly. These are two very astute doctors, I would like to add. Highly regarded and acknowledged as exceptional in a Metro DC publication. (And, as I already indicated, they shot down some previous thoughts from me, so it isn't as though they submit to my every notion.)

My point: Googling just might lead to an answer that was overlooked up to this time. One never knows.

I have to agree with you on doing your own research and trusting your intuition that the medical people can't always find the right diagnosis/treatment. They get 10-20 minutes with you and treat you based on what you tell them at the time.

I had this problem with what they thought was asthma. I went to 5 different doctors from my brilliant internal medicine doc to ENT and finally allergy docs. 1 said it was all anxiety and one said my nasal passages were bad, here take some drugs and finally a speech therapist referred by the allergy doc found the problem in my vocal cords.

So my point is don't rely on what 1 professional says if their help doesn't work. Research all you can and ask others what works for them. You just might find help.

Look up holy basil. That might help the anxiety.

[violann]

Petepetey and expatgal, both EXCELLENT POSTS! As a small addition, we women need to learn to advocate firmly and effectively without resorting to tears, overt anger, and/or threats. Just wateronstonewateronstonewateronstone........... until we can achieve what we NEED!

[golding76]

petepetey, I never heard of holy basil before. What form do you suggest? By the way, thank you for supporting my point of view that it is wise to research and advocate for yourself. Anyone remember Lorenzo's oil? The parents of Lorenzo kept their child alive for decades because of their drive and love.

[Fressa]

I have suffered with anxiety for years. I get the symptoms that you have in addition to nausea and diarrhea. Thank heavens I found a dr. that prescribed something that works for the mild/medium days I still haven't found anything for the "bad" days. Sure, there are other medications on the market but I did not want to have to be in bed or not be able to drive the car. You might consider discussing with your doctor trying another brand or a bit higher dosage or an additional dosage during your day.

I read an interesting article about anxiety that discussed the stigma and lack of understanding about it being a genuine illness. The article discussed the impression that some people have is that it is just "nerves" and a person just needs to get a hold of themselves and move on with whatever it is they need to do. Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Their conclusion was that the anxiety is a reaction from years of doing that very same thing---dealing with it---getting thru difficult situations---having too much pressure about day to day life. The body just begins to react to all of it. That made perfect sense to me. I finally had the "why" to my frustration. Knowing how I got this way has eased my frustration with having anxiety. It is unfortunate that it has not brought any further understanding from friends or family however I know that is out of my control. I do the best I can on any given day and try to remember how I got like this. It did not happen overnight and will not improve overnight. The most difficult thing for me to adjust to was that it was going to be an on going process like any other illness. After a few years of being on medication, I can say that I feel improved. I am better than I was but not where I hope/want to be. How much time it will take and how good you can feel in future is still unanswered questions.

Good Luck.

[petepetey]

On 6/3/2014 Goldie76 said:

petepetey, I never heard of holy basil before. What form do you suggest? By the way, thank you for supporting my point of view that it is wise to research and advocate for yourself. Anyone remember Lorenzo's oil? The parents of Lorenzo kept their child alive for decades because of their drive and love.

I've only been reading about it and just tried it myself today, so the jury is out for me. However, many are reporting a calm feeling. It's an old form of treatment from India. You can have it in tea or just take a pill. It's not expensive and there don't seem to be side effects unlike the big pharma drugs. You can read about it on WebMD and various other sites. Amazon has reviews from users.

[golding76]

On 6/3/2014 petepetey said:

On 6/3/2014 Goldie76 said:

<em>petepetey</em>, I never heard of holy basil before. What form do you suggest? By the way, thank you for supporting my point of view that it is wise to research and advocate for yourself. Anyone remember Lorenzo's oil? The parents of Lorenzo kept their child alive for decades because of their drive and love.

I've only been reading about it and just tried it myself today, so the jury is out for me. However, many are reporting a calm feeling. It's an old form of treatment from India. You can have it in tea or just take a pill. It's not expensive and there don't seem to be side effects unlike the big pharma drugs. You can read about it on WebMD and various other sites. Amazon has reviews from users.

Thank you, petepetey. This whole anxiety thing is fascinating. Yesterday I read one of the posts above that cited some studies of women around menopause suddenly having issues with height. Wow, did I recognize myself in that! I will never forget when I had my first "fling" with this thing. We were at the kiddie ride section on the boardwalk at Rehoboth Beach, Del., and I was with one of my sons who was about 5 at the time. We were on a ride that was for children, mind you. I think it was called The Parachute, or something like that. Anyway, it couldn't have been any more than 15 ft. off the ground at its highest rising point. All of a sudden, I thought I could not endure it (the ride) one second more. Panic like I'd never known in my life rose in me, and I honestly thought I would have a heart attack before the ride ended. I began to theorize that I had becme like this because I now was concerned about my children's welfare and not just my own. But now that I've learned that it has something to do with the perimenopausal thing -- well. And bridges.... I have to steel myself to cross any bridge. The strange thing is that my sister-in-law, who, to deal in types, is the blonde, blue-eyed Homecoming Queen that she actually was, suddenly developed a fear of crossing the Bay Bridge in Maryland. When she started experiencing this sort of fear, I knew I wasn't alone -- and not in bad company, either. Actually, there must be quite a few of us because there is a service on the Bay Bridge to drive you across if you do not have the stomach to do it yourself.