Question:
I know it would do me a lot of good to get out a little bit more. It's just a
matter of getting up the courage. Has anyone else been in a similar situation
and how did they break out of the rut? Does one have to be on tranquilizers
for the rest of their life or can they wean themselves off the tranquilizers
and use natural methods that are equally effective? When ssri medication
finally starts doing its job, does that get rid of the anxiety attacks?
I think I'm obsessing way too much over my anxiety attacks, and I have a
constant fear that they are going to happen again. Sounds like a self
fulfilling prophecy, huh? I obsess way too much over my pulse rate and always
manage to bring it up even if it's a good pulse. Sounds like self-sabotage,
huh? Once I get the dominoes of worries falling, it's hard for me to snap out
of it. If I get calmed down, then I just get worked up again. It usually
takes some meds and some writing to get my mind off the anxiety.
What things aggravate the anxiety that I should avoid? What things prevent the
anxiety attacks from happening?
Answer:
Anxiety/Panic is like a mutating organism. It feeds upon itself. Unless you can
stop the fight or flight response, it continues. Since you expressed a desire to
not use tranquilizers, I would urge you to try some of the herbal/homeopathic
things I listed in my last post to you. They may not help everyone, but they helped
a sceptic like me.
I found taking my pulse helped me realize it was not so high. When I felt out of
control, and knowing what it was helped calm me down. It takes a lot of cognitive
restructuring to reassure rather than perpetuate the negative. But it can work. I
think after you have gotten to a higher luvox dose you will be able to begin doing
this.
I fight the urge to isolate and feel safe almost daily. I often have to force
myself out of the house, and if I don't have to go to work I go somewhere else.
Surviving "out there", even for a short trip, helps establish positive memories
from which to pull if you panic when you are out.
I also spent a lot of time learning to reassure myself that I would die from the
panic attacks. I would repeat over and over that "this sucks, it is uncomfortable,
but I will get through it". As much as I didn't believe it in the beginning, I have
now gotten to the point where I can stop the attacks within a minute on my own. I
pay a lot of attention to my breathing, which also helps. It's almost like I have
begun to refuse to accept yet another attack. And now that I know my natural
medications will work, I know I have another out.
The SSRIs can be effective for panic attacks and so can cognitive
behavioral therapy. About 80% or more of people who go thru a CBT
program for panic end up panic free.
To (panicky guy) I have basically had the ecact situation and I kept
thinking something was wrong with me and had attacks so severe that it seemed
like a heart attack and I wouldn't sleep because of the worry,no matter where
I would go I would have a panick attack and end up kneeling down seeming like
I would die because of not getting air and after the attack was over I would
be really really shaky from my nerves being shot,I now hardly ever have an
attack but when I do I just sit down and watch t.v. and know it's a temporary
thing and I have been to the doctors and wasted enough money on various
tests,so it is just another panick attack.It is not psychological it is
adrenalin rushes that cause you to over worry and make for severe
attacks,this is a totally normal reaction.By the way do you have a medical
book about symptoms of diseases? If, so throw that book out or give it to
someone to hide from you so you can't look through it,that is the biggest
mistake,those medical books cause a worse attack,you have to remember that if
you go by the symptoms you would have about every disease in the book!Start
getting into a hobby or something, I'm sure because of anxiety you have
depression as well,if you keep thinking about the fact that you will die and
think about impending doom and all the other stuff that I mentioned then you
have an anxiety disorder.
