Panic. Need help!

[bananas13]

After 3 1/2 years of being OK, my panic has come back in a bad way...
It started yesterday when I was worrying about my lack of sex drive which snowballed into "am I ready to get married?"(I'm engaged to be married next summer), which threw me into a panic attack.

Now all the memories from 3 years ago have come full circle. Now I'm panicking about losing control and not being able to handle all these new life changes. I live with my fiancé now and he's very supportive, but nobody understands. I'm literally panicking about ending up where I was last time (checked myself into 2 psych wards) and not able to get a grip this time.

I stopped taking my Zoloft in January because I thought I was fine, but I'm not... I took one this morning along with 1mg of Klonopin. The Klonopin helps a little, but I'm afraid I'll get so upset that I'll take too many and overdose!

I'm panicking because I worry that panick/anxiety will take over my life and it will be all I can ever think of. I know that's ridiculous. The last time this happened, Ekhart Tolle books helped me.... But I think I need some help help geared toward anxiety and panic specifically.

I dont want to spiral out of control... It's my worst fear. Someone help me!

[bananas13]

No one? :weep:

[Anxious_gal]

It's 7 am here in the uk :) so you will get more replies when everyone wakes up :)
Have you tried CBT therapy ?
You're worring about things that may or may not happen but in a weird way your anxiety over it is causing your anxiety .
You will get through it and will be fine x
Anxiety comes and goes n it's something we will always need to work on since it's so easy to fall back into old habbits.
If the meds help then great ! But therapy can really give you the skills to cope with anxiety.

Maybe it's just anticipation anxiety?
Getting married is very stressful so it's natural it triggers off your anxiety .

If you do get bad anxiety again you will get through it again and your husband sounds pretty supportive . There's no shame in having anxiety .
Remember all the battles you fought and how far you've come :)

[Connor_cbt]

Hi kaylee,
Sorry to hear you are having a horrible time, it sounds like you have things building up inside and no outlet to talk these worries through properly. When you talk about lack of sex drive, worries about marriage/big life adjustments and your previous troubles with anxiety you sound perfectly normal to me! I'm sure the vast majority of people have the exact same worries around any of those situations, but when stacked on top of one another and not worked through they can seem amplified and if you're that stressed no wonder your libido has taken a hit.

It sounds to me like you need to take each thing you are worried about and write each one on a seperate sheet of paper and then underneath write down the things that worry you about that specific thing and be completely honest as no-one will read it but you once you have done that order them into least worry to most worry and that is the order you will tackle them. Next you need to talk to someone, a counsellor is ideal, but if you have anxiety/depression helplines in the US they can also help by being an impartial ear to listen to your problems and help bring some kind of resolution to them. You might find by the way, that simply writing them down will take a lot of the sense of panic away immediately, the feeling of taking control and doing something about it can feel great!

*I hope this helps*

Kindest regards,

[waunder]

Well the thought of my panic coming back scares the stuffing out of me but in fact it does and each time I learn more about what is happening with me and how to fix it. I depend more on myself to work through it now not others, although support is wonderful to have. Panic attacks will not kill you so if you can teach yourself to breath through it and let it flow in and out your body it loses its power to frighten you. This is what I am doing now as well. Good luck

[holiday]

I got married last year and had the exact same thing. Even when I was married it took me 3 or 4 days to feel anywhere close to being comfortable wearing the ring.
I just wanted to take it off and leave it somewhere. I felt trapped and it's difficult to explain, especially as I love my wife so much.
Needless to say, that has passed and it took only a matter of days for me to feel that I had made the best decision of my life.
I'm sure that if your fiance really wants to marry you, then it's because he loves you very much and he will understand your anxieties (he probably has his own).
It would probably be a good idea if you sat down and discussed them with him. Getting things out in the open could be just what you need.
That way, when you realise exactly what it is that you feel anxious about, hopefully the anxiety will fade.
Best of luck