Just had another big one, feeling horrible now and scared

[Neurotic Nick]

Well i just had a major panic attack. I was having a better day after spending most of the week in bed but today i could manage some housework and just relaxing on the couch again. Was watching graham norton but it got boring so decided to get ready for bed. But when i was turning the lights off and putting some stuff away i suddenly felt extremely lightheaded and unbalanced. Been dizzy for months but occaisonaly it gets so bad i can hardly walk or think straight. Went to bed hoping it would pass, my phone rang and i thought "cant answer - too anxious" then the panic set in. Now last week i had a very severe one that caused me to phone an ambulance so i started getting worried of a repeat. Debated taking my oxazepam for a while but quickly decided to take it as the sense of dread started to set in. Then it got real bad, started trembling all over and my head became very foggy. So i called my mother, she said i could call her if it got bad again and together we rode out the worst of it till the oxazepam kicked in. She even sang a lullaby from my childhood wich was really sweet.

Now often after an attack and especially after taking oxazepam i usually feel at ease but right now im still very shaky, feeling very unreal and the tv feels "threatening". I considered taking another oxazepam but have been taking so many this past week that i dont think its a good idea. If they stop working im really in trouble.

Just feel so lost as the attacks are getting worse and the aftermaths more disabling. I try to do everything right, even been meditating the past two days but it feels out of control... Ah well at least most of the day was better, maybe tomorrow wont be so bad. I just hope that tonight the worst is over and i can get some non panic sleep.

[panickyme]

Awww Sorry you are not feeling well. It will pass. I know it scary, I hate those darn panic attacks but that is exactly what it is, just panic. :hugs:

[Neurotic Nick]

Thanks panikyme! :hugs:

Im a bit better right now, still anxious and little waves of panic but feel like i can cope atm. Of course i am cheating right now due to the medication ;) But maybe next time i might be able to cope without. And best of all i can now enjoy the simpsons again, i really hate it when im so anxious that the tv seems weird.

[panickyme]

I understand when we panic everything seems weird. You didn't cheat, whatever helps you get through it, it no fun. I'm glad you are feeling better, and can watch your Simpsons (is that a cartoon, or show?) If it's the cartoon, we have that on at night in the US also. My husband loves it. :)

[Neurotic Nick]

Yeah its the cartoon, i have nearly every episode on disk and it always cheers me up :) Well almost always anyways ;)

Thanks again! Im so glad i found this forum, having someone understanding you really helps!

[ankietyjoe]

Ride it out brutha, it always passes no matter how bad it gets :)

I know it's hard, but try to see it as an opportunity to train yourself for next time.

My crutch during the bad ones was laying on the sofa and playing Angry Birds on my phone or something, whilst deep breathing and saying mantras to myself. It always passes.

Hope you are feeling better now though :bighug: <--- bro hug

[Neurotic Nick]

Thanks Joe! Yeah last night i managed to pull off the acceptance thing, really think thats the key though its definitely a hard skill to train.

Am feeling better now even though i woke up today with same dizzy- and unsteadyness that set me off last night but it seems to have passed now. Now for a nice day of cartoons, comics and trying not to think too much ;)

Big bro hug back! (You know the kind that ends in a manly backslap :) )

[ankietyjoe]

Cartoons and comics sounds perfect.

I am 42.


It sounds perfect :D












Asterix anyone?

[laura1200]

Hi Nick,

I feel the same as you most nights: very dizzy, light headed and I think "oh no, here we go again!" It's incredibly scary at times, especially when I'm alone. I don't like the way it seems to control me.

I find distracting myself stops myself having a full blown panic attack. I watch films on the TV, listen to calming music or read. I find listening to calming music/natural sounds for example rain, a lake, animals etc on youtube is the most effective on making me feel calm. :D

[Neurotic Nick]

Joe im 35 and will always love cartoons and comics. Looove asterix! A while back i had to wait an hour in the dentists waiting room - normally a perfect recipe for anxiety but they had an asterix that took me exactly an hour to read and so i got through with ease :)

Laura yeah the dizzyness is awful. It can really seem like a prison, ive just taken a shower because i really had to and the fear of falling over or fainting made it a real ordeal! I hope that soon well both get some relief from it. :hugs:

I just tried one nature sound clip but it just made me want to go to the bathroom ;) Ill look around for some more, some birdsounds might be nice...

[pepsi]

Hi Nick only ever had 2 x panic attacks hope youre ok x remember its all in the mind :hugs: L x

[ankietyjoe]

Joe im 35 and will always love cartoons and comics. Looove asterix! A while back i had to wait an hour in the dentists waiting room - normally a perfect recipe for anxiety but they had an asterix that took me exactly an hour to read and so i got through with ease :)


I just tried one nature sound clip but it just made me want to go to the bathroom ;) Ill look around for some more, some birdsounds might be nice...

Well let's see some of that illustration then! :)

Incidentally I put some of my relaxing music up in the misc section for people to download if it helped.

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=143520

[Neurotic Nick]

Pepsi thank you slowly feeling better. :hugs:

Joe well this is my blog: http://kerroperro.blogspot.nl/ It has nudity on it though!

Thanks for the tracks, gonna listen to them whilst reading comics ;)

[Jim1]

Hi

I'm new to this, I have been suffering from anxiety for about 3 months now. The anxiety has turned into GAD and I think depression. I have had all test done from MRI scans on my brain and X-rays of my stomach also had all blood works done twice which came back normal. I had x rays done on my stomach as I experienced pains in my left upper quadrant for years due to stress. I have also been a worrier, I have had a lot to deal with over the past year with my mum becoming seriously ill, my daughter become ill but is ok now. I also experienced great stress in my job over the past year and especially in July, when all this started. In July my symptoms were severe tension headaches,pains in stomach,soft stools,dizziness,buzzing in ears,not thinking properly and muzzy head. I went to Bupa through my work insurance and they carried out ultrasounds, MRI scans and X-rays all ok. My docs have all put it down to stress and I have anxiety at first I did not believe as I could not get my head round stress could do this to someone. I'm currently seeing a counsellor and I'm on my second week of citoplam 20mg.. My symptoms at the moment are constant buzzing in ears, not thinking straight, indecisive and fatigue, I'm ok in the morning worse about 10 am once in work or at home.

I have a loving wife and daughter and just want to get better ASAP, so I can spend time with them as I did in June without these racing thoughts and dizziness.

I would like to know if anyone else out there experiences these symptoms and when my meds will start taking away this horrible feeling..

Regards jim

[Neurotic Nick]

Hi Jim, sorry your going through a rough time, i think we can relate.
First of with regards to your symptoms yeah i have every single one and im fairly sure they can all be caused by anxiety and stress. You might wanna check out the health anxiety subforum http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=29 A while back i was totally convinced my dizzyness and vertigo couldnt be anxiety related and like you went through the whole medical mill but they found nothing. But having read on here that many others have similair symptoms to mine has put my mind at ease and made it easier to accept them. Still no fun though.

As with regards to your meds i only take benzos for emergencies atm so i cant help you there but again check out the subforums as i think they have one for different meds. Sorry to sound like a mod here but i think you can get a lot better answers if you ask them in those subforums ;)

Lastly i hear ya about wanting to get better asap, ive felt the same way for a long time but im afraid recovery takes as long as it takes... At least thats the way i feel about it now. But hey from your post i read your still going to work so id be pleased with that, at the moment i cant even stay out of bed for too long as im just shattered and super senstive to everything... But i guess the grass is always greener ;)

Hang in there, i hope the meds kick in soon and youll start feeling better!

[Jim1]

Hi nick

Cheers for the help..I feel fine in the mornings, then about 10am bang feel awful. I'm going to beat this for my family. I have so many thoughts like this can't be anxiety, why is it doing this to me. Yesterday was a bad day for me even though it was Sunday. I'm going to go to work now. See what today brings.....:) chat later..keep calm....

[ankietyjoe]

Joe well this is my blog: http://kerroperro.blogspot.nl/ It has nudity on it though!



Very cool stuff.

SciFi/comic art is one thing I wish I could do. Really! :D

[Neurotic Nick]

Glad i could be of some help Jim. My only thought about the 10 am thing is that it might be that youve had an attack/anxiety many times around that time and now your mind has made a link. Even if youre not consiously aware of it. I had that a lot when my anxiety was mostly confined to driving. I would pass a certain point or make certain turn and bam it would come on. No matter what state i was in before. It almost seemed as if i crossed some invisible line into anxiety land. The only thing that worked was crossing that line over and over again and using coping skills to lessen the anxiety and eventually it faded. Until my recent relapse that is ;) But i think for both of us we just need to cross those lines again and again whilst coping. As i read on here "fall 8 times get up 9".

Joe thanks! Yeah its what i truly love to do and i hope someday soon to have the energy and steadyness to spend many many more hours doing it.

If you guys dont mind i want to journal a bit: Spent last night and today doing a lot of thinking about my life and the underlying fears that plague me. I realised that although thinking about these things was very scary and uncomfortable the only alternative was to keep panicking so pushed through and that seems to have lessened my anxiety a bit. At least its become a bit more managable. Still the very annoying dizzyness most of the time though - it makes even the simplest tasks so difficult!

As for what i realised about my life i wont bore you with the whole thing but basically i had a lovely job doing admin from home (wich probably didnt help my agoraphobia) and i had lots of time to fiddle about trying to get creative work. But this year i was told im being made redundant in 2014 so my security is gone and trying to get creative work became a lot more serious. Basically i think i didnt like where my life train was heading and i think my subconsious is pulling on the emergency brake! ;)

Other than that my nightly attacks are diminishing in strenght and i find it easier to let them pass now. Still have a ways to go before im ready to truly face the world again but have an appointment with my therapist wednesday so hopefully thatll give me a bit of strenght!