Permanent panic attack?

[Hipha]

Hello. I have posted on the site previously in the medications section. I am now off all medication as was not gaining any benefit at all (or so I thought). I have persistent nausea which recently has turned into anxiety or panic feelings. Does anybody recognise my condition of a constant feeling of panic symptoms? Is this panic disorder? I do not have panic attacks as such. The only med that has helped is diazepam but this only reduces symptoms by 10-20% so I don't use diazepam. Any views appreciated

[js1803]

Anxiety and stomach are directly connected. I have frequent nausea caused by anxiety.

[Mermaid16]

When I first had any symptoms of panic or anxiety I felt like this. To give it a name, I was diagnosed with 'Generalised Anxiety Disorder'. Which is when you are not worried about anything in particular but your anxiety is high. I was prescribed Sertraline and once I got past the start up effects, I lived a 'normal' life, without anxiety, until it stopped working (after about 10 years). Obviously, diazepam can help in the short term, but not the long term. Other than medication, deep breathing and relaxation (especially mindfulness) are very helpful. My psych believes that with breathing and mindfulness (for at least one hour a day) can treat anxiety. If you don't want to go with medication, this may help. Tracy

[MyNameIsTerry]

If it never peaks into panic but remains on the edge so to speak, that's anxiety. Thats exactly how mine was at the worst of it.

Panic Disorder means having repeated panic attack episodes that you can point to.

It may be GAD but don't forget that anxiety/panic disorders come with severity levels so you can be constantly anxious without it having to be GAD if it points to a criteria of another e.g. If the criteria was clearly OCD despite constant anxiety, it wouldn't point to GAD or perhaps end up as a dual diagnosis. GP's may lack knowledge there though and use GAD as a bit of a catchall.

[Hipha]

Thank you all for your replies. I have tried SSRI drugs but cannot tolerate them. I do not use diazepam as it does nothing for my symptoms. I thought GAD involved worrying about many different issues?? I do not worry about anything unusual apart from worrying about being ill and what the future holds. I feel like an anxious switch is flicked on every morning and regardless of what I have scheduled for the day I will feel anxious. Strange how my anxiety has surfaced after no mental health issues until age 43 and then feeling nauseous for 12 months with no anxiety and then after being told it could be GAD only then feeling anxious. We all look for an accurate diagnosis but all we can expect is a vanilla diagnosis of anxiety, depression, panic etc with an associated severity level. Just need to know where I belong so that I can face this illness and find ways to improve my quality of life.

[Mermaid16]

Thank you all for your replies. I have tried SSRI drugs but cannot tolerate them. I do not use diazepam as it does nothing for my symptoms. I thought GAD involved worrying about many different issues?? I do not worry about anything unusual apart from worrying about being ill and what the future holds. I feel like an anxious switch is flicked on every morning and regardless of what I have scheduled for the day I will feel anxious. Strange how my anxiety has surfaced after no mental health issues until age 43 and then feeling nauseous for 12 months with no anxiety and then after being told it could be GAD only then feeling anxious. We all look for an accurate diagnosis but all we can expect is a vanilla diagnosis of anxiety, depression, panic etc with an associated severity level. Just need to know where I belong so that I can face this illness and find ways to improve my quality of life.

Hi Hipha! You seem to be looking for a diagnosis in one breath and in the next saying 'all we can expect is a vanilla diagnosis of anxiety, depression, panic etc'. At the end of the day, from the symptoms you have described in your first post, (nausea and a constant feeling of panic) these are symptoms of anxiety. If you have chosen not to go down the medication pathway, doing deep breathing exercises and mindfullness meditation would be beneficial. You could also try cbt. The breathing and meditation is something you can try at home and see if it makes a difference. My psychiatrist has recommended doing it at least 15minutes every day, and working up to one hour. He also recommended walking for one hour a day (concentrating on Mindfullness, being aware and concentrating on your surroundings and not letting you mind wander. Hope this helps. Tracy x

[Hipha]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Yes I am looking for a diagnosis. Being told I have anxiety is of no use to me as I see anxiety as a symptom rather than a condition / illness. I have not chosen to exclude medication rather medication had chosen to exclude me. I have tried using sertraline, fluoxetine, trazadone, mirtazapine, duloxetine none of which helped my symptoms and mostly made me feel panicky. I have tried meditation and Mindfullness and have really struggled to relax and free my mind. I cannot seem to stop my mind from wandering back to my symptoms. I am enrolled on a Mindfullness course soon so have not given up on that. For me fatigue plays a huge part in triggering my symptoms. I am being told by my psych to ignore my body and mind and 'do it anyway'. Anybody else have a trigger from fatigue?

[MyNameIsTerry]

So, do you mean you are trying to work out which anxiety disorder this is?

Fatigue has been one of my issues for some time now. Sometimes just pushing through works, sometimes it does nothing.

[Hipha]

Yes I am looking for a diagnosis of what type of anxiety disorder I have although I am beginning to realise that my condition is related to childhood trauma. That is what my psych has suggested anyway. From what I have read over the years I can see that anxiety is caused by chemical imbalances in the body and/ or traumatic events which have aroused and sensitised the brain to any stressful situations. I find it very difficult to not have a diagnosis ( a name) apart from anxiety which I repeat is a symptom and condition not the root cause. I realise that I will probably never find the root cause. My psych has suggested that nobody can ever know 100% why mental health conditions occur and even suggested that this will not change through time as the complexities of our thoughts are infinite. Thank you for your comments

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes, I agree with you - anxiety is a symptom. It's very important to understand what form it takes as that can dictate the form the therapy takes. AND I find it very frustrating that medical professionals don't make an accurate diagnosis (they probably have, just not told you) since we are entitled to know what is the illness and the NHS keep banging on about parity between physical & mental health issues.

Things can change, the brain has been shown it can achieve that and we can reprogramme many things, even deep things (otherwise what's the point of deeper newer therapies like Schema Therapy and other than work on problems connected to identity?) but things build too. We can start creating new anxieties, new associations, and these can surely be tackled as they already are in therapies such as CBT.

They should be telling you the disorder(s), that's your right. Have you suggested this?

The diagnostic manual they use to diagnose is online. I can send you a link BUT I'm always very wary doing this on here (I usually copy/paste a relevant section) because it's a full medical manual with all the scary stuff that HA people don't want to see. I can copy/paste all the anxiety stuff so you can see what you think you most likely fit into and the approach them to get them confirm the situation? (copy/paste I can't do for a day or two, the format gets messed up so needs some correcting first).

[Hipha]

Thank you Terry. I have read many descriptions of the various anxiety and mood disorders and don't seem to fit into any one single disorder. My anxiety is more freeze than flight or fight which I am told is a possible reason why I get such s bad reaction to many of the AD drugs especially those that affect noradrenaline. I see my psych tomorrow and so will press for a disorder name although I have had many disorders suggested including depression, GAD and somatic symptom disorder. Perhaps I need to aim to let go of my need for a disorder name and just go with the flow. Thanks again for your advice