Calling for help so bad

[Bordeneaux]

Hello, I'm Brianna and I have been struggling with anxiety. About 4 years ago I started to have panic attacks and anxiety. My doctor prescribed me Elavil, it seemed to work wonders for me except a 40 lbs weight gain. After taking for 2 years I began to feel better and I tried to get off the medicine but due to the horrible migraines when tapering the medicine so bad that I had to go to the er. Then one day when trying to get off I just did so well. Fast forward to now. I got sick with a stomach virus while on vacation with my family in Disney world. It was such a hectic trip. Once we made it home I felt to relieved I was finally home. Then the anxiety happened maybe twice a week, the next week it was 4 times, then after that it was every day so bad that I had my husband take me to the ER where they gave me an Ambeiem I think it was. It calmed me down and I followed up with my doctor the next day she gave me welbutrin and it hasn't helped one bit. I follow up with her tomorrow because I can't take another day of crying. I think I am depressed also because I just want to feel better so bad and everything I do doesn't help. All day I think about when the next attack will come, when will I feel sick to my stomach again, I hope I can make it through the day, I hope I can fall asleep. I try to stay as busy as possible but I can only do so much house work. I am bus driver and off for the summer at the moment. I didn't take my welbutrin today bc I'm following up tomorrow and I haven't had that much of anxiety today. Part of me just wants to go back to taking the Elavil because I am dying to feel better. I also have an appointment tomorrow with a counselor.

I'm just so scared. I want to make all the anxiety thoughts stop but no matter how hard I try they are still there.

[Beach]

Hello - I am sorry you feel this way and while I cannot offer any advice, I just want to say that I too am sick of crying. It in itself is draining and can work me up into a panic. What I would say is that any medication can upset your hormones and body, especially when you have been poorly. Adjusting medication and frequency could leave you feeling more anxious so it may be a case of sticking in there and hoping it gets better. I've just started on citalopram and i'm all over the place.

I hope you feel better soon. You sound as though you have a good support network around you x

[CelticZebra]

Try some distraction techniques if you can. A lot of the things that can help are counter-intuitive. Exercise, fresh air, healthy nutrition and good sleep all help keep us balanced and medications can take up to 3 weeks to properly take effect.

[Bordeneaux]

Taking new medications also gives me anxiety itself, so that doesn't help as well. I just don't understand how people cope with this everyday of their life 24-7 like how? I just don't understand.

What do you mean when you say you're all over the place?

---------- Post added at 21:36 ---------- Previous post was at 21:34 ----------

Celticzebra, hi thank you. I have no energy to exercise. Walking to the mailbox feels like it takes it out of me. The welbutrin I am taking also gives me insomnia so I'm not getting good sleep. I sleep for 3 hours then I'm up every hour on the dot, tossing and turning. It's miserable

[Bill]

I was reading on your other post about your trip to Disney World and the constant fighting between your sister and her husband.

This is a typically common scenario - the fighting between them caused you to feel anxious. This then acted as a trigger for you to later suffer a panic attack. This panic attack has now left you with a fear of them. The fear then makes you constantly worry what if you suffer another one and because you can't shake this fear, you become depressed and can't stop crying because you feel so afraid all the time.

A stressful event will often cause a panic which then leads into a cycle of panic - worry - panic because the fear the symptoms create make you constantly focus on your anxiety which then keeps your anxious feelings alive.

For instance, All day I think about when the next attack will come. and this is because the original panic attack frightened you so much. However, because you can't stop thinking about it because of your fear of them, you're constantly tense and this tension causes you stress. The more stressed you feel, the more likely another panic will surface and so you become locked in anxiety.

I'm just so scared. I want to make all the anxiety thoughts stop but no matter how hard I try they are still there. The thoughts will keep coming back because you're so scared of them. The power they hold over you is the fear they induce. It's impossible to block these thoughts out because by resisting them, again you cause tension so you'll keep your anxiety alive and because you feel so anxious all the time, all those anxiety symptoms will keep your fear alive as you'll keep feeling as if you're going to suffer another attack.

Distraction does work but it has to be the right sort. Doing housework constantly won't keep your mind occupied enough. It will wander onto your feelings. You need something that will absorb your mind that you enjoy doing so much that it'll make you "forget" your feelings.

Also, learn how to keep relaxed. Allow your mind to think these thoughts but learn how not to tense up because of them. Learn a relaxation technique.

Don't fight these thoughts. If you think of a cream cake, you don't tense up. You can't block thoughts so you have to learn to accept them all the same as just thoughts.

Panic makes you feel ill but they can't harm you. They will always pass so don't fear them. Once you learn how to no longer fear them, you'll stop focusing on them all the time so they will then lose their hold over you.

With anxiety, you must never try to resist or fight it because either way it causes tension and stress. You have to accept it and allow these thoughts through you as if you're thinking of a cream cake.

Anxiety and panic only control you when you keep thinking about them. You only keep thinking about them because of the fear they cause. Once you learn they can't actually harm you, you'll no longer be afraid and they'll stop bullying you. That's how people learn to live with it.

If you sneeze, you don't keep worrying when the next sneeze will occur because you don't fear them. Treat panics like a sneeze and they'll give up trying to frighten you.

If a ghost says Boo, it's only power is in the fear it creates when you see it. It can't harm you so if you say Boo back, it'll melt away, and so will anxiety once you learn not to fear it.

A counsellor and therapist will teach you all you need to learn to overcome it and then the rest will be up to you to put those techniques into practise.

[Ethansmom]

Hi Bill,
Reading your post has really helped changed my thinking -- at least for today :) I am crippled with anxiety and fear of having the next panic attack. I suffer from hot flashes and skipped beats that come out of the blue. I've had all the tests done and it's all down to anxiety. I've been in this state for about 2 years now-- trying a few different medications. I'm currently on Citalopram and Clonazapam daily. Can I ask-- do you take any medication, or did you learn this through therapy?

[Bill]

Hello,
It takes time and practise to change the way we're used to thinking. Bad habits take time to break so try to persevere with it so you adopt a good habit. Think of it as your protective armour, especially for bad days.

Just to give you a small example - imagine you're sitting trying to relax then up pops a thought from nowhere that worries you such as you become aware of your breathing which starts you worrying about having an attack. Your choice is you continue sitting dwelling on that thought in which case your anxiety will just increase or you can get up and do something that you enjoy such as play a game, read a book, do a hobby, research something on the Net, find someone to talk to or even just go and make a cuppa. Force yourself. It doesn't matter what you do as long you make sure you don't sit there dwelling on that worry. The more you focus on anxiety, the more you feed it, the more you keep it alive, the more ill you feel so nip it in the bud before it takes hold by doing something that will stop you thinking about it.

Distraction is probably the easiest thing to do when a worry surfaces.

Meditation techniques also help. For instance, I used to have a bad fear of dentists. A long time ago I tried meditation and relaxation techniques so when I visited the dentists I thought I'd try putting it into practise at a time of need. When I sat in the chair, I closed my eyes and pictured myself on a beach, feeling the warmth of the sun, the sound of the waves hitting the shore, the cool breeze all around me etc. I tried to really focus on it and I found it worked. Now when I go to the dentists I do exactly the same thing each time and I almost fall asleep. I guess you could say it's became a good habit replacing the bad habit.

Often it's a case of using what you find helps you. I think we're all different.

I used to take meds but personally, I found the benefits never lasted. They just got increased and changed. I also never liked the side-effects so I tried to learn how to cope without.

I've just picked up things through my own experiences and built up knowledge over the years. I just think I've lived with anxiety for such a long time that I've got to know it. I guess it's like they say - to beat your enemy, you first have to know get to know it.

It's true what they say about anxiety being a bully. It craves your attention. Everything it does is an attempt to make you feed it. The way to defeat it is to resist giving it what it wants - your attention. Think of every anxious thought you get as the bully trying to frighten you so it can feed off you to keep itself alive. If it says Boo to you, practise saying Boo back and see what it does. It's only power it has is it's ability to frighten you but it has no substance. For instance, it can frighten you into having a panic attack but then what? The panic attack passes and you get back to doing what you were doing. If you say to it, is that all you've got?...it won't come back because you take it's power away.

Confidence is key. You have to slowly build your confidence. Such as, you have a thought that says "What if I fail". You replace it with "I will Not fail because it's something I Really want". Practise replacing negative thoughts with positive sayings. Make it habit.

I know I've probably made it sound all very simple when I know it's not but get to know your enemy. Don't give it what it wants. You know something it really hates? - Laughter. If you laugh in it's face, it loses it's power because it knows it can't touch you. Therefore, try looking on youtube for funny clips or your favourite comedy clips. It definitely works because you don't get time to think about your anxiety because you're laughing too much. Try it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BAEJyuReWQ Something as simple as that can be part of your armoury.

You're always most welcome to ask me anything you like and I'll always do my best to try and help you.

[braindead]

Try some distraction techniques if you can. A lot of the things that can help are counter-intuitive. Exercise, fresh air, healthy nutrition and good sleep all help keep us balanced and medications can take up to 3 weeks to properly take effect.
MEDICATIONS take a lot longer than 3weeks, more like 6 to 12 weeks

[CelticZebra]

Everyone is different and I can only speak from personal experience.
I have suffered anxiety and other MHI for such a long time and tried different therapies, medication and ideas to help. In my experience meds take around 3 weeks for me to feel a change, this is not the same for everyone and medical advice should be followed.

Bill's posts are exactly the type of ideas that really can and do help and there are so many things that we can each do when suffering.
I've found recently that comedy really does work, I've been watching favourite movies and clips that rarely fail to make me laugh; laughter is indeed a good natural remedy which helps the brain relax away from those other thoughts.

im sorry it's so hard for you to get out and if a little fresh air through open window and maybe a little step-work inside is manageable this, at times when especially debilitated, might help.

I find reading great for escape IF I can concentrate yet it's always important to remember that the thoughts DO pass and maybe thinking of cream cakes makes me feel anxious but concentrating on the PRESENT, a gift to self, can help to STOP those thoughts and BE in the moment.

hope some peace for you

[snowghost57]

Bill is correct. We have to get out of our own heads. During my darkest days I would force myself to get up, get dressed, wash dishes do something. We need to re train our brains, it takes a lot of work. While I was doing the dishes, I would immerse my thoughts into the current activity. Feel the warm water, the silkiness of the soap. I would say what I'm doing out loud through tears if I had to. I worked with my therapist, she taught me to challenge my thoughts, do they have any value? I had a goal of finding a job after 4 years of college, I had been out of work for 5 years, several terrible experiences with employers, two that fired me on the third day. The list goes on. I faced my fears, I went and applied for jobs in person, one of my biggest anxiety triggers. We have to focus on our goals and if our thoughts are distracting us from what we want to accomplish, even if it means going outside, we can't let intrusive thoughts rule our lives. If we do we will spend the rest of our life sitting on the couch.

Bill is right we have to change our thinking, its the same thing my therapist taught me. It will take time, but it does work, I know, my anxiety is almost non existent and it took months for me to get where I am. We can overcome anxiety and we can do it without medication.

It takes a lot of courage and determination. It can be done!

[braindead]

Everyone is different and I can only speak from personal experience.
I have suffered anxiety and other MHI for such a long time and tried different therapies, medication and ideas to help. In my experience meds take around 3 weeks for me to feel a change, this is not the same for everyone and medical advice should be followed.

Bill's posts are exactly the type of ideas that really can and do help and there are so many things that we can each do when suffering.
I've found recently that comedy really does work, I've been watching favourite movies and clips that rarely fail to make me laugh; laughter is indeed a good natural remedy which helps the brain relax away from those other thoughts.

im sorry it's so hard for you to get out and if a little fresh air through open window and maybe a little step-work inside is manageable this, at times when especially debilitated, might help.

I find reading great for escape IF I can concentrate yet it's always important to remember that the thoughts DO pass and maybe thinking of cream cakes makes me feel anxious but concentrating on the PRESENT, a gift to self, can help to STOP those thoughts and BE in the moment.

hope some peace for you
if you are talking to me brian, i get out all the time i have dogs to walk and pubs to visit for the odd pint ,rock concerts ect ect. I have BIPOLAR i am not
house bound i have lived with this all my life. Yes i take meds only because i cannot get hammered on beer since pancreitis operation. meds make you fat which is a pain, but sanity before vanity :shades: