Hi there

[moose]

Hello everyone,

I have been having panic attacks for the past 3-4 months. The first, and most severe, occured after smoking pot (which i might do once a year if that). When that stopped there was an absence of symptoms. Then a couple weeks ago I had two days worth of panic attacks that seemed to slowly ease out to be constant heart palipations, lightheadedness and feeling detatched (most bothersome). The past 7 days i've had a constant (wake to) racing heart that sometimes makes me dizzy. I've had a couple of days where it feels pretty normal then it'll go back up again. I've stopped drinking coffee and any other caffeine source. I feel wired a lot, i guess b/c of my heart.

Nowadays i rarely take any drugs, including alcohol, but 10 years ago i did a little experimenting that included lsd. My last experience with that was a bad trip that lasted a week. I never talked to a therapist about it, and how frightening it was so i'm guessing this might be the root of my attacks. i dunno.

Currently my doctor has prescribed me both Paxil and a beta blocker, neither of which i have filled. i hope not to. Especially since the Paxil was just to get my body to calm down. This week I have started 5 htp and am gradually feeling better but i don't know if that has anything to do with it.

I am so happy to have found this site. I am slowly taking in the advice, altering my diet, and your experiences are priceless.

[vernon]

hi Jenny and welcom to the site. There seems a few here who used pot before getting anxiety and panic, but there again a lot suffer for no reason at all and have never taken any sort of drugs even alcogole. I have suffered many years but have had good years between too. I have never taken any unprescribed drugs but did drink heavy for 40 uears and stopped 13 months ago. I do hope you find plenty of help and support on this site which i am sure you will. We also have a chat room you would be very welcom to pop in? usualy we are in there after 8 30pm UK time. so hope to see u again and take care. Vernon

[meesey]

Hi Jenny,
Like you i have done drugs in the past and my pyschologyst recently said this may have contributed towards my high anxiety and panic attacks, along with my mother suffering with them to, so some of it could be hereditary. I am trying to beat my recent attacks which are daily without the use of medication as the last couple of medicines i have taken have only made me worse. I have been reading up on this 5 Htp, is it any good, i think it is bigger in the US, i have also been reading up on GABA supplements.
Hope your feeling well over the Christmas period. Take Care. Pauk

[Karen]

Hi Jenny

Welcome to the site.

I'm sure you'll get a lot of help and support here.



Karen



It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.

[Meg]

Hi Jenny
Both LSD and pot can stimulate panic and the bad trip can precipitate and be the root of future atacks .

You are doing al the right things and in your post you sound like you are doing ok ...

The betablockers will help with the racing heart should you find that symptom difficult to cope with and I agree you don't sound like a paxil candidate right now.

5 htp has good reputation. Check out www.sjwinfo.org message boards for much more on that and gaba.

Exercise and nutrition control are helpful too .

Do ask if you have any queries





Meg
www.overcominganxiety.co.uk

You cannot conquer fear until you have learned what it is you're afraid of. The enemy is ignorance. Vivian Vance

[jill]

Hi Jenny,

Welome to the site,

There are lots of nice people hear
who will help and support you.

JILLXX

[nomorepanic]

Hi Jenny

Welcome aboard. I hope we can be of some help to you and get you back on the road to recovery.


Nicola

[FAN]

hi and welcome im sure you wil find lots of useful stuff here i know i have

fan x

[michael]

Hi 'moose',

The detatchment you were feeling is similar to PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), it is a knee-jerk reaction to stress and trauma, your mind essentially going 'out of gear' for a while. This is probably coupled with derealisation, which is a feeling of being disconected, some have described it like you are wearing a goldfish bowl. Studies have shown that panic sufferers breath faster than other people, this causes a slight, but significant change to your body chemistry and will change your sensory perception every so slightly, but just enough to make you feel out of step. the lightheadedness is more of the same.

You had best stay away from the 'wacky backy' for a while, it won't help. Try some herbal teas, especially the mood lifters and tranquility variety. Valerian tea is excellent for sleeping as well, drink it an hour before bed and don't have if you are driving.

Did you know that your heart palpitates all the time? Most people don't realise that your body is not constant at all, it is not really 'rhythmic' in the way people think, your heart will beat regularly for a while, and then stop for a few seconds, then beat fast etc. Your breathing is not constant, it changes all the time etc. Most of the time you don't notice this, however, if you do start to worry about it, you start to do a thing that doctors call 'guarding' which is where you tense your muscles around the area you are worried about, in this case it would be your chest. What this does is it heightens your awareness of what your body is doing, so all those run-of-the-mill, normally unnoticed little hiccups that your body does become totally noticeable and something you concentrate and linger on. I don't want to sound glib, but don't get caught up on what your body is doing, it will work fine without you. Your pulse and heart rate and blood pressure will be fine, they only really get worse when you notice.

I hope this helps, if there are any specific questions please feel free to ask.

Love Michael.

You are not alone

[Rennie1989]

WELCOME TO THE SITE

Scooter Girl

[moose]

Thank you all :).
Michael, it does help so much to know that it's normal for the body to be irregular. the more i read about panic, the more relaxed i've become with everything. well, except the dissociated feeling is still disturbing to me. mainly b/c it reminds me of the feeling (minus the scary visuals) i had during my bad trip. i hadn't felt that way since then so it was really scary to me.
actually the more i think about it i'm wondering if i had a panic attack while on LSD which sent me off, b/c i only came out of it from talking to friends. hmm, i should've of journaled the whole experience.

trust me, i'm staying far away from drugs and preceding with great caution with those prescribed to me ;) knowing that they may or may not have caused my attacks. it's just a bad idea to mess around with brain chemistry and your body.

meg, thanks for the link i'll look into gaba. i'm using 5 Htp b/c i know someone who uses it and she said there are very few if any side effects and more subtle than SSRIs.

[seh1980]

Just wanted to say welcome to the site!!

Sarah :D

[sal]

See you have edited your post, is there anything we can help you with?

Love Sal xx


Dont mess up the best things in your life, just because at present you are unsure who you are.