New Member

[serr1340]

Hello my name is Marilu, I am from the Chicago area. I have suffered from anxiety and depression since June 2002. In the beginning it was also panic. Thankfully that has not happened in a while, although I do still get it at times. I am on medication for this. Actually I have been on 7 or 8 different meds. I have had to switch so much because I am not able to tolerate the side effects. I have tried old and new meds. Currently I am on Paxil CR. I started with 12.5mg and now I am on 25mgs. I hope and pray that this does not need to be increased again. The last medication that worked for me was Lexapro (10mgs). I took that for about 18 months and it just stopped working for me. That was a bad relapes. It made me feel so deoressed, like I was never going to get any better. So far on this new medication, I have been feeling fine. Slowly but surely things feel a little better. A good friend of mine purchased the program "attacking anxiety and depression" by Lucinda Bassett. She is sharing this with me and I am so thankful to her. It seems to teach very good techiniques. I don't think I would have ever bought this because it is so expensive. Has anyone tried out the program? I am in the second week of the 15 week program. My anxiety comes from childhood issues. Growing up with a VERY disfuncitonal mother. I am the oldest of 9 so I took the worst of it. I did everything I could to protect my siblings and so far they seem okay. We all have our problems but it looks like they can deal with them better than I can. Does anyone have any advice on what to do when experiencing the anxiety/panicky feeling? Thank you for letting me share.

Marilu

[Meg]

Hi Marilu,

Glad you've found us and very glad you're feeling better.

Lucinda's programme is good and is essentially CBT in a long guise. Its 15 Cd's and costs about £300.00 over here.

Its good in that its all sound stuff and will teach you about Anx and panic and provide some steps and exercises to use.

Its very long and quite waffly in bits and in the CD's she glosses over some of the very fundemental bits and tends to repeat herself a lot.

First Steps : First Steps to overcoming Panic and Anxiety (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=942)






Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com

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

[seh1980]

hello marilu,

Welcome to the forum!! Glad you found us.

I think we all need different things to help us deal with those panicky feelings. The first thing that you could do is try to distract yourself as much as possible. When you feel those panicky feelings coming on, push yout=rself into doing something that you really enjoy (reading, writing, games, etc). as soon as your mind has forgotten about panicking, those horrible feelings will go away.

Sarah :D

[clickaway]

Hi Marilu,

Welcome to the forum, I'm so glad you joined in. There are so many good people around here to help you.

I know that my anxiety stems from childhoods issues too. We can't turn the clock back, but it does help to know the reasons why we are like this.

I'm going for a long course of therapy to help me on my way, but I need other support in the week. Living alone, I feel the need more to be in touch with people and when I'm really down I make use of the volunteer-run phone support groups we have over here.

Yes, its so important to get those distractions going in your life. Sometimes its hard, as we feel unable to do very much at times. I find that doing things at your own pace helps, as you need to understand what you are capable of. Pushing the Boundaries maybe good advice, but I'm not sure it works for everyone all the time.

I hope you are able to chat about your issues to friends and relatives, or even relative strangers. The important thing is to find somebody that UNDERSTANDS you. Thats why I go to a therapist.

There are plenty of people here who will give you understanding and great support.

Take Care

Ray

[FAN]

hi and welcome.......definately go for distraction when the panic starts i constantly wear those small ear phones when im out and although i dont have any music (i cant bear music coming out of them) i just hum loudly to myself and put my feet down hard with each step it blocks the messages telling me i should be panicking

fan x

[Karen]

Hi Marilu

Welcome to the site.



Karen



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

[jill]

Hi Marilu

Welcome to the site.

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

TAKE CARE

LOVE JILLXX


Great changes may not happen wright away,
but with effort the difficult may become easy.

[JPF]

Hi Marilu

Welcome aboard! This forum and the parent website is packed with lots of information and above all, understanding people who can offer advice/experience about this horrible condition.

I'm comparatively new to Panic Attacks (first one was Jan 2005) but some of the things which have helped me have been quite simple things like cutting down on caffeine. Something I also try to do is stop myself thinking the thoughts which bring on those feelings, I know sometimes that it doesn't always work but I'm trying to cut-away from anything which starts me feeling like I'm panicking.. it's a vicious circle and trying to break it does help a lot.. little things like trying to keep your mind on the here and now (not future/what if issues, usually we panicking types worry about stuff that might happen) and another strangely effective trick is to flick your vision between two fairly close points in the middle distance.. for some reason, this seems to stop the brain sending out too much panic/fear signals and does work if you can catch it in time.

My best advice would be to read what's here, talk with everyone and then I'm sure you'll have a lot of info and a feeling of support and understanding which will help you a great deal.

Good luck and good health

J

[serr1340]

Thank you to all for welcoming me. I do try to distract myself when I get the panick/anxiety feelings but after that I feel edgy worried, and depressed for a few days. But I will not let that stop me. One of a few things I love to do is read and play on-line games, so I do that when this happens to me. I love going to movies but I haven't been to one in quite a while and the main reason is because it causes me anxiety to think about going to a theater where it is dark and I am surrounded by people who may not move if I need to get out quick. Isn't this ridiculous?! I had one bad episode 2 years ago when I first had a breakdown, which made me stop going to movies for a while. While I was on the Lexapro, I felt confident enough to go to movies all the time. Now I am back to the nervousness. Well I have to face this so I am going to make myself go to a movie soon. There is no reason for me to feel uneasy at the theater. But if I don't go then I will never get over it. I do see a Therapist every 2 weeks and a Psychiatrist for the medication. My therapist is a wonderful person and she helps me so much. Thankfully I do have wonderful people to talk to. Thanks again for the welcome.

Marilu

[clickaway]

A friend of mine has a 16 year old daughter who is unhappy being in a cinema or theatre. She always books the end seat by the door.

If its the darkness that gets to you, why not socialise in a semi-dark situation, perhaps a bar with subdued lighting and see if you can cope with that. If a whole group of you go to the movies, perhaps you could meet them in that bar afterwards.

Ray