What Helps YOU?

[charsey]

I remember when i first gathered that i suffered from panic attacks and anxiety, a doctors advise to me was to have a drink (alcoholic) to calm me when i was having an attack or feeling anxious (this was every night) and so i've alsways wondered what do other people do to calm themselves down?

My anxiety mainly hits me at bedtime, when i'm winding down in the dark, suddenly i get a twitch in my neck and its oh my god what was, that somethings wrong, (sheer panic) i'm not going to wake up in the morning!!!
I do things at ridiculous hours (like cleaning/ironing/ reorgansing cupboards/going through clothes that we may not need or want/ suddenly it becomes very important to do things that i've been putting off(hence the ironing), which stops me from letting the thoughts in so by the time i go to bed i'm so tired i just fall to sleep and the thought process that usually starts my anxiety doesn't happen.
When's the worst time for you? and how do you calm yourself down?

[LeeBee]

Regular exercise; absorbing, satisfying activities; little or no alcohol and caffeine. Those things all help me. That and coming to terms with and accepting my anxiety, rather than trying to "fight" it or ignore it.

And NMP of course :).

[bumbles]

I can not believe a Doctor told you to drink to calm down what on earth is the matter with him. It makes it worse. I listen to my daughters ipod, she has put Claire weeks tapes on there for me aswell so I have music and then that it really works I wear it to bed. Wake up sometimes with it srangling me mind you. :yesyes:

[andie73]

Hi

I agree TOTALLY with bumbles. What was your doc doing telling you to drink? Believe me it is not the answer. I thought it was and found myself drinking more and more to relax. Your body starts requiring more of whatever substance to get the same effect. Do not do this, thinking that alcohol helps anxiety is sooo wrong. Alcohol increases anx and depression. It may help at the time but when you sober up, it will make you more anx. It plays havoc with your sugar levels too which increases anx.

I may sound like a drama queen but I KNOW what I'm talking about. You need to learn to cope with panic attacks without using alcohol, as if you are panicky in situations where you can't drink, what will you do??? Prob panic more.

There are lots of much more acceptable ways to deal with panic but the main one is to learn that anx and panic can't hurt you. And you will calm down naturally if you ride through it.There are no quick fixes. If your doctor is recommending alcohol to deal with panic and anx then that is an extremely concerning situation and I would certainly see another doctor in future.