Doing my best to stay fight instead of flight

[JAYQ]

Well i figure i would type this out real fast to help me deal with it better. Anyway suffering a bit now with uneasyness and shakiness because i just took my antibiotic pill i quit taking a day ago because i feared it was making my anxiety worse. I am taking Bactrim for acne and have been for 20 days and it has kept me pretty clear.

Around the 12th or so day i started getting more recurrent panic, anxiety attacks, not full blown but enough to make me tremor and feel like i was gonna go a few times. Well tonight after talking to my doctor and joining this site i realized that it is just my mind again nervous system creating the anxiety taking the pill. I was feeling fine before the pill, totally fine and normal.

A few minutes before i took it i started getting a small feeling of the anxiety like peeking around the corner. I downed the pill and withing about 5min the shakes and weakness began. This is when i thought to myself i know it can not be the pill now, it is ME. I came over here while fixing dinner to log on to the site and read the Panic attack now tips and it really helped. As i am typing this my body and shakes are calming a little bit more.

I also keep telling myself that Bactrim is to keep fighting away my acne and keep me clear and not to cause anxiety. It really tried to come back and get me too, like another strong surge of anxiety came trying to take one last punch but i fought it off pretty well and this was one of the steps. Talking about and coming to realization. Thank GOD for this site! I hope i can continue to keep fighting it this well and get better. :yesyes:

[greenday1997]

Never lose hope matey. And by the way fight or flight - to my understanding are the symptom but not the cure for anxiety, running away from the problem is giving in to the fear, fighting it depends on what context you approach it. If you fight and struggle not to have a panic attack for example for fear if you don't you will end up having one, then you will be more likely to have one.

The fight response has got to come from the part of you that is rational - the part that isn't linked with anxiety. Some of the most famous wars were won with more strategy over going in all guns blazing trying a desperate attempt at defending while you don't really understand your enemy. It makes the enemy unpredictable which is an advantage to them and to your anxiety.

Taking the time to understand things with a rational mind is key here. People with anxiety in my experience will digest information into 2 categories - the rational and the irrational, it sounds like anxiety has been playing a more dominant part with you so the irrational will be what you're defending yourself with and making a desperate stand for control-the answer is easier and less painfull.

Examine the evidence - does it say anywhere in the medication info can cause anxiety? Have you had anxiety before? The fact that you are anxious before you take the tablet and think it might have something to do with the tablet completely tells me everything from experience, the irrational has won that fight before you were ready to defend yourself from the worry. If you check with ya doctor if he's happy then just concentrate on these tablets are helping my acne the anxiety is doing the rest but I can control that it's just irrational fear-you've just armed and readied yourself.after that you won't have nothing to fly from (flight) and the panic will disperse so there will be nothing to fight! You've dismantled your enemy before it could fight you, and that my friend is the key I keep trying to live by every day, most of the time it works when it dosent is when I'm lazy or forget or tired!

Hope this helps :)

[Veronica H]

:bighug1:Sorry you are suffering. Acceptance is the key to dissarming the panic. There is a brilliant book by Dr Claire Weekes;SELF HELP FOR YOUR NERVES published by Thorsens ISBN 0-7225-3155-9.This is available from the NMP shop. Dr Weekes was a physician and scientist. She was a fellow sufferer (nominated for the nobel prize for medicine) and really understood this illness. She took the mystery out of it, and devised a simple programme for recovery. I can't recommend this enough.( It is a bit old fashioned, but still so relevant).
Here is a link to her site;

http://www.drclaireweekes.co.uk/

Another book which has really helped me is;

Matthieu Ricard ' Happiness...a guide to developing life's most important skill ' published by Atlantic ISBN 978-1-84354-558-3.He is a French Buddhist monk and a very accomplished man....here is a link to one of his talks.....

http://www.ted.com/talks/matthieu_ri...happiness.html (http://www.ted.com/talks/matthieu_ricard_on_the_habits_of_happiness.html)

This will get better. Veronicax

[GlasgowGuy]

Good and interesting thread. I don't have the answers but believe fight or flight is more than just stay and fight it or run away.

Good points raised on this by people who have posted on the thread.

Hope everyone gets better soon.

[JAYQ]

Thanks everyone for the advice and tips. Since finding this site yesterday it has helped me out so much already. Reading everyones stories helps make you come to terms a lot better with it since you do not feel so alone and crazy.

[GlasgowGuy]

Thanks everyone for the advice and tips. Since finding this site yesterday it has helped me out so much already. Reading everyones stories helps make you come to terms a lot better with it since you do not feel so alone and crazy.

Yeah is a really good site and helpful. I've just recently joined to. When you know there are others out there going through same thing lets you know you aint alone.

Get well soon