First anxiety attack this morning

Hi guys, just some advice as someone whose never had an anxiety attack until today.

To cut a long story short, my mom passed away a few years back, shortly followed by my Nan and then a traumatic relationships and stressful job on top. I feel I’ve been grieving heavily lately and moved back home with my dad in February after two years living down south.

Being back home, coming to terms with my full grief and the return of my health anxiety (all because I’m due a smear test) has tipped me over the edge.

i’ve been struggling with PMS too and then my period came heavy in the night and I woke up unable to breath. It took my dad ages to calm me down and I had to tell my boss I couldn’t work today. It was so horrible.

I’ve also had horrid upper/middle back pain since last week. It’s been on and off with heat and ibuprofen (I’m trying to tell myself it came from stress/jogging too much).

It came back today and I ended up crying because of scared of that too. It’s only when I move and twist etc. I do suffer with knots in my back anyway, even when I’m ok.

It just feels like everything has caught up with me now I’m home and the anxiety has reared it’s head good and proper.

Is it normal that the body feels so painful after an anxiety attack?

I should mention that I do see a therapist once a week but that will have to be Friday now as I’ll have to make up for today with work by doing an extra day this week :/

Thanks for reading and any tips for after an anxiety attack will help too. I’m too scared to go to the docs atm.

xx

Hello!
I don't really post here but am a frequent forum stalker, and have been suffering with anxiety/panic attacks for roughly twelve years (some years worse than others). The good news for you is that the first anxiety attack is the scariest, because you don't realise what's happening. The fact that you've already figured out that you experienced an anxiety attack will hugely help you, it took my multiple years to get to that stage.

Nobody except a doctor will be able to tell you for sure what your pain is coming from, but it is an extremely common symptom of anxiety and also stress, both of which it sounds like you've had building up for a while. Take it from somewhere who has experienced the whole range from racing thoughts/unable to breathe/rapid heartbeat to vomiting/shaking/intense muscle pains purely caused by anxiety (I know, I've been tested for many things and been negative on all of them).

You might not notice it but every time something stressful happens or a stressful thought passes it is natural for the body to tense up slightly. Over a long time with lots of thoughts this does lead to pain, especially after an anxiety attack where you've been tensed for a while and are also focused on all the physical sensations rather than living in the moment.

I'm a long term sufferer so can only advise based on that, although plenty of people have one anxiety attack and then don't experience it again so that may be the case for you. I'd say listen to body focused meditation tracks on youtube. People with soothing voices will talk you through your whole body, getting you to tense then relax each part individually, and it both shifts your brain out of focusing on the anxiety and causes you do stop tensing so the pain won't be as bad if you're getting pain from an attack. I've had days where those tracks are the only things that have allowed my stomach to relax enough to get a small amount of food in. When you're feeling calmer it can also help to analyse and write down what led you down the road to experiencing an attack, what has been on your mind and while you were struggling to breathe what specific thoughts would make it worse?

Anxiety is scary and sucks to live with but it is something you can move past. I had multiple family deaths, job changes, house moves and a new then broken up relationship all happen to me within the last 12 months, which is why mine has returned. Before that I had gone over two years without a panic attack and only minimal anxiety during stressful events like first days on jobs. Also something to keep in mind is the distinction between anxiety attack and panic attack. Panic attacks are intense all consuming events that last about half an hour then stabilise, whereas anxiety attacks are slightly less intense but much longer lasting that (for me at least) have more abstract triggers.

If you have any questions I'm happy to answer anything, I'm sure some of what I've said hasn't made much sense, but my top recommendation is go try a fifteen minute meditation track and see what it does!

Thank you! I agree that the pain feels like I’ve kept my body so tense that it’s a build up now looking for an outlet. It’s eased a lot tonight without any tabs, so maybe the more I’ve sat still and got calm then it’s helped it.

I made sure that I kept breathing during the incident despite how horrible it was I didn’t want to let it win. I’ve felt the effects of it all day, especially stronger this morning.

I too went through tests and scans etc a few years back and all ok. Hence my dad was trying to remind me that I’ve had the health anxiety/fears before and managed to get through it.

This just feels worse because of the actually level of anxiety.

I’m going to try a meditation as someone else suggested that, so it may help.

Sorry to here that you’ve struggled too, I find it so debilitating how it can take up so much of our mind/lives.

Sending positive thoughts ✨