Panic/anxiety disorder returned !! Please help :(

[AngelHeart]

I've been so good for years then in July started getting panic attacks again as my eldest was leaving primary and starting seniors. I've had frequent bouts of feeling off balance which I've tried to cope with. I wear hearing aids and get frequent infections. Also the odd panic attack but its accumulated this week and got worse where I think I have my panic disorder back again and am so scared I keep feeling off balance and I am trying not to google brain tumour !! My eyes keep going out of focus, i'm getting pressure behind my eyes, in forehead and nose, can't stand raised voices or loud noises. I have insomnia nd get less than 5 hours sleep a night. I work, have 3 children ! The only godsend is that I doaidn't feel like this when I wake up but it all gets worse as the day goes on.

I need some reassurances that this is just anxiety related. Due to go on holiday tomorrow and afraid that am just going to spoil it for everone !!

Thank you xxx

[nicola1980]

Hi i get everyone of your symptons plus more with my anxiety and panics, ive seen the mental health team today and there all typical and common symptoms they assured me of that! Hope u have a good hols and try and relax a ait x x

[AngelHeart]

Is there nything I can do to help me now please , am getting so worked up m so scared, feel like I need a panic attack to clear the air xxx

[nicola1980]

Distract yourself hun away from the attack i know its hard but concentrate on something else and ignore it x x

[Carys]

OK, listen, it sounds like you are afraid that the old panic is returning, just as bad as it was before when you had it years ago.
It doesn't have to, you just need to think about the positive things that helped solve it for you last time. It is really tough when you have a return of symptoms, as it has been long enough ago for you to forget how it felt last time. Just because you are panicky this evening, does not mean that you are heading down the same route as before.

Take action; talk to yourself, if necessary out loud. Tell yourself over and over 'so I feel panicky, nothing is going to happen to me, I've had this before, its actually quite boring.' Accept that you may feel a bit dodgy right now, so what, it will pass......and continue accepting it whilst you go and make a cup of tea, clean the fridge etc.

For the last 12 years I consider myself mostly 'cured' of my debilitating anxiety problems, but I am still prone to short lived 'blips' now and again. Each time they happen I learn more and more about how to cope and deal with things, so that I only have an odd day here and there in many months that I consider myself 'panicky'. You can learn from this too and come out of it stronger.

Just to be sure, you could possibly have a cold/flu virus or an ear infection causing some of these symptoms. Are you sure you aren't just a but unwell with something....that could kick off anxiety if you are run down ?

[macc noodle]

Hey Pauline

I can see you showing as a user viewing this thread - how are you now??

If you have managed to do a little activity away from just sitting and fearing the panic, it may well have calmed you down - I hope so.......

Just remember though, it will pass even if you do nothing at all.

Are you worried about going away on holiday? maybe this has been a trigger?

Take care and let us know how you are getting on............

Macc Noodle
xx

[AngelHeart]

Thanks very much , your both so kind. I sat at the front door in the freezing cold ( like i alwys do in this situation ) and I feel lot better. The trigger has been a mixture of my off balance accululating in this head and eye pressure am feeling. Are these both symptoms of anxiety. I now however have a headache :( xxx

[Carys]

Have replied to you via private message.

[Jules147]

Pressure behind eyes, nose, headaches, stiff neck, aching muscles - arms, legs, shoulders, back, buttocks, burning/tingling feet or hands or both, numb finger, thumb or toe, just one or maybe two digits on tip or under nail bed, tingling/numbness around mouth, tingling sensations almost anywhere on my body, especially back, torso, face, around the eyes, a sensation of an insect landing and crawling, a feeling of weakness in arms or jelly legs, light-headedness, blurry vision, feeling hot or shivering with cold, nausea, wretching and occasionally vomiting, shaking, sweating, insomnia, dry throat, hard to swallow, lump in throat, muscle twitches, jerky feelings, fear of having a seisure, fasciculations in calves, sudden jerks when falling askeep, wondering if I was asleep when the muscle jerked, feelings of dread, shiver down spine, that blood-running-cold feeling when you think about ghosts, brain tumour fears, MS fears, motor neurone disease fears, lymphoma fears or some other underlying cause for such a gamut of rotating symptoms, checking behaviours - some involving a mirror, some not, forgetfulness, strange notions or thoughts, déjà-vu, panic attacks - sometimes seemingly out of the blue either while awake, on waking or while asleep, nightmares, waking up in a cold sweat.

I had all of the above between this time last year and August this when I started my now-completed CBT sessions. I am cured. Apart from the odd twinge which I can manage, all the above are gone. There are no secrets to CBT just common sense and understanding that your rational brain has been hijacked by your emotional brain and that the fight/flight/freeze response has been placed on high alert causing all those symptoms above. You learn to take a balanced, rational view of situations so that the background levels of anxiety fall back and the acute episodes cease.

Accepting what really is wrong with you (anxiety disorder) rather than trying to find proof that you don't have xyz disease is the first step. This is easier when the cause of ALL your symptoms is explained to you as well as the mechanisms behind them equipping you with the means of surviving an imminent threat (false alarm.) Then it is learning to breathe deeply and slowly again. At first the 7 in/11 out through pursed lips (to slow down your rate of exhalation) breathing exercises are a chore but they soon become a habit just as your shallow/rapid breathing did for a while. Worrying is the habit, slow breathing is the chore. It needs to be the other way round. Practise in for 7, out for 11 while you are driving, walking, in the checkout queue or anywhere. Believe it or not, nobody will notice.

Be at peace. I am now.

[AngelHeart]

Wow, thank you so much for that reply. I can honestly relate to most of that as probably most will do on here too. My friend is a CBT therapist who has promised to help me when I come back of my holidays. Unfortunatly am up late as I've just woken with a panic attack, but I've calmed down now. Thank you so much for your reply, I appreciate it xxx