new and getting hopeless

[updownaround77]

I have suffered from anxiety for many years and have always "maintained" it through yoga, acupuncture, and a glass of wine to wind down at night.

Three weeks ago I had the worst anxiety attack I have ever had where for 2 days my heart was rapidly beating, palms sweating, the shakes, no sleep, the works. It came on for no apparent reason, however, during the attack I could not help but overanalyze everything in my life in a negative way which prolonged the attack.

I ended up in the ER because I was scared about the physical problems where they gave me 2 ativan and a follow up appointment with my GP whom later perscribed me Serax to take when they came on.

Since I feel like I never really recovered and the anxiety now remains as a chronic feeling, I took 2 of the serax consecutively and felt groggy and anxious. Not to mention the headaches I now suffered from as a result.

I discontinued use and made an appointment right away with a Therapist (I go on Tuesday) as I realize I must have a deeper rooted problem if i cannot shake these negative feelings and physical pain.

Currently, I am dealing with trembling and shakes, lack of sleep, I cannot eat unless I want to deal with being bloated, heart burn and an almost instant gagging reflex. My heart is either beating very rapidly or palpatating and I am constantly on edge, taking everything out on my boyfriend who is at loss to help me as well.

Any advise? This is so new to me and scary which is perpetuating the anxiety further.

[Jem]

Hi there, so sorry you are feeling bad right now - I am in the same 'bad place' myself. Mine is similar, it started with a series of isolated attacks and has now become a fairly constant background to my day - awful isn't it. However, I can say as I have come through it before that in time it does settle again. The longer you dwell on the awfulness of how you feel, the longer it can take to feel well again. You will need a degree of time and patience and a willingness to persevere, even whilst feeling dreadful and natures greatest natural healer - time - will give a helping hand. Keep posting, we are all here to help each other through the worst times and ALWAYS remember that this will not stay with you forever, consider it a temporary condition.

[lenalane]

I know how you feel, too. I promise it will go away, and you are not losing it. Panic attack is the stress hormone getting released and re-released into your bloodstream because you have an irrational fear. When you allow yourself to feed into the fear, the panic starts happening all over again. A couple of things: do some coping exercises. If you're not sure about what those are, try breathing deeply and slowly. When you exhale, try to relax and drop your shoulders. Also, if you're obsessing about something (like panic itself), imagine a stop sign in your mind. Tell yourself to STOP the thoughts and ask yourself what are you afraid of? Another thing is to treat your mind like a baby and distract it. Some things that have worked for me are magazines, also a great book called Eat Pray Love. In my deepest state of panic, reading a magazine was not inticing at all - perhaps that will come. Take a hot bath. Get on anxiety forum and learn that it will go away and others have the same fears.
Hope this helps. A great website is anxietycentre dot com - it's a member of the better business bureau so it's not a scam of any sort. It's full of useful information and excercises. It, along with my determination, brought me out of my panic attack.