Does anybody feel ok sometimes...

[dmack0059]

as if you've gotten over the anxiety... Then even when your mind is clear of bad thoughts (so you think) out of nowhere you just start feeling symptoms.. Dizzy, lightheaded and a loss of balance or even any other symptoms relating to your anxiety??

[LAnn]

Hey - I get this too. I'll start to feel almost completely okay and then I start to feel some of the symptoms and the anxiety just takes over from there. In fact, my first panic attack occurred when I was feeling okay. Don't know why this happens but I suppose its encouraging that we have at least a few okay days.

[tufftodealwith]

I have this problem alot. I posted about it earlier, but no one responded to me asking basically the same question. It hits me out of the clear blue - nothing going on to trigger it and suddenly I'm feeling anxious and terrible again, so I think it's very common and normal for people with anxiety.

[joey9]

It gets me the other way round too. I can spend weeks having anxiety and worring obsessively about something to ridiculous levels and then one day I will feel totally fine - see everything in absolute clarity, realise how silly I have been for worrying about the thing and thinking such absurdly wild 'what ifs'. And then maybe a day later I start to feel my heart rate again and the thoughts come back and I lose perspective again. It really makes me think that there is a very strong biological basis for my anxiety. I know that I have some negative thought patterns that my brain siezes on when I am anxious but this can't explain why I can view the same problem so differently within the space of a couple of days.

[dmack0059]

exactly what i'm feeling too...

I never took into consideration the strength and power of your brain... I think in reality these anxiety symptoms keep coming on because of what you really thought was wrong with you was never proven wrong (in your head anyway) and you still feel as if something is really really wrong and nobody understands it... I feel a lot of the times that I'm going to go to bed, and not wake up.. So I can't sleep straight through the night anymore.. I have had bad circulation throughout this too (which I understand could be a symptom) so every morning I wake up cold... I try to excersize and feel dizzy... It's funny that I can't even excersize because before this I was @ the gym 2 times a day except on the weekends... It seems as if answers for all these questions are online when you google things like: Dizziness, Headaches, ETC, ETC.. and devastating answers come up. Then you think that's what's wrong.. Which can drive you through the roof!!! I'm 21 and I just want my life back... It's almost been 3 weeks.. No sign of improvement.

[LAnn]

Dmack, I totally understand!! I have an inner ear disorder that causes dizziness and at first, I just couldn't believe that that was what it was. I kept thinking a tumor, had an MRI which was all clear but I think this is what it all stemmed from. B/c now I keep moving along the lists of diseases/cancers that I have until I get back clear tests or find something else to worry about. The physical symptoms are agonizing and like you, I look them up on the internet only to find the most horrifying things. I do not know how to stop myself from doing that or from this line of thinking!!!

[dmack0059]

don't worry so do I... Must be that Jersey air? LOL(I live in Jersey too)

I think I'm compulsive with looking things up on the internet now, officially.. I just feel like having an idea is better then not having a clue what's going on. Either way may not be right.. But that's just how I feel. Now I'm addicted it seems.

It's annoying.. I go to school in Ohio and have missed 3 weeks because of all of this.. I have so much on my mind and every day that passes I think I have something else..

[LAnn]

Ohhh its def the Jersey air!!!! More like the Jersey stink .. lol. I understand the compulsive part .. I have looked up so many things and have learned about so many diseases and cancers, much much more than I would ever have liked to know. I was explaining to my mother tonight - its like I have no control over it. I know how looking something up will make me feel (terrible), but I do it anyway .. I cannot control myself!!

I cannot imagine being in school at a time like this. Although I have way too much free time on my hands and often wonder if going back to school would talk my mind off things. Think that would work for you?

[louisrapisarda]

yeah i feel mostly ok at home. unless maths gets to me or i get in troble.

[dmack0059]

IDK... I'd like to hope so I have finals in two week and I'm so far behind that I dont know if I'm able to get myself out of this one.. I like the Jersey air though.. Ohio sucks, lol.

[lushbabe307]

I do . I hit it when it happens, its like your getting everything back and track, n something comes n slaps yeh right back to were yeah started from :x .. Rarrrr haha

[muchosanxious]

I feel like I'm never going to get out of it. Even when I'm relatively calm (or so I think) I still have bad thoughts and then it starts all over again. I just can't wait for the day when I'm settled for at least a day.

[Robbed]

It really makes me think that there is a very strong biological basis for my anxiety. I know that I have some negative thought patterns that my brain siezes on when I am anxious but this can't explain why I can view the same problem so differently within the space of a couple of days.

This does NOT indicate a biological basis. It's just anxiety disorder doing its thing. And this is VERY important to know. I DO realize that most therapists (who tend to stick to traditional CBT methods - replacing negative thoughts) will tell you that ALL negative feelings and symptoms are caused by unhealthy thoughts which preceded them. This leads one to believe that if you cannot identify thoughts which caused you to feel bad, then anxiety is a biologcally-based problem. BUT, you MUST realize that when you have an anxiety disorder, your brain behaves erratically. So it is entirely normal for symptoms to appear ON THEIR OWN, and FOR NO GOOD REASON. Accept this, and realize that it is simply the way that anxiety disorders work. It does NOT mean that there is a problem with your brain (other than the fact that it is fatigued from dealing with stress symptoms). And it does NOT mean that your anxiety disorder is inescapable biological/genetic destiny.

Anyway, since symptoms can appear for no reason, traditional, thought-replacement CBT methods are often of no help or, worse yet, detrimental when it comes to the treatment of anxiety. Acceptance is a MUCH better CBT tool to use for the treatement of anxiety. Accept that these are symptoms of anxiety, and that they do not mean that your anxiety is a permanent condition. By doing this, you will over time lower stess and, therefore, anxiety until you have recovered.

[joey9]

I find it much more helpful to view my anxiety within the context of its biological basis. Just because my particular brain physiology leans towards a tendency to experience more anxiety than most doesn't mean that I see this as some inescapable destiny to feel shit for the rest of my life. But I would be foolish to think that I can fit into a particular lifestyle that doesn't suit me, i.e. that is causing me stress, without some kind of consequence. For example, recent studies of work stress show that rather than specific aspects of a job being generically 'stressful' and hence causing burnout i.e. anxiety/depression etc., this effect is mediated by personality type, specifically neuroticism. It is only people with a personality scoring highly for 'neuroticism' who are particularly sensitive to these work 'stressors'. People have all sorts of physiological differences that may affect their lives in many ways. Some have naturally high blood pressure, some naturally low. But of course we can all get high blood pressure if we are put under the right conditions. If I have a genetic tendency that causes a weakness in my knees, I am never going to be a gold medal winning marathon runner. But it doesn't mean I have to spend the rest of my life hobbling round on crutches. I would just not run marathons. Of course I could try running marathons with the help of painkillers, anti inflammatories, supports, managing my stride length, etc. etc. but do I want to spend the rest of my life doing this? Will it really help? I would be better off accepting that if I don't run marathons then my knees will be just fine. I have a genetic predisposition towards anxiety, but I don't intend to let it ruin my life. I just need to take a bit of extra care to look after myself, in terms of managing stress, managing my general health and well-being i.e. taking exercise and eating well in order to manage it. And of course this means managing your cognitive health too. Address the cause of your negative thoughts. Everyone here is suffering from a huge overreaction to some kind of fear trigger and you can reduce the frequency and occurence of this fear by deconditioning yourself to whatever this fear is. But again, that is all biology too. Stimulus react, stimulus react. The fact is that we are all looking for some silver bullet to get rid of these feelings that we are prone to. Medications, alternative remedies, cognitive therapies. Anxiety is a huge mess of biology, learned behaviours, environmental factors etc. I don't think there is any harm in accepting that a person may be naturally more prone to anxious episodes than others. It just means you need to take care of youself and your lifestyle a little more than others, not that you will spend the rest of your days as a psychiatric case.

[strezzed]

Yes , I am trying so hard to try not to think about it. And I am afraid that because I have gone the day with success so far so good, I am afraid that I am going to get hit hard soon. Hoping not though.