Why is anxiety taking over and why is it appearing recently?

[luvmirage]

i never had anxiety before in my life!!! now it seems to happen on a daily occurance and im really getting tired of it! is it because i think about it all the time because it happens all the time?? or could changing my brith control be the entire cause of this?? i get incredibly nauseous, feel like i cannot breathe, racing heart or heart palpitations, and dizziness. i also get the feeling that everything around me is weird, and i feel out of it. is this the typical anxiety?? i tell people at work about it, in hopes to talk myself through it and that does help over time.. its just a horrible feeling and i do not know why i get it. i dont know if its a fear losing control over my body and throwing up? or what is really going on?? i was feeling a slight bit of anxiety the other day, but then i was talking to my friend and it just went away.. is it only a mind control thing?

[RustyIce]

Your symptoms will resemble thos of most anxiety sufferers, thing is at the time you refuse to accept that it is anxiety, you start to believe that it is something else, as there is nor reason for it to happen. GAD (Generalised Anxiety Disorder) which is what i have does this, one minute you can be hunky dory, then for no apparent reason it can just come on and go as fast as it comes, I get tired, breathing problems, exhaustion, lethargy, dizziness, off balance feeling, feel like im going crazy. Its strange as this can happen when i least expect it.

The reason why your symtoms fade when your talking to your friend or doing something else is because your mind is focused on something else other than your symptoms. I tend to play the computer, as it take my mind off it. You must remember that its a behavioural thing, I.E if you panic and soak up the sensations you feel then you will get them more and more, the best thing to do is carry on, and as hard it sounds just dismiss them and continue as normal, after a while your mind will start to recognise that there is no reason to be worried, so your symtoms will drop, you will get them less and less and eventually they will go away. But the more you fixate on the feelings you get then the more they will come and inevitabley go.

I to do the same as you and talk about the way i feel at work, i often ask people if they feel certain things in a non-direct as a sort of reassurance to myself that its not just me.

The feeling you get where you feel as though everything around you is weird is referred to as De-realisation, ironically its your minds way of protecting you as scary or weird as it feels at the time, its a natural response to an underlying worry. I would first try and seek out what you could be worried about. If you cannot find anything that makes sense then it may just be a subconcious thing which you dont recognise. Like i said, the symtoms you feel, almost everyone gets these on a daily basis who have anxiety or who are naturally worried people, it can be something thats built up over time, or it can be past down genetically. I will state the obvious here but - Dont worry, everythings cool, like fonzi. :)

[Anais]

When I began to experience panic attacks, I also wondered why it was happening because, at the time, I wasn't interpreting my environment as particularly anxiety inducing, although I realize now that it was. When the symptoms are new but the stress is old, it's not always easy to make the connection. Over time, my panic attacks have evolved into what I suspect is GAD (I am not sure about this as I've only just had my first session with a psychologist today). It's an every day thing now and it happens even in the absence of the old triggers. I like RustyIce's suggestion of focusing on something else to reduce symptoms. I find that reading or playing games can switch my mind to something else long enough to feel physically normal again.

[northstar]

it's very possible that your birth control pill could be the root of your anxiety, i have spoken to many people with similar stories when they started taking the pill or swtiched to a new one and my own problems grew decidedly worse when i switched to a new pill. i stopped taking it and i'll never be taking it again after what i went through!

you might want to talk ot your doctor about it, try a new one or use some other form of contraception. the pill can strip our bodies of the B vitamins which are incredibly important to good mental health, they keep your nervous system happy, so while you're on the pill or suffering with anxiety it's a good idea to take a B vitamin complex. the pill can also cause adrenal fatigue which can be another major cause of anxiety. and also with all the new hormone changes in your body there's just no way of knowing how it's going to make you feel, i guess that's why some people are ok taking it and some people have a terrible time with it.

if you find you've only been anxious since you started it then i would thinking about going off it for a while to see if it helps any bit, you'll need to give it a couple of weeks to get out of your system. it's worth a try :) remember your body will need some help to get over the anxiety, have a look at this thread for lots of things you can do to help yourself through: http://www.anxietyforum.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4087

hope this helps a bit and that you're feeling better soon! :)