Anxious and freaking out

[medion]

Hi all, I'm new here.

I've developed anxiety over the last few months, after starting on contraceptive pill Yaz - it's only gotten worse since I went off it, though.

I've been having pain in my calf lately - in the same spot where I strained it a while back. There's no swelling or redness, it's not warm to touch and I don't have a temperature but I just can't stop thinking that it's a blood clot. I can't go to my doctor until Tuesday because it's a public holiday tomorrow and I'm freaking out. I KNOW that without any of the other symptoms plus the fact that it's the same spot I've injured before means it's unlikely but I can't help it.

My leg cramped up last night and I had a full blown panic attack - over a leg cramp!

I feel ridiculous, but I'm so scared :(

[mamascrazy1985]

Hi don't feel bad I think more than half of us have had panic attacks over little stuff like that too. But let me ask you is this your first experience with anxiety. U knew it was a panic attack so it sounds like you have had anxiety issues before. I remember my first panic attack which led me to the er. now hold on to your seat for this one. I had a panic attack over getting too high about 4 years ago. Which yes I went to the er and told them I might have been to high or something and felt like I was going to die. Let's just say this was the last pot I smoked and won't do it again . so don't feel down about your leg cramp attack at least you didn't look as dumb as I did. I even laugh at myself Now. Focus your attention on something. Every time I feel anxiety coming I try to play a game or surf the net

Have a good day

[Marcus]

medion,

The biggest problem that you have with panic attacks is that in your case (and everyone who has them), once you have your first panic attack it creates symptoms within your body - rapid heart beat, clammy palms, dry mouth etc. Thus once you've had your first panic attack, when you get these symptoms again it can trigger another panic attack, even though everything is ok.
I remember my first panic attack and yes, it was hell. My next panic attack came about after running to catch the bus, which automatically raised my heartbeat and boom!

What you have to focus on is relaxation. This means getting your breathing in order and learning to breath deeply again. Once we get older we forget how to breathe deeply, something that was so natural to us when we were young. It's the solution to stopping panic when it happens and eventually overcoming your anxiety.

[forwells]

medion,

The biggest problem that you have with panic attacks is that in your case (and everyone who has them), once you have your first panic attack it creates symptoms within your body - rapid heart beat, clammy palms, dry mouth etc. Thus once you've had your first panic attack, when you get these symptoms again it can trigger another panic attack, even though everything is ok.
.

I think you have this the wrong way .

We get anxiety ( symptoms ) we dont know what these symptoms are and we panic thinking they are something bad . This in turn shows our body that there is something it should be scared of . So it increases the symptoms .

You have it correct that the panic is a reaction to the symptoms but it is not panic that causes the symptoms . It is stress on the body that causes the symptoms and your panic and fear of them increase them .

I do not have panic attacks because the symptoms i still have dont scare me . Yes they pee me off but i am not scared of them because i know where they come from .

Most people think that a panic attack comes out of the blue , in most cases this is not true , you took alot of stress to get there .

No stress - no symptoms - no reaction - no panic .

Cheers kev

[Marcus]

I think you have this the wrong way .

We get anxiety ( symptoms ) we dont know what these symptoms are and we panic thinking they are something bad . This in turn shows our body that there is something it should be scared of . So it increases the symptoms .

You have it correct that the panic is a reaction to the symptoms but it is not panic that causes the symptoms . It is stress on the body that causes the symptoms and your panic and fear of them increase them .

I do not have panic attacks because the symptoms i still have dont scare me . Yes they pee me off but i am not scared of them because i know where they come from .

Most people think that a panic attack comes out of the blue , in most cases this is not true , you took alot of stress to get there .

No stress - no symptoms - no reaction - no panic .

Cheers kev

I don't think I have it the wrong way.
Maybe the symptoms of a panic attack don't affect you but they did me as well as many others. Not only have I spoken to friends who experience this, you'll also find that most doctors as well as anxiety authors also state this. Like I said, first time panic was on the underground that caused rapid heart beat - symptom. Then the next time panic was brought about by myself noticing rapid heartbeat, after running for a bus, automatically triggering my autonomic nervous system into another fight or flight scenario. Everything was ok, up until the point I noticed my rapid heart beat after running for the bus. I was suffering no stress, hadn't had a bad day whatsoever. My second panic attack came about through no over reason save rapid heart beat. My next panic attack happened because I thought I was having panic, when I wasn't and my mind couldn't distinguish between the perfectly normal bodily reaction of rapid heartbeat (increased pumping of blood to the heart) after physical exertion. This is the biggest problem with anxiety. We experience anxiety when really everything is perfectly natural and ok. It's our body that tricks our mind into panic.
I remember reading many books on anxiety when I experienced it badly around 15 years + ago. The description in this book was of describing a ship captain (the mind) getting reports that the crew (body) was in a state of terror. Upon leaving the bridge, the captain goes down below to sort things out and analyse the problem. Upon getting down below, the captain sees everything's ok and goes back to the bridge. Again the alarm bells start ringing and again he goes below to see eveything's ok. It's only after repeated alarms does the captain start to panic, because everyone else around him is. This is the body tricking the mind into believing that everything is not good when it is. It's about losing control over reality for a multitude of reasons.
We can look at this analogy simply as the mind, through calm, relaxed action trying to tell the body that everything's ok and there's nothing to worry about. It does this by calming the body, bringing the breathing back down to slow, long, deep breaths from the panic of fast, short, shallow breaths. Once the mind is able to bring the body into a state of relaxed breathing does the panic then subdue.

For me to understand and overcome anxiety I had to understand exactly what panic was, why I was having it and what I therefore needed to do about it. My doctor wanted to prescribe me medication of which I refused seeing it as something that may win the current battle but ultimately lose the war.

thank you

[forwells]

Howdy

I will see if i can explain it a bit better .

Maybe the symptoms of a panic attack don't affect you but they did me as well as many others.

Well yes but i dont get panic attacks any more because i refuse to react to the symptoms my body is sending out because it is stressed . Trust me when i say i know what they are i had them everyday non stop for 4 months .

These symptoms are nothing more than symptoms from the body under pressure .
Lets look at it this way. You are under pressure and start to get these symptoms . You dont know what they are so your mind kicks in to overdrive believing that something is wrong . You start to panic .

Now a son and dad are standing in a line to go on a roller coaster , the father is there with high heart rate, shaking and thinking how scary it is going to be . The son is standing there heart racing , shaking etc .

The difference is one thing , the father is thinking fearful and the son is excited . Yet the symptoms are both the same .

you'll also find that most doctors as well as anxiety authors also state this
Yes i agree but that does not make them right , many of them miss the conection between the subconscious and conscious mind . They also seem to think that the body and mind work on a different level which is not true .
This takes us back to the first bit about showing the body that when these symptoms start to panic because something is wrong . It is this teaching of the subconscious mind that keeps panics going . If you stop and think you will see that the subconscious runs about 90% of what we do . It makes us walk , talk , scratch our nose all without any subconscious thought that we see. This is what happened we panicked showing our mind that these symptoms we need to react on and it will remember this untill you show it otherwise .

My second panic attack came about through no over reason save rapid heart beat. My next panic attack happened because I thought I was having panic, when I wasn't and my mind couldn't distinguish between the perfectly normal bodily reaction of rapid heartbeat (increased pumping of blood to the heart) after physical exertion. I agree but can you see that by your reaction with fear to the first one you showed your subconscious mind that there was something it should panic about . This subconscious stores everything and remembers every moment of your life , We connect feelings to these things . It is very strong , take the times you smell something and it recalls a memory from long past .

It's our body that tricks our mind into panic

I agree with you on many levels but your body is just doing its job. It is your subconscious that is reaction to something it has learned .
The symptoms are there because you are under pressure , you are on high alert and waiting for the next panic attack. So when you get the symptoms start ( eg the boy in the line) your subconscious believes it is under fire and reacts to it with what it is made to do Flight and fight . The only reason it is so bad is because there is no outlet for ths flight and fight. As there would be if you were truely under danger . Remember one thing the subconscious cannot see the difference between true fear and a feeling or thought of fear . It works very basic ( primal) , it feels a feeling , it searchs it data bank , finds that feeling and reacts to it as it did the time before . The subconscious will rate that feeling that the conscious mind is telling it ( scared ) and react to it as it is taught.If you change the way your conscious reacts to things ( symptoms ) then your subconscious will replace this memory and react to the next one different . Yes it takes time to show it but it can be done.



Anyway that the way i taught my subconscious mind to stop reacting to those symptoms . Yes i still get them because my body learned in those 4 months to live in a state of alert but i do not react to these symptoms now so my subconscious see them as nothing to worry about just the same as it would if i was to burn my hand or get a cut on my finger or a high heart rate from doing something that excites me.

Dont under estitmate the subconscious , it runs alot of things without our thoughts helping it , it works in a milli second . It is the reason for why people are addicted to thing they know are hurting them . It is the reason for our fears. I myself when my anxiety was bad would be scared of so many things even though i could see that they were not scarey.

cheers kev :D