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View Full Version : new to anxiety, will it go away.....



drmuyo
04-12-2011, 04:37 PM
ok, so here is my story. i never used to have any sort of panic attacks or crippling anxiety.in the past i considered myself to be mildly paranoid and i guess a little bit anxious at times. like if somebody starts walking up to our car as a kid/teen i might think something like "what if they're going to rob us" when they would only want directions. or i would hear an ambulance driving with it's sirens down a nearby street and think it could be a relative in there. but the truth is i never let my stress get to me to the point that i would have panic attacks or constant anxiety, and i eventually managed to quell these feelings as i got older. that was until about two weeks ago...

two weeks to this day, i went off with my friend and a friend of his and did something i regret to this day. we went off to smoke some weed. nothing special, i had done it maybe four or five time before that day. but what made this event special was that it was the first time i got completely "stoned" as you could call it. the first few minutes went by fine, that was, until we entered the mall and walked around. at first it was cool to me, my vision appeared to be skipping and all audible sound slowed down. eventually i had to shake my head or grab my arm to keep from losing consciousness. i started to panic and had what i considered my first panic attack. man, it was bad, really bad...

my heart started beating ridiculously fast and i told my friends about it, they just laughed and told me I'd be fine. after about 10-20 minutes in there, we left the mall and i convinced them to take me home. when i got home i told my dad to take me up to the ER. they did and EKG, took blood and urine, and once my heart slowed down they told me i was fine and that it was just a panic attack. i went home that night and felt fine.

the next morning and the day after, i first developed what you could call depersonalization. i felt that everything i was viewing and hearing was not real or was a dream. but that came and went. for the next day or two i felt basically normal, then it hit me. i started getting panic attacks and mini panic attacks, where my heart rate would get very high for no good reason or it would beat very hard/heavy. when this happened i would use deep breathing and lay down until they went away. unfortunately, other debilitating symptoms of anxiety began to form.

i started to feel tired and fatigued all the time, and still do. my depersonalization isn't as bad, but i still feel slightly detached from everything, not completely emotionally involved. almost as if i woke up to a slight different world then my own.

i also feel like I'm almost always on edge of worry or braking out into panic. even when i don't feel like that, i feel like i could be like that any time. other symptoms i experience are, sensitivity to light, hot flashes on my body, weak legs, body aches, a slightly elevated resting heart rate at times or more notability of my heart rate. a completely decreased aptitude. and general anxiety or worry.

sunday night i had just gotten home from orientation at the new job that i am starting tonight. i felt good, almost as if i didn't have any anxiety at all. then my friend asked me to go hang out with him, while in the shower, i had a sudden panic attack. i managed to calm myself down, but my heart still kept beating slightly faster for another few hours. eventually i had it checked out at the ER. they put a 24 hour holter monitor on me to measure my hearts activity. i am awaiting the results of that but i didnt think anything will show up.

even if I'm having a good day, all it will take is one panic attack to ruin it completely. if i do manage to calm my heart down and relax, there will still be pent up stress inside of me and that stress will cause me to be constantly fatigued and lose any and all appetite. as of now i am doing laundry and going to try to take a nap to calm me before i have to go in for my first day at the new job tonight. i seem to do pretty good upon waking in the morning or a two/three hour nap. but anxiety typically finds it way to creep into my mind and ruin everything. i currently feel better, maybe a little on edge, but i still feel groggy/fatigued, still feel a little detached from everything, and at time feel either stress or sadness from my constant stress.

i guess my question for everyone is, have any of you developed your anxiety from a sudden traumatic event, and had it stick with you for a long time or still have it? i fear these feelings will never leave me, almost as if that initial panic attack at the mall permanently changed something inside me and how i deal with stress. i know this post is a little , but i needed to make as much clear about my situation as i could. i appreciate any and all help. thanks.....

angelmum63
04-12-2011, 08:53 PM
I really do feel for you. Anxiety is a very draining experience. The fear of having another panic attack can be enough to bring an attack on. I used to suffer anxiety attacks on a daily basis, until I became depressed and just wanted to give up, but instead I learned all I could about anxiety and coping strategies. They do help, and soon your mind ends up telling you 'well if I have an anxiety attack so what, I will get through it just look I do every other time' and believe it or not conquering that fear of an impending anxiety attack makes them happen less frequently. A visit to your doctor to discuss what you are going through would be a good idea too!
I particularly found The Five Steps of Aware a really good help. Check it out at http://www.anxietycoach.com/overcoming-panic-attacks.html There is more good reading at that site www.anxietycoach.com
I can't emphasise enough for you to learn what you can about anxiety - you are not alone - and YOU CAN get through this!

drmuyo
04-13-2011, 06:46 AM
ok, the other day while laying down for work i was fine, when all of a sudden, i noticed my heartbeat was going a little faster then normal for resting rate. all of a sudden it started to climb pretty high. i managed to calm it down, but ever since then and even now after getting off work, it feels like its a little bit faster for resting rate and beats harder/heavier all the time. has anybody who experiences fast heartbeats due to anxiety ever noticed their resting heart-rate continually above normal for several hours after the panic attack?....

i am awaiting the results of my holter monitor test today. i dont think anything will turn up, but i wonder if something like an overactive thyroid or some type of heart defect is causing my heart to beat fast and hard all the time like this? if anybody else out there has these symptoms, please reply back to help calm and assure me that it isnt anything besides anxiety.....thanks.

ellawag4
04-19-2011, 09:21 PM
Honestly, anxiety can definitely be dealt with but I don't think it will ever go away. It is a condition and is not easy to get rid of. I have had anxiety my whole life but it only recently got to a point where it actually affected me. I feel the same way sometimes- like one minute I'm fine, the next I'm freaking out about something little. Did you know if you let a panic attack run its course, it only lasts for seven seconds? So just breathe and let it pass, and you will begin to feel better. I'm sure it's just anxiety because I have similar symptoms so try not to worry

sjoseph
04-19-2011, 09:36 PM
I feel your pain, I really do. Instead of getting panic attacks, I am just 100% nervous all day EVERY day. I don't remember the last time I felt completely calm, or even close to being calm. I often wonder...if anyone ever truly feels calm or if its just in the movies. I freak out- a lot, if I think my boyfriend is hurt. Which is usually at least 3-4 times a week. If he doesnt text me for a couple hours, I automatically assume the worst. Or, if he was supposed to be home by 5, and its almost 6...I will start to worry and almost panic, and seriously contemplate calling the local hospitals to see if anyone by his name was brought in in the past hour. I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder. It is absolutely horrible to deal with, because it cripples me with whatever I'm doing when I start to panic and obsess and worry over something that would probably NEVER happen. Anxiety never EVER completely goes away. You just learn ways to cope with it, to control it, and things to do to avoid all those feelings. Like exercise, get enough sleep, surround yourself with positivity and productivity, and think HAPPY thoughts. A lot of the time with talk therapy they teach you how to "rewire" your thinking process. I have yet been able to do it, I'm still learning.