Anxiety Causes: Drugs (Cocaine)

[Wilymitch]

Hi everyone,

Some of you may have read my previous (longer) post 'My morphing anxiety...', if so, thank you.

I wanted to just post a short one here about anxiety in relation to drugs, specifically cocaine. My anxiety started when I had what I now know to be a severe panic attack (not a heart attack as I thought at the time) after taking cocaine. Since then, I've been having issues with anxiety returning again and again in different forms. The last time I took the drug was in August (and I will never do it again) but it seems while the drugs are gone, by anxiety is here to stay.

I guess I wanted to ask you all if anyone else has caused their anxiety this way, or had experiences with anxiety and drugs...

Let me be clear, I do not do a lot of drugs at all - this was a one/two time thing that unfortunately for me didn't end well at all.

Happy to hear your stories and comments, I'll try to reply to each

W

[Defeat Panic]

I have had a similar experience. I'm new to the forum but I used to lurk on here a while back when I was suffering anxiety. It's a new account but you can check out my first post. That's what I talk about. I have a very similar experience to you...and also not a druggie. But mine was caused by marijuana. Had my first panic attack after a bad trip on marijuana and anxiety ended up staying for months and slowly died out over a year or two after I learned how to handle it.

Here's my advice to you. FIRST OF ALL. there is NOTHING wrong with you. You do not have an mental illness. I have a beef with modern doctors for regarding anxiety as an illness and giving medication for it. It convinces people there's something wrong with them. The actual problem is you are afraid of your panic attacks. You are afraid you will get ANOTHER one. So you're constantly checking wether or not you are going to get another anxiety attack since you had a first one. It's actually normal. That would be anybody's response. A panic attack is usually caused by a weird bodily sensation or disturbing thought. When you react negatively or interpret it wrong you get a panic attack. It's normal...your brain thinks you are in danger or something wrong with you.

But once you have had a panic attack what happens is you begin fearing the PANIC/ANXIETY itself and you want to prevent it from not happening again .So you live in fear of another anxiety attack. And that fear of fear itself drives you to have another panic attack and so it becomes a vicious cycle. And you try hard to avoid it or whatsoever you think caused it. For example if someone gest an anxiety attack in an airport...they'll avoid going into an airport to avoid that similar experience. That's how agoraphobia begins. You need to understand it's NOT an illness. Just fear of fear itself. A vicious cycle.

How do you break that cycle?

Easy, just like how you overcome any fear. You face it. If you ever get another panic attack...just observe it and don't fight it. Just sit there with it. I promise it'll pass on it's own. Your body can't panic forever. Your body will eventually come to homeostasis eventually. It's NOT a bad experience unless you interpret it as such. Live a normal life as you did before. Dont change anything. Dont avoid places or social gathering,etc. Face it all and live normal. Overtime you'll forget about it. It's a BIG mistake to start researching symptoms. Stop it if you do that. Stop going to doctors. Live normal they can't help u. Trust me. the answer is not with them, it's with you. To be normal you got to live normal. Time heals all wounds. When you break a leg/tear a muscle, remember you have to do rehabilitation and try to walk as normal as you did before. If you just sit there and walk with cruches you'll never get better.

[Im-Suffering]

To be normal you got to live normal.

excellent post