Nothing is working for me....please help?

[JennJenn]

I am really tired of this anxiety ruling my every thought. I am trying the positive thinking but my mind is in over load and negativity keeps creeping up. I feel like I am sick to my stomach all the time. I don't even know what I am nervous about. What the heck is up with that. I notice so many people on here are nervous about something but I am just afraid of these panic attacks. UGH! I am doing relaxation techniques and man do they work when I am home but when I am at work I am just so nervous until about 1 o clock then I seem to calm a bit and get back to my chipper self. Mornings are so freaking hard for me. Please tell me I am not the only one affected in the mornings. I had a month ling of panic attacks in May and not one for 3 weeks and now I am consumed with them. Am I going to have to live with these forever. I have taken 50mg of zoloft for 10 years and now I am on 75mg on my way to 100mg. I cannot function on harder pills so this is all that I can do. Can someone give me some help? Exhausted!

[JCX]

It seems work is causing you the panic attacks! Then youre just so tired after you get out that maybe that is now causing you the anxiety.

[JennJenn]

I love my job, I really do it is stressful but I have to work. Feeling so confused.

[str8trippin]

I'm the same way in the mornings. I wake up and can't kick the tired feeling, can't stop yawning, am slightly sick to my stomach and have no appetite, and have a horrible time focusing. All I can think about all day is getting home and taking a nap, but by the time I get home I'm feeling okay and don't go to bed until late, which is a huge mistake and something I'm trying to really work on is bettering my sleep habits so that I'm actually getting enough rest. I know work is a source of stress for me, even though I love my job. I think the anxiety has just taken such a toll on me over the past few weeks that I'm having a hard time getting myself back to ground zero. I've started bringing hot ginger tea to work with me in the morning...it eases my stomach a little and gives me something else to focus on besides work, as silly of a little thing as it is.

[Dcoito]

Hey Jen,

So glad the relaxing techniques are helpful! Try to remember some of those techniques, and bring them to work with you as tools! Also open up to your co workers! GM, or AGM, or human resources, whatever you job has! Approach the person you have the most trust in! Sometimes there is work programs, or things trough your health insurance that might be available to you! Not to mention it just might make you feel better to have got it out there instead of stuffing it in! Always watch your breathing! Make sure your break time is relaxing! Relax the tummy! I had wicked trouble with my stomach! It would scream at me with LOUD growling sounds even after I ate, that's how mad my tummy was! I had diarrhea ( yuk) I know for a month.. I had all kinds of horrible symptoms! And mine started in may as well, while at work! May 5th to be exact! And I have had to work very hard at it, and still working on it. And that's the ugly part of it! But I tell you this. In may I could not leave my house at all! Or I should say not even my bedroom! I literally could not get out of my own way! I couldn't even make something to eat myself! I couldn't be home alone, and yet I needed it perfectly quiet! I drove everyone crazy! Yesterday I went grocery shopping! Yes I had anxiety! But what makes it different for me today, is I know that's all it is and I just let it be! I don't hop on it, and I find peace with it! Now I know your thinking ok. Ya how! Well because I have been working on each symptom I get as its own sensation!
I will talk to it in a relaxing way, and not a panic negative way.. I will say sensation I feel you! You are fast and pounding in my chest! You are ok being there for I am ok! I also make sure I am breathing right! After I do that I push it aside! If I have any other sensations I will do the same. I will even smile at it as to say welcome! What I am doing is accepting it, by doing that it can't escalate! And It will give up after awhile! Once anxiety knows it can't overcome you it will gradually go away, and in the mean time you are changing your thought process! Win! Win! Yes it takes time.. But it took time before you had panic attacks!

Hope this is helpful!

KNOW YOUR ANXIETY IN ORDER TO DEFEAT IT!

[JennJenn]

Hey Jen,

So glad the relaxing techniques are helpful! Try to remember some of those techniques, and bring them to work with you as tools! Also open up to your co workers! GM, or AGM, or human resources, whatever you job has! Approach the person you have the most trust in! Sometimes there is work programs, or things trough your health insurance that might be available to you! Not to mention it just might make you feel better to have got it out there instead of stuffing it in! Always watch your breathing! Make sure your break time is relaxing! Relax the tummy! I had wicked trouble with my stomach! It would scream at me with LOUD growling sounds even after I ate, that's how mad my tummy was! I had diarrhea ( yuk) I know for a month.. I had all kinds of horrible symptoms! And mine started in may as well, while at work! May 5th to be exact! And I have had to work very hard at it, and still working on it. And that's the ugly part of it! But I tell you this. In may I could not leave my house at all! Or I should say not even my bedroom! I literally could not get out of my own way! I couldn't even make something to eat myself! I couldn't be home alone, and yet I needed it perfectly quiet! I drove everyone crazy! Yesterday I went grocery shopping! Yes I had anxiety! But what makes it different for me today, is I know that's all it is and I just let it be! I don't hop on it, and I find peace with it! Now I know your thinking ok. Ya how! Well because I have been working on each symptom I get as its own sensation!
I will talk to it in a relaxing way, and not a panic negative way.. I will say sensation I feel you! You are fast and pounding in my chest! You are ok being there for I am ok! I also make sure I am breathing right! After I do that I push it aside! If I have any other sensations I will do the same. I will even smile at it as to say welcome! What I am doing is accepting it, by doing that it can't escalate! And It will give up after awhile! Once anxiety knows it can't overcome you it will gradually go away, and in the mean time you are changing your thought process! Win! Win! Yes it takes time.. But it took time before you had panic attacks!

Hope this is helpful!

KNOW YOUR ANXIETY IN ORDER TO DEFEAT IT!

I too had amazing relief and progress in May with changing my thought process and thinking only positive and it helped so much but for some reason this time its like I cant get that through my thick head. I watched that video last night you told me about and it helped so much but putting into use today has been so hard. Its like a whole new ballgame this time. Its literally kicking my arse! :( It also said something about panic away? Did you try that program?

[JennJenn]

I'm the same way in the mornings. I wake up and can't kick the tired feeling, can't stop yawning, am slightly sick to my stomach and have no appetite, and have a horrible time focusing. All I can think about all day is getting home and taking a nap, but by the time I get home I'm feeling okay and don't go to bed until late, which is a huge mistake and something I'm trying to really work on is bettering my sleep habits so that I'm actually getting enough rest. I know work is a source of stress for me, even though I love my job. I think the anxiety has just taken such a toll on me over the past few weeks that I'm having a hard time getting myself back to ground zero. I've started bringing hot ginger tea to work with me in the morning...it eases my stomach a little and gives me something else to focus on besides work, as silly of a little thing as it is.

So I go on lunch and do some relaxing techniques from you tube but what do you do when they start creeping back up on you while at work. Right now as we type I am just dealing with it and my boss works right beside me in my office so she kinda knows what the deal is and ask if I am ok but no one understands really who does not suffer. I feel like a freak! I hate the nervous stomach that never ends. I got over it the first of June and Bam it hit again. I really never was really bad effected by them but I guess this is the life I live now until it goes away! :( I sound like a whiner but I am really just exhausted!

[Dcoito]

No I haven't! On short term disability so I'm banking every penny for now! Been thinking about it tho! There is so many free stuff out there! I liked the web site anxiety no more. It's a little read up on anxiety. Just search it. And yes it is hard! I also have medication to help me out too, but at some point I will want to get off it! So that's why I feel coping skills are very important! And to learn as much as you can! You have soooo many things going on at once right now! You need to give yourself down time! Just spend the time dissecting all those sensations! And sort them all out, in your mind! And just know what they are! Sounds like your mind is all over the place! And you keep creating a vicious circle! I also liked the video on YouTube on the way our mind creates panic attacks. Search I love panic attacks Pick the one with the guy standing with a white board! He draws out the cycle of the panic attack. I use this as a guide as well. It's a little simpler!

[str8trippin]

I don't think you sound like a whiner at all, and definitely not a freak, all though I know what you mean! I'm always feeling like when I do try to talk to someone about what's going on with me, they just think I'm being dramatic...especially my boss...it seems like everything just goes in one ear and out the other, or he secretly thinks I'm insane. I'm really glad he doesn't work in my office! I just try to keep myself preoccupied with anything possible. I definitely drink a lot of water throughout the day, which is probably really good and it gives my hands something to do when I'm not typing but it means I have to go to the restroom a ton...and I have one coworker that glares at me every single time (her office is close to the staff bathroom) and I always just get the impression she is annoyed with me for some reason. I do a lot of simple yoga stretches at my desk, which might look silly to people passing by but it does help me relax quickly and refocus my attention. I get up and walk around once in a while. And I've taken to bringing my IPod or an audio book to listen to while I'm working, which gives me something to listen to other than the clicking of the keyboard, etc. Do you feel like you get enough rest at night? I know the more tired I am the more anxious I am during the day at work.

[Christopher H.]

I too have a hard time enduring the occasional barrage of negative/anxious thoughts that won't turn off no matter what I do. The only thing that works for me is either to just patiently wait through it or if I'm lucky I'll go for a walk and feel a lot better. I don't deal with your morning panic attacks but I struggle with feeling depressed and anxious around the end of the day. As for living with those forever that's all up to you, if you are determined enough to cope with the anxiety without the meds then go for it, or if you have to stick with the meds even though you don't want to, well, you have to do what you have to do in order to function at your work place. I take Prozac/Celexa and really hate it because it deadens my emotions but I have to accept that its either being some what emotionless or to a nervous wreck who is terrified to go outside. Keep up with those relaxation techniques and I hope your panic attacks get easier to cope with. Best of luck and hang in there.

[JennJenn]

I may just try going for a walk this evening. Do you have to make yourself because by the time I get home I am exhausted from all the stress and anxiety at the office all day.

[em1]

Try lavender room sprays and bath/massage oils they help me to :)

[Dcoito]

Going for a walk is a good thing! Doing something good doesn't take as much effort as dealing with the bad LOL. Make sure you take in your surroundings ok! Smell the air! Clear your mind! Look at flowers, birds, trees. Everything good ! Focus on things outside of you body, nothing from inside! Feel the way the breeze hits your skin, and so on. Good mental practice!

[DodgingRain]

Work is one of my triggers too which is crazy. I do what I've always wanted to do, I'm good at it, and I get paid a lot to do it. I can be fine for months at a time and then not fine for months at a time, arg!!! I have work performance anxiety I guess, lol. Terrible time getting out of bed, have to resist calling in sick for no reason, I can spend the entire day at work so screwed up I can be in tears which looks ridiculous especially for a guy, lol. Chest pain, trouble swallowing, exhaustion, and not being fun to be around are my constant companions sometimes.

The things that work for me that make the anxiety go away are not something I can rely on and not something I can do at work. Stuff like taking a short break or a walk or etc. just cause more anxiety they don't releave the symptoms. After work I'm so fried that I just crash.

My ten year old son is trying to help I think. He is having me get up early before work and go run with him. If I accomplish something that I don't normally do it kills some of the anxiety for a while. The endorphins probably give me a little bit of a happy boost for a few hours too which doesn't hurt.

[JennJenn]

Never thought of that, maybe I too have the same situation with work. I worked hard to do what I love and dang it I don't want to give it up because it sometimes causes me anxiety. I know that it has to be harder for men because of the research I have been doing says that most men do not face it and it gets a lot worse. Do you take meds for it?

[em1]

Work is one of my triggers too which is crazy. I do what I've always wanted to do, I'm good at it, and I get paid a lot to do it. I can be fine for months at a time and then not fine for months at a time, arg!!! I have work performance anxiety I guess, lol. Terrible time getting out of bed, have to resist calling in sick for no reason, I can spend the entire day at work so screwed up I can be in tears which looks ridiculous especially for a guy, lol. Chest pain, trouble swallowing, exhaustion, and not being fun to be around are my constant companions sometimes.

The things that work for me that make the anxiety go away are not something I can rely on and not something I can do at work. Stuff like taking a short break or a walk or etc. just cause more anxiety they don't releave the symptoms. After work I'm so fried that I just crash.

My ten year old son is trying to help I think. He is having me get up early before work and go run with him. If I accomplish something that I don't normally do it kills some of the anxiety for a while. The endorphins probably give me a little bit of a happy boost for a few hours too which doesn't hurt.

Just because your a man makes no Difference that you cry because of anxiety in fact it the Opposite :) aww bless your son he sounds a lovely child,I have two myself And they do make you smile even tho you maybe having a bad day

[Ryaan]

Mornings are pretty harsh for me, as soon as I wake the floodgate of anxiety begins, but, Cortisol levels are higher in the morning, and go down as the day go's on, explaining why we are more stressed in the morning.

[JennJenn]

Mornings are pretty harsh for me, as soon as I wake the floodgate of anxiety begins, but, Cortisol levels are higher in the morning, and go down as the day go's on, explaining why we are more stressed in the morning.

I never knew that. What do you do in the morning when you just cant kick the anxiousness?

[Ryaan]

Just keep pushing, you gotta keep it in your head that you will be okay, 90% of what your going through is in your head, your body's chemistry is out of whack and your brain is feeding off of it, making it worse, just keep going.

[littleduck98]

I never knew that. What do you do in the morning when you just cant kick the anxiousness?

In the mornings, I always wake up with a drink of something. Have a sip, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, drink, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, drink, and continue that.. Then I have a hot shower... (Playing music can help you get your focus if you're not there yet). Then ill practice breathing while I dry my hair and do my makeup and stuff. Normally, eating in the morning makes me sick, so I don't do it, but you can squeeze it in before or after the shower. :)