Help :(

[Adam Koch]

Hi. I'm Adam, and I have mostly beaten my core anxiety issues but I have a lingering problem that I think is physical and I want to treat it.

Sometimes I randomly get panicky and shaky, my mind fogs, and people can tell that I am very physically distressed. "Why are you shaking?" "Are you okay?" and I reply with a shaky voice "I'm fine this happens to me sometimes". They think I'm nuts.

It's almost like fight or flight kicks in UNPROVOKED and since I can't do either, my body just rides out an adrenaline surge. It's almost like whenever I get adrenaline surges, my body OPENS THE FLOOD GATES and it takes a physical toll on me. It is especially noticeable when I ride motocross (dirt bike - you know, jumps and turns and stuff), you know, when my adrenaline is supposed to slow things down and special things happen on the bike? Yeah, I just kind of get panicky and I have to get off the track because I wear myself out.

What the hell is my problem and what can I do to fix it?

[Jess Watkins]

Interesting! I had a similar issue a few weeks ago that lasted for about...three and a half weeks. My body would involuntarily jerk certain muscles like my fingers, legs, and even my head. It looked like I had Tourette's or some sort of tic. It was very frightening and even made me go see my doctor who told me it was all from anxiety and stress.

Also back in April of this year I had rushes of panic surge through me with little needed to get it started. Just one slight thought or anxiety set it off and I broke out into a sweat and started feeling weird. My heart raced and my skin heated up. It was horrible. Thankfully it is over now and I do not struggle with that anymore. :) The trick is to not try to fight these feelings, you are only fueling the fire when you resist and obsess over what you are feeling when these things happen. I know it is hard, and it will def be hard the first time, but you have to try and relax when you feel panicky.

I think panic attacks, for a tired and stressed mind, can happen out of nowhere. Have you been really stressed lately? Do you have lots of anxiety? Your mind sounds tired and is over-sensitized. Give yourself some rest and have a few days of relaxation (or at least relax whenever you get the chance!) and let your mind rest.

What do you think?

[RealisticTrain]

Shakiness could be a side effect of an antidepressant -are you on any medications currently?
Source: I am a psychiatry resident

[PureDahl]

How is your diet? I have been able to successfully manage my anxiety with diet (among other things), but I am not perfect with it all of the time. The reason I ask, is that when I eat certain foods, I will have signs of anxiety. The biggest problem is that it could be days or hours later so it is hard to relate them to each other. After 7 years of major anxiety I begged my naturopath to give me an allergy panel. Sure enough I was allergic to several major food groups. Once I eliminated these, the headaches, jittery on edge feelings, brain fog, and random adrenalin rushes and palpitations disappeared. Now whenever I have a bad food day, I can experience the side affects of my poor choices for up to 3 days later.

[willheal]

Hi. I'm Adam, and I have mostly beaten my core anxiety issues but I have a lingering problem that I think is physical and I want to treat it.

Sometimes I randomly get panicky and shaky, my mind fogs, and people can tell that I am very physically distressed. "Why are you shaking?" "Are you okay?" and I reply with a shaky voice "I'm fine this happens to me sometimes". They think I'm nuts.

It's almost like fight or flight kicks in UNPROVOKED and since I can't do either, my body just rides out an adrenaline surge. It's almost like whenever I get adrenaline surges, my body OPENS THE FLOOD GATES and it takes a physical toll on me. It is especially noticeable when I ride motocross (dirt bike - you know, jumps and turns and stuff), you know, when my adrenaline is supposed to slow things down and special things happen on the bike? Yeah, I just kind of get panicky and I have to get off the track because I wear myself out.

What the hell is my problem and what can I do to fix it?

I feel this way and for me it is simply anxiety. I've felt it for years-shaking, rush and all. you will feel it come and have to wait for it to pass.

I know it does impact performance and is annoying. When you're trying to do something and begin to shake and panic you cannot concentrate. And if you recognize it as anxiety and watch it ebb and flow rather than worry about it (causing secondary anxieties) you can get back to doing things faster

Unfortunately a lot of us seem wired for higher anxiety levels. For me physical stress like running and riding a bike will trigger that panic so I will try to avoid it. Try not to, exercize helps and the avoidant behavior hurts.

[Adam Koch]

Thanks all for your responses. It isn't something that seems to happen every day, just sometimes. Most people say they could never imagine me being high strung or stressed out as I have a pretty calm demeanor most of the time and honestly my life is fairly stress free at this point.

I'm going to try to get into better shape this winter and eat better, and see what that fixes. I do drink a lot of beer and smoke a lot of pot and I have a chronic cough, not to mention I eat like shit.