Is this anxiety? Please Help.

[Guardian2008]

Have had this for a month. It all started after an mdma trip gone wrong. I was pretty much freaking out thinking im going to die and had trouble breathing for no reason through the whole experience.

Most of the time im in fear, especially at work. Not in fear of a specific thing but just fear in general. In the morning i sometimes wake up in fear of going to work and thinking i will have a panic attack. As ive said it's always the worst at work.

I also had few episodes where suicidal ideation kicks in, and that truly terrifies me. For instance i would be in my ?anxiety? state and for some reason a thought would pop in to my head saying maybe i should drive of the bridge. Then all of the sudden i would step back and think, what the hell i would never do that. SCARY STUFF!


Anyway here are my symptoms, mind you these come and go thought the day.

Chest pains
Breathing trouble
Pressure in around the head
Nervous/anxious
Negative thoughts more negative then positive
Tingling feet
Pressure in right ear (mostly when i lean forward)
Mind racing
Feel tunes out, not fully myself.
Fear of being by myself.
Very stiff neck where i feel it in my head
Dizziness, floor spining, the light head, imbalance and confusion
Very self-conscious basicaly over analysis and too aware of myself
Constantly thinking there is something wrong with me
Fear that i might soon die or hurt myself "which quiet honestly i do not have the balls for".
Fear of going insane and loosing control of myself. Which is the scariest of them all.
I also experince skipped heart beats.
And feeling as is there is a bomb inside of me that's about to go off.

[Bungle]

Guardian, well done for being able to even write a post when you're feeling like this. It took me six months to be able to read other people's anxiety stories without it making me more anxious.

To put you at your rest, your symptoms, such as tingling feet and chest pains and light headedness are very likely to be due to you hyperventilating. I read a book recently that explained that 'over breathing' gives you these symptoms and that to combat this you need to slow your breathing down and do some exercises. google it, or maybe someone else on the forum can help with some links.

What happens when you experience these symptoms or sensations is that you begin to worry about them - which then makes them more pronounced- which guess what (?!) worries you some more! When you start to feel the sensations try telling yourself over and over 'I am ok. All I am experiencing is an exaggerated bodily reaction to stress. I am well. I am fine'. writing down lines can help very much as not only are you telling yourself positive 'I'll handle it' messages, you're actually distracted from your panic by having to write.

I hope this has helped you a little. Everyone's here for you and is wishing you the best :D

[kevinpanic]

Well first off see a doctor....

Secondly, my anxiety attacks started while I was high too. I was a huge pothead then one day after smoking weed I felt really weird, but I kept smoking it saying "I'll just smoke less next time". It just got worse and worse and then I had a full blown panic attack after smoking up, which transferred into my sober mindset.

You should see a doc though, or use some doctor forums available on the net to ask questions.

[punkgod94]

I'd talk to a doctor for sure, but some of the symptoms you listed in your paragraph section go hand in hand with drug use. The panic attacks can often be brought on by stimulating drugs such as pot, ecstasy, cocaine, etc. It's POSSIBLE that it may last for a month, but I have no experience with ecstasy so I can't say. When you take ecstasy though it basically uses ALL the dopamine your brain has leaving you with NONE until the brain replenishes itself. This can lead to your suicidal thoughts since you have no "happy chemical" in your brain. The answer isn't more drugs cause that only drains you further making you more depressed and anxious. Plus you never know what else that stuff's laced with...especially ecstasy. I'd see a doctor and see what you can do about it, but I'd say try to stay positive, keep off the drugs, and try to exercise and eat right for awhile to help your body out a little.

[Guardian2008]

Well for starters all these fears and feeling always rear their ugly head when im at work. When i get home i feel much better just light derealization. Couple week ago my and my girlfriend went camping for couple of days and that whole time i felt perfectly fine. No issues at all. Thne back to work on monday and all the problems are back.

Well i have been to the ER when i was feeling my worst and he sent me home with an anxiety panthlet. Doc did a cat scan and said i was perfectly fine.

Then went to neurologist few days later and she to said that it's enxiety/stress. I also did and EEG yestorday, so will have result back next week.

Also have an appointment next week with a shrink to discuss the issue. No mind you im not depressed, but i am feeling down because of what i happening though.

[Robbed]

Almost 15 years ago, I had a problem after foolishly agreeing to take LSD. It ended up being a REALLY bad trip, which (probably along with the other drugs I was 'experimenting' with at the time, which included about four or five E-pills spread over about 3-4 months) drove me into anxiety disorder. In all, this lasted somewhat over three years, but I was feeling MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better after about six months. But even though it DID take a while to get over it all, the fact is that I DID (the cause of my current anxiety problem is a whole different matter altogether, and unrelated to drugs). Plenty of other people have gotten over this sort of thing as well. So I think that, with time and patience, there is a MOST EXCELLENT chance you will as well. Just be patient, don't react to your symptoms with fear (as much as you can, that is), and STAY AWAY FROM DRUGS! If anything, my experience did have the benefit of getting me to swear off drugs for good. Hopefully it will do the same for you.

You mention feeling good while camping. Personally, I think that spending time in a natural setting is probably one of the BEST things you can do for your anxiety disorder. I myself had a GREAT day today (despite having a slight setback as far as anxiety) hanging out in the splendid cool, sunny weather among the gnarled red fir trees atop a 6700ft ridge in the Northern California coastal mountains. But even if you feel good while camping, but not as good when you return home, it is helpful nevertheless. Of course, it does raise your spirits somewhat. But a girl with whom I used to correspond on this site some time ago put it best by saying that every minute you DON'T think about anxiety disorder is a minute that your brain heals. So even if it is not realistic to camp all the time, try to make time when you can to spend time in nature.

[Jay12345]

Hey guys, i just want to mention something about camping or doing something different to normal routine. I found it to be really good for me because when the symptons decrease you can kind of have a good think about how you are and that actually, it's not as much as a big deal than it actually seems, you can think more clearly about the whole situation and it gives you alot of energy and confidence.. the reason why it comes back when you return to work/home is simply association.. It's like when you hear music and it reminds you of a specfic effect, like a death of a close relative... It works exacty the same...! :)

[Robbed]

This is true about associations. But even here, time spent in nature, like hiking and camping, can have benefits. I find that SO much of the time, I feel quite a bit better for a day or two after a good trip to the mountains. This means that I also feel better at home or work, which helps to form more positive associations with those places. Even though they may not last too long, you have to remember that the effects of anxiety recovery are cumulative: every little bit helps in the end.

[Guardian2008]

So i decided to drive into work today. Usually i take the bus to save some money cuz i work so far away.

Upon waking up i was greeted with severe fear of dying while going into work. Espcially of the bridge i have to cross to get into downtown. I had no physical symptoms like pilpulations of any other stuff. Just pure fear in my mind.

It's like a different state of mind. All these fear of death started about amonth ago after i read that one of the symptoms of enxiety is fear of death.

[Jay12345]

So i decided to drive into work today. Usually i take the bus to save some money cuz i work so far away.

Upon waking up i was greeted with severe fear of dying while going into work. Espcially of the bridge i have to cross to get into downtown. I had no physical symptoms like pilpulations of any other stuff. Just pure fear in my mind.

It's like a different state of mind. All these fear of death started about amonth ago after i read that one of the symptoms of enxiety is fear of death.

Ok, so what you need to understand is that the only reason why you are getting these irrational thoughts is because you read something, you've had no physical symptoms in any form to indicate that theres anything wrong with you, you're absolutely fine.. What you must simply do is treat the irrational thought as a thought and nothing eles, like an awake nightmare, and the thoughts/symptoms will decrease!

[elgrande]

Yeah I can relate to this. My anxiety started during my teens after about a year of experimenting with a variety of drugs. At the time I was terrified that I was losing my mind and that I had given myself some kind of brain damage! I grew up in a very rural area and this was before the internet etc so the confusion was made worse by a lack of access to decent information. I know now what the issue was/is but at the time I was pretty freaked out. Anyway the best advice I can give you is to stop taking any more drugs immediately as they will only add to the problem. What you are experiencing is acute anxiety which given time will fade to a much more manageable level. Along with depression its one of the most commonly treated conditions out there and I promise your not going mad. Your symptoms are very consistent with anxiety and although it seems difficult just now it will get better as time passes. Hope this helps.