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  1. #1

    Please help...sever anxiety

    I am a 29 years old male. For as long as I can remember I have had panic attacks and other anxiety related issues. I don't like crowds. I don't like new people. I hardly like leaving my house. Some how I was starting to get better. Lately ( a couple months ago) I lost my father. Everything went to hell from there. I have stomach pains and horrible gas almost every night. I am terrified of throwing up and I feel like I am going to all the time. I hide in the back at work and try to avoid people so I don't throw up around them.

    My latest issue and the reason I joined this forum is because about 3-4 days ago I woke up and came out in my living room. My air conditioner was off and it was pretty hot in my room. I was sitting in my chair and my hands were sweating and i started to get nervous because I felt like I was working myself up into a panic attack. Well during that time I got a slight pain in the right side of my stomach and since then I have been FREAKING out that I have appendicitis. I am almost to the point of fainting every time I think about having surgery. I have freaked myself out into a world of symptoms. I have some pain in my back around my tail bone ( which I'm assuming is because I sit funny in my chair to try to combat the gas pains. I can feel gas moving all around my stomach. I feel it gurgle constantly. I get the stomach pains and the I have had very loose stool for the past couple days. I'm trying to convince myself I just have IBS and I need to calm down, but its so hard. The funny thing is when I first wake up in the morning I feel fine. Then I will start going about my daily activities and the whole time I'll be thinking OMG when is the stomach pain gonna start and then after going nuts for about an hour basically forcing it on, it comes. I have one pretty sever attack after that and then I have one pretty sever attack before bed. I can't seem to get myself to settle down enough to go to sleep. And also everyone I've talked to has told me if the pain doesn't wake you up in the middle of the night then it is not anything to worry about. So you would think that helped right? Wrong. Now I'm afraid to go to bed because I don't want something to wake me up in the middle of the night. I have such a history of panic. My mother has struggled with it her entire life. My father was always the one that helped me calm down but with him gone I feel like everything is 100 times worse. I just feel so alone. I feel like I am such a burden to anyone that I ask for help because I have been having attacks now for more then half of my life and I feel like people are sick of hearing about it.


    *EDIT* The crazy part is I will go jog around my backyard or I'll do a couple situps or something just to see if it hurts like hell. It never does. Infact it usually feels pretty good. You think that right there would tell me that it's obviously not what I think it is. However, I convince myself that it still could be and its just not advanced enough or whatever for it to hurt from movement. I'm really messed up in the head. I spent about 5 years (from 18 to late 22) thinking I was going to have a heart attack. Every day having major chest pains and everything and then one day they just randomly went away. I even have had this stomach thing before. No matter how much sense I try to talk into myself though it never seems to work. I can't seem to make myself listen to reason or see that I'm ok. I've tried everything. I've tried ignoring it. I've tried talking to everyone I could find. I've been to therapy but that was quite a while ago. I didn't really like it because I felt like all he did was throw some pills at me and not even really want to listen. I've tried paying like a hundred bucks for someone online anxiety thing. Everything seems to help alittle, but never enough. I'm reaching out to you guys basically because I need help calming down. My gas pains and everything are minimal at best and I turn them into the hugest deal ever. My nausea and basically ALL of my physical stuff isn't really THAT bad when I actually sit down and think about it but for some reason I freak myself out and convince myself that a stomach pain is appendicitis or a gas pain is a heart attack or a headache is a brain tumor. I really just need to find a way to stop over thinking everything and live my life. Hell, I'm not even so sure I really think I even have any of these things. I'm just plagued by the " oh my god what if it really is..."
    Last edited by makeitstopugh; 09-13-2016 at 02:24 PM.

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia
    Posts
    3,829
    Hi and welcome

    I'm still in my "waking up anxiety" phase so I can't think as clearly as other times. But I can really relate to the anxiety getting worse after losing a family member. My brother died in 2014 - he was my only sibling and since then the loneliness has been terrible (even though other areas of my life have improved). He was a calming influence as well and now that's gone.

    Cheers,
    Gypsy x
    "You're the worst thing that ever happened to me." --Marla Singer

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Posts
    359
    Hey makeitstopugh,

    DEMOPHOBIA / ENOCHLOPHOBIA (fear of crowds):

    Systematic Desensitisation Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy have been shown to be effective in the treatment of phobia. "A fear avoided is a fear strengthened; a fear faced is a fear reduced". Also worth considering are hypnotherapy, particularly from a reputable professional hypnotherapist, and EFT*. Give EFT a good tryout, to see if it helps you. It is free via the searchbar at * http://www.mercola.com - SEARCHBAR: "EFT" & "EFT therapists" or www.tapping.com or www.eftuniverse.com www.emofree.com or YouTube EFT - Professional is best. - There is a version for use in public places at http://eft.mercola.com (if you like, you can claim to have a headache, as you massage/lightly tap your temples, but you would then be restricted to subvocalising: saying it to yourself in your mind: "Even though I have a fear of crowds, I deeply and completely accept myself." as you employ the acupressure massage/tapping technique. Anyone from any country should closely examine the advice at the following websites, before beginning their search for a suitable therapist: http://1-800-therapist.com/index.html and http://www.metanoia.org/choose/

    Relevant reading: Fear of Crowds: A Guide to Overcoming the Fear of Crowds in 6 Easy Steps, Feb 27, 2015, by Anila Sepp, Anxiety, Phobias, & Panic: A Step-by-Step Program for Regaining Control of Your Life by Reneau Z. Peurifoy, & Triumph Over Fear: A Book of Help and Hope for People with Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and Phobias by Jerilyn Ross, & The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook, Fourth Edition by Edmund J. Bourne, & *The Tapping Cure: A Revolutionary System for Rapid Relief from Phobias, Anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and More by Roberta Temes Ph.D., from your bookstore, Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com and enter "fear of crowds" in their searchbars for more.

    "Even if we have some vague idea that we are not our feelings or our thoughts, when we are experiencing painful feelings or painful thoughts, we believe we have to feel them or think them just because of the fact that they are occurring to us. But painful feelings can be indirectly controlled by physical action, and changing our present thoughts for different thoughts (since feeling occurs as a result of thinking.) Painful thoughts can be directly controlled by choosing replacement thoughts for the ones that are troubling us. Sure, it takes some practice to change a habit of suffering. But it can be done. Of course it can't be done if we choose to believe that it can't be done. But, since the choice is ours, why not choose to believe it can be done, and do it?" Read: Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think by Dennis Greenberger and Christine Padesky, & "Feeling Good." The New Mood Therapy. Harper Collins.1999. ( updated sequel to his US bestseller about treating depression & anxiety; very comprehensive), by David D. Burns, M.D., & Change Your Thinking by Sarah Edelman.

    Hypnosis is merely a heightened state of suggestibility, in which you are better able to communicate with your subconscious mind; view http://myfavoriteinterests.com/hypnosis/ about what it is, and isn't. 85% of people are suggestible to some degree; 15% - 20% highly so, and 15% - 20% aren't much at all, so you could either preferably seek professional hypnotherapy, or, if not an option, hypnosisdownloads.com has: Overcome fear of crowds, or asktheinternettherapist.com has: Stop Fears and Phobias, CD, & MP3. Professional advice is to use only one, or up to a maximum of 2 at any one time.

    "Treatment for the fear of crowds
    Self help is the best form of treatment for this phobia. Experts recommend the following practices to overcome one’s fear of crowds:

    Breathing deeply and focusing on the breath.
    Gradually desensitizing oneself: beginning with smaller events and increasing one’s comfort level so that one can slowly attend larger events comfortably.
    Having a close friend or family member along for support. This can help ease anxiety.
    To keep anxiety at bay, experts also recommend focusing on one person in the gathering/party. Talking to this person and focusing the mind on him can help the phobic keep the mind occupied and prevent negative thoughts.
    Other than these self-help remedies, one can also seek professional help, counseling, talk therapy, group therapy, Hypnotherapy, behavior therapy or drugs for treating their fear of crowds phobia".
    http://www.fearof.net/fear-of-crowds...enochlophobia/

    You could try going to a party, or a bar, early in the evening, and gradually becoming accustomed to larger numbers.

    -----------------------------------------------------------

    Previous relevant post/s:

    IBS: http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showth...hought-process

    ANXIETY ATTACKS or PANIC ATTACKS: http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showth...last-for-hours *

    GENERALISED ANXIETY DISORDER: http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showth...989#post223989 **

    NAUSEA: http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showth...597#post228597

    HERBAL ANXIOLYTICS / ANTI-ANXIETY SUBSTANCES: (passionflower, valerian, St. John's Wort, kanna, sacred lotus, kava kava, etc.) http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showth...415#post225415

    NON HERBAL NATURAL (NON PHARMACEUTICAL) ANXIOLTYICS: (5-htp, SAMe, etc.) http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showth...lease!!!/page2


    "Vitamin D3 Cured my Anxiety, Depression, and Panic Disorder", (by another forum member) is at http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showth...hlight=vitamin

    VITAMIN D: View my post at http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showth...476#post228476

    "The Quick Guide to Stopping Panic Attacks", (also by another forum member) is at http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showth...ighlight=admin

    I suggest that you learn and apply an anti-panic attack breathing method* when necessary, then use either progressive muscle relaxation or acupressure tapping / EFT. Hopefully, you will eventually realise when you begin to fall into the pre-panic attack mode of thinking, and employ the Technique for Reprogramming Negative Thoughts ** immediately.

    Daily meditation** will also enable a better awareness of your mental processes after several weeks, but maintain the practice.


    Use the relaxation / meditation methods at http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/mind...Meditation.htm
    or www.wikihow.com/Meditate or the Yoga Nidra, (actually a meditative practice; a series of simple mental exercises only; no flexibility required) at http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showth...951#post224951

    Some people are still dismissive of them, but scientific testing has demonstrated conclusively that they increase activity and may, after regularly practising for a couple of months, result in a thickening of the walls of the prefrontal cortex, and better enable it and the hippocampus to control the amygdala, which is the fear centre of the brain, where panic attacks originate.

    Learn them at least a few hours apart, and preferably on different days, in the morning, or early afternoon. Use the one you find most effective. A minimum of 10 mns is recommended; 15 is better, and 20 is ideally preferred. Optimal results come from use twice daily, morning, and early afternoon, if possible, but once is fine, and is probably more realistically achievable in most households today.
    Last edited by Nowuccas; 09-14-2016 at 05:17 AM.

  4. #4
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Posts
    5
    I’m so sorry you’re having such bad days. Are you seeing a doctor regarding your condition? Please, never shy away from getting help. Sending you hugs and prayers. Take care!

 

 

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