Anxiety/Panic attacks/Agoraphobia

[hellocupcake]

Does anyone here experience them? How long have you had them and what do you do to make sure they don't interfere with your life?

I had my first panic attack (or something very darn close to it) last month, and it set off a bad cycle of feeling nauseated, being unable to eat, feeling more nauseated, and a hard time sleeping.

After some analyzing I realized that I've always been an anxious person, but it's never been as bad as it is now. I've had brushes with agoraphobia, but it's never been as bad as now. I have emetophobia (fear of vomiting) and sometimes being out/at certain places I end up starting to feel sick. I get this feeling in my throat of needing to burp, and since I've never been able to it feels horrible, and thus the anxiety begins.

Anyway, went to the doctor and got put on a natural supplement and told to exercise and meditate. All of those have helped.

Just looking to read about others' experiences.

[sugarlily]

I'm pretty high anxiety, so much so that it can be crippling. I find as I get older I'm growing out of it, or I'm getting used to it... who knows! The important thing is to find a way to self soothe. I've been told about anxiety medications (not natural supplements) but I've veered away from them out of fear that I'd gain a dependency and one day when I can't get them, I'll be a mess! So I've tried natural ways to soothe my anxiety. As you said, exercise helps a lot! I go for walks, swim, and do yoga. I also avoid highly caffeinated beverages (I love tea though... so it's hard!) and I make sure to always have a book handy as reading calms me down. That being said, sometimes I just have to sit down and wait it out, but I've gotten better at doing that. During the school year, university is my primary source of stress which leads to many breakdowns. But I've been getting fewer and fewer each year! Fingers crossed. (: I'm sorry you have to go through anxiety too, it isn't fun and people often don't recognize it as a "real" problem. They often tell you to just suck it up and get over it, which is frustrating because, well, you and I both know it is not that simple!

[charlavail]

I had my first panic attack 5 years ago, and it was BAD. The entire night was just a complete anxiety attack. I seriously thought something was wrong with me and I was going to die.

I've since then learned I'm obviously not gonna die. I try not to worry about things. That's sort of a bad thing, because if I feel like something is giving me a lot of panic attacks, I decide my health is better, and I ignore it, when I know I should probably work through it to correct the situation. I also try not to drink coffee (I LOVE IT) but it get's me really anxious, and I start having anxiety attacks.

I'm trying to train myself to not worry all the time. My mind always goes to the worse scenario and then anxiety ensues.

If I start to feel bad, I go out for a walk. Around my block, sometimes with my dog. Just to get away from everything.

[hellocupcake]

Thank you for responding, ladies (I'm sorry if you're guys! Don't think there are too many (any?) on this site.

I like reading how others deal with them and yes, it sucks that a lot of people don't realize it's a real problem, just because it's usually not something you can notice immediately upon looking at someone.

Thanks again.

[Angie V]

I have anxiety issues too. I don't know how long I've had it because I don't remember not having it. Going to public places... it stresses me out. But it's odd because I like being by myself and going places by myself. Even if I have butterflies in my stomach the whole time, sometimes I'll just go to the store by myself or go walk around downtown. I just focus on what I'm doing and don't pay attention to others. I feel like that's kind of therapeutic for me. But when I'm stressed out and I feel lonely or sad or something at the same time, I get really, really anxious and that's when I get panic attacks. The last bad one I had was about a month and a half ago when I had finals due in school (I just graduated so it was my senior thesis) and I was all alone in my apartment all weekend (both my roommates were gone). I just felt so lonely and sad and stressed out and I had a really bad panic attack. It was very scary and especially because I was alone and didn't know what to do. Before that, I had numerous smaller ones throughout school. The other bad one I remember was a while ago when my uncle / Godfather died. What makes me feel better are two things:
1. Being by myself in public places and tuning everyone else out
2. Being with people at home

I think it's mostly the strangers that stress me out in public. I don't know how to talk to people I've never met or don't know well. I don't know, I haven't gone to see anyone about this so I haven't figured it all out yet.

[canaduh]

I have really bad PTSD and I can't stand it. I was in multiple bus accidents and now even seeing a bus or transport freaks me out and I will start hyperventilating. If I'm on a bus, for school, I have to distract myself with something but most times I will have a panic attack. I've been brought to the hospital many times for my panic attacks.

I also get bad panic attacks in large crowds from my claustrophobia.

[charlavail]

One thing I'm worried about is going to college. I'm comfortable enough around some of my friends that if I start having an anxiety attack and I start feeling bad, I can tell them, and they'll try to do something to make me feel better (like, go outside with me or try to take my mind off things)

I'm moving to like the other side of the country where I don't know ANYONE. I don't want to have a hard time making friends because they are gonna think I'm crazy.

[Llama]

I was in a depressive and anxiety-filled period with an abusive boyfriend. I've always been a person that doesn't handle stress the best (although I keep it to myself, which makes it worse) but I felt constant anxiety during that period. I guess the anxiety and depressiveness built up and one night during a fallout I had my first anxiety attack. I don't recall much but it was very unpleasant and I felt as if I was going crazy, it almost felt like an out-of-body experience. I remember trembling and shaking a lot and not being able to think clearly. I just rolled up into a ball and did nothing but lay there for one or two hours.

After that, he kept referring it to the time where I "went crazy" and kept belittling me about how I was scary because I became unpredictable and I'm capable of doing crazier things (?). I feel as if it has nothing to do with ME based on my actions and no one should be attacked for it.

[hellocupcake]

I'm sorry that you ladies deal with this too. It's interesting to me that event though we have similar feelings they're not entirely the same. I actually prefer to be alone when I'm feeling anxious rather than be with people. Guess I rather have a freak out no one else can see.

I bought a book called The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook, which I've found helpful and maybe some of you might, too.

Thinking of you all and hoping for less anxiety-filled days than anxiety-ridden ones. I, too, kept most of these feelings to myself for years and don't handle stress well, so I guess it had to come out sometime.

Hope you all have at least one person that you feel completely comfortable with.

charlavail, I hope you find awesome friends at college!

[gossip_girl]

Hello Cupcake I have that book (it's huge) plus a ton of CBT and PTSD books, but I find that they don't work. I'm sort of sad because it came from nowhere, and now it's crippling. I thought it was shyness, new country, no friends, new job, university, but it expanded to an ed, then to accepting I was meant to be a hermit. But once I learnt it was affecting my family and people who attempted to get to know me (being seen as rejecting, too good for, stand offish) it bothered me, now I can't stop beating me self up about how I'm going to do "x" and get out of me comfort zone. My mum passed very recently, and I thought a promise I made then would motivate me, and when I couldn't do it, I beat me up more, and it's made it worse, THEN all these people on YouTube discussed how they conquered it and that still makes me feel like a loser.

[hellocupcake]

I'm sorry about the loss of your mom.

Perhaps you just haven't found what's right for you. Do you have a good support system? I hope so. I'm not sure where you are, but if you ever need to talk feel free to message me.

[BulldogRN]

I created an account just to reply to this thread!

Anxiety and panic attacks are a new occurrence in my life. I first experienced one at the age of 23, a few months after the end of a serious relationship and a complete change of my academic track. It was serious and deathly frightening. My parents called 911 and i was rushed by ambulance to the nearest hospital, feeling certain that my life was ending then and there. After that incident, I didn't have another one for a few years...until about a year ago (age 26) when they started up again. I've had about 5 in the last year, and I get really scared each time it happens. The worst part about them for me is that I feel like I'm going to die. I have to force myself to get up or get out of bed (when they occur spontaneously in the middle of the night like one did last night). I take a beta blocker to decrease my heart rate and I take half an alprazolam to decrease the anxiety. I don't take these medications regularly, but I've taken them each time I've had an attack, and they seem to calm me down. I must say, this is a new battle for me, and I'm not really sure how to conquer it, but I plan to begin exercising in an attempt to decrease my anxiety and live a healthier lifestyle, both physically and mentally. I really hope I can overcome this, because it really is a terrifying thing that most people have the wrong impression of. People often say, "oh, yeah, i had a panic attack about it," but they really don't know what a panic attack is or what it feels like. If anyone has advice for me, I'd gladly accept it. I figured I'd share a bit of my story so others who deal with this know they're not alone. Thanks for reading

[hellocupcake]

Thanks for sharing your experience with this, BulldogRN!

I don't have much advice myself since dealing with this as bad as it is now is new to me as well. After the horrible panic attack things just haven't been the same. I find exercise helps, and I've also been doing some guided meditation,which also helps. I don't know if this is your situation at all, but I recently came off birth control and I've been reading online that a lot of women experience similar feelings after stopping birth control. Just an idea.

It really helps to know you're not alone. *hugs*

[thecitylightsburn]

I've had panic attacks since I was fourteen. I was put on many medications' that made me feel like a complete zombie. I decided to go off of them, and try to live my life and cope with my struggles. It got easier over the years, and I found ways to figure out what was triggering my attacks. It became easier to avoid situations' where I knew I could possibly have a panic attack. Sometimes, it's so hard to keep a job because I freak out and have really bad chest pain. But, that's one of my goals. To have a job where I feel comfortable. And, hopefully it works. You're never alone. It sucks, but you will become so strong.