Anxiety

magichatter06

We always feel so alone and weird when going through something like this,but as soon as you tell someone, you find out there ARE others!

Could it be that you experienced these symptoms that one time because of bf and pressure from family and reflux, and now the trip triggers it all over again?

I have an issue with bridges, but it stems from an event where I was feeling nervous about my husband's "business party" right after he got a promotion. We were driving along and I kept thinking of how I didn't know anyone there and what kind of expectations there would be. Then, I felt like I had no choice...ie, no control. Telling myself I was being silly made it that much worse. Pretty soon, I was in a full-blown crying jag with shortness of breath. :sad: DH (dear husband) looked at me like I was crazy. :huh: (He's much more understanding now).

There was a time when the prospect of traveling over a bridge (only certain types) would send me off into an anxiety attack and coming across one unexpectadly was always horrible. Things are better now simply because I've worked through a lot of the "what I'm supposed to be/do" type issues.

I agree with whoever said to check into some anxiety meds from doc if this continues, but trying yoga and such would be a better long term solution.

If you try it, I will!:flowerforyou:

Karen

Thanks:flowerforyou:

Well I def. don't have fears about bridges, I mean, as long as I have my floaties with me! haha.
The main thing is I don't want any meds. That is the absolute last resort, like it was last year. I think dealing with my innerself and talking to myself helps. Basically I think most of my issues are mind over matter, you know?

I really appreciate everybodys thoughts and experiences! I'm glad that I'm not the only nut haha

lotusfromthemud

Oh, and the most common fear - agorophobia - the most severe cases, people don't leave their house - but many people feel anxious at grocery stores and the like. In fact, when I applied for a job at a grocery store, they said - about once a day, someone just leaves their full cart. They just can't handle it anymore. It's a good place to practice dealing with anxiety.

Wow, that is a very comforting thing to know! I thought I was the only one in the WORLD that the store freaked out.

cp005e

Is there anything else that I might be able to suggest? It seems like he isn't willing to try anything - no therapy, no meditation or relaxation techniques, and definitely not medication again - the main thing he does is try to control his environment so he doesn't get caught up in stressful things (not watching the news, talking about people with problems, etc.). But that doesn't seem to me like a very good long-term strategy, because you can't just ignore things that stress you out... can you?

Of course you can, if you want it to build-up so that you A:explode or B: have an emotional breakdown in an inappropriate location. (for me it was the grocery store because they were. . .wait for it. . .out of lowfat laughing cow cheese.) Thank God for sunglasses!

It sounds like he's very resistant to changing, so that's hard. . .there is a "just do it" thing to some of it. For me, I "just did" yoga for several weeks and then one day the dam broke. Literally. I started crying in yoga class (my wonderful teacher told me this is actually not an un-common thing). I find that really strenuous exercise (think interval sprints) helps tremendously, too. . .and if he's resistant to more "marketed as relaxation" exercise, that might be a good suggestion. I think controlling your environment is good, but at the end of the day. . .we do have to live in the world! "Controlling your environment" can lead to fear of the world you can't control (like the one outside your front door) and leads to isolation and depression.

Oh, my. . .I'm writing a book here. I just have a little bit of experience here. . .hope some of that is helpful.:flowerforyou:

Thanks for the book! I can definitely relate to the exploding/emotional breakdown thing - when you are already so wound up or feeling overwhelmed about lots of other things (especially if you have been trying to ignore it or 'just get by'), it doesn't take much to push you over that cliff. I have heard of people crying during massage, so I can see the same sort of release happening during yoga. Strenuous exercise is a good suggestion. It can be hard to discuss when the very topic of anxiety makes you anxious... :ohwell:

And Jamerz... the person I'm talking about actually did used to "self-medicate" with alcohol... although not so much lately (which is good). He's also cut back on caffeine because he doesn't need the extra jitters!

jamerz3294

Yeah, Martini Therapy should be used sparingly, for sure! I have found that boosting my exercise really does help me with relieving stress, and getting into a better place emotionally. :happy:

magichatter06

Yeah, Martini Therapy should be used sparingly, for sure! I have found that boosting my exercise really does help me with relieving stress, and getting into a better place emotionally. :happy:

I heard that wine was also a relaxer? Not that I am quite old enough yet ::cough cough::
haha

vegasmellie

I have GAD, General Anxiety Disorder. I was always a worry wart, but it became much worse after I turned 30. I describe it to people like this...some people walk into a room and see a chandelier and comment how beautiful it is. I think about how it would hurt if it fell on me! :noway:

Long story short, I'm on Lexapro as Paxil made me gain 40lbs. :grumble: Still dealing with cravings, but it's not as bad. Unfortunately, it hasn't done anything for my OCD.

Medication isn't for everyone, but it works for me. Exercise also helps. I plan on trying yoga one of these days and see if it calms me down more.

Good luck!

wanderinglight

I can only say what worked for me. About two years ago I started having sporadic anxiety attacks and what I would call "hamster wheel" syndrome -- where my mind would just spin around, going over the same topics again and again, usually when I was trying to fall asleep. It was like I couldn't get out of my own head. My heart would race and I would get this panicky feeling and wouldn't be able to stop thinking about all the things I was worried about (big and small).

Then one day out of the blue, it was like I realized that there are things that I can control and things that I can't, and I completely stopped worrying about the things that I can't. It sounds too easy, but it really was that simple and it was night and day. Whenever the hamster wheel started spinning, I would ask myself if it was something I could control or not. As it turned out, of course, 99.9% of things I worried about were things I couldn't control.

Phase II of the change was that I would switch my mind over to something mindlessly entertaining. Don't laugh -- for me it was packing my "mental backpack." Sounds crazy, but I've done a lot of backpacking around the world, so it soothes me to imagine perfectly packing what I would need for a new trip. I start with the shoes...then my 3/4 length black skirt...I'm usually asleep by the time I get to the shirts.

When this doesn't work, I imagine that I'm standing in a dead-end alleyway and I'm kicking cans down to the end of the alley. Each can has some word or image on it. It's weirdly satisfying.

I reckon these are my versions of meditation.

magichatter06

I have GAD, General Anxiety Disorder. I was always a worry wart, but it became much worse after I turned 30. I describe it to people like this...some people walk into a room and see a chandelier and comment how beautiful it is. I think about how it would hurt if it fell on me! :noway:

Long story short, I'm on Lexapro as Paxil made me gain 40lbs. :grumble: Still dealing with cravings, but it's not as bad. Unfortunately, it hasn't done anything for my OCD.

Medication isn't for everyone, but it works for me. Exercise also helps. I plan on trying yoga one of these days and see if it calms me down more.

Good luck!

Oh wow, I don't think I think about chandeliers hurting me lol but everybody is different, lexapro helped until I got myself under control and then I got off of it and I felt so good for a while.


I hope that you feel better! I know I'm a worry wort, I've been waking up the past couple of days nervous and anxious like it's the day we are leaving! lol

Thanks! :flowerforyou:

magichatter06

I can only say what worked for me. About two years ago I started having sporadic anxiety attacks and what I would call "hamster wheel" syndrome -- where my mind would just spin around, going over the same topics again and again, usually when I was trying to fall asleep. It was like I couldn't get out of my own head. My heart would race and I would get this panicky feeling and wouldn't be able to stop thinking about all the things I was worried about (big and small).

Then one day out of the blue, it was like I realized that there are things that I can control and things that I can't, and I completely stopped worrying about the things that I can't. It sounds too easy, but it really was that simple and it was night and day. Whenever the hamster wheel started spinning, I would ask myself if it was something I could control or not. As it turned out, of course, 99.9% of things I worried about were things I couldn't control.

Phase II of the change was that I would switch my mind over to something mindlessly entertaining. Don't laugh -- for me it was packing my "mental backpack." Sounds crazy, but I've done a lot of backpacking around the world, so it soothes me to imagine perfectly packing what I would need for a new trip. I start with the shoes...then my 3/4 length black skirt...I'm usually asleep by the time I get to the shirts.

When this doesn't work, I imagine that I'm standing in a dead-end alleyway and I'm kicking cans down to the end of the alley. Each can has some word or image on it. It's weirdly satisfying.

I reckon these are my versions of meditation.

Yeah, I do that sometimes when I am about to fall asleep, I will think about stuff and most of the time its like scenarios (sp?) like What if? Usually they are bad ones tho and I think that is part of my problem :ohwell:

I use to think bad things hoping that good things would come out of it...what it stemmed from was I never changed anything, anytime I would change something whether it would be my shampoo, makeup something would always happen with me and my bf, whether it be a fight or he'd leave me for a couple weeks.... so if I changed, I would change right back to what I was using when things were good. Then I finally realized about a year ago, that me changing certain products isn't going to make my bf leave me, so I don't think like that anymore and that has left me a little less stressful...

Thanks! :flowerforyou: