I started having panic attacks when I was 25 years old. It started when I got stuck in a subway
car in Manhattan on the way to work. The train got stuck under ground with lights out and wall
to wall people surrounding me. So I just thought it was crowds at the time and trains. Little did
I know it is a permanent thing not temporary. I have general anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder
as well as ADHD so I am very anxious all the time. I did fairly well for about 15 years when my
Kids were growing up. Then it came back hard and strong when my mom died 12 years ago.
I have been in therapy and medication now. I thought I could wish it away and you cant. It
is a chemical in balance in the brain. I find a lot of e excercize helps me a lot. If I workoit
Don't feel anxious. My advice is get help it works. I am 60 now and still have to keep everything
normal.

Writeher I know exactly what you feel. I get all sweaty and I turn red. And people ask r you ok?
And the more they ask i am ok the worse I feel. I just want to run out of wherever I am to calm myself
and get fresh air. Finally I got put on effexor for panic attacks. Helps a lot.

Hi... I'm 39 and I suffer from a severe anxiety disorder with panic attacks and heart palps. I also have IBS and stomach spasms due to my anxiety. It doesn't end there... I also get tension headaches, eye twitches (in both eyes), shallow breathing, and an overwhelming sense of gloom and doom. My muscles in my neck and back are extremely tense 24/7. Oh, and I grind/clench my teeth constantly. In fact, I went to the dentist today because my teeth were hurting so bad and I found I have micro fractures! I wear a mouth piece at night, but now I have to wear it 24 hours a day to prevent the effects of grinding. I'm really close to my family. It's sad but I don't have friends any more because I don't trust any one outside of my family. I feel paranoid all the time that something bad will happen to me or to someone I love. I think I had anxiety as a child. I remember many of those same panicky feelings, but I used to get migraines accompanied by vomiting on stressful days. I also think I got it from my dad. He had an anxiety disorder along with Type I diabetes (insulin dependent - sometimes 3 to 4 shots a day). He had it before I was born, so I grew up around his shots and high/low blood sugar reactions. I also was with him when he had a heart attack, a triple bypass, and 2 legs amputated. I was very close to my dad and being an only child, I was 'daddy's little girl'. He always 'protected' me. I always felt safe when he was around. Well, he passed away suddenly about 16 years ago. That's when my real problems with anxiety began and when I was officially diagnosed. I'm married now and have a 6 yr. old daughter. I'm afraid of just about everything. I get an ache or pain or sick with any kind of symptoms and immediately think the worse. Several of my family members have had cancer (breast, rectal, stomach). I FEAR getting cancer. I currently have pre-diabetes. I FEAR diabetes. I have high blood pressure. I FEAR having a heart attack or a stroke or both! These obsessive paranoid thoughts plague my mind night and day. I have insomnia. I've been on all sorts of meds. and combos of meds since 1996. They've made me gain a lot of weight (I used to weigh 120. My highest weight on certain meds was 197 several years ago.) My husband and I are trying to get pregnant with our second child, so I only take a small amount of Zoloft (100 mg), which I don't feel completely helps. (Effexor XR worked really well for me, but my OB won't allow me to take it or any thing else for my anxiety.) And if I do get pregnant, the dosage will be decreased. When I'm sure of not being pregnant, or when we take time off from TTC (trying to conceive), I take Ativan at night before bed. But I don't thing that really helps any more like it used to. I'm having trouble taking the meds. that I've been taking for years. All of a sudden, I panic when taking my regular meds. sometimes or even something else prescribed (like an antibiotic when needed). I've even had a therapist tell me that I'm very close to being agoraphobic because I don't care to leave my house (although I do since I work 5 days a week, which is a struggle since the added stress from work makes my anxiety worse). When I'm home, I keep all of the blinds closed. I feel safe and protected at home. I'm germaphobic, but that's a whole other story. On top of all these issues, I have social anxiety. I can do ok with 1 or 2 people (but it's stressful), but more than that forget it. Because of my social anxiety, I feel it's hard for me to 'fit in' with people. Maybe it's just my paranoia, but I feel like people don't like me once they get to know me. I am very shy until I get to know someone, so maybe it's mistaken for an "I'm too good for you" attitude. I feel so alone a lot of the times - kind of like no one understands me. On a different note... My daughter has some medical issues with her colon and I'm always thinking the worse when she says she doesn't feel well. I don't really go to a psychologist any more because it was time consuming and not really helping. But I'm happy to find this group and happy to be a part of it with all of you who do understand how torturous anxiety is on a daily basis. I've turned to exercise about a month ago in the hopes of getting control of my BP and pre-diabetes. I've read - and have heard - that exercise also helps anxiety. Well, for me so far, I'm not sure it has. Then again, I've been under a tremendous about of stress lately with work and family issues, and I haven't had a break down yet. So maybe it's doing something to help with the stress. I'm exercising 4 to 5 times a week and I feel an addiction coming on because I'm wanting to exercise everyday for long periods of time. And when I skip a day, it bothers me and I become even more restless and anxious for not doing it. Right now I'm obsessing about having/getting breast cancer. I'm not sure why, but I think I'll call my doctor tomorrow to see about scheduling an exam. I'm supposed to go for some bloodwork next week because my white cell count was very high. I wonder what that's all about. I hope it's not cancer. I want to be around for many years to come so I can watch my daughter grow up. All I want is to be happy and healthy while enjoying my time with my family. I want to enjoy my family without constantly being plagued with such negative thoughts. I want to be able to control my anxiety and even get rid of it once and for all. (At least my dreams are pleasant.)

Writeher I just replied to your post in the wrong place now it is below this post.

It almost always starts with a thought. It can be the tiniest thing that doesn't even seem to matter at the time or something that is a really long way off. This digs at me until 100 "what if's" pile up. Then comes the sinking stomach followed by a fluttering heartbeat. My face flushes and I have to struggle for breath. After this I usually get shaky and either really warm or really cold while still trying to struggle to get the breathing under control. Falling into an attack usually causes it to get worse. I have very few healthy coping mechanisms, but have started working on breathing exercises and meditation. Sometimes, if I catch it at that first small thought and go do something I can stop it before it even starts.

In public I tend to get the fluttering heartbeat and dizziness in addition to difficulty breathing, but it's easier for me to control because I can remind myself that people will notice if something is wrong and find help.

My typical panic attack:

It starts with thoughts...that I could have a heart attack and die at any second, or what would happen to me if I collapsed and no one was around? Am I having a stroke? If I'm in public, I wonder if the people around me can sense my anxiety. The worst thing a person can do at this point is to tell me I "don't look well" or ask me if I'm okay.

I get a sinking feeling in my stomach like after a roller coaster drop. My heart starts to pound and I feel dizzy. My skin feels warm and tingly, and my face starts to go numb.

If I was sitting, at this point I'm now pacing or in the bathroom splashing water on my face. The thoughts keep coming, telling me that this time is different and there is actually something wrong with me. I'm going to faint or die if I don't get help.

After a while it works itself out of my system, but afterwords I feel drained and depressed.

This. I've never ridden a roller coaster just the baby (kid) coasters and that's how I feel. That or when you drive really fast and hit dips and that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach.

I had a really bad one today after having 2 unexpected calls and one the caller who called me hung up on me. I felt sick and weird. I still feel horrible.

I'll give it a go.
During an anxiety day, my chest is tight. My heart flutters, my hands shake, and nothing can stop my mind racing. I try to breathe, but nothing slows down. About half of the time, if I can get out to run, that helps, but if I do run and it doesn't help, I'm left in worse condition. I have no patience, and I feel constantly on the verge of tears.
My eyes twitch. All of the time. Both eyes, both lids, always twitching. My husband swears that no one else can see it, but it nags at me and make me paranoid, makes me want to scream.
When an attack happens, I can feel it creeping up. It starts it my stomach, this hard knot, and it moves up. My heart starts to race, my vision blurs, and this knot moves up and lodges in my chest and throat, expanding until I can't breath. Every breath is a struggle, my heart is going to burst and I can not inhale because this knot is stuck and I can't get my body to work right and I'm sure I'm going to die. When I finally push past the knot and manage to breath, I hyperventilate. I still can't figure out how to breath. My body is too hot, my legs and arms and hands are shaking, and the black knot moves to my head and blocks out everything. When it finally eases off, I'm left exhausted, apathetic drained, with one hell of a headache.
I have a pretty good idea what triggers my attacks, so I try to keep my boundaries clear, but it's not something that you can easily explain. "I'd love to help with this situation, but if I get involved, I'll forget how to breath."

My typical anxiety attack: usually triggered by an unexpected obstacle or problem or confrontation. Tense stomach, racing thoughts, breathing speeds up, agitation, inability to focus, feel like the room is caving in, feel like I need to run out of the room. I usually start shaking/flapping one hand just to try to get a grip on myself.

Severe full blown panic attack: all of the above including hyperventillating, incoherent moaning screaming, on the floor in a fetal position (usually gripping something because I feel like I"m going to fly apart or die), chest pain, numbness in limbs, and this pretty much goes on until I pass out. At one point I was having the severe attacks every day (often more than once) but now not as often.

My panic attack usually will start with feeling nauseous even throwing up at times. Getting so hot and sweaty I cant stand it. My heart races so fast my chest hurts. My thoughts go crazy I breath heavy. No one can talk to me or be anywhere near me. Usually need to go outside for air and then just want to cry. If I wake up in a mood you cant be like within 5 feet of me without me feeling closed in and freaking out. My meds def have been helping though.

Oh and in certain circumstances like in a car (which I have to be the one driving and in control) I will feel like I need to use the restroom because I cant. Specially in traffic I usually when going through a drive trough leave myself enough room to get out if i end up having an attack. Its all second nature now and come to find out my mom says a lot of what I do is what my father use to do.

New to the group! My symptoms are heart palpitations, fear of having heart attack, dizziness, pain in neck, back, chest, fast heart rate, and so many others I could list.

And then to add to my anxiety, I can't seem to lose any weight!! I need to lose 50lbs. Its so upsetting.

I have very high cortisol levels as well, my dietitian thinks this is why i cant lose anything.
I am desperate.

Wow!! I always thought I was alone in this. I feel for every single one of you. I started having panic attacks a few years ago and I didn't know what was going on with me, I went to the emergency room because I thought I had a stroke (due to the tingling & numbness) and they just gave me medicine for my stomach and sent me home with no explanation. Lots of doctors later I finally realized they were panic attacks and have since been diagnosed with MDD, ADD, OCD and acute anxiety. My panic attacks usually don't happen by a trigger..I can be watching tv, washing the dishes, at work, even sleeping (yes, I've woken up to a panic attack and it's terrifying!!) and for me that is the scariest part. I know that when they happen I'm not dying or that anything bad is happening but it's so upsetting because I cannot control them or when they will happen. Not knowing if I'm going to have a panic attack any given day has completely taken over my life. I get scared to leave the house or go to public places, even work so I've twice had to go on fmla and short term disability last year until everything calmed down and the panic attacks weren't daily. Recently I'm going through another rough episode and having daily panic attacks so I was given klonopin about a week ago to help. I previously took xanax as my symptoms occured but it didn't control the anxiety when it was constant. Since on klonopin, I haven't had a single panic attack and haven't had to take the xanax at all. It makes me extremely groggy, forgetful and sort of zombie like which sucks but it is definitely better than the alternative.

But anyways...my symptoms are hyperventilating, crying, numbness that usually starts in my face, hands and feet and gradually works up to my elbows and knees. I can't speak, well according to my boyfriend, I can speak but I don't make any sense and he can't understand what I'm saying, I try to find somewhere to hide (if I'm at work I run to my car as soon as I get even slightly anxious), I feel like I'm shaking or trembling but my boyfriend says he can't feel it so I guess it's in my head, overwhelming sense of dread and hopelessness, I get a really dry throat and try to cough but because I'm crying it's usually just slobbery mess. Sometimes I also get a pounding heart and "the runs."

As far as what helps me...right now I see a psychologist once a day until my anxiety calms down again and I read a lot of a books (some about my disorders and others just for entertainment - they distract me). "Feeling Good" by David Burns is amazing. I swear to you, I feel like that book was written directly with me in mind. I also checked out a book from the library today by the same author called "When Panic Attacks: The new, drug-free anxiety therapy that can change your life" and I have high hopes since his other book was so amazing. My medicine helps but I know how addictive it can be and I hope for a medicine free life one day.

I've been dealing with anxiety since childhood. Heres my story:

-childhood (didnt know I had an anxiety problem)- I would get panic attacks thinking about "the end of the world" and everyone dying. Death was a huge fear for me. These thoughts would happen at night. While laying in bed I would start having dumb thoughts and then my heart would race. I would go into my moms room, wake her up...sleep in her bed and thats how I would calm down.

-teenage years- I would get them during smoke out sessions and think I was dying while being stoned. Hence, I stopped smoking weed because of the panic attacks. Then when I was around 18 or so, I would get them randomly without the drugs and they were your typical I cant breathe, im having a heart attack & im going to die panic attacks.

-early adulthood- still no medication at this point and it wasnt that bad. Would get a panic attack every so often...no biggie. i can handle it.

-mid-late 20's/current- my normal panic attacks have now turned into health anxiety and disturbed thoughts. I swear I've had brain tumors, aids, lupus...you name it, I had it. Now im fearing for my kids' health and its pathetic. I fkn hate it. My disturbed thoughts are what forced me to get the medication (along with my depression) because I couldnt take it anymore. Like if I were driving I could picture my car losing control and going off the cliff....stupid sh it like that. So I finally decided that medicaiton was the route for me if I wanted to live a "normal" life. It didnt help that I was super stressed or depressed neither. I guess they say the two go hand in hand.

Blah it sucks....

It's so refreshing to find this group! I've never thought about searching for Anxiety Support until today.

I suffer from generalized anxiety disorder along with OCD. I took Zoloft for 11 years, and recently switched medications. I was experiencing sever anxiety attacks that was taking over my life. I'm on a new medication at the moment called Luvox. (If anyone takes Luvox, I'd love to hear stories. I'm trying to stay positive.) The medication seems to be helping, but I know it will take awhile. I've only been on this medication for 14 days. (It can sometimes take up to 6 weeks for anti depressants to work.)

When I have an anxiety attack, so many emotions and feelings go over my body.
- Shakiness
- Anxiousness
- Nausea
- Irrational thoughts
- Fear
- Feeling as if I'm dreaming
(The list goes on)

If anyone is looking for a MFP buddy, please feel free to add me. I'd love to take this journey together. Anxiety and weight loss isn't easy, but we can do this!

Thankfully, I don’t have anxiety attacks often and nowhere near as often as I did prior to my daughter turning 18 and my not having to deal with my ex-husband nearly as much. When I lose an important paper or misplace one of my cards in my wallet, that makes me freak out. I get all sweaty (even if the temperature outside is below freezing) and my heart starts racing. It would happen to me every time my ex-husband would take me to Family Court or every time he would make a (false) accusation against me to CPS. Sometimes I would get a bad headache and feel like I was to vomit - sometimes I actually did. To calm down, I would try to think of where my lost item could be. In court, I would try to have a book with me in the waiting room while I was waiting for our case to be called and would make sure I wasn’t in the same room as my ex. I would also try not to talk to other people in the waiting rooms at court - I didn’t really want to hear about their child custody, visitation or child support issues since I had enough to deal with though I would have sympathized. I would pray the Serenity prayer silently while my public defender (and my ex’s) were yakking away to the judge unless she asked me a question. Reading has always been a go to for me for relaxation - even before the anxiety diagnosis. I love reading and try to do at least 2 chapters in a book every day.