Anxiety attacks...

I began having anxiety attacks my last pregnancy. I found some herbal remedies that helped--chamomile, oatstraw, lemon balm, and valerian root. You can order dried herbs online, brew them as teas (to make a medicinal tea, let it steep for at least 20 minutes) or make them into tinctures to be squirted under your tongue. There are other herbs out there that are supposed to remedy anxiety that I haven't tried; I just happened to have these particular herbs on hand already.

I have noticed that my anxiety has been really bad over the past couple of days. I tell myself that i know it is anxiety and i will get through this. Sometimes I get up and walk away from where I am and get my mind on something fun. (ie: taking my kids to Disney in October). I also feel that if I tell my fellow co workers or husband or friends that I am having an anxiety attack it calms everything. I think because I am trying to hide my anxiety it get worse.

I have suffered from severe anxiety attacks since my mom died in 2000. I carry Ativan with me everywhere I go, but I try not to rely on it. I have found (and I am very grateful to my brother-in-law for this tip) that if I pop a stick of gum in my mouth when I feel an attack coming on, I can a lot of the times stave off the attack. I focus on chewing and breathing calmly. I know it sounds stupid, but honestly, it really works.

I suffered with anxiety attacks for six months before I went to a doctor. It was awful. I felt shaky, felt like I couldn't breathe, felt like my legs were going to collapse, felt like I was going to just freak out or crawl out of my skin. my stomach was upset.....it sucked. It got to where I rarely left the house. I finally went to a doctor. She put my on clonozapam and it really helped.

It stopped the anxiety attacks. My head still went there, feeling I'd have another anxiety attack but my body didn't go there, so I stopped having attacks. Then all I had to deal with was my head and triggers. After three months I began to feel better and with my doctor's permission weaned myself off the drugs. But I still had to deal with my triggers: being at a movie, play, dinner, someone's house or somewhere "trapped" where I felt like I couldn't leave if I had an anxiety attack.

I am a believer in the Lord, so I prayed. I picture the Lord holding my hand. I wrote down a bunch of scripture on 3x5 cards and carried them around in my pocket or purse. I read them whenever I began to fear having an anxiety attack. It is hard to think truth when you are having an anxiety attack, so you need to put truth into your head.

If you don't read the Bible, then you could write down something like "I am o.k. I can breathe. Nothing bad is going to happen to me. I'm not going to die. Who cares if I faint? If I do, strangers will be nice to me and I will be fine when I wake up. This is not going to hurt or kill me. I will get through this. Who cares if I panic and embarrass myself? I will eventually calm down and be fine. I can breathe, I'm not going to die. There will be an end to an anxiety attack."

I would pray and think these truths and just slowly breathe through it. Eventually, I got to the point where I said "This is stupid, I am not going to worry about a stupid anxiety attack."

I got to where I am now able to go to movies, plays, drive long distance in a car, fly "trapped" in an airplane, go out to dinner, go shopping, etc. I haven't technically had an anxiety attack in years probably, although I've had times where I've been a bit anxious about something.

When I felt stronger on my meds I slowly exposed myself to trigger situations, because mine were situations that I really couldn't avoid, like going out to dinner or going to a play. I mean I COULD avoid it, but I didn't want to. By routinely exposing myself to these things, I survived and it lessened the hold.

There were a couple of plays and a movie where I had an anxiety attack. Sometimes I went out into the lobby and walked and breathed, prayed and calmed myself down. Then I went right back in. Other times I just breathed through it and tried not to think about it. As I kept exposing myself these things lessened their hold on me.

A few times I have felt my anxiety levels rise about something that's happened and starting to quicken my breathing. But I've never panicked and it's never gone into a full blown anxiety attack. i just say "O.k., I'm anxious, and I'm breathing too fast. I'm going to be fine" and it just goes away. I do have anxiety meds in my purse just in case but I haven't needed them for years. I have them just as a "comfort" factor, I guess, just in case I need them.

Sorry for making this so long, but I did want to encourage you, all of you. You're going to make it through this. Maybe it will go away forever and maybe it won't. But it doesn't own you. YOU own it. The horrible feelings and feeling like you can't breathe and fight or flight feeling will eventually go away. Just ride it out and know that you ARE going to be o.k.

Please feel free to friend me if you'd like. I would love to encourage you whenever you want it.

I used to suffer anxiety attacks as part of my PTSD. I'm now healed from both.

What worked for me was therapy. Specifically, CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and DBT (Dialectal Behavior Therapy). I learned Mindfulness techniques, which included grounding myself when I felt anxiety attacks starting.

You can find some info on Mindfulness, etc here:

http://www.siriusproject.org/dbtskills.html

Hope it helps. Good luck!:flowerforyou:

So many great suggestions here! I'd like to second the lavender--we use that on the psych unit where I work & my vet uses it with great effect with my very anxious dog! For my own anxiety I did get a scrip for lorazepam oe Ativan. It is addicting. I found that having the medication available and at the ready was often enough of a placebo for me that I didnt actually have to take it! From Chi Running I learned about body scanning and I find this very helpful for times when I'm filled with irrational fears. This entails concentrating on your body parts starting with your head and moving all the way down to your feet. You try to relax each part as you go down. This is a form of meditation which also can be very helpful. Mindfulness, basically. Lastly you mentioned comfort eating. This is so ingrained in me from my family--upset? Here's a sandwich! I'm sure it's a big part of why I'm big...but, you can use hot teas. They are soothing and many medicinal herbs have a calming effect--like chamomile. I'm a nurse & I often remind my patients that if their minds can make them sick they can also heal them. We are so powerful when we allow ourselves to be. I wish you the best.

This was really great advice and support. I appreciate it on behalf of the person posting, and all of us here.

"I suffered with anxiety attacks for six months before I went to a doctor. It was awful. I felt shaky, felt like I couldn't breathe, felt like my legs were going to collapse, felt like I was going to just freak out or crawl out of my skin. my stomach was upset.....it sucked. It got to where I rarely left the house. I finally went to a doctor. She put my on clonozapam and it really helped.

It stopped the anxiety attacks. My head still went there, feeling I'd have another anxiety attack but my body didn't go there, so I stopped having attacks. Then all I had to deal with was my head and triggers. After three months I began to feel better and with my doctor's permission weaned myself off the drugs. But I still had to deal with my triggers: being at a movie, play, dinner, someone's house or somewhere "trapped" where I felt like I couldn't leave if I had an anxiety attack.

I am a believer in the Lord, so I prayed. I picture the Lord holding my hand. I wrote down a bunch of scripture on 3x5 cards and carried them around in my pocket or purse. I read them whenever I began to fear having an anxiety attack. It is hard to think truth when you are having an anxiety attack, so you need to put truth into your head.

If you don't read the Bible, then you could write down something like "I am o.k. I can breathe. Nothing bad is going to happen to me. I'm not going to die. Who cares if I faint? If I do, strangers will be nice to me and I will be fine when I wake up. This is not going to hurt or kill me. I will get through this. Who cares if I panic and embarrass myself? I will eventually calm down and be fine. I can breathe, I'm not going to die. There will be an end to an anxiety attack."

I would pray and think these truths and just slowly breathe through it. Eventually, I got to the point where I said "This is stupid, I am not going to worry about a stupid anxiety attack."

I got to where I am now able to go to movies, plays, drive long distance in a car, fly "trapped" in an airplane, go out to dinner, go shopping, etc. I haven't technically had an anxiety attack in years probably, although I've had times where I've been a bit anxious about something.

When I felt stronger on my meds I slowly exposed myself to trigger situations, because mine were situations that I really couldn't avoid, like going out to dinner or going to a play. I mean I COULD avoid it, but I didn't want to. By routinely exposing myself to these things, I survived and it lessened the hold.

There were a couple of plays and a movie where I had an anxiety attack. Sometimes I went out into the lobby and walked and breathed, prayed and calmed myself down. Then I went right back in. Other times I just breathed through it and tried not to think about it. As I kept exposing myself these things lessened their hold on me.

A few times I have felt my anxiety levels rise about something that's happened and starting to quicken my breathing. But I've never panicked and it's never gone into a full blown anxiety attack. i just say "O.k., I'm anxious, and I'm breathing too fast. I'm going to be fine" and it just goes away. I do have anxiety meds in my purse just in case but I haven't needed them for years. I have them just as a "comfort" factor, I guess, just in case I need them.

Sorry for making this so long, but I did want to encourage you, all of you. You're going to make it through this. Maybe it will go away forever and maybe it won't. But it doesn't own you. YOU own it. The horrible feelings and feeling like you can't breathe and fight or flight feeling will eventually go away. Just ride it out and know that you ARE going to be o.k.

Please feel free to friend me if you'd like. I would love to encourage you whenever you want it. "