Anxiety Attacks

[Trying123]

Been sober almost 2 years now, and never had anxiety attacks before. Minor attacks during opiate WD, but nothing to affect daily life. Now, I can be fine, calm, collective. If I even start thinking about going in a crawlspace, under a house or something, my brain runs away with the feeling of being trapped. My heart starts pumping, I get the shakes. I cant get that thought out of my head. This never happened to me before. It's starting to affect me at work, just sitting at home, or when trying to sleep. It's scarry. Do our brains just rewire themselves that fast ? Besides Meds, what can help me. I've tried to meditate a little, but even when I'm calm, relaxed, having a great day, I still can't get mediation to help. Sometimes I can be going to sleep, or just sitting, watching TV, listening to music, and a thought pops in my hand. My brain snaps into major overdrive, and I get anxiety attacks. Full runaway train type stuff. Feelings of being trapped, being stuffed in a box, or , running out of oxygen. Trapped under water. This is crazy. Why is this happening now. Is anyone else going thru this ? Thanks !

 

[emkee_reinvented]

The fear description of crawlspace resembles mine, a tunnel that get s narrow. Almost seem s the Big brother of anxiety, based on a solid natural fear. Like height s, vacuum-cleaner s [when i was a kid] Tsunami s. Every once in a while.

But anxiety goes further, it s foreign language to me i get the signal s. But to my mind they seem irrelevant. So no real personal experience, only with the opposit feeling.
What is the general overwelming effect of anxiety ?

Gonna read into it, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2990839/
It s been documented since 5000 BC.

 

[Trying123]

It can happen to me about things I never feared , or even thought of before. I do construction, I've been in attics, tunnels. I never freaked out. Now, I have to be careful what I do at work. It's crazy.

I can be sitting here, and this is why I posted earlier. I was laying here, almost a sleep.
Them bam...
This thought of me being in a long, low ceiling tunnel, with only 1 way in hit me.
I could see it in my head, clear as day.
It was even lit up, and I had people waiting for me to do whatever, like I just went in there to change a lightbulb or something.

My heart started pounding very fast, I couldn't catch my breath, I couldn't stop the feeling of being trapped.
Thoughts raced thru my head. Is the fire depth coming. How long will it take them to get here. How long until the get me out.
My brain was just going crazy.
Took me almost 10,15 minutes to calm myslef down, and tell myself, it was only a thought. It wasn't real.
The scariest thing, I couldn't stop that feeling from growing.

I never felt anything like this before.
Nothing big really changed in my life.
Ive never been, or felt trapped, other than addiction itself.
So, why is this happening now, and why so strong.

 

[emkee_reinvented]

so still got a way to goIt can happen to me about things I never feared , or even thought of before. I do construction, I've been in attics, tunnels. I never freaked out. Now, I have to be careful what I do at work. It's crazy.

This easy rival s my experiences. And affect s daily live.
Being clean 2 year s is a accomplishment well done.

Is it maybe fuelled by stress/ insomnia ? You had a a Life Changing Event.
Sobriety, no personal experience with Opioid s. But ime felt weird.
Did you in the recent period had blood-work done, to check general status.
Can t rule out the influence of a deficiency of vitamin D as example.

I can be sitting here, and this is why I posted earlier. I was laying here, almost a sleep.
Them bam...
This thought of me being in a long, low ceiling tunnel, with only 1 way in hit me.
I could see it in my head, clear as day.
It was even lit up, and I had people waiting for me to do whatever, like I just went in there to change a lightbulb or something.

A dreamlike state is very capable of producing bizarre scenes. 1 minute real time can hold 30 minutes of a vivid dream. Which exceed hallucination s or brain movies.
And certainly reality, though they can be hard to tell apart. Till you snap out of them.

Seem s a bit like it happen s in a sleep related state.

 

[martingrinnborg]

This really sounds like panic attacks and anxiety latching onto a very specific fear, even though you never had issues with it before. The fact that it started after a long period of sobriety doesn’t make it strange - a lot of people notice their nervous system reacts differently once it’s no longer numbed, and old fear circuits can kick in out of nowhere.

From my own experience, I’d strongly recommend talking to a specialist - a therapist who works with panic and anxiety (cognitive behavioral therapy or trauma-informed therapy). Therapy wasn’t about “fixing” me, but about having a safe, calm space where someone explained what was happening in my brain and taught me how to stop that runaway train early. It helped me get my life back without immediately jumping to meds, and honestly made a huge difference.