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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

I've been diagnosed with Panic Attack/Anxiety disorder

Fresco said:
38 yr old male


They just started last 3 months or so. Ruined my whole summer :(


I get shakey and I feel like I'm gonna die


They just come and go. I also feel like I'm having a nervous breakdown 24/7


Dizziness, but I dont feel sick or nausea


Yup, high level of anxiety daily.

I'm also suffering from fatigue
Click to expand...

As the first thread of the day I opened,
it's nice to see you answered Rybee's questions..
it sounds like you have a severe anxiety disorder,
may I ask.. Has something triggered this?

Most people with this level of severe anxiety that get attacks daily, a certain amount of trauma has occurred in their lives.. Has this happened to you?
Can you think of anything that has happened that has made your daily life now dealing with this so unbearable? If so, when did this start? And, are you noticing yourself starting to disassociate towards the trauma and/or from how you recall your prior self?

Let's try to figure this out together (:
<3
dishearten
 
dishearten said:
As the first thread of the day I opened,
it's nice to see you answered Rybee's questions..
it sounds like you have a severe anxiety disorder,
may I ask.. Has something triggered this?
Click to expand...
No, thats the strange part. This came completely out of the blue.
I'm generally a happy go lucky guy. I also dont have a very stressfull job

dishearten said:

Most people with this level of severe anxiety that get attacks daily, a certain amount of trauma has occurred in their lives.. Has this happened to you?
Can you think of anything that has happened that has made your daily life now dealing with this so unbearable? If so, when did this start? And, are you noticing yourself starting to disassociate towards the trauma and/or from how you recall your prior self?

Let's try to figure this out together (:
<3
dishearten
Click to expand...
No trauma whatsoever. I did suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome in the 90's, and I have heard this disease can relapse later on in life, so maybe there's something going on with that.

Also CFS is known to affect your brain and central nervous system
 
I have pretty much all these symptoms: http://www.professional-counselling.com/nervousbreakdown_panic_attack.html#.VBc-1haEx7x

  • tensed/painful muscles
  • clammy hands, sweating
  • dizziness or light-headedness
  • trembling or shaking - you may feel these are the most embarrassing symptoms of a nervous breakdown as you worry people may notice
  • upset stomach and bowel problems - your body/mind reacts as if your life is in danger and digestion is secondary to survival
  • exhaustion - all your energy is being used trying to manage/cope with this crisis
 
Fresco said:
I have pretty much all these symptoms: http://www.professional-counselling.com/nervousbreakdown_panic_attack.html#.VBc-1haEx7x

  • tensed/painful muscles
  • clammy hands, sweating
  • dizziness or light-headedness
  • trembling or shaking - you may feel these are the most embarrassing symptoms of a nervous breakdown as you worry people may notice
  • upset stomach and bowel problems - your body/mind reacts as if your life is in danger and digestion is secondary to survival
  • exhaustion - all your energy is being used trying to manage/cope with this crisis
Click to expand...

Luckily, I can completely identify with this research you posted..
Considering though that you haven't had any trauma in your past is different to my diagnoses..
Do you really think you're having a nervous breakdown? Does this feel so? We all have intuition.. What does yours tell you?
Are you identifying with these ones as well?

panic, fears and phobias
inability to cope with stuff you wouldn't have thought about twice before
sexual problems - loss of libido - sex drive - Female/Male, impotence
sleep problems - not being able to fall asleep, frequently waking up and not being able to go back to sleep with racing thoughts
withdrawal from loved ones - my clients describe it sometimes as 'living in a bubble'
irritability and angry outbursts - you have no spare capacity
difficulty concentrating - you probably can't even read a page in a book, or even keep your mind on the headlines in a newspaper
depression - this is almost a 'given', when your life seems to be 'unraveling'

Does this sound right too?..

crying easily, and seemingly endlessly, at the drop of a hat - whether you're male or female! No need to be embarrassed.
feeling guilty for all kinds of reasons: 'not pulling your weight', not being there for someone else, not being your 'normal' self, etc
feeling alone - you're embarrassed and don't want to bother with anyone. You don't even recognize yourself.
feeling joyless - increasingly withdrawing from all the things you would normally enjoy - no wonder with all those symptoms!
being/feeling 'paranoid' - feeling that people are out to get you and single you out for every scrap of negativity.

The thing of it is, is that on the second page it also states that usually this is caused by trauma in ones life.. And you say you've had none..
Reading this site is like my autobiography, but this is to help you. Luckily, my depression and trauma has led me to be able to dissociate my pain and my own breakdown with the ability to help another at the same time-- but absolutely do I identify with this.

I want to help you so much get to the bottom of it..
Try to think back in your mind.. Maybe there could be something you're blocking?
Something honestly could have triggered this..
Something you have possibly forgotten about or feel guilty about, will eat you alive and the development of PTSD comes without you even seeing it..

If this is not the case, how is your current state.. Your current relationships, your daily regimes, etc... Are there changes?
Try to analyze ALL you can.. This is the first step to identifying the underlining spiral you're suffering from now..
 
dishearten said:
Luckily, I can completely identify with this research you posted..
Considering though that you haven't had any trauma in your past is different to my diagnoses..
Do you really think you're having a nervous breakdown? Does this feel so? We all have intuition.. What does yours tell you?
Are you identifying with these ones as well?

panic, fears and phobias
inability to cope with stuff you wouldn't have thought about twice before
sexual problems - loss of libido - sex drive - Female/Male, impotence
sleep problems - not being able to fall asleep, frequently waking up and not being able to go back to sleep with racing thoughts
withdrawal from loved ones - my clients describe it sometimes as 'living in a bubble'
irritability and angry outbursts - you have no spare capacity
difficulty concentrating - you probably can't even read a page in a book, or even keep your mind on the headlines in a newspaper
depression - this is almost a 'given', when your life seems to be 'unraveling'

Does this sound right too?..

crying easily, and seemingly endlessly, at the drop of a hat - whether you're male or female! No need to be embarrassed.
feeling guilty for all kinds of reasons: 'not pulling your weight', not being there for someone else, not being your 'normal' self, etc
feeling alone - you're embarrassed and don't want to bother with anyone. You don't even recognize yourself.
feeling joyless - increasingly withdrawing from all the things you would normally enjoy - no wonder with all those symptoms!
being/feeling 'paranoid' - feeling that people are out to get you and single you out for every scrap of negativity
Click to expand...
The only ones I can relate to are poor sleep and difficulty concentrating
 
So yesterday I felt fine, tried to leave the house, made it outside to the street, saw crowds of people and instantly started shaking like a leaf. Made it to the ATM machine (BARELY), withdrew some money and hightailed it back home.

Great, just great. I hope I'm not developing agoraphobia :(
 
Have you tried CBT or mindfulness therapy or meditation or anything along those lines to cope? I personally would consider benzo's only as a last resort after all other measures have failed. However, I am recovering from a severe drug dependency so that my shape my opinion a little lol.

Personally I had severe panic attacks when I first got clean that persisted for a long time I still occasionally get some however, with some CBT work, the occasional breathing technique, and working out regularly they are much less severe and happen a lot less often.
 
Fresco said:
What is CBT??
Click to expand...

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Its often used in place of or along side counselling. It a very individual trailered therapy which is based around managing your thinking patterns and encouraging behaviours that help you progress in a way that helps you cope. For example, when you see a crowd you may first recal that the last time you in a crowd you had a panic attack. This thought then creates the fear you may have another one. Finally the fear then causes you to panic. In cbt they may teach you haw to break the cycle. So instead they may help you think of something else when you see a crowd. With your thoughts elsewhere it breaks the progression to fear and without the fear you don't get the panic. If you get what I mean?

Anyway you could check this link which may explain it better than I did... http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Cognitive-behavioural-therapy/Pages/Introduction.aspx

My wife suffers terrible general anxiety which comes and goes and she has found CBT to work better than the drugs she has tried (SSRI's, bet blockers).

Hope this helps.
 
I have panic attacks and anxiety as well.
Benzos are REALLY and I can't stress this enough, an AS NEEDED drug.
Once you become hooked you have to pop. HAVE to. The withdrawals are so dangerous.
If you can be strong and only take your benzo while you are in panic mode, or feel one coming on, and NOT every day...it can be a great tool.
But it's such an easy fix for anxiety it's hard to control. And take it from me, the min you start popping more than what your bottle says : you have a benzo prob. It can happen in a day. Physical addiction may take a month , but mental dependence can happen sonic speed due to benzos great ability to kill anxiety. Be careful friend. These drugs don't let you go without the biggest fight of your addict life if you get hooked.
 
Had a really bad panic attack this morning and went to the hospital ER. They did an hour of tests on me, took my urine and blood samples, but couldnt find anything wrong with me.

I'm going to see a naturopathic doctor tomorrow. My sister thinks I might have some kind of candida infection
 
You can ask your doctor about adding celexa and vistaril(hydroxyzine). With celexa and hydroxyzine, you'll have a safety net. You can take the celexa sometimes or daily and take a hydroxyzine sometimes too. The benzodiazepine is only supposed to be used sometimes. Without a safety net, the only thing you have to turn to is the benzodiazepine. You NEED other medicines to have a safety net to deal with anxiety. People precribed benzos alone do poorly. Celexa and hydroxyzine both treat anxiety.
 
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