Anxiety attacks

coasterqueen wrote: Anyone have anxiety attacks? Do you take something for it? I went to see my allergist today because I've been having a lot of what I thought were asthma attacks, but I wasn't coughing. He said I was having anxiety attacks and gave me nerve pills to take when I have them. I'm a bit weirded by taking a nerve pill. I haven't filled the script yet.

momofone replied: I used to have those types of feelings a few years ago. I really had to evaluate my life a bit and realized I had myself spread out way too thin. I was a people pleaser. Once I started saying no to things and cutting back I really started feeling alot better.

I hope you feel better - do you feel spread out too thin at times . I think we all do at times. Do you have some "me" time for yourself? Maybe on the weekends even if it is a nice long walk alone it's nice.

A&A'smommy replied: I have had anxiety attacks but I get sick, and so does my dh he throws up.. he took anxiety pills because he had it so bad and it just basicly helped him learn to control it on his own (he is a LOT better now). I would talk to another dr. before filling the prescription unless you feel okay about it.

lovemy2 replied: I have had panic attacks in the past and had to take something when they happened cause I would end up in the hospital having major chest pains, etc. and once they started I couldn't stop them on my own - but it was all centered around the illness and death of my father - after he died and I knew he was at peace and no longer suffering they went away....see if you can pinpoint what triggers them - sometime changing those triggers (if possible - I know it isn't always possible) can help tremendously....

gr33n3y3z replied: When I stress out real bad the next day I wake up in the am and I have them
Numb and tinglie body and light headed like to pass out oh yeah what fun not!! I just try not to stress out any more and I've been fine so far

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: I had panic attacks back when I was 18, my first year in college. I would breakout in a cold sweat and be short of breath. The room would sortof fade out and people's voices would sound muffled. I would get dry mouth and have to sit down and close my eyes. They typically pass quickly, but I do remember some lasting longer than others. I never took anything for them, but I think they were a symptom of my depression.

Does this sound similar?

luvmykids replied: When I get them (which has only started in the last year) I feel like I can't get a deep enough breath, I can breathe but I feel like I can't take the nice, calm, deep breath that would do the trick, kwim? And then it gets worse from there, I freak out and the harder I try to take a deep breath, the harder it gets.

I've used Colt's asthma inhaler a few times and it sort of helps. Mine are stress induced, although I can be sleeping perfectly well and wake up with one, and chest pains accompany them (but the chest pains are becoming more and more consistent) I've only asked a dr about it once and he recommended therapy to find a coping system, which I haven't done.

my2monkeyboys replied: I have them pretty regularly. Have since I was about 14-15. Mine are usually triggered by being very tired, like if I don't get enough sleep for 2-3 nights. When one starts I usually just remove myself from the place I am (I go outside if I'm at home, get out of the car if I'm riding) and then try to get to bed if I can or at least start reading a book to get my mind off of it. I almost always have them at home or in the car, and it's 99.9999% at night.
I was put on a low-dose Zoloft, but found it really didn't make that big of a difference, so I got off of them. I do have a low-dose of Xanax though for when I have a really bad one that I can't get hold of. I usually take half of the pill, and that helps without making me feel weird. I average probably 1-2 of those a month.
I hope this helps... you can PM me if you want.

boyohboyohboy replied: Karen, is it ativan? I sometimes still have some PTSS from an incident that happened when I was young. but thru counciling learned to deal with it thru deep breathing and relaxation tech. i used to take some ativan and it didnt do anything but make me a zombie, does the asthma dr know what other meds you take? i am sure you mentioned it, but just wanted to make sure. if you are interested in what i have learned feel free to pm me. I also agree that if you can find the route of what is causing the panic attacks, and deal with it in another way, its usually better. i know some need meds, and thats ok too, but if its possible to get away with it, i think thats best.

Jamison'smama replied:
Wow, you just described mine to a T---I constantly take the deepest breath I can then I have to wait a few minutes before I am able to get another one deep enough. Mine is stress related too but once they get started they stay for awhile.

My doctor gave me Klonopin for when it is at it's peak. what did your doctor prescribe Karen?

coasterqueen replied:
This describes mine to a T too, except my heart also feels like it skips beats for what seems like too long. Then I freak out more and can't breathe even more. After I force myself to calm down it goes away like it didn't even happen. I had one the other night at bowling and there was no stressful event going on, kwim? I can see why some of my other episodes were more stress related, but they are happening when it doesn't appear to be a stressful situation.

I had thought about using my inhaler when I have these attacks, but the doc said it's good I didn't because they can sometimes make them even worse. He told me to practice belly breathing when they come on because that takes off the pressure from your chest. What you do is try to catch your breath when you have these attacks and the chest tightens up even more so if you do more belly breathing it will make the attack go away faster. He did also give me ativan for it. Is this stuff bad? I am trying to deal with them without any meds. I am already on an anti-depressant as a preventative measure against migraines.

luvmykids replied: What is belly breathing? I need to know that if it will help

ediep replied: I know exactly what you are going through, I felt very strange about taking anti depressants and anti anxiety med, but they have helped me a lot. My anxiety ends up in my stomach and I have diarreah

good luck with the meds if you decide to take them or without if thats what your choose.

MomToJade&Jordan replied: Belly breathing is basically breathing low or with your diaphram. I actually breath this way because of all the singing I do. We are born breathing this way and for some reason as we get older we start to take higher shallower breaths. Sometimes I feel myself doing this now and always feel short of breath because I wasn't breathing lower. There are some excercises that I have my students do to help them learn to breath this way. Huh in short spurts so you would be saying huh huh huh. You should feel your diaphram bouncing which is where you should be breathing. Just try breathing really deep.

I started having panic attacks right after Christmas last year. I was working really long hours at Target and just stressed to the max. I was just sitting there at the operators desk and just couldn't catch my breath. My heart was beating fast and I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Turns out I was having a panic attack. I started having them off and on for guite a bit there. I haven't had one in a while, but I did learn that taking in deep breaths helped when I was getting one.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: I teach those same exercises for my voice students.

A basic way to explain it would be that when you breathe, your belly expands rather than your chest rising and falling.

coasterqueen replied:
That's exactly right. He told me to lay down, put one hand on my belly and the other on my chest. Then breath pushing your belly in and out.

ZandersMama replied: I have them almost daily since Zavier was born. I tried to talk to my doc about it but she just prescribed a high dose of ativan. I can't (won't) take them because i am alone with the kids all the time. I just try to cope with them, put the baby in his crib and settle zander in with a cartoon and so sit somewhere and settle down. Its scary though.

boyohboyohboy replied:
karen, for me ativan 0.5mg wasnt to bad, but i wasnt on anything else either, but once it got to 1mg it started to make me feel like a zombie, i found myself staring at the tv a lot and not knowing how much time passed, or what was even going on around me.
but that was my own experience.

coasterqueen replied:
I left the script at home so I'm not sure of the dosage. Thanks for the heads up. I will definitely keep that in mind. Right now I'm able to control the attacks -- work through them. I hope that continues. I just wish I could catch them before they happen, kwim? Like the one at the bowling alley last week -- it hit me out of no where and I'm not even sure why.

MomToJade&Jordan replied:
When I was in college one of my voice teachers had me lay down on the floor with books on my belly. I was told to breath in and raise the books. Works pretty good actually.

avory&samsmom replied: I've taken ativan for them. And I've been on Prozac for other issues. The only side effect was feeling sleepy. You gotta do what you're comfortable with though. The breathing and meditating stuff just didn't work for me, so I had to rely on meds. Hopefully you won't.

coasterqueen replied:
Sleepy? Ugh. I don't want to take that stuff then I already battle tiredness with my allergies. I battle that so bad (along with winter blues) that it seems like I'm sleeping more than awake and that's a problem with two kids.

My2Beauties replied:
Really? This is weird because I get diarrhea a lot and my diet never changes. But I don't have an anxiius feeling. Do you? Gosh this place is better than Web MD.

karen sorry I can't be of more help, I'm not really sure but I wanted to offer

luvmykids replied:
Me too, but in my case it's Irritable Bowel Syndrome (lovely, I know ) I know you've mentioned in the past that you eat a lot of fast food, which is a major culprit for me

coasterqueen replied:
I have IBS, too. I was diagnosed that just recently. It actually started back around Mother's Day when I got a terrible virus and later was diagnosed with an ulcer but other symptoms did not go away - the IBS.

ETA: My mom had IBS and it was always triggered by anxiety attacks.

jcc64 replied: So- it's ativan- is that what he prescribed? That's just an anti-anxiety med, commonly prescribed. I take a similiar one called xanax. They are fast acting (20 minutes or so) and quickly metabolized- completely out of your system in 4-6 hrs. The dosage will determine if it makes you sleepy or not- .25mg is very mild, and should allow you to function completely normally. 1.0mg, on the other hand, would probably leave you feeling pretty buzzed and tired. It's not unlike drinking a glass of wine- you just feel calmer and less wound up. It eliminates the racing heart, the scary thoughts, the tightness/shortness of breath, etc. It's a chill pill, plain and simple. You should fill the prescription, and keep it handy in the event of a severe episode. They don't go bad- you can keep it for years.
It's like an aspirin- you have a headache, you take it, you feel better. You have an anxiety attack, you take an ativan, you feel better. End of story.
The anti-depressants should also be helping to hold anxiety at bay- but they take awhile to build up in your system (about a month), and they will not help in an acute attack. Some anti-depressants are better at addressing chronic anxiety than others- ask your dr about it. I take low doses of paxil, which really keeps my anxiety under control- I rarely have major panic attacks anymore, though I do have low level generalized anxiety with hormonal fluctuations, and that's when I use the xanax.
Karen, the chest symptoms are all a function of shallow breathing, which is really what a panic attack is all about. When you start to feel that sensation, close your mouth, (mouth breathing is a BIG problem for anxiety people), take long deep breaths through your nose, make sure you see your stomach and not your chest rise, hold for 5 seconds, and blow out slowly through your mouth. This is called round breathing, and it really, really helps. If you do that for a few minutes, you will actually feel everything start to slow down inside you. Sometimes, when you're too wound up, this isn't always possible to do, or not effective enough, and when you simply can't go it alone, the ativan is great in a crisis. I promise it won't make you feel "wasted", if you take a low dose. It will just slow your system down.
One final thing- not to complicate things- but drs are quick to dismiss real physical problems as anxiety or depression, particularly in women. Knowing your history, I would say it's likely that in this case, it probably IS anxiety, but be sure that your dr takes your medical concerns seriously, before allowing him to dismiss it as anxiety related. I've had anxiety issues for over 10 yrs now- probably longer actually- and they are manageable. There is no reason to suffer with it, Karen. You just need to find what works for your particular physiology.

Maddie&EthansMom replied: Goodness gracious, Karen!! You poor thing! I bet stress is the major culprit here and could possibly explain all the symptoms you've been experiencing. The IBS, migraines and anxiety attacks. I hope the meds start working quickly.

I didn't think I had ever had an anxiety attack, but I have experienced episodes similar to what you all describe as an anxiety attack. The shortness of breath, heart skipping beats, etc.

I never knew about the deep breathing, either but a personal trainer at the gym was just telling me last week the proper way to breathe.

I hope you start feeling better soon. I'm sorry you are going thru this, hun.

lovemy2 replied:
You don't have to be IN the stress for the panic attack to happen - most of mine - like Monica would happen at nite wake me out of dead sleep or when I was relaxed in the car and driving somewhere like on the way to our cottage - but it was the cottage we had when my Dad was alive - while it was nice to be there it was a constant raw reminder of the loss - took me awhile to put those two together - sometimes I almost think it is like a post tramautic stress thing - KWIM? I also found that the day after I was out having a few cocktails - my body was dehydrated, etc. and it would happen then - you know like my defenses were down -