Anxiety/Panic attacks

RobDavies

About this time of year, for about three or four weeks, I suffer from anxiety/panic attacks. 

I have no idea why but most nights, when I go to bed, within about ten minutes of lying there, I can feel an attack coming on.  Dryness of mouth, shaky, nervous and just a horrible feeling of dread are the only way to describe them  They can last anything from a couple of minutes to about an hour.

Compared to others that I've read about on the www, they're not that severe but they still piss me right off and there's always that thought that they might not go away.

I'm due to go on holiday in a week and I don't want this to spoil it.  Any tips?

CloudNine

Weird that they happen the same time every year.. you would think if it was seasonal, it would have to be pollen related or something, which sounds unlikely. Is it always before you go on holiday, maybe scared of flying or something??

RobDavies

I think it might be linked to going on holiday?  Never been worried about flying though.

It could also be just the change in my usual routine - kids off school, wife at home for six weeks as well (she works in a school).

You'd think that going on holiday would be something to get all relaxed and jovial about....

CloudNine

RobDavies said:

It could also be just the change in my usual routine - kids off school, wife at home for six weeks as well (she works in a school).

Yeah, I reckon this man. That would stress me out.

You don't want a holiday ruined, as the whole point is to de-stress. maybe get the doc to give you some Diazepam or something similar. Seeing as it is so isolated, you shouldn't feel the need to keep taking them the rest of the year, so might be an ok thing to do. They give em to people who are worried about flying, going to the dentist etc. so don;t see how this is much different.

bertie

do you think that they may now be about apprehension, of the "pending" panic attacks themselves ?? -   so the attacks are brought on by the fear of them happening ?  

Bit of therapy/professional consultation  may be the order of the day ?

John_P

bertie said:

do you think that they may now be about apprehension, of the "pending" panic attacks themselves ?? -   so the attacks are brought on by the fear of them happening ?  

Bit of therapy/professional consultation  may be the order of the day ?

There could be a lot of truth in that - I've noticed that there can be patterns to the times I get anxious and it's at times when I would expect to be anxious - the same situation without warning doesn't phase me anywhere near as much. I hope you find a way to manage it and it doesn't spoil anything you have planned! :-)

relic245

pm incoming

holnrew

Is it because things are out of your hands? I get anxious and panicky when I'm not in control.

ChrisMusic

In addition to some sage advice above, I know that taking time out from your business is always a concern, in the back of your mind*, whether for holidays, time off, whatever. Add that to the school hols and it's quite disruptive

(*the subconscious is where most of this annoying stuff comes from, and very hard to control too !), 

You really do need time out with the family to recharge the personal batteries to make the most of life.  Luckily business and everything just carries on when we get back, pretty much as if we had never left. (Luckily???)    

Slow steady breathing exercises, or meditation, are always a good way of calming things down, whether thats stage nerves or anything else.  It seems to give a renewed perspective.

Don't know if any of that helps  

On a more philosophical note, this stuff makes you wonder who is really in charge, the conscious part of you reading this who believes "you" are, or the subconscious instinctive animal deeper inside, who seems to control so much?  -  just a thought.

RobDavies

Cheers fellas.

Holn, I think part of the problem is everything is in my hands.  It's me that has to organise everything from start to finish - my missus just buys the kids some new holiday clothes and that's pretty much it.  If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't go on holiday.

There are other things going on in my life as well that I'd rather not discuss at this stage (my ol' mate Grunfeld probably has a good idea what I'm alluding to) and I think that probably has more to do with my "issues" than anything else....

Thanks again - just ranting on the forum helps.

Emp_Fab

You have to offload some stress man.  My health over the past two years or so has gone; lots of stress --> strange chest pains --> strange sensations of obstructions in my oesophagus --> lump in my throat --> panic attacks --> heart attack.

I too felt that I was having to deal with everything and it wasn't until I was forced 'get off the hamster wheel' and take enforced rest and time off work after my heart attack that it slowly dawned on me that I was far, far more stressed than I thought.

If you are having to deal 'with it all' - then you either need to shift a significant amount of it onto your missus, or learn to prioritise what's really important and simply say 'fuck it' to the rest.  Stress will kill you.  Your body is giving you warning signs now with the anxiety attacks.  You have my sincere empathy re the anxiety.  Panic attacks and anxiety disorder is not a fun place to be.

Bellycaster

Sorry to hear that, Rob. I went through a short phase of them in my Mid 20's, although mine might have been through self inflicted reasons at the time. I don't mind being open about these things.

Only you can search within to find out why you get them at certain times of the year and analyse the period of time they have been recurring to see what you can narrow it down to.

Having said that, you need to not be embarrassed about going to the GP to see what can be done to stop the Cycle. GP might refer you to a Counsellor or whatever else, it's not a frightening or patronising experience I can assure you. 

Procrastinating about whether to go can lead to more stress. Once you have made the decision to go you have cleared one hurdle.

 

digitalscream

That sounds eerily similar to something that I'd put down to physiological issues - how would you describe the feeling of dread? What I experience is usually just before I fall asleep - my heart starts beating really hard; not faster than normal, but it feels like it's going to jump out of my chest and leads to a really nasty feeling of terror. Sometimes it ends up with sweats, and almost always ends up with me not sleeping until about 4am.

Is that anything close to what you're talking about?

Antique_Guitars

Emp_Fab said:

You have to offload some stress man.  My health over the past two years or so has gone; lots of stress --> strange chest pains --> strange sensations of obstructions in my oesophagus --> lump in my throat --> panic attacks --> heart attack.

I too felt that I was having to deal with everything and it wasn't until I was forced 'get off the hamster wheel' and take enforced rest and time off work after my heart attack that it slowly dawned on me that I was far, far more stressed than I thought.

If you are having to deal 'with it all' - then you either need to shift a significant amount of it onto your missus, or learn to prioritise what's really important and simply say 'fuck it' to the rest.  Stress will kill you.  Your body is giving you warning signs now with the anxiety attacks.  You have my sincere empathy re the anxiety.  Panic attacks and anxiety disorder is not a fun place to be.

If im really stressed I get little odd pains near my heart or my heart skips beats im sure thats not a good sign

Grunfeld

Funnily enough Rob since we spoke I started seeing patients and clients with anxiety attacks (hypnosis patients, not physio patients) and like some others have said, a lot of the cause of the problem may be kicking around in the subconscious -- even when there's a obvious problem (yes, I remember).  

One thing which might help in a DIY way (and at least it's cheap and cheerful) is to get some access to the subconscious.  Writing.  Do three pages worth, pure stream of consciousness thoughts, random whatever comes out.  Don't stop until three pages are filled.  Do it for at least four consecutive days.  Mornings are good.  Will probably take between 30-45 mins.  

It's not really to get an “answer”.  It really doesn't have to make sense in a conventional sense.  It's to let your subconscious get a chance to be heard.  Because at the moment I'm thinking it's keeping you awake at night. 

:ar!

Basher

Firstly +1 regarding seeing your GP and talking it through, maybe getting a referral to a counsellor.

I would recommend looking into "diaphragmatic breathing"  as a stop gap. Nothing too technical, simply breathing slowly from the abdominal area. I do it when I feel my thoughts starting to get out of control and it does help me. I make no health claims regarding the technique but find that it can help calm things down and get me through.

Emp_Fab

Following on from Basher's comment, when I was at my worst with the anxiety problem, I started trying out Qi Gong - Chinese breathing and relaxation exercises (similar to Tai Chi).  I was very sceptical and felt a bit daft standing by my back door looking like the Karate Kid, but it worked...  I was very impressed with how quickly I started feeling unwound and chilled - just from doing ten minutes of breathing and stretching exercises.  There's loads of videos on youtube about it;  here's one; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zL4DyguWAk.

gusman2x

Definitely sounds like anxiety. I suffer with anxiety too, and like you it can be worse at night, and is always really bad before I go on holiday (what tw@ eh? It's supposed to be fun!). I find that taking a nice cool(ish) shower before bed can help my heart rate drop a bit. Reading in bed is about the best therapy for me. You must absolutely not be going on the internet, mobile phone, tablet etc in bed before you go to sleep. In fact, you should probably stop all gadgets after an agreed curfew (like 7pm or something). This will definitely help your mind to relax. Phyiscal excersion is good. No doubt about it. Running, footbal, squash, sex, anything that gets your heart rate up and out of breath will help with your physiological and metal state. You'll sleep better too. Make sure you are really well hydrated, dehydration can be a contributing factor in a million and one things that effect your physical and mental state. Do go see your Dr, but I hope you get more support than I did. I basically got fobbed off, and told to go see someone at MIND if I wanted any sort of councelling. I probably will, and they have a great reputation, but I was annoyed that my tax payers money didn't entitle me to see an NHS professional. Best of luck man, I'm sure you'll be just fine

RobDavies

Thank you everyone.

I had a better night last night.  About seven and a half hours of uninterupted sleep.  Woke up  this morning feeling a bit nervy but tried some breathing exercises that relic245 recommended and they do seem to help a bit.

If I don't feel better after my holiday, I'll be making an appointment to see the doc.  The run up to Christmas is another stressy time - dunno why though, I have no real money worries or anything like that.  I guess it's just that there's more to do outside of the normal routine?

bertie

RobDavies said:

  About seven and a half hours of uninterupted sleep. 

crikey,  havent had that in over 20 years........

glad things are looking better tho  

monquixote

Something I thought I would share which might be of relevance to a few people on here:

A while ago when I was getting no exercise and was very stressed I started getting chest pains which would come on in the evening and got worse and worse over time to the point where I couldn't sleep because of them. 

I went to the doctors a bit worried to say the least and he explained that when you get stressed your body releases a lot of adrenaline into your system. You can only really clear this out by doing exercise because your body has put it there to make you run away or kill something. If you don't get rid of it, it can have the effect of making you muscles go into spasm particularly your chest muscles which can make it feel like you are having heart problems. 

He said the way to tell was to walk around a bit. If it was a heart problem you would immediately feel much worse (and you should sit down and call 999) while if it was stress based cramping it won't make much difference. 

If it is cramping caused by stress then going for a brisk walk, running on the spot, etc will make it go away and make you feel a lot better.