Anxiety and panic attacks?

[Courtney]

i have really bad anxiety..
and last year i had a severe panic attack and my heart palpitated all crazily it was fucking scary....but honestly i think the only thing you can really do is let it happen i mean fuck it sucks but it always tides over ...i dont know..im no doctor but i tend to steer away from ativan and shit cuz there pretty hard...

[t-skywalker]

st john wort:) works like a charm...12$ at london drugs.

[veN]

Another thing I forgot in my pm is eating properly, and often enough. If my blood sugar is low I get gittery to being with. It takes a lot less for something to unsettle me if I'm already running on empty.

The other things that I do that I mentioned in my pm (and some things I didn't), incase anyone else would find them useful:
-light therapy (timed lights that imitate sunlight, and tanning beds), and making sure my apt is well lit, and getting out in the sunshine if there is any
-counseling (previously)
-change of job (eventually) and living situation (gave me more control)
-changed my BC pill and how I take them (under Dr. recommendation)
-eliminate as much stress from my life as possible
-learned to say "no" to friends or commitments when it was too much
-yoga and reading (they both can take you away)
-making lists (I always think I'm going to forget something)
-trying to notice when my S.A.D. is effecting me and taking care of it asap (before I get in a funk)

[Goat]

I know you're about the bejamins and achievement, wich is all fine and dandy, but maybe try doing something for someone else to take your mind off of you.
Ie - walk dogs at the spca for an hour a week, or volunteer somewhere.

just throwing it out there.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by sidekick

but that seems to be a bit of a cop out, don't you think? i mean, my dad's family has a huge problem with anxiety. his mother, himself, my sister, and me all have struggled hugely with the issue during our lives. but if you only go over that stuff all the time in your head then it seems helpless. you can't roll over and say "well, hell, those were the cards that i was dealt in life."

it's not an easy thing to get rid of, and i don't think you ever fully get rid of it, but you can learn to control it. the stuff we have to do is never the easy stuff to do.

fuck that shit, i like that aspect of my personality..just not the side effects of it.

i think alot of people confuse stress with anxiety here, i like stress i love pressure i feel less anxious when i am stressed and under pressure. anxiety for me is really very physical, like if i were high on meth.

[Puddle<3]

try Body for life. Its a nutritional guide and a workout routine. You have to eat about 6 times a day, a couple big meals and lots of small ones. And you work out 6 days a week. Which sound like a lot. But you do cardio three days a week and thats only for 20 mins, and then weight training for three days that thats 45. I have recently started this myself and am really enjoying it. It keeps you organized and in a routine. Working out helps me forget about my stresses (or work them out lol) and the eating plan is great, nothing special. Common sense really. its only 12 weeks and you have a 'free day' once a week

[-evil-duerr-]

Originally Posted by Goat

I know you're about the bejamins and achievement, wich is all fine and dandy, but maybe try doing something for someone else to take your mind off of you.
Ie - walk dogs at the spca for an hour a week, or volunteer somewhere.

just throwing it out there.

probably some of the best advice in the thread.

It seems like most high-functioning people are afflicted with some form of neurosis or another. You just have to take the good with the bad.

Usually my anxiety attacks come from internalizing an external problem (or sometimes internal), and getting stuck in negative/un-productive thought loops....

the trick is to catch yourself before the unnecessary dwelling manifests itself into a full blown panic attack. Analyze your own un-productive thought patterns. Sometimes it's hard to just STOP thinking about thinking about thinking..... its exhausting! Removing yourself from your head by focusing on the outside is the most useful tool.

I found yoga and breathing excersizes to be very helpful!

[sidekick]

Originally Posted by SEAN!

fuck that shit, i like that aspect of my personality..just not the side effects of it.

i think alot of people confuse stress with anxiety here, i like stress i love pressure i feel less anxious when i am stressed and under pressure. anxiety for me is really very physical, like if i were high on meth.

i wasn't saying that you need to change your personality. if you like it, then cool. i was saying that using your personality 'type' to hide behind as a way of saying well "i can't help it" is kind of a cop out.

i don't think it's about changing your personality. i'm a neurotic person. i don't mind my neurosis, and i wouldn't change a lot of them because that wouldn't be who i was. however, i have learned to control certain things in order to have less anxiety in my life.

that's all i meant. control, not change.

[SEAN!]

i like pho

[esoter1c]

The only time I ever had any kind of a "Panic Attack" with heart palpitations and extreme paranoia was after smoking unflushed weed.

If the shit you're smokin' has a black ash it's full of shitty chems.

Alot of the "hash" in Van is full of Isy and will give you bad trips too.

After a buddy of mine stopped smoking hash his attacks stopped after a week.

I haven't smoked weed in months now and am amazed at how much better I feel/think/see/hear/taste.

If I ever smoke weed again it will be some personal organic homegrown.

I'd sooner make some Peruvian Torch tea. :P

[Lush]

I was going through a similar situation earlier this year and I went to my doctor and he actually prescribed me SSRI's (basically happy pills) and I took them for two days and felt horrible.

So I wouldn't advise you to take any sort of medication for them - it's actually very common to start taking anti-anxiety pills, adapting to them and suffering even worse anxiety when you come off them.

Stress and anxiety are interrelated Sean, I would definitely advise you to cut out caffeine because I found that to be a huge trigger. Also, do some soul searching - spend some time by yourself or outside of the city, you have no idea how much calmer that will make you.

Finally, listen to the post above me or even better yet stop smoking pot for awhile.
I know tons of people who can't smoke weed because it triggers really horrible panic attacks (it's happened to me once and I blacked out outside of the Amsterdam).
I also put aside drinking when mine were bad because I found that contributed to my anxiety.

[GSG9]

its funny i hadnt smoked any weed for about 3 or 4 months up untill this weekend, and this weekend was the first time i ever got anxiety in my life.
but the tunes fixed that up rite quick.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by Lush

I was going through a similar situation earlier this year and I went to my doctor and he actually prescribed me SSRI's (basically happy pills) and I took them for two days and felt horrible.

So I wouldn't advise you to take any sort of medication for them - it's actually very common to start taking anti-anxiety pills, adapting to them and suffering even worse anxiety when you come off them.

Stress and anxiety are interrelated Sean, I would definitely advise you to cut out caffeine because I found that to be a huge trigger. Also, do some soul searching - spend some time by yourself or outside of the city, you have no idea how much calmer that will make you.

Finally, listen to the post above me or even better yet stop smoking pot for awhile.
I know tons of people who can't smoke weed because it triggers really horrible panic attacks (it's happened to me once and I blacked out outside of the Amsterdam).
I also put aside drinking when mine were bad because I found that contributed to my anxiety.

i dont smoke weed, i dont drink coffee and i will never leave the city.

[Lush]

Sorry to make that assumption, I don't actually smoke myself (I think I've had a toke maybe 3 times this year and one of those times was when I blacked out).

For me the primary one was drinking because I do like my vodka but it got to a point where I would wake up in the mornings hungover with the worst anxiety.
And by leaving the city I meant on a short vacation of some sort, even going and spending a few days on the island - it makes a world of a difference.

[robyn]

you should go to buddha class but you have to be able to sit still for 2(!) hours

Tilopa Buddhist Centre

this is the only thing that can really calm me down and i have been having anxiety since before you were even born

[Courtney]

cut out caffiene? but then i wouldnt be able to do anything!