Anxiety Support Group
Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...
Things haven't been going great for me this past year. I lost my job, my dog got sick and needed a $5,000 operation, and I went through some personal health issues which I am still recovering from both mentally and physically. Needless to say, my stressors have been completely overwhelmed and taxed. It's not like I'm not used to this: I've had anxiety for pretty much my entire life. But it's different now. I'm on 10mg of Lexapro per day and have been for four years and what scares me the most is that it isn't working as well as it has in the past or as it should, and as a result, I had a breakdown last night.
I was super excited that things seemed to be getting better. I got moved along in an interview process for a dream job and I picked up a freelance gig in the process. Things were looking up so I decided to have a few beers to celebrate. This was my big mistake, thinking I could actually let loose without actually letting out all of my anxiety and emotions that I've been stockpiling.
I laid in bed with my dog and started to feel the onset of an attack. So I went into my routine: told my boyfriend it was about to get bad, and then went into the bathroom to run the shower. For some reason running the shower really helps, last night it barely did a thing. I felt the wave come on, hitting me like a truck. It felt like my soul was disconnected from my body and that I was floating. I kept saying I want to die over and over again. I couldn't bare the thought of living through this, my worst panic attack in years.
And here is when I really scared myself. I started to become physically violent against myself. Not in a suicidal way at all actually but in a "I need to stop this and control myself right now" kind of way. I began to hit myself in the face, to literally snap myself out of it. When that didn't work I even ripped out a piece of hair. I was scaring myself and my boyfriend who was doing his best to try me to do deep breathing and calming me down. Eventually I made myself throw up (that often seems to help) and began to feel my heart rate slow. What felt like an eternity was only about 20 minutes but I've been terrified since. Of my anxiety, of my medicine not working well, of the fact that I don't have health insurance right now and can't see my doctor, of the fact that I'm out of Xanax, and of having another episode tonight.
Has anyone experienced this? It's like once I have a bad episode my body assumes I'm going to have another big one and I feel on edge. I'm also wondering if anyone else feels the need to literally smack themselves out of it. It was so bad. :/
I was super excited that things seemed to be getting better. I got moved along in an interview process for a dream job and I picked up a freelance gig in the process. Things were looking up so I decided to have a few beers to celebrate. This was my big mistake, thinking I could actually let loose without actually letting out all of my anxiety and emotions that I've been stockpiling.
I laid in bed with my dog and started to feel the onset of an attack. So I went into my routine: told my boyfriend it was about to get bad, and then went into the bathroom to run the shower. For some reason running the shower really helps, last night it barely did a thing. I felt the wave come on, hitting me like a truck. It felt like my soul was disconnected from my body and that I was floating. I kept saying I want to die over and over again. I couldn't bare the thought of living through this, my worst panic attack in years.
And here is when I really scared myself. I started to become physically violent against myself. Not in a suicidal way at all actually but in a "I need to stop this and control myself right now" kind of way. I began to hit myself in the face, to literally snap myself out of it. When that didn't work I even ripped out a piece of hair. I was scaring myself and my boyfriend who was doing his best to try me to do deep breathing and calming me down. Eventually I made myself throw up (that often seems to help) and began to feel my heart rate slow. What felt like an eternity was only about 20 minutes but I've been terrified since. Of my anxiety, of my medicine not working well, of the fact that I don't have health insurance right now and can't see my doctor, of the fact that I'm out of Xanax, and of having another episode tonight.
Has anyone experienced this? It's like once I have a bad episode my body assumes I'm going to have another big one and I feel on edge. I'm also wondering if anyone else feels the need to literally smack themselves out of it. It was so bad. :/
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My day...today...misplaced my debit card...didn't realize it until I got to the register after shopping to a full cart. Used a different debit card and pulled apart everything looking for missing debit card before I left parking lot. Got home, dropped keys. So now I have a missing debit card, missing keys. A full cartload to unload and put away. I got everything put away.Dumped purse for a...
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I don't really know how to label this but I having a rough week and I can't say it's one thing.... I have a lot on my plate which is nothing new and I try to cope in many positive ways and do but I still have my moments.My kids more so my daughters talk to me about everything which I know it's cause of comfort and we are close.... however I really struggle with the venting about their dad which...
I use relaxation CD's on a daily basis but I find they help you could try it, but, you do need to do them on a daily basis for it to work, mine is one that puts you into a trance, and suggests positive things under hypnosis, I find they take about a week of regular use to work, but, then you feel better as long as you keep using it it will help, however I find if I stop because I feel better, the panics and nerves come back. Hope that may help you a bit.
When you have gone through a series of anxiety situations and handled them in the moment with release, you often relax, and move forward. This works, some of the time, to make it easier to push through a multi-anxiety situation part way.
By the time you realize your body and brain are at odds, it becomes a confused focus. Take time to move the body, keep moving, find a rhythm that works, then step up on the brain pattern and move it.
I hope this helps. You are not alone in this.