Question:
Hi, I’ve lurked her for a while and posted once or twice I think. I’ve been having a hard time lately. I have situatinal panic attacks (usually resulting from talking in my classes) and GAD. My problem is I have some big assignments due and the pressure is getting to me. Not only that, but I just realized my teeth are really wearing; looks like I brux or grind my teeth at night. This has also elevated my panic as I don’t want to lose my teeth. I have noticed that when I get a panic attack I start to think the world will end or a very bad thing is going to happen. For example, because my teeth look worn, I was thinking how much life is going to suck and how I would want to kill myself if it happened. This caused me to really get scared and made the panic worse, which caused my fear to increase, etc… I am not taking medication right now, but I might since I don’t feel completely right most of time. I’m anxious enough that I am self-conscious and a little more timid than I was a few months ago. I was on Zoloft before and turned into an emotionless zombie; then took Celexa and had stomach pain at 40mg. I can understand the biology of anxiety – how your body produces adrenaline and you get the fight-or-flight syndrome. Yet I can’t figure out why I let it scare me or why I feel like I am going crazy or losing control or nervous a lot of the time. Anyone have any thoughts on that one? I’m only 26, but I have drank heavily since I was 18. I started late, from what statistical numbers show, but in that time I’ve *drank*. Yet every time I hangover I get massive panic attacks, the ones that can send you to the ER. Later, you realize how dumb you were to let fear drive you to the hospital to be injected with Ativan. Then about a week later I’d be drunk again, looking forward to another major panic attack the next afternoon. Self-medication is what my therapist called it. If you have made it this far, thanx for reading. Looking back it seems I just needed to vent a little before turning in at the early morning hour of 2:42. That’s another thing: I don’t get enough sleep. Probably a big trigger for my anxiety and panic. Frost
Response:
<snip I can understand the biology of anxiety – how your body produces adrenaline and you get the fight-or-flight syndrome. Yet I can’t figure out why I let it scare me or why I feel like I am going crazy or losing control or nervous a lot of the time. Anyone have any thoughts on that one?
imo, its just part of the disorder. PD wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t overwhelming enough to be able to fool us into thinking it was something other than just another panic attack every time it happened. Sort of in the same way schitzophrenia wouldn’t be much of a problem if the paranoia and hallucinations weren’t convincing enough to fool the victim into thinking they were real time and time again. I’m only 26, but I have drank heavily since I was 18. I started late, from what statistical numbers show, but in that time I’ve *drank*. Yet every time I hangover I get massive panic attacks, the ones that can send you to the ER. Later, you realize how dumb you were to let fear drive you to the hospital to be injected with Ativan. Then about a week later I’d be drunk again, looking forward to another major panic attack the next afternoon. Self-medication is what my therapist called it.
Dude, I’m 29 and in much the same boat. Up until a couple of weeks ago I’d been self medicating panic with sweet alcoholic oblivion for a couple of years. I never became a full blown alcoholic, but up until 2 weeks ago I was going through a bottle of wine every night. It led to the same vicious cycle you were on.. get drunk one night, panic the next day because of hangover symptoms & alcohol induced hypoglycemia.. and so on. Couple of weeks ago I ended up in the ER while on vaction. I had a terrible panic attack.. one of the worst I’ve ever had.. my blood pressure was 180/90, then 200/100, I was dehydrated and suffering from gastric reflux inflamed by panic & alcohol. This time they didn’t just calm me down and let me go. They kept me for 2 days, gave me altace for my bp, a 30 day course of nexium for my stomach and .25mg Xanax pills. I suspect the doc may have overmedicated me with the bp meds. I’d not had high bp before, but he (he was an internal medicine specialist) didn’t seem to believe that it could have gone as high as it did just from a panic attack. My own research tells me otherwise. Anyway… If you have made it this far, thanx for reading. Looking back it seems I just needed to vent a little before turning in at the early morning hour of 2:42. That’s another thing: I don’t get enough sleep. Probably a big trigger for my anxiety and panic
You’re welcome. It helps me just to name it. When it starts happening I remind myself in a clear, rational voice that I have a medical problem called Panic Disorder, and thats whats happening. Its not the world ending, me going insane, or dying, its Panic Disorder. That and the Xanax seem to keep things under control for me. Don’t be afraid of the Benzo’s, in my experience they are really great at arresting the worst aspects of panic even at low doses (.37mg Xanax as needed works for me) Its also very comforting to know that many others have been through hundreds of panic attacks, many probably worse than the ones you’re having, and have survived them all and learned to deal with them effectively All the best, D – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Frost
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – <snip I can understand the biology of anxiety – how your body produces adrenaline and you get the fight-or-flight syndrome. Yet I can’t figure out why I let it scare me or why I feel like I am going crazy or losing control or nervous a lot of the time. Anyone have any thoughts on that one? imo, its just part of the disorder. PD wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t overwhelming enough to be able to fool us into thinking it was something other than just another panic attack every time it happened. Sort of in the same way schitzophrenia wouldn’t be much of a problem if the paranoia and hallucinations weren’t convincing enough to fool the victim into thinking they were real time and time again.
Interesting analogy. During my own severe panic attacks, I often found myself saying, "Oh God, this is worse than I remembered." It wasn’t that my attacks were constantly getting worse, but rather that my attacks were simply so far beyond normal fear that my brain couldn’t form complete memories of the attack’s severity. Severe panic will temporarily change how our brains work. Whether by changing levels of neurotransmitters or amplifying neural impulses, the pattern of active brain regions change. The outer cerebrum (important to conscious thought) becomes less functional while inner structres such as the limbic system and brain stem become more dominant and drive powerful survival reflexes (which care little for rational interpretations of the attack). At least, that’s what the neuroscience literature seems to be saying. Overall, it’s like having our conscious mind short circuited and becoming a helpless observer of the attack and its many symptoms. Best Wishes, Arthur
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