Trauma – PTSD

Question:

Hi Artie I find that walking in the cold, windy air (especially when it gets under 32F) seems to give me a feeling in my chest of slight discomfort.  

I get the same feeling. It feels like my lungs are burning when I breathe in cold air. I even had a lung function test to check for asthma but it came back negative. I start to get afraid and walk quickly back home.  And walking quickly makes things worse because it speeds up my heart rate, which only makes the feeling of panic worse.  

same here. Then I get short of breath because I get so nervous. I have found if I wear a scarf and put it up over my mouth it seems to help a lot. I find that very hot, humid temperatures in the summer also makes me feel that I am vulnerable for a panic attack.

I love warm weather but the really hot and humid weather I cant handle either. In the summer I take my runs very early in the morning. Heat and humidity does seem to raise my anxiety levels more than the cold. thank God these attacks are not quite as bad since the 80’s and early 90’s.  Perhaps it was the Prozac that prevented these terrible events.

I am glad your attacks are not as severe now. Mine were also much worse in the 90’s. I was having them almost every day and night. Now I very rarely have a full blown panic attack. Is there any one thing that would set your nervous system out of whack?

Yes. Any traumatic event,especially involving my family.always causes me to have a major setback. My father and my grandparents deaths really set me back for a good while. Just recently my brother almost dying several times this summer and my mothers suicide attempt caused me to have really bad setbacks. Does witnessing a crime or accident make you reach for your Xanax?

yes again. When I was driving the interstate to work every day every time I saw an accident I would have a panic attack. What about riding in a plane

Never been on one. My doctor advises against it since I have PD and am also severly claustrophobic. I cant even get on an elevator and when we go on a long trip in the car i have to stop every hour. I start to get anxious and feel closed in. Does an emotional crisis set you off?

Yes. After my moms suicide attempt I couldnt sleep or eat for days. I am still having trouble dealing with it now even though she is on medicine now and doing better. What about an argument with your spouse or friend or co-worker?

No problem there. I dont argue with anyone. I grew up with arguing and fighting all the time so I try to avoid it at all cost. What about a terrible news event (such as 9/11?)

I cannot watch and will not watch tragic news events like 911 anymore. when they showed those poor people jumping off the building that was enough for me. I know lts their job to report the news but sometimes they take it to extremes. My ten year old niece was traumatized by seeing that and so was I. I find personally that a panic attack should happen to me when it really should happen, and at other times it does not occur when it should occur.  I am perplexed at this, and have no answers why one thing would cause me to to feel like I am about to die, and other things don’t.

I dont think there is an explanation for this. I have been searching for the same answer for thirteen years. I had a car accident a couple of years ago and I didnt have a panic attack but I can be completely calm and not feeling anxious at all and one will hit me from out of the blue. This nervous condition works in strange ways.

So very true AT the dentist, I went through all kinds of dental work, and NOT ONE attack.  BUT when I went for a quick check up AFTER THE DENTAL WORK WAS DONE, I had a panic attack!!!

I have had root canal.fillings,crowns etc and did just fine but I always have an anxiety attack when I get my teeth cleaned. It doesnt make sense does it. I had to get off the train and come back home, ruining my appointment with the psychiatrist.

I know how you feel when this happens. when I first started therapy sometimes I would get to the clinic and sit in my car trying to make myself get out and go in. Sometimes I could do it and sometimes I would drive back home and call and cancel. Without the Ativan, I would not have been able to leave the house, let alone walk at Rockefellow Center, NY.  Oh well…..

I always take my xanax before I go to do something that I want to do but know it will make me extremely nervous. The way I look at it I can either take the extra pill and go and do something I really want to do or I can not take it and sit at home and have anxiety anyway over not going. Artie I really enjoyed reading and responding to your post. It seems we are both searching for the answers to a lot of questions about this disorder. Maybe someday we will be fortunate enough to get some of those answers. Deb

Response:

Here in NYC, our cold weather has started earlier than usual (the northeast has already had 2 snowstorms), and I find that walking in the cold, windy air (especially when it gets under 32F) seems to give me a feeling in my chest of slight discomfort.  When this happens, I set myself up for a panic attack, and if I am more than 10 blocks away from home, I start to get afraid and walk quickly back home.  And walking quickly makes things worse because it speeds up my heart rate, which only makes the feeling of panic worse.   Does anyone experience this problem in very cold weather?  Windy, raw, damp cold works against me with my condition.  And…on the opposite side of the coin, I find that very hot, humid temperatures in the summer also makes me feel that I am vulnerable for a panic attack.  Thank God I don’t live in Las Vegas or Arizona during the summer months.   I know that people hate cold and hot weather, but normal people do not feel that its a threat to them physically or psychologically.  One time in Las Vegas I was walking in the streets and people were laughing and looking calm while the temps were enough to fry an egg on the street! But I felt that if I did not get to an air conditioned room, I would end up in the ER room.  I know its crazy.  But I and many others have this problem.  But I don’t see others like myself in the streets.  We are all invicible to one another because we do a good job at hiding our feelings of panic, unless it gets so bad that we can’t mask what we are feeling. When I feel that I am going to die, I sometimes get in a fetal position on the floor and pray to God to stop the agony I am in, and to NOT take my life away because I am never ready to die.  But thank God these attacks are not quite as bad since the 80’s and early 90’s.  Perhaps it was the Prozac that prevented these terrible events.  Its funny, but I have never done this in public, only in my home.  I make sure this does not happen in public by taking medicine before I leave the house.     Is there any one thing that would set your nervous system out of whack? Does witnessing a crime or accident make you reach for your Xanax?  What about riding in a plane?  (strangely enough, I have never had a panic attack on a plane, but then again, I was loaded up with Ativan, LOL). Does an emotional crisis set you off?  What about an argument with your spouse or friend or co-worker?  I know that suppressed anger can cause havoc in some people.  What about a terrible news event (such as 9/11?) Thank God I was not in Manhattan that day.  I would have died of a heart attack, I am sure of this!!! I find personally that a panic attack should happen to me when it really should happen, and at other times it does not occur when it should occur.  I am perplexed at this, and have no answers why one thing would cause me to to feel like I am about to die, and other things don’t. This nervous condition works in strange ways.  Not having an attack on a plane but having one on a regular local bus is insane.  AT the dentist, I went through all kinds of dental work, and NOT ONE attack.  BUT when I went for a quick check up AFTER THE DENTAL WORK WAS DONE, I had a panic attack!!!  This makes no sense to me.  I should have had the attack before and during the root canal, and tooth extractions, NOT after the work was done.  The dentist says to me, "relax Artie, I am only going to clean your teeth and check out the work I did on you", and I told him that I HAD  to leave because my heart rate was too high, and I felt like fainting.  (he wouldn’t let me leave, and told me to sit in the waiting room and calm down, and in about 10 minutes I started to calm down.  I think the secretary at the desk was responsible for calming me down because she was very sympathic and understanding.)     To Vanessa: I now take Klonopin .5mg in the morning and .5 in the evening, just like Dennis does (a regular poster in this group).  Still afraid to take the Paxil CR 12.5 mg.  I only read horror stories on the net about this drug, and if a drug is going to make you sick for a few weeks, then I think the body is telling you that it does NOT want the drug, similar to cancer drugs.  The benzo’s agree with me, although the Klonopin did make me feel light-headed and not well at all the other morning upon awakening for an hour or so. Perhaps its because I am not taking the Ativan, and having  some sort of withdrawal symptom?  Or is it the Klonapin(I take the generic Clonazpam). And the doctor wants me to taper off the Ativan because it seems to have lost its effectiveness. The subway ride was non-eventful, UNLIKE the 2 days prior to that day when I had to get off the train and come back home, ruining my appointment with the psychiatrist.  Some days are worse than others it seems, but going down to Manhattan, NY to see a robotic , unemotional man write a prescription with a indifferent look on his face makes me squirm, and hence, the set-up for a panic attack.  But surprisingly that day, I took a cab while in Manattan with my friend and saw the Christmas tree at Rockefellow Center.  There were throngs of people there from all over the world, and yet, I was fine.  But then again, I was loaded up with 8 mgs of Ativan.  Without the Ativan, I would not have been able to leave the house, let alone walk at Rockefellow Center, NY.  Oh well….. Artie

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