Question:
What’s your theory? Some people think that PD is untreatable, while
Sorry, I meant incurable… PTSD fades over the years. I kind of think that it doesn’t matter; we’re all anxious and respond to good treatment the same way.
John S.
Response:
I was wondering if any of you can tie the beginning of your anxiety and fear to a particular traumatic experience? I think a traumatic period I experienced about five years ago was the trigger for me, and I can’t completely shake it. Julie
Response:
Yes~ and Hi Julie , Mine all started with one horrible year…First I had my second child (a blessings) then I had a partial hysterectomy and then a complete. Then my Mom was diagnosed with emphysema and thats when it began. It was like I had a ticking Panic bomb inside waiting to explode and all it took were the right triggers. I kept thinking it would go away but it didn’t. It took me 5 years to seek treatment and I am now so glad I finally did because I am living my life again. Blessings, Kelly – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I was wondering if any of you can tie the beginning of your anxiety and fear to a particular traumatic experience? I think a traumatic period I experienced about five years ago was the trigger for me, and I can’t completely shake it. Julie
Response:
I was wondering if any of you can tie the beginning of your anxiety and fear to a particular traumatic experience? I think a traumatic period I experienced about five years ago was the trigger for me, and I can’t completely shake it. Julie
Hi Julie, I can trace the start of my panic attacks to the death of my mom. She represenated safety and comfort to me. When she died I felt very lonely and I still do even 8 years later. I always had anxiety, but that incident set off the cycle of panic ever since. Cathy People Helping Others Become Independent Again Panic/Anxiety support Group, NJ
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I was wondering if any of you can tie the beginning of your anxiety and fear to a particular traumatic experience? I think a traumatic period I experienced about five years ago was the trigger for me, and I can’t completely shake it. Julie Hi Julie, I can trace the start of my panic attacks to the death of my mom. She represenated safety and comfort to me. When she died I felt very lonely and I still do even 8 years later. I always had anxiety, but that incident set off the cycle of panic ever since. People Helping Others Become Independent Again Panic/Anxiety support Group, NJ
I can trace my increased anxiety to my first surgery. In the waiting room I experienced some of my first signs of a major panic attack. The anaesthesiologist had to chill me out. My lung collapsing 2-3 years later really had me on edge for years, afraid it was going to happen again. Getting chronically exhausted from sleeping problems really put me over the edge with anxiety. I thought I was going to die only getting 2 hours of sleep a night, so I got on prozac. Ending up in emergency with tachycardia from drinking too much and smoking pot brought back that feeling of not having a ground to walk on. Getting exhausted again this summer brought back those feellings of impending doom that I had when I had to get on prozac 4 years ago. Luvox has been a good stabilizer. Minus the lung incident, I think, because it was a spontaneous collapse, all of these incidents have been my own fault. I’m just trying to love myself now, so I can prevent any further physical damage and reaggravated anxiety. The Panicky Guy
Response:
I was wondering if any of you can tie the beginning of your anxiety and fear to a particular traumatic experience? I think a traumatic period I experienced about five years ago was the trigger for me, and I can’t completely shake it. Julie
Julie, oh yes, for sure! My panic started when my husband was almost killed in a car accident in Jan. of 96. They started on the thruway when I brought him home from the hospital. I was so afraid I was going to do something stupid to kill us both. Then I had to do everything for him, where he was always the one that took control. That freaked me out. Not only that, he was miserable with his situation that he would take his frustrations out on me, and that only made it worse. But to make a long story short, they have continued for several reasons. Best of luck to ya…Debbie
Response:
I was wondering if any of you can tie the beginning of your anxiety and fear to a particular traumatic experience? I think a traumatic period I experienced about five years ago was the trigger for me, and I can’t completely shake it. Julie
Mine began with a traumatic period of time also, about 13 years ago. I was in graduate school, working two jobs plus attending classes and lab sessions, was having relationship problems and family troubles, and my physical health was poor. I began having PAs. Since then I’ve had better and worse periods with PD, depression, and OCD, as well as bouts of agoraphobia. I was even in remission for two years. I think stress and trauma are definite triggers for me. — Kathleen D
Response:
I was wondering if any of you can tie the beginning of your anxiety and fear to a particular traumatic experience? Yes – when I was 18, I went to California (from GA) to go to college. I had a bad drug experience, and this is when my PAs started. Now that I’m almost 35, I recognize the trigger as something that would have happened with or without drugs. I quit drinking 5 years ago, and that has helped tremendously. To get back on topic, though, I think that a lot of PAD is just well-disguised PTSD (I didn’t want my friends or parents to know I had used drugs). BTW, my panic went away on its own, after about 6-7 years of suffering. John S.
This is very interesting. Could you elaborate a little on the PD-PTSD connection, if you don’t mind and if you’ve got the time? I’m really glad to hear you’re no longer suffering with this. — Kathleen D "Hope is the thing with feathers" – Emily Dickinson
Response:
I was wondering if any of you can tie the beginning of your anxiety and fear to a particular traumatic experience?
Yes – when I was 18, I went to California (from GA) to go to college. I had a bad drug experience, and this is when my PAs started. Now that I’m almost 35, I recognize the trigger as something that would have happened with or without drugs. I quit drinking 5 years ago, and that has helped tremendously. To get back on topic, though, I think that a lot of PAD is just well-disguised PTSD (I didn’t want my friends or parents to know I had used drugs). BTW, my panic went away on its own, after about 6-7 years of suffering. John S.
Response:
John S. schreef: , I think that a lot of PAD is just well-disguised PTSD (I didn’t want my friends or parents to know I had used drugs). BTW, my panic went away on its own, after about 6-7 years of suffering. John S.
I totally agree with this possible distinction between PD and PTSD although I tend to believe that symptoms and effective treatment are the same. Interesting that you bring this up, I’ve been thinking about it myself a lot lately. It might be worthwhile to ask Dr. Shipko’s and Dr. Kernodle’s opinion on their respective bulletin boards. Philip
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I was wondering if any of you can tie the beginning of your anxiety and fear to a particular traumatic experience? Yes – when I was 18, I went to California (from GA) to go to college. I had a bad drug experience, and this is when my PAs started. Now that I’m almost 35, I recognize the trigger as something that would have happened with or without drugs. I quit drinking 5 years ago, and that has helped tremendously. To get back on topic, though, I think that a lot of PAD is just well-disguised PTSD (I didn’t want my friends or parents to know I had used drugs). BTW, my panic went away on its own, after about 6-7 years of suffering. John S. This is very interesting. Could you elaborate a little on the PD-PTSD connection, if you don’t mind and if you’ve got the time?
The drug experience (LSD) was with a group of 35 other students who were also tripping. At the age of 18, I was skeptical of what warnings I had read in books, and I thought there was safety in numbers (ah, careless youth). The experience was mind-shattering: I walked through halls feeling as though I were moving the earth with my feet, and I was standing still. My friends abandoned me, and I ended up cowering in the corner of someone’s room until dawn. A few weeks later, in a chemistry class, I had my first "out of the blue" PA. I thought it was a flashback (now I believed the books!). I fled the class and went back to my room. Suddenly, I realized I was thousands of miles from "home" – Georgia. This thought haunted me for the next 6 months, until I finally got home. The day after that first PA, the school therapist told me that nothing was wrong with me, and told me to have a glass of wine before bed. I didn’t ask for meds, and vowed never to take anything but alcohol, which I eventually became addicted to. I battled PAs until the next summer with nothing but jogging and vodka. Back in Atlanta, another therapist told me I was just an anxious teenager, and the drug experience merely accelerated what was already happening to me. I still believed I was mentally ill, since no one seemed to know anything about PD. Over the next 2 years, I became agoraphobic, which in a way was fortunate because one therapist finally diagnosed me correctly. I still didn’t get any meds, but I finally had an understanding that I wasn’t going crazy, and that I could use my body to heal my mind. I don’t know how I recovered, but I did. I sure could have used the internet and ASAP back then. Sorry this has turned into a life story. To get to the point, I think I suffered from PTSD for a while after the drug trip. I also tend to believe that PD would have come without the drug trip, because I fit the profile (perfectionist, etc.). My wife doesn’t know how all this started for me, but I’ve told her about my PD and agoraphobia. What’s your theory? Some people think that PD is untreatable, while PTSD fades over the years. I kind of think that it doesn’t matter; we’re all anxious and respond to good treatment the same way. I’m really glad to hear you’re no longer suffering with this.
Thanks, me too! Life is good now. I was just promoted to Engineering Manager, and have my first child coming in November. Life is hectic, but no panic (except when I get on a plane; thank God for Xanax). John S. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text — Kathleen D
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