Anxiety and Panic Attacks

[MrPecans]

Hey forum.

I've recently reached a breaking point with my anxiety and panic attacks. I've suffered from them for years, but my main trigger was identifiable, so I could avoid it, but recently they've been hitting me more and more. To make matters worse, my mother died suddenly on August 8th, not even two weeks ago. I find myself often at odds with sleeping, laying down, sitting down, being in close proximity to my girlfriend, watching tv or movies, driving, and being around my father. In an attempt to curb this problem I've quit smoking weed (one of my first identifiable triggers in addtion to loud movies on the big screen), I've started drinking decaf coffee and taking unprescribed xanax when one of my attacks start. The idea of taking unprescribed medicine is worrisome, but any port in a storm, you know. I'm tired of feeling constantly afraid of nothing; I want to sleep well; I want to enjoy my vices; I want to go to the movies; I want to hold my girl-friend and lay next to her restfully; I want to comfort my mourning father who lives alone. I don't necessaily expect any life changing advice - I've already talked to friends and Googled the subject many times, and I know in order to get real change, I'll need to see a doctor, which I can't do until I can afford health insurance again. I just wanted to vent and to maybe hear of other people's stories of anxiety and panic attacks.

[thegab]

@MrPecans:

Hey forum. I've recently reached a breaking point with my anxiety and panic attacks. I've suffered from them for years, but my main trigger was identifiable, so I could avoid them, but recently they've been hitting me more and more. To make matters worse, my mother died suddenly on August 8th, not even two weeks ago. I find myself often at odds with sleeping, laying down, sitting down, being in close proximity to my girlfriend, watching tv or movies, driving, and being around my father. In an attempt to curb this problem I've quit smoking weed (one of my first identifiable triggers in addtion to loud movies on the big screen), I've started drinking decaf coffee and taking unprescribed xanax when one of my attacks starts. I'm tired of feeling constantly afraid of nothing; I want to sleep well; I want to enjoy my vices; I want to go to the movies; I want to hold my girl-friend and sleep next to her restfully; I want to comfort my mourning father who lives alone. I don't necessaily expect any life changing advice - I've already talked to friends and Googled the subject many times, and I know in order to get real change I'll need to see a doctor, which I can't do until I can afford health insurance again. I just wanted to vent and to maybe hear of other people's stories of anxiety and panic attacks.

Sorry about your mother. Besides all the typical advice you'd hear from doctors or the internet, what worked for me and finally got me off medication (after trying and failing too many times) was running every day. Dunno about your physical attributes, but any kind of daily exercise will help a lot for your mental health. It certainly wont fix everything miraculously, but it definitely helps. It'll also help with your sleep. Be careful with the benzos too tho, that can be a slippery slope and could make your anxiety worse in the long run and the whole dependency/ addiction hassle. Chewing tobacco tends to relax me (but not exactly a healthy choice either). Hang in there tho, shit gets better eventually if you persevere. Sounds like you're making the right choices cutting out weed and caffeine tho

[Monquito]

first, sorry for your loss, that's terrible thing.

second, you had several panick attacks??, how do u even live. I had only one and felt like I was leaving this world for sure.
tho things were a lot more easy in my case, never done any drugs or alcohol in my life and got into anxiety because I was over-working myself(the perks of having two jobs I guess)
doctor said just to give myself a rest, he also said he could give me medicine but yeat, when it comes to anxiety anything capable of controling it is drugs, so it was better just to quit one job and get fewer hours in the other, which inmediatelly worked and I just get sum occasional small anxiety times once in a while.
also, I had sleeping paralysis cause of it,(ye it also feels like dying)
however as the buddy up here says, physical activities can reduce it a lot, dancing worked in my case pretty good too.

[MetaMario]

I'm so sorry for your loss, man. It's hitting a little close to home too, i've been having anxiety and sleep problems myself.
:(

[Captain Krupp]

Oh god thank god for this thread. I wanted to post in the Confession thread but I was the last post and did not want to double post. I keep getting upset and driven to tears by nothing in particular lately.

[RoboBlue]

@Captain-Krupp I'm sorry to hear that you're suffering.
Life has been hard for a lot of people lately, you're not alone.

I'd suggest seeking out a dedicated support group of people having a similar life experience. Talking to other people with the same issues is one of the best ways to make progress and identify a path forward.

[Captain Krupp]

Thanks Robo you are always so nice. I really like you.

[Cyborg009]

im really glad someone made a thread for this, cause i've been getting panic attacks for a while now. you see, a few months ago i received a disturbing email in my junk folder. according to the email, it claimed that my computer was hacked months prior and had gathered some incriminating info that they threatens to expose to my contacts if i didn't pay them bitcoins within a certain time limit. of course i panicked thinking it was real, but thought it was a bluff. so i deleted the email, hoping that nothing will happen. well the deadline passed and nothing happened and thought it was the end of it. but a few weeks later i got another one of the same nature. i felt so nervous i had to google it and it turns out to be an email scam. it even showed a transcript of what was on the email and everything. i felt better that it was nothing more than a fake scam, but to this day i get minor panic attacks each time i get something in my junk folder, knowing that its gonna be another of the same email scam.

[Captain Krupp]

I feel so much more at peace with talking to you guys here than with most of my other (Ironically closer) friends, because I feel I can rant but not feel I hurt my friends by doing so.