Anxiety is Destroying Me

First a brief history of my anxiety:

I have always had anxiety in certain social situations or when getting on an airplane (I do not like to fly) for as long as I can remember, but these experiences with anxiety could be compared to the whole "butterflies in the stomach" feeling, but nothing more.

That is, until May of this year.

Sometime in mid-May I was at work. My job required both indoor and outdoor work. I went outside at around 4pm to do some work. It was around 100 degrees actual temperature. After about 10 minutes, I was predictably sweating and my heart began to race. For a brief second, I assumed the worst - a heart attack - and that was all it took. My mind began to panic.

Ever since then, I have had anxiety attacks.

My anxiety attacks seem to come out of nowhere, but I have noticed that alot of the time I am paying too much attention to my breathing when they begin. I am very conscious of my breathing ever since my anxiety attacks began. Breathing is almost no longer second nature to me; it is very controlled when I am not completely distracted.

I have not been to a doctor about this yet as I do not have insurance and do not have the money to go. I do, however, have an anti-anxiety medication called Ativan that was given to me from a family member. Up until this past Saturday night I would take a half a pill when an anxiety attack occurred. But on Saturday I decided to be more proactive about it and take a regular dosage so that an anxiety attack simply does not occur.

With each pill I take, though, I begin to realize this is not the answer. I am not comfortable with taking pills; I am not comfortable with the potential side effects. I do not want to resort to pills. I want to beat this anxiety on my own. But I simply do not know how.

So here I am, typing this thread in hopes that someone out there in the ATS membership who is suffering or has suffered from anxiety attacks can offer any advice on how best to approach this, discuss any methods of treating or curing anxiety attacks without pills, or sharing personal experiences so as to not feel so alone with this. These attacks have virtually ripped apart my life; I live in fear of them every day and night. I just want them to go away.

Any help I can get would be much appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

reply to post by NovusOrdoMundi


Try taking vitamin d and panax ginseng.
chromium help too.
get some blood work done and see if your deficient in the anti stress(water soluble vitamins)

anxiety & nutrients

It's fear!

It's an irritating vibration that your grown senses have become conscious of due to a major experience, when people go through this transition they generally start thinking internally rather than externally, this would occur mostly in your early thirties, the heightened sense of your biology is in conflict with the artificial perception of the ego or persona, from this moment on your bodies intellect will take control all you need to do is trust it.

If you are working with machinery or live in a busy place you are constantly picking up infrasonic frequencies and now while you get used to the transition this will cause you anxiety and fear.

Do NOT! use other people medication, most remedies prescribed for these symptoms are placebos.

Take a break and find some country side, you need the rhythm of nature not the rhythms of Man.

Originally posted by Seventytwo
most remedies prescribed for these symptoms are placebos.

Lately that has actually crossed my mind a lot, so it's funny that you mention that.

When I take a pill during an anxiety attack, it does nothing for me. When I take one as a regular dosage, all I feel is drowsy. Granted, I do not have anxiety attacks if I take a pill as a regular dosage, but that very well could be because mentally I am expecting the pill to be doing what it is supposed to be doing.

I don't feel so crazy for my theory now that you mentioned that that's all anti-anxiety medications accomplish is the placebo effect. That would explain why they do not work for me during an anxiety attack despite the fact that they are supposed to.

Thank you for bringing that up.

reply to post by NovusOrdoMundi


If you are taking shallow breaths when you're Anxious first thing you must do is take a BIG deep breath, hold and release.
Taking a deep breath will probably feel like the last thing you want to do but just try it.

In a short while you will never have anxiety attacks again.

reply to post by NovusOrdoMundi


Well I was diagnosed with depression almost 2 years ago, and I was not comfortable on taking pills either. Unfrotunantly had to swallow my pride and take them, and I can say that now my mood has completely been changed for the better.

Its a hard thing to adjust to, but they will eventually help you. You should always see a mental health care specialist for anything like this. Reguakr GP's are not always the best people to see as they do not specialise in these areas. And if you are unhappy with any advice, always get a second and sometimes third opinion.

Anxiety and depression are not things we can control, no matter how much people will claim.

See my thread i wrote sometime ago about it, if you're interested

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Since anxiety attacks are centered around breathing, may I suggest signing up for a local meditation class. Being able to quiet your mind and being conscious of your breathing patterns is what it is all about. Seems like it would really benifit you.