Stop Anxiety and Panic Attacks

I have pretty bad anxiety and panic attacks, even at home. Night time and mornings are absolute terror for me. Is anyone the same or similar?

My attacks surround throwing up. If I have the slightest pain in my stomach for a split second, or if I have too much spit in my mouth or too little spit in my mouth, or if it’s lunch time and I’m not hungry at all.. it sends me into this terrible spiral – no matter where I am.

It starts out with this fluttering feeling in my whole body, then I get very restless and I can’t sit still. Then I start to breathe heavily. If I can’t calm myself down at that point, I’ll get worse fluttering and I’ll start to shake all over, my legs are especially bad. This can continue for what seems like forever and I can’t help thinking that I need to go to the hospital.

Usually the shaking and breathing start to make me feel dizzy at this point and then there’s no natural return – I have to force myself to think that it’s almost over. It’s just an episode and it’s going to go away. I’m not going to die… and it will slowly subside. Afterwards, I feel 100% fine (maybe a little fatigued if I was shaking very much).

The funny thing is that I’m almost 24 and I’ve thrown up 3 times in my entire life… two of those times I was less than 5 years old. It’s worse for me at night and in the mornings because all the times I did throw up were at night so, in my mind, that’s the most likely time I’ll get sick. I don’t eat for hours before I go to bed for fear of that, so I usually go to bed hungry and wake up nausea which also sends me into panic.

It’s terrible and stupid lol but I just can’t help it at all!

I suffer in certain situations with anxiety which can sometimes turn into a panic attack. I have come of my antidepressent and wanted to try some alternative therapy rather than going back on them. Anyone have any ideas?

Foods rich in magnesium will soothe your frazzled nervous system…. magnesium is known as the antistress mineral and will increase the production of hydrochloric acid in your tummy, thus aiding in digestion and helping to resolve any issues with constipation you may have …. magnesium is needed in our bodies for healthy nerve and muscle functioning and of course for heart health…… magnesium chloride is not the easiest to digest ……… magnesium chelate is?

foods rich in magnesium are ~ leafy and green vegies, ground up nuts and seeds (ground up for easier digestion), cold water fishes such as tuna, salmon, sardines and whiting and wholegrain cereals and breads.

The leaves from the plant that produces passionfruit, passionflower herb, when made into a tea are exceptionally useful as an antidepressant and is also used to treat nervousness and anxiety, insomnia and nightmares, to alleviate mood swings and as a gentle sedative and relaxant.

The passionflower organic loose leaf variety of the herb encourages the uptake of tryptophan, which is an amino acid that assists deep sleep, as well as maintaining levels of serotonin, which is a hormone that is crucial in regulating mood swings and depression.

Check out this link for a complete list of herbs and their cautions ~ with passionflower it is wise to consult a nutritionally oriented physician or naturopath or herbalist if you are pregnant or breast feeding and not to use on infants or young children.

http://www.hystercity.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=30

Any good health food store should be able to supply you with the organic variety of this herb……. only organic will suffice as the commercial and tea bag varieties have had so much of the goodness pulverised from they could never possibly be of any therapeutic use. Also, the spent leaves can generally be reused once more as the essential oils are still so potent in them, so you really do get your money’s worth ?

Foods rich in Tryptophan do a brilliant of conquering the blues and stress and anxiety also i reckon.

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that’s used by the brain – along with B6, B3, and magesium (known as the antistress mineral) – to produce serotonin (the natural feel good drug), a neurotransmitter that carries messages between the brain and one of the body’s biochemical mechanisms of sleep.

The EFA’s in foods rich in omega 3’s such as cold water fishes like tuna, salmon, sardines and whiting are also essential in this process to nourish the neurons that are receiving the messages from the neurotransmitters. Cold water fishes such as salmon are particularly rich in the EFA’s and will do a brilliant job of levelling out your stress, anxiety and depression levels and smoothing any mood swings you may have.

Eat more foods rich in all these things ?

The Doctor doesn’t tell you that when you go complaining of depression and stress now does he ………….. he surely should though.

Tryptophan will help induce natural sleep; reduce pain sensitivity; act as a nondrug antidepressant; alleviate migraines; aid in reducing anxiety and tension and help relieve some symptoms of alcohol-related body-chemistry disorders and aid in control of alcoholism.

Best natural food sources of Tryptophan are; cottage cheese, milk, meat, fish, turkey, bananas, dried dates, peanuts and all protein rich foods.

Best natural food sources for magnesium are: leafy and green vegies, nuts and seeds, cold water fishes such as tuna, sardines, whiting and salmon.

Best natural food sources for niacin are: the white meat of chicken, whole wheat products, roasted peanuts, fish, eggs, avoacadoes, dates, figs and prunes.

Best natural food sources for vitamin B6 are: wheat germ, fish, soybeans, brewer’s yeast, cantaloupe, cabbage, blackstgrap molasses, unmilled rice, eggs, oats, peanuts and walnuts.

By taking a good quality multi B complex supplement including all the B’s ie: B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and B12 you will support your body in dealing with the everyday stresses life throws at us. ie: new job, new home, school studies …… the B complex of vitamins is essential for healthy digestive, neural and immune systsem functioning.Don’t, however, buy any of the B complex of vitamins individually, but rather as a whole complex, unless under instructions from a nutritionally oriented physician or naturopath.

Bear in mind also that calcium and vitamin D and vitamin B6 are needed to effectively absorb vitamin B12, part of the B complex of vitamins, so eat more foods rich in calcium and try to get at least 10 – 15 minutes of safe sun exposure on a daily basis…… cold water fishes such as salmon and tuna are rich in both calcium and vitamin D….. vitamin B6 will be included as part of a Bcomplex of vitamins supplement or simply eat more foods rich in B6 ~ wheat germ, brewers yeast, liver, fish, cantaloupe, unmilled rice, eggs & oats?

The whole food source of tryptophan and all other vitamins, minerals amino acids etc…. will always be the most nutritious and easily assimilable form.

Hope this information helps you a bit.

Take care of you?

CHEERS
?

I have panic attacks and anxiety when i’m in public and in big groups. What are some ways i can calm down?

You can visit your doctor to see whether anti-anxiety medication is an option. My panic attacks are at night which prevents me from sleeping so I have been prescribed Tamazepam. This may not be an option for you during the day but there are many medications out there that you and your doctor can discuss. For more natural solutions visit a homeopath or you can take Bachs flower remedy which can be useful, I take it before meetings and it does work although I am left with a headache approx. one afterwards. Breathing techniques can help as can meditation as you will be able to take you to a more comfortable zone in your head. Good luck.

I have been having overwhelming anxiety and panic attacks for about a month. This consists of stomach pains and nausia, diarhea, indigestion, heart palpatations, and fatique. Lately it’s become so over powering I’ve become more emotional. I am two days late for my period now too. I took an early pregnancy test a few days ago that was negative, but could this still be a symptom?

Has anyone had symptoms like this in their pregnancies?

No. I’ve never heard of any of those being symptoms.

I have been struggling with social anxiety and panic disorder since I was 16. I am almost 21 now and have been to many job interviews, but have not been able to make it through a single one without having a panic attack!!! I take medications daily, but with no luck!! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Hi Olivia

I’d like to give some solid advice to you about panic attacks, especially as you seem to have a trigger point which is the job interviews. There are many dead ends you can go down tryin to deal with this problem. I have a history of them and now I have dealt with them.

When a person has a panic attack they are frozen in fear. This is not cowardice. Panic attacks become a private hidden secret inner prison that destroys a person’s life and self-esteem. A person tries so hard to hide it even from him/herself. Panic attacks come on like a heart attack without a warning. It is a very similar feeling and hard to detect which makes it even scarier. The chest tightens, there is no way to handle the fear factor, the feeling that is paralyzing and comes from out of nowhere. Physical discomfort like a rapid heartbeat, sweating, trembling, hot flashes and trouble swallowing regularly accompany the attacks. Panic attacks usually peak within ten minutes but can last 30 minutes. Sometimes panic attacks can last as long as a day. Many feel very tired and worn out after the attack subsides.
Learning how to stop panic attacks is a priority for the majority of those who have ever experienced them. This is because panic attacks are emotionally, mentally and physically draining. Some have gone so far as to describe panic attacks as emotional nightmares.

Although a doctor is a good port of call first in case there is some health-cause, medications do not always alleviate the panic attacks, especially long term, and those prescribed with anti-psychotic medication are on the road to further problems resulting from the consistent use of chemicals that eventually have a permanent negative effect on the brain.
I am not a doctor or a professional person, but I am a person that lived with panic attacks and has overcome them. I’ve had to read information and misinformation from sources that proscribe to know about panic attacks but they don’t. People give so many varied points of view on how one should deal with them. Persons that have panic attacks not only have to deal with the panic attacks, they have to deal with people who have a lack of understanding and arguments at the same time. Sometimes that even includes doctors!

There are now simple techniques you can learn to help you stop panic attacks quickly and easily and eventually cure panic attacks completely. These techniques have been tested and proven through research and actual application to stop panic attack quickly and effectively.

The deep breathing technique is one of them and is also called diaphragmatic breathing and is a very important technique to learn if you what to quickly know of how to stop a panic attack. The challenge now is when you are experiencing anxiety, focusing on proper deep breathing can be very difficult task. The deep breathing technique requires you to breathe directly from your diaphragm and is the type of deep breathing you do during meditation. This technique is simple and anyone can practice it when you begin to feel the symptoms of panic attack.

I’ve included a link if anybody wants to really get to know more about these techniques and how to stop the panic attacks completely and for good. I’ve been there so I wish you and all those on the search the best, and I offer lots of optimism because this affliction can be overcome.

Good Luck!

I need some good meds for anxiety and panic and was just prescribed to sertraline (generic zoloft)….how goood does it work for anxiety and panic?

In English: Seratonin is a "chemical" in the brain that is responsable for a sense of well-being and helps regulate sleep.

In your brain, these chemicals are released, float around for a bit, and then re-absorbed by the brain. It is while the chemical is "floating around" that you feel the effects of it (well-being, calmness). If your body re-absorbs the chemical, seratonin, too fast you may feel anxious and have a sense of feeling anxiety or non-well-being.

What Zoloft does is it prevents your brain from re-absorbing seratonin too fast so you can feel the effects. I take it and it seemed to help a lot with my anxiety but didnt change my personality at all.

Hence the reason it is called a SSRI: Selective Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitor

I have been having anxiety and panic attacks for almost a year now. I am 16 and a male. Sometimes I can get over this cycle for a couple months or days, I don’t no how but when i’m in this mindset I really need some tactics or methods to help me eliminate them. When I have gotten over them I know how good it feels. Please help.

breathing deep while eating something you love focus at pictures with Cirrus clouds or summer green

I had my son 4 months ago and i had some baby blues first couple of weeks, no big deal, but now I am plagued by constant anxiety and panic. PLease give me advice or experience.

You need to call your doc. ASAP & make sure you stay healthy, so you can better take care of your baby~
I would also, let our family know what is going on…if you haven’t done so already…
~get some support from your family….your husband…mom, sister or aunt….
have them help you, until you’ve taken care of your symptoms…
*remember, try not to beat yourself up for feeling this way…
it takes a while for your hormones to return to normal…

I have researched and found that there are conflicting reports. I read that half the sources say High levels of cortisol are to blame for anxiety, insomnia , panic and stress and the other half say low cortisol levels are to blame. So which one is it ? Low or High?

The answer is not that simple. I have lived and live both. I had Cushing’s disease which is too much cortisol and when pituitary surgery failed, I ended up having to have my adrenals removed. So now I have too little cortisol.
When I had too much, and I can say this was true for many of those I speak to – to give an example, when I was in a car, it felt like all the cars were coming at me. I had terrible insomnia because my cortisol was raised at night.

Having too little, I am not able to react well to stress and get more emotional and stressed out in different ways. I also get insomnia. I have found that the symptoms of being low are pretty similar to being high except for the tossing of cookies.

If I had to pick one, panic, anxiety, insomnia, and stress are more often associated with higher levels.

They think it’s an act for attention, when it’s not. I know I have them, & when I fall out & faint, they yell at me, telling me to get up. They did that to this other young lady who had just had a baby, & her baby got taken away, so she had a panic attack. How serious are panic attacks? Are they REALLY serious health-wise? Why don’t people take them seriously. If I have an anxiety headache, people call me a delusional hypochondriac & say it’s all in my mind when it’s not.

when you say professionals do you mean professionals at work or medical professionals?

if you are treated poorly at work you have a really good option avialable to you — get another job where they respect you. not all bosses are creepy. its just when you have one it seems that way.

if its medical — all doctors are not created equal. i get cluster headaches and about 99% of doctors are worthless when it comes to them. the internet is a valuable resource though. you can find groups of people just like you. i did and i found a good doctor. if you search for support groups on the internet i am sure you can find one.

fyi — i have had anxiety attacks and learned how to avoid them. they are caused by things that are far outside your ability to control — like angry bosses. the easiest way to stop them is avoid what causes them. mine are usually in large crowds in cramped spaces — no mall for me at christmas time. i really think a job change might do you good.