Experience with anxiety?

[CAMom]

I'm swallowing my pride here to ask about anxiety.

 

Life is really stressful right now and I'm wondering if I'm suffering from a bit of anxiety. My main "symptoms" are a heavy feeling. I was describing it to dh as a heavy feeling in my chest but it's not really my chest. It's higher like right between my collar bone bumps. It feels kind of like a knot that I just can't swallow down. Sometimes it's heavy enough where I feel like I can't breathe even though, if I pay attention, I know I'm breathing just fine.

 

I also just have an all around "jittery" feel which is making it really hard to focus or get anything accomplished. I'm feeling a degree of paralysis.

 

I have had a couple of episodes where I wake at night and can't move. I'm consciously trying to move my limbs or talk and I'm unable to. Within a relatively short time, I just fall back to sleep and I'm fine in the morning.

 

Do these sound typical of anxiety? If so, will someone with some experience tell me how you've dealt with it?

 

I appear to be a very emotionally even keeled person-partly because I almost always internalize my emotions. A week from today is the 4th anniversary of my daughter's death. There are a slew of other difficult things going on in our lives right now in addition to all of the regular crazy activities that come with a husband in church leadership, a teen in driver's ed, a pre-teen doing volunteer work, caring for my elderly grandmother, etc.

 

Any input would be very much appreciated.:)

[hornblower]

Those sound like fairly typical anxiety attack symptoms. Someone close to me had a full work up for heart problems because of similar symptoms but it turned out to be anxiety - luckily it was directly related to a job situation, & when that changed, the anxiety went away.

 

I would strongly suggest discussing this with a dr. Get help. I hope you'll feel better soon.

[Ria]

Please see your doctor. This could be anxiety, or it could be some other condition, like depression. You won't know until you see your doctor, and it's certainly not something to ignore. If it is anxiety, there are some meds you could try...many people do fine with just short-term treatment.

 

:grouphug:

 

Ria

[newbie]

Anxiety attacks. Is there anyway you can take a little time for yourself? Meditation and yoga always help me when stress overcomes me.

 

Right now I have gallbladder attacks, huge reminder, I need to slow down.

[mrsdash]

Sounds like anxiety to me. I know when I'm overwhelmed, I get several similar feelings. Sometimes the floor moves below me (that's a trip, btw). Sometimes I awaken at night with a naseaus chill and sometimes I can't breathe and feel panicked. It's usually when too much is on my plate.

[CAMom]

Sounds like anxiety to me. I know when I'm overwhelmed, I get several similar feelings. Sometimes the floor moves below me (that's a trip, btw). Sometimes I awaken at night with a naseaus chill and sometimes I can't breathe and feel panicked. It's usually when too much is on my plate.

 

I've had that floor moving feeling a few times. I just thought it was a small earthquake since I live in Southern California.;)

 

Thank you for the responses. I don't even have a doctor right now. I know, that's bad.

 

I can get some time for myself but I wouldn't even know what to do with it and, of course, the problems will all still be here when I return.:tongue_smilie: What would you do with the time to yourself?

 

Any other natural things to do before I try to find a doctor. I'm not opposed to medication but I'm hoping that the circumstances are temporary and that I can choose some natural things to do.

[mrsdash]

I've never done anything about it except "talk myself out of it". I either tell someone and that helps or I just talk to myself and kind of say "you're just stressed, calm down". Honestly, that helps me. I am hoping that just knowing what it is, will help you keep it under control.

For me, it seems to be a lack of control that will drive my anxiety. If I make a list or start to gain control over a piece of it, it will subside. I even get anxiety if I go out to dinner and eat too much....if I can't take a complete breath in, I will panic inside...it's crazy. Again, though,if I choose to relax and ignore it, it goes away quicker.

[Wendi]

Natural things to try...

 

Supplements that can be helpful are Omega 3's (fish oil, flax oil, etc.) and magnesium. (Most multivitamins don't contain the full amount of calcium and magnesium, so I take a calcium/magnesium supplement, too.)

 

Exercise is helpful with anxiety. Just going for walks, or yoga.

 

Watching your diet. Eat healthy foods. Try avoiding caffeine and excess sugar.

 

Wendi

[anewday]

I've never done anything about it except "talk myself out of it". I either tell someone and that helps or I just talk to myself and kind of say "you're just stressed, calm down". Honestly, that helps me. I am hoping that just knowing what it is, will help you keep it under control.

For me, it seems to be a lack of control that will drive my anxiety. If I make a list or start to gain control over a piece of it, it will subside. I even get anxiety if I go out to dinner and eat too much....if I can't take a complete breath in, I will panic inside...it's crazy. Again, though,if I choose to relax and ignore it, it goes away quicker.

 

I have to talk to myself through it too. It's been a while, but I used to get full blown attacks with racing heart, paralyzing fear and trouble getting my breath. I learned to recognize them when they would come on, typically when things were just normal. My body would all of a sudden start "reacting" as though it were in emergency mode - adrenaline, etc. My MIND was thinking, WHAT IS GOING ON? I had to connect to what my physical body was doing and literally talk to myself. It helped...

 

I still struggle with the symptoms you described (including the waking up not being able to move out of fear of who knows what) but I recognize them as anxiety and that helps tremendously with getting through it.

 

:grouphug:

 

For natural - Hylands has Calms Forte and it has worked well for me. It's homeopathic. I also find that a glass of wine on occasion or a foot rub from dh and listening to music has helped calm too.

[anewday]

I wanted to add that I have gone through "seasons" of anxiety in my life and have only recently noticed the pattern. Depending on what is going on, there have been weeks and months where it was VERY hard for me to get a grip on the anxiety with the normal coping methods. I didn't take meds, though I did discuss it with my doctor and consider it. For a variety of reasons, I decided against it, though I am not opposed to it in the future if needed. I look back at my childhood and see that I struggled with anxiety many times in my life - to the point that it was not what people would say "normal" anxiety.

 

Anyhow, all that to say that it's something I've had to evaluate at different times and trust the Lord in. I'm thankful that so far I haven't had to use meds, but I know there may come a time when they are needed. It helps to have good counsel from those you trust and a good doctor who doesn't automatically push the meds.

[LisaNY]

I'm swallowing my pride here to ask about anxiety.

 

Life is really stressful right now and I'm wondering if I'm suffering from a bit of anxiety. My main "symptoms" are a heavy feeling. I was describing it to dh as a heavy feeling in my chest but it's not really my chest. It's higher like right between my collar bone bumps. It feels kind of like a knot that I just can't swallow down. Sometimes it's heavy enough where I feel like I can't breathe even though, if I pay attention, I know I'm breathing just fine.

 

I also just have an all around "jittery" feel which is making it really hard to focus or get anything accomplished. I'm feeling a degree of paralysis.

 

I have had a couple of episodes where I wake at night and can't move. I'm consciously trying to move my limbs or talk and I'm unable to. Within a relatively short time, I just fall back to sleep and I'm fine in the morning.

 

Do these sound typical of anxiety? If so, will someone with some experience tell me how you've dealt with it?

 

I appear to be a very emotionally even keeled person-partly because I almost always internalize my emotions. A week from today is the 4th anniversary of my daughter's death. There are a slew of other difficult things going on in our lives right now in addition to all of the regular crazy activities that come with a husband in church leadership, a teen in driver's ed, a pre-teen doing volunteer work, caring for my elderly grandmother, etc.

 

Any input would be very much appreciated.:)

 

(((CAmom))) BTDT. I dealt with anxiety attacks for a few years. Most of it was due to my brother's 3 1/2 battle that he ultimately lost to Leukemia. I also had difficulty breathing at times, along with a jittery feeling. My anxiety became so severe that I required medication. You meantioned that you internalize a lot, which is a surefire way to increase the anxiety attacks. You need to talk to someone. I did see a therapist for a while, and it did help a lot. Expressing your feelings is very important. Just getting it out will go a long way in quelling the anxiety.

 

Take heart, it does get better. It's been a few years since my last anxiety attack. When I feel tremors, I can usually get through them by realizing that it will pass. I just talk myself through it. :001_smile:

[sandalwood]

I'm swallowing my pride here to ask about anxiety.

 

Life is really stressful right now and I'm wondering if I'm suffering from a bit of anxiety. My main "symptoms" are a heavy feeling. I was describing it to dh as a heavy feeling in my chest but it's not really my chest. It's higher like right between my collar bone bumps. It feels kind of like a knot that I just can't swallow down. Sometimes it's heavy enough where I feel like I can't breathe even though, if I pay attention, I know I'm breathing just fine.

 

I also just have an all around "jittery" feel which is making it really hard to focus or get anything accomplished. I'm feeling a degree of paralysis.

 

I have had a couple of episodes where I wake at night and can't move. I'm consciously trying to move my limbs or talk and I'm unable to. Within a relatively short time, I just fall back to sleep and I'm fine in the morning.

 

Do these sound typical of anxiety? If so, will someone with some experience tell me how you've dealt with it?

 

I appear to be a very emotionally even keeled person-partly because I almost always internalize my emotions. A week from today is the 4th anniversary of my daughter's death. There are a slew of other difficult things going on in our lives right now in addition to all of the regular crazy activities that come with a husband in church leadership, a teen in driver's ed, a pre-teen doing volunteer work, caring for my elderly grandmother, etc.

 

Any input would be very much appreciated.:)

 

Have you had your blood pressure checked lately? I had ****major**** issues with anxiety and I thought it was menopause/hormones. Turns out my blood pressure was sky high and I had no idea anxiety was one symptom. I knew about most of the other symptoms but not anxiety. I was having full blown panic attacks, etc. I was also having issues sleeping. I'd wake up and not be able to breath, etc. Magically, it all went away after a trip to the cardiologist tweaking with the right bp med. Just a thought to check your blood pressure. I truly thought it was something else with me.