Panic Attacks Message Board

It's all about TRUST

jeff — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:04:35 GMT

The Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice

from Thomas Bulfinch and retold by Juliana Podd in Encyclopedia Mythica.

Eurydice and Orpheus were young and in love. So deep was their love that they were practically inseparable. So dependent was their love that each felt they could not live without the other. These young lovers were very happy and spent their time frolicking through the meadows. One day Eurydice was gaily running through a meadow with Orpheus when she was bitten by a serpent. The poison of the sting killed her and she descended to Hades immediately.

Orpheus was a son of Apollo, the god of music, and Orpheus was blessed with musical talents. Orpheus was so sad about the loss of his love that he composed music to express the terrible emptiness which pervaded his every breath and movement. He was so desperate and found so little else meaningful, that he decided to address Hades. As the overseer of the underworld, Hades heart had to be hard as steel, and so it was. Many approached Hades to beg for loved ones back and as many times were refused. But Orpheus' music was so sweet and so moving that it softened the steel hearted heart of Hades himself. Hades gave permission to Orpheus to bring Eurydice back to the surface of the earth to enjoy the light of day. There was only one condition--Orpheus was not to look back as he ascended. He was to trust that Eurydice was immediately behind him. It was a long way back up and just as Orpheus had almost finished that last part of the trek, he looked behind him to make sure Eurydice was still with him. At that very moment, she was snatched back because he did not trust that she was there.

Forum: PanicEnd Message Board

A Quote From 'Dune.'

Jesse — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:18:30 GMT

"I must not fear.

Fear is the mind-killer.

Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

I will face my fear.

I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.

Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.

Only I will remain."

Something I read today and decided to share.

I love you all,

- Jesse

Forum: PanicEnd Message Board

THINKING ABOUT THINKING PLEASE HELP

jamesm — Thur, 12 Nov 2009 04:34:07 GMT

Hi,
My name is James and have not visited for a while. I am from Australia. Wondering if anyone can help me because it seems I find it difficult to stop thinkning about anxiety all the time. I rarely panic these days however I am always having weird thoughts about whether I will ever recover etc etc this makes me feel uneasy and then I think along the lines of I'm stuck with this, stuck in my body with no way out etc etc. It gets me very depressed as I have overcome the full blown attacks using Jeffs method and with help over the years it comes and goes.
Its like a constant dread and doubt that anyone fully recovers from this at all. There is so much on the web from people suffering but not much about personal full recovery unles you pay $9.99 I just feel fed up and feel like it will never go away, the thoughts and this dread that i have anxiety. I'm scared I will reach a point where I cant take it anymore and become really depressed. I just want to be normal and stop thinking about this crap!
It is ruining my life.

Sorry to rant however everyone on this board is great and used to help me feel better. I have seen a few therapist over the years but really believe most do not have a clue as they are tought by textbooks. Unless you have experienced this for yourself its very hard to explain. I had a great childhood, have a succesful real estate franchise, beautiful family and girlfriend and no financial pressure and I still feel depressed all the time with these thoughts!Jeff? Sue? please suggest.
Kindest Regards
James

Forum: PanicEnd Message Board

WOW is it in the water or something?

DearJohn — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:01:14 GMT

My son-in-law had his first panic attack about 2 years ago and last night my step daughter just had her first attack and ended up in the ER.. Both are under an enormous amount of financial stress and worry.. If todays life styles cause this much stress these days with more and more people developing anxiety disorders, whats it gonna be like 20 years from now?

I guess I have more coaching to do..

Rich

Forum: PanicEnd Message Board

Mega set back !!

snugglepuppy — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:37:19 GMT

Hello all .. I have been with this group on an off for about 3 years now
( I'm Holly) Well I had a mega set back and need some help plz !!
My family got the h1n1 ( not me) well my husband was on day 13 after missing a weeks work no pay he had to go back sick he called me his throat was hurting long story to that we end up in the ER at 12 at night by 5 am he is in ICU I went with no sleep all night went home at 7 am slept 1 hour
woke up an BOOMMMMMMMMMMM sick to my tummy i felt them coming I forced myself to the hospital and they took over I made it maybe 3 hours and back home I tryd to sleep nope so forced myself back to the hospital this went on all day an night by friday I made myself stay home and sleep thinking they were back because I had 1 hour sleep in 2 days so I went to sleep but kept waking up in a jolt fear full blown panic attacks by 5 am I again forced myself to the hospital and made it this time not even 20 mins and had to run back home ( feel like such a let down) How could I be thinking of myself my love of life in ICU and I have to go home????? I went back to sleep and back to the hospital for 4 days like this ..I really hate myself right now !! My husband was sent home finally sat (( YAYYA)) How can I be such a let down I needed to be strong and I was not all !!! I understand Jeffs words To let it happen and really have been doing great This just made me so sick such real feelings real fears it all took me away !!

Forum: PanicEnd Message Board

Advice..life changing event

CrystalD — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:27:14 GMT

I been working recently on face, accept, float & let time pass so that I can stay at home alone while my bf worked etc. Was doing pretty good too until today.

He left me this morning. There were no domestic issues, so it was not that. I am trying to cope but its almost more than I can handle right now.

I have no immediate family in the area, my son is active duty Navy...I contacted him and he is taking emergency leave to travel to me. I will have to leave my home and move back with my son & his family.

The main issue I am facing at this moment, is that I have a severe choking phobia, I cannot eat at all unless he is with me. I know its irrational and all that but its real to me.

I have about 2 days to get thru before my son can arrive.

How one human can do this to another human is beyond me. I mean yeah folks "break the dishes" all the time. However when you have a partner who is as severe as I am...... I just could not do it to someone.

How am I going to confront this situation? I mean I know about facing and accepting, but with the choking phobia, well that's something else.
I cannot stop the physical reactions, I just do not know what to do.

Any ideas or suggestions?

I could use a real friend right now, and there is no one around.

Please help.

Forum: PanicEnd Message Board

Sleeping

puggini — Thur, 05 Nov 2009 07:47:20 GMT

I was wondering whether anyone had information about dealing panic attacks when sleeping.

A little over a year ago, I had full blown panic attacks 24/7, and I got passed it for the most part. The one thing I can't seem to shake are panic attacks when I'm trying to go to sleep.

What would happen a year ago was I was afraid to go to sleep because I thought I would forget to breath. I would be about to fall asleep, and wake up gasping for air. A year ago, I would wake up and not be able to attempt to go to sleep again until I calmed down. Now I just wake up, and attempt to sleep again. It's not that I'm afraid of having the panic attacks, it's that when I'm having them I'm about 50% awake and 50% asleep, so I'm not totally aware of what's going on and apparently more susceptible. It's annoying, but it's nothing compared to the daytime panic attacks, especially because when I finally do get into a deeper sleep, I sleep soundly. It only seems to be a problem when I'm trying to get to sleep.

Any feedback is appreciated, even if you haven't encountered this problem, let me know.

Forum: PanicEnd Message Board

Looking for help with extreme daily panic attacks

cacophony — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:38:13 GMT

I have been suffering from panic attacks/intense anxiety disorder for about a year now.

What triggered my panic attacks was doing lsd about a year ago. Afterwards this kid I know was talking about how you can put it on anything and talking about all these ways to dose people without their knowledge. This scared me and turned into an intense phobia that it could be on anything. (I am not a drug user except that I smoke cigarettes, this was one of my only experiences with something like this in my life)

My panic attacks are also accompanied with weird visual hallucinations. Another thing is that my right pupil will grow larger than my left one and my eyes will hurt really badly accompanied with all the other symptoms of a panic attack... the longest panic attack lasted about six hours which was one of the first ones I had.

I have been unable to get medical help because I don't have health insurance. The one time I went to a doctor they got angry with me and I felt they didn't take me seriously/believe that I was suffering from panic attacks this intensely. They refused to prescribe me any medications to help with them such as valium ( I don't want anti-depressants, I've heard too many horror stories with them).

Today I was watching a documentary on panic attacks which gave me a panic attack and scared me really badly. It was showing images of people stuck in mental institutions because of their panic attacks and the way they were feeling was pretty close to how intense my panic attacks are. I get them on a daily basis and every time I feel like I'm going to lose my mind.

I'm really searching for a way to make this stop. I've tried breathing and controlling it but it doesn't always help. I always feel like I'm suffocating or having a heart attack. I had open heart surgery and always get scared that I'm going to have problems because of it.

Any help/suggestions would be immensely appreciated.

Thank you for listening.

Forum: PanicEnd Message Board

Cortisol DHEA ratio

Karl1 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:36:34 GMT

While I take great effort to keep my stress hormones low by not over reacting to everything I guess I still am a work in progress. On a recent lab test my DHEA was clinically low while my Cortisol level abnormally high which my DR points out to me that this can lead to panic disorder and depression. Of coarse I knew this because of Claire Weekes. I searched the Net after getting home and found a link discussing this. The Dr prescribed DHEA to fix this imbalance. If you are interested here it is.

http://www.anthropogeny.com/A%20Hypothetical%20Explanation%20of%20Panic%20Disorder.htm

Forum: PanicEnd Message Board

Test

fhayes31 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:17:04 GMT

Last night and this morning was a huge test of my ability to cope with panic. Yesterday was my 25th birthday and I went back to my college town an hour away to see old friends. I was hardly anxious going there and being there...which was great. However, I don't drink very often and I got a little carried away. I was more drunk than I've ever been in my life. I had a good time though and was alright until we got in the car to go home. My husband was driving and I had the thought, "Oh, no, what if I have alcohol poisoning? What if I pass out and never wake up?" I felt panic start and even in my drunken state, I was able to face it and accept it. It happened a couple more times on the way...each time I accepted and the panic stopped. Needless to say, I didn't feel very well this morning. I was dehydrated, dizzy, my heart was racing, I could tell my blood sugar was a little low...all conditions that send me into panic, usually. I just accepted all of it, and what do you know? I felt better after awhile and didn't panic. So, despite my bad choices, I rode out the whole thing, panic free. Maybe it was a good thing it happened because if I was able to accept my panic, being as drunk and out of it as I was, I feel even more confident that I can do it sober!

Forum: PanicEnd Message Board

Happy Halloween!

tammy — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:56:27 GMT

Hope you all have a safe.. fun .. candy filled Halloween!!!!

Forum: PanicEnd Chat Forum

valerian and ativan

averica — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:26:36 GMT

i only take ativan about once a week to help me sleep.
i tried some valerian last night..woke up several times..and seemed like i dreamt a lot more when i was sleeping.
i really want good sleep tonight(which the ativan always provides)..but i saw that mixing the 2 is a bad idea.
so im wondering if whatever i tool last night would still be in my system enough tonight to interact with the ativan...
i doubt it,but you never can tell.....

Forum: PanicEnd Message Board

My recent insight into panic attacks

Opposite_December — Thur, 29 Oct 2009 07:14:56 GMT

Hello everyone! Its been a long time since I've posted on here. This is something I wanted to share with you all that I've been thinking about.

I've recently had another "light bulb moment" lately in regards to panic.

Overcoming panic disorder is tricky because when we worry, we think in circles. We chase our own tails of what-ifs, apprehension, fear of dying etc, so quickly we often don't recognize what we are doing wrong. We become so protective of our "sanity" that we block out most forms of rational thought and focus on "surviving."

What finally clicked for me the other day was a realization so simple, so obvious I had to laugh at myself.

I was thinking about the central nervous system, how it is a reflexive mechanism designed to protect us against danger, and how we can't control it. I took that thought a step further and said,"Ok, the nervous system operates much the same as any other system that works automatically without thought in my body, case in point that I can't will myself to stop breathing, that if I suddenly become apprehensive about taking air into my lungs, nothing I think or try to prepare myself for mentally can prevent it. I can influence it to a certain degree, but I can't control it directly.

Panic works the same way, and this is sort of a back-door thinking strategy that actually reaches the same conclusion as Jeff's. If I can't directly control panic by thought or worry (our mental 'armor' and preparation for attack)....what am I doing wasting time running or being scared of it? Do I lose anything by just simply choosing to not worry anymore? Logic points to the fact that no I don't, I can focus on other things and scratch "panic" off my worry list for the day, forever.

It is a tactic as simple as realizing that trying to control an automatic response like that is a waste of time, and not because I've wasted so much of my life already with panic and anxiety. My thoughts exist in a different sphere of influence than my nervous system...which is not to say one can't influence the other, but as far as outright control is concerned, a panic response is outside of my conscious domain.

This was hard for me to see because I want to control it! I don't want to be at the mercy of some random terrifying function! But that's silly because its not up to me to worry about it, I was never designed to pick and choose when a panic attack occurs, just like I was never designed to control (consciously) breathing, or my heart rate, or my height.

Its like you're holding two balloons in one hand, one is red, one is blue. The red balloon represents your thoughts, worries, what-ifs, the furious scrambling pace of fears we introduce to ourselves to "gear up" for panic. The blue balloon is the nervous system, or the panic response, in a completely different zone, the unconscious automatic response area much like what keeps us breathing when we go to sleep at night. When you think about panic and our self-created apprehensions in this analogy, it becomes more clear. You don't have to worry or keep close watch on your mind and body because those actions take place somewhere that has little to do with panic itself. Sure, the two balloons may bump into each other causing some influence, but not outright control. One balloon does not engulf the other one. And more often than not, all that bumping back and forth is us banging our worries against panic's domain, testing for a response we so dread.

It's like we knock on panic's door, and then jump in the bushes and hide. Over and over again.

Basically my understanding now is this; I've given myself permission to not worry about panic. I've told myself if panic operates independently of what I choose to think about it, why waste time trying to consciously combat it? In fact as we've all been trying to beat into our heads here we should be giving in to panic anyway, accepting, floating, daring it to be worse, whatever you choose to call it.

And by letting go of my hypersensitive need to control my body, my thoughts, panic...I've relaxed more and more and I'm returning to my "old" natural state.

     I know its hard to accept, but it really is so simple. We've just convinced ourselves that there is some demonic force inside us lurking in the shadows, feeding on the shreds of our joy and sanity. But the truth is we created that imaginary demon ourselves. Panic did not!

The problem we have is that once we receive this knowledge, whether on this site, or through a psychologist, it seems we have to work backwards against our ingrained thought habits and explain the truth at every turn, every time an old what-if jumps out until those habits give up and accept the new truth. We believe this because we've drilled these fears into our heads...we did, not panic. Why else would there be a greater percentage of the population who have had panic attacks and simply forgot them and moved on without getting stuck in the cycle? The truth is that it is just as easy for us to move on as anyone else, we are not crazy, different, or flawed. We just fear...fear, and imagine the worst things that could happen and foresee every twitch as confirmation. The truth is that if someone had came up to us that first panic attack, the first "real doozy" and calmly told us its nothing to worry about, its like coughing or breathing, just more intense, we most likely would have moved on without looking back over our shoulders...and the panic cycle would not occur. I think its important for everyone to realize that no one is "broken" or "stuck" in the panic cycle. Panic isn't cycling through us on some train track that somehow got switched to the wrong set of rails. We switched it, and we simply refuse to switch the rails back, to let the train pass through.

I hope this helps...if you read this far

- Joe

Forum: PanicEnd Message Board

Tinnitus part of anxiety?

therese48 — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:44:22 GMT

I was just reading on line about some of the symptoms of anxiety. I know many of them and have had them for years...but if some of this is anxiety, it's new to me.

Dizziness - off balance, pressure in head, ringing in ears. They did say tinnitus for one (disturbed hearing) but if I think back, I swore I wasn't at this level of anxiety before the ringing started....but it sure helps me escalate.

I'm trying so hard tonite to "float". Making myself sit down...and say about the tingling...."bring it on...tingle". It did help some. The pressure in head and ringing is hard to do that with, but I'm working on it.

Going to see doc in the morning to confirm this isn't anything. I want to know for sure....and if it's all nerves...then I'll know and can go from there.

Forum: PanicEnd Message Board

restless or circulation need help

letchi — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:06:15 GMT

Hope all is well with everyone, i have a question, i tend to get restless legs and arms, always feel like i need to move them, i take this as a side effect from the ssnr i was on remeron, because i never did feel like this before anyways my Dr say it's not. the thing is i have chronic neck tightening and am wondering if this is causing poor blood circulation and causing these symptoms , any experts out there???

Forum: PanicEnd Message Board