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Posts created by jSquared

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 36

Noticing my symptoms

Hello all,

Today I started noticing some of my symptoms that feed into my anxiety and panic and would like to share. Today has been alright with the anxiety, probably around a 1 or 2. I had a friend drive me up to the college to get a progress report signed and then to Worksource to get it faxed, only because I don't have transportation at the moment and didn't feel like taking the bus because that would have taken a lot longer and it's cold outside. After coming back from running the errands, which took about half an hour, I started feeling a little more confused. The feelings and thoughts that I start having are that something(my life included) feels or seems like its out of order, weird, misplaced, it's actually pretty hard for me to try and describe it but I guess these will do for now. And I just feel like my head is foggy, I can't think as clearly as usual, and don't feel like my usual focused self. I do not do any sort of drugs and am not on any medications other than the insulin I take for my diabetes, which wouldn't cause these feelings. I just wanted to get this off my chest and see what anyone here on the forums has to say.

Thank you and stay positive,

-jSquared

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 36

Noticing my symptoms

Thank you for the tips Sunny! :D These sound like they should be very helpful, next time I am feeling symptoms I will try them.

Stay positive,

-jSquared

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 36

Starting to see results! :D

Hello everyone,

Right now I am currently on the second session of the CBT program, but I am already seeing some positive results. I have started to be able to recognize and point out my anxious thoughts and then calm myself down by telling myself that they are just anxious thoughts and cannot harm me. Sometimes if I notice the physical symptoms first its a bit harder to calm down or my anxiety level gets a bit higher, but I'm still able to calm myself down. This is a big success for me and I thought I would share it. It should be especially good for the newcomers to read, because like me, they might be wondering how it helps or when it might start helping. Thank you to the health educators, members, and website for the support and knowledge to overcome. :D

They may be small steps, but small steps lead to great journeys.

Stay positive,

-jSquared

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 36

Myth or Fact?

Sometimes I get anxious about taking a shower and sometimes I'll have an anxiety attack in the shower. This will happen if I'm having a day where my anxiety level is a little higher. I think it stems from the fact that the first really bad attack I had was in the shower, a little over a year ago, this was the first time I got the feelings of depersonalization during an attack. My anxiety levels also sometimes rise when in a pretty stressful situation(i.e. an argument) or the area around me is really busy, lots of people, like the computer area of the library at the college I attend. I believe my anxiety levels rise in these situations due to the fact that there seems to be a lot going and they are stressful. Thank you for the questions, I really enjoyed these ones. :D

-jSquared

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 36

New symptoms? How To Combat Them?

Deanna, good job on starting the program and working through the anxiety. I know we all wish it were easy to get back to feeling "normal". But I've been working the program for a little over three weeks, I'm currently on the third step and am feeling and have been feeling better since starting this program and being able to talk with the other members. Loves Trees has a good point, I've just started to accept the fact that yes I do have "crazy"(negative) thoughts, but me being able to accept it has helped me. Think about it, "normal" people have negative thoughts too, although they don't affect them like they affect us, they still have them. It makes me feel more at peace about them, so if you try thinking like that and it helps, go for it. Good luck on working through the program and good luck to your family also, you'll all do great, it just takes some work. :D

Stay positive,

-jSquared

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 36

hi, im summer

Hi Summer!

That sounds somewhat like my situation was. I used to get mild panic attacks when I was a teenager, but was able to get through them easily. Now I'm 26 and it was harder for me to get over them, now its a bit easier since I started working through the program. I'm only on session 3 and I'm already feeling better and am able to control my panic/anxiety better. My advice to you would be to read through the program as it instructs you to do so. Read through other members' posts, a lot of people go through this, and understanding that you're not alone is a big help for most people. It may be hard to do when you're dealing with anxiety, but try to relax and laugh. If you have a favorite funny show that you can watch, just relax and enjoy it, I do this and it helps me. Good luck on working through the program, it really helps. :D

Stay positive,

-jSquared

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 36

A couple of questions.

Hello, I have a couple of questions and some of my own input about them also.

Since I know knowledge is power, there are a couple of questions I would like to have answered so I know more. The first question is: Why is it harder to deal with anxiety and panic in the morning? A thought that I have about this question is the fact that I have some pretty rough sleep inertia(the I'm still tired and foggy headed feeling after waking up) could account for this. The second question is: I'm getting close to doing exposure work(I'm about in the middle of the week into my third session), which I know some or most people do this while taking medication so it makes the exposure work easier. But I am a full-time college student right now with no medical and no way of paying to see a therapist, is it still alright for me to pursue the exposure work? Cause I know the exposure work is a big part of the program and I would really like to work on this step, unless it might be too hard or there is anything for me to watch out for if I am not on meds. Plus I'm not a big fan of meds anyway, I like doing everything in a natural way or through my own willpower. Thank you to anyone for your answers.

Stay positive,

-jSquared

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 36

A couple of questions.

Davit, thank you for your reply and support, I appreciate it. I think right now I am taking both approaches with my challenge questions. I will post a thought that I just challenged, any feedback would be appreciated.

Thought: That I will wake up and have to deal with panic attacks early on.

Q1: No, it is not true, I've been able to wake up feeling good and not have any attacks.

Q2: I don't know its true. Considering the fact I've been able to wake up feeling good most of my life and not have any panic attacks supports the fact that its not true.

Q3: No, the anxious thought isn't 100% true. Most of the time I'm able to wake up and not have any attacks.

Q4: The evidence for it being true is nothing. Although I've recently been dealing with attacks on some mornings recently, doesn't support my thought that it may happen tomorrow.

Q5: The evidence against it being true is that I've woken up and not had anxiety/panic early on.

Q6: Yes, it has happened before.

Q7: What's different now is that I don't believe it will happen and I'm not scared.

Q8: It wouldn't be that bad. I've made it through the attacks and have done what I needed to throughout the day.

Q9: The worst that could happen is I have an attack.

Q10: If the worst happened, it would be scary because I'm scared of attacks right now. But I should look at it as if it's a challenge I have to face to get better.

I've also made a sticky for myself to read as soon as I wake up that says: "Be Positive! :D; Journal For Anxiety; and Face The Attacks, Look At Them As A Challenge I Need To Overcome To Get Better!" I believe this sticky will help remind me of the good things that can come out of this learning experience.

Stay positive,

-jSquared

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 36

A couple of questions.

Hello everyone. Thank you all for the replies and your support. :D One more question I have is where in the program does it teach you about journaling? I have been writing when I have attacks, but I'm not sure I'm doing it "right" or focusing on the "right" thing. I'm not saying I'm doing it wrong, but I would like to see some examples or have some advice about journaling.

Stay positive,

-jSquared

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 36

A couple of questions.

Davit, thank you again for your replies and support. :D It really does mean a lot. Anyhow, I just got done reading the setback post from Loves Trees. This is pretty much the exact same thing that happened to me. Before I found out about this site, I was just doing muscle relaxation and breathing techniques. it was in mid-November that I started to feel my general anxiety level diminish. And basically The end of November until about the 22nd of December I felt a whole lot better, almost myself again. Then around the 22nd of December I was in the shower and an attack hit, and since I hadn't had one in a while it felt really bad. Well, my general anxiety level rose to about a 2 a day, and I have attacks here and there. So it's been a little over three weeks now. The good news is, I decided to lay down, do some box breathing, and get myself calm. It was a bit hard at first, but I started to mellow out after about 5 minutes. After maybe a couple minutes of feeling calm, a wave of panic came over me. Since one hand was on my chest and the other on my stomach, I noticed my elevated heart rate, which has sometimes been a trigger for me lately. But I was able to REALLY challenge my negative thought process about it and roll through the panic while doing so. I have read some of the forum posts that talked about exposure work, and know that it works best if you do it for an hour. So after riding the wave of panic, I laid there for an hour and relaxed and just kind of thought about the panic and challenging it(I fell asleep for a min here and there towards the end of the hour, lol). YES! An accomplishment! :D Since doing that, and seeing how I can accept these symptoms, another light has clicked on for me. The grip of the panic is loosening for now and I am becoming me again! Just thought I would share, I hope other people can find strength in my strength.

Stay positive,

-jSquared

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