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Cant move. Extreme pain. Does this happen to others?

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Cant move. Extreme pain. Does this happen to others?

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 538

Hi Anna,

thanks for that info...makes sense now.

Take care,

Juanita

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 5

Thanks again :)

Oh and I've found out what it is that happens with everything locks up, same as what happened to you shari. Its called respitory alkolosis where the blood ph level is raised due to irregular breathing which basically throws off how our body functions (though not causing damage, its sorta just a chemical reaction that gets but back to normal when co2 starts coming back in), its nice to finally understand exactly how its caused! Not sure why it hurt so much but maybe thats just what happens if you have this thing go on too long.

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 653

Hi Annabella,

Yes, it is within your reach and I have great confidence that it will improve your situation! Give your attention to, and focus on, the process of improvement rather than the negative effects, for a start. Otherwise, that just leads to more anxiety, right?

You have great insight! Keep up your positive self-talk. What has helped you in the past to let go of and get over those times of anxiety? Are there any breathing exercises that you do to help you relax? Check out the program, if not. There are lots of tools that I think you would find useful.

Tiana, Health Educator

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 5

Thankyou to everyone for your replies!

Ive never understood why this paralysis-like experience I have in panic attacks wasnt documented in any info I could find but maybe its just because its not as common as the others. Thankyou so much for sharing your stories with me. I often have to go to the doctors for an allergy program I'm on and I think this week I will request a longer visit to ask him if he knows the process of what happens. I would imagine there is some sort of reaction happening in the body and I wouldn't mind understanding it better. I think I remember the ambulance officers saying something about there being too much oxygen in the blood or muscles or something along those lines but they said it to me just after it happened and I probably wasnt paying much attention.

I never noticed myself being anxious about anything much when these attacks started but looking at my life now I can see that my anxiety levels about some things are way higher than they should be and that I can dwell on negetive events for AGES. Even little ones. And work myself up over them again.

I'm a teacher which is a very 'in the spotlight / performace based' profession if that makes sense and I have started to get so anxious about teaching (especially new classrooms) that I know it really doesnt make sense, especially considering I'm always so prepared and KNOW that I know what I'm doing.

I will certainly give this program a shot. I'm glad there is something within my reach that might help improve my current situation.

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1071

Hi Anna,

I understand what you are talking about. When I was under extreme duress I would hyperventilate and my body locked up. It was like I was frozen and stiff and I couldn't bend my arms and my hands were clenched into fists. I couldn't feel my face, because it was tingling and so were my hands and arms. I think my teeth were clenched too and it was like a grimace and I was shaking. I couldn't move. I was in the seated position when that series of events began. I remember my 5 year old daughter dialing 911 and said, "My Mommy needs help, she can't move". She let the paramedics in when they arrived. They kept talking to me and I couldn't answer. They asked me if I had any juice and they poured me a glass and they fed it to me. They kept telling me to breathe and the sugar in the juice (or karo syrup) kind of brought me back around. I started breathing normally and it took about a half hour till I could bend my arms and move. They said I was in pretty bad shape for awhile, but I was looking better. I didn't understand what happened to me and they said it was a severe panic attack and to carry a paper bag around with you when you start breathing funny. There's a session on box breathing that will help you. I know it's scary, but it is not life threatening (although it may seem that way). Using positive self talk, "I'm alright, this is just a temporary discomfort", etc. Can help to get over it faster. Everything you learn in this program works. Believe and do the homework and your coping skills will become stronger and anxiety and panic will lessen. I haven't thought about this since it happened a long time ago. I was able to over come it and I know you will too. Hang in there. You can do this! The program works.

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Anna

Like sunny says your reaction to panic can change as your disorder changes. A persons reaction to panic is tied to some fear or phobia you have. Panic multiplies the effect. Do you have a phobia about being paralysed or a fear of it happening to you. Do you know some one who is permanently paralysed , say from a car accident since the panic happened once in a car. Panic always has a cause and an association with some thing that happened even if you can not remember it. But it may not be exact because of the confusion that happens leading up to and during panic. It could be as simple as someone whose hands are curled and won't open because of Arthritis. If you know some one like this you could fear becoming like them. Especially if it is a close family member. Panic will multiply the effect.

If it is caused by panic and not by a medical condition then the program will give you relief.

Here for you.

Davit

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1665

HI: There are many symptoms people experience. Sometimes we experience 2-3 or more at the same time. You will find that as your disorder progresses your symptoms may change to others listed in the program. You may also find that if you've had a period of wellness, say when you no longer have the panic attacks and no symptoms for a few months, that if you start anxiety and panic again that the symptoms may have changed to another set.

Sunny

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Hello Anna

Like Dizzy says there are any number of ways that anxiety shows up. And most can be traced back to a form of fight or flight symptoms. I have never heard of yours as you describe it. That does not rule out it being a part of panic. It could be a medical condition that is set off by anxiety, in which case the program will help with the panic but you are still left with what the medical condition is that panic sets off. The situations that set off the panic attack are normal. The reaction is though nothing I have heard of.

Panic attacks can manifest themselves in as many different ways as there are people having them. Try the program if nothing else it will give you the skills to handle the panic if in fact the panic is caused by the situation and not causing the situation. It may well be able to stop the situation. Certainly worth a try.

Here for you

Davit

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 118

Hello Anna

You would not believe the number of odd symptoms people get. I am in a support group and there are some people dealing with this for over 20 years. They report that they have experienced a new symptom that they never experienced before. You would think that after 20 you would have experienced them all. However, that not the case and in my case I had similar symptom to you regarding pain and muscles tightening up (however not to immobilization). At the time about 20 years ago for me I did not know what’s was happening and this is what makes the symptom worse is that you work up in your mind that something must be s wrong with you. You will see this in the first couple of session that this is a common thought when you do not understand what is happening to you. If you have been fully checked out by a doctor and there is nothing physically wrong that they can find, than this you must accept. If they have determined what you experienced, is anxiety or panic attack then accepts the doctor’s diagnoses. In addition, start on working on yourself through the program. If there is one thing that I can say is that the symptom are distressing but not dangerous, in other words you are not going to die.

Dizzy

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 538

Hi Anna,

You brought back memories to me. Years ago, when I was around your age , and before I knew what it was that I have ( anxiety/panic)...I had what they thought was a seizure...you describe exactly what happpened to me. My husband called an ambulance too, and I went to hospital for it. I remember well I was there a nurse saying to me.."There's nothing wrong with you..you just hyperventilated" I didn't think I was breathing strange at all, nor did my husband. Anyhow, they ran tests, all came ok, but there was no real diagnosis. I remember being so exhausted, I think I slept for days after.

Then a while after that attack I had one where I experienced parenthesis....it started like a shooting pain/tingling from the tip of my head on the left side, worked its way all the way down to my toes them back up again, then it did the same thing on my right side. You can imagine how terrified I was. I was immobilised. Make a long story somewhay shorter..ha, then it was diagnosed as the baby blues..(I had just had my first son). I remember thinking after, when I calmed down, that maybe I was being abducted by aliens..I think I read something like that in a book somewhere. haha

On the positive side...those were my two worst episodes of panic ...physically..that I ever had...so there's hope for you that you won't have any more! They never came back to me in that way. and that s 20 years ago.

Anxiety/panic can cause so many Weird symptoms! Thats a really good coping still....to sing or hum...keeps your breathe even.

Here for you

Juanita

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Cant move. Extreme pain. Does this happen to others?