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I hate, Hate, HATE this.....

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Occam's razor is a process whereby you reduce everything down to the common denominator discarding everything else. Pain would be a common as would anxiety. but not exercise if it isn't necessary to cause the pain. or the anxiety. Even anxiety if it isn't consistent with the pain or vice versa. If a person follows Occam's razor thinking you will discard a lot of things before you find something common that is always there under different conditions but always there. You will also find things that increase the tendency. It is all trial and error and requires no guessing.

Exercise might increase the tendency but have nothing to do with it. It might be what you are thinking at the time, which you could do also while resting. Even while watching a movie. Don't rule out food or even a certain amount of time after or before. Anything that is consistent can be a trigger. The reaction is different from the trigger in that it is a reaction to the trigger and doesn't have to be there all the time. But a reaction will be, because there has to be a reaction to a trigger. It just might be a different reaction due to mood or emotion. For this reason relaxation works if it can override thought. And this makes it harder to find the trigger if you don't separate the reaction from the trigger. The trigger is just a trigger. The reaction is what needs to be changed and it can be because it is a different part of the brain than the trigger. It can actually be changed without knowing the trigger because of this, it is just easier if the trigger is known. The interesting thing is that often if the reaction is changed the trigger will go away because it no longer gets the reaction it used to get. More often it is still there just not noticed as important. So back to Occams razor. What is there all the time. Looking for the trigger, not the reaction. The reaction you know. The more things you look at and discard the more you need to actually write them down to avoid confusion and repetition. It is a big job but worth it.

Oh and doing this is going to cause anxiety. Go slow so it doesn't cause false trails. This is different than the ten questions in that you don't know what you are supposed to be questioning. You are looking for that.

Davit.

Ps I found my triggers this way and they were not always what I thought.

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 162

I really wish I was ignorant. Just finished my exercises....wasn't having chest pain before starting....but did during the exercise....then it went away after. However, the pain can start while at rest too. I just want to scream....or figure out what this is/or isn't....and start feeling better.

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Damn I was going to delete that and hit the wrong button. The fact is though in a healthy person there is no reason to think about the heart anymore than the brain. Both work without our input.

Such is a panic disorder that we panic for what seems no reason. I used to wake up in the middle of the night thinking I'm stuck in a culvert. In my house, in my bed? Impossible but since I couldn't get rid of it I used visualization to change how I saw it. It worked great and in a short while it quit doing it. It seems like an unnecessary step to fix something that shouldn't have been there in the first place. Especially since in real life I am not claustrophobic and not stupid enough to get stuck in a culvert. Anymore than you have a bad heart or someone else can't drive even though they know they can.

There apparently are four types of memory located in different parts of the brain. The part that starts our thoughts and actions is working memory and it recognizes surroundings and triggers. The next part that finishes the thought or action is episodic and this memory tells us from previous thought how to deal with our trigger or what we got from our surroundings. It then goes back into memory for future reference. But there are two other memories. Semantic memory is just of general things and procedural memory is how things work. Like how the heart works. The last two should not come into play unless asked for. But during panic attacks they do throwing things in we don't need. So it would seem that the answer is to find a way to stop adding in stuff you don't need. Relaxation techniques stop it temporary but still are not the answer. Benzo's work but block more than the unwanted memory.

CBT in theory can work by changing the thought patterns so the unwanted memories don't come in to play. But it takes a lot of repetition to do this and time before it starts to work, but once it does it gets better faster and faster just by the nature of memory, just as it got worse by the nature of memory. A starting point is to recognize something doesn't belong and tell it so. A command to memory such as "you don't belong here". Then say what does so that over time what does belong comes up first. But there is the kicker, those two words "over time" Easy for me to say since it has been over five years since I was really bad. I will never be that bad again or ever have panic attacks that bad again.

Davit.

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Well it certainly would be easier if you didn't know how the heart works and what can go wrong. Ignorance is bliss.

The heart is an amazing muscle pumping 24/7 normally at a fraction of it's capacity. I know, I have made mine work pretty hard when I worked. The amazing thing is that the rest of a persons body stops before the heart even gets tired. A little rest and some fresh blood flowing through it and away it goes again. Not so with the rest of my muscles. Now I have a murmur. It has to work a bit harder but still I tire out before it does. Amazing. Such a pity the rest of my muscles weren't that good. But then it is built out of different tissue. It is supposed to work better. My cholesterol is good so there is no reason for it to work harder that way. I can feel it when my BP goes over 149/90 most times but there have been times it has been 180/100 and I felt fine. M doctor doesn't care as long as it doesn't sty there.

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 162

Well...just back from seeing my doctor (actually saw a resident working with her). My doctor had ordered me off work 2 weeks ago b/c my anxiety was so bad and out of control. It's currently associated with chest pain I've been having since May/June (well...it actually started back in October 2013 but it's been continuous since the summer). I've had 2 nuclear stress tests and an echo since October 2013, all fine, but I can't seem to get it through my head that my heart is fine. Now booked for a gastroscopy in January and working on changing my anxiety meds. Also going to start seeing the social worker from the doctors office again (saw her a few times back in Feb/March of this year...but the first available appointment with her is going to be January 2nd).

Going to try going back to work on Monday. The biggest challenge I'm going to face is the fact that I work in the cardiology department of a hospital and do stress tests on people with chest pain every day. How ironic that cardiology technologist is terrified of heart problems. Over the summer I've developed some very bad OCD habits in an attempt to ease my anxiety. I've been doing multiple ECGs on myself every day and even "unofficial" stress tests after everyone else had left for the day. It got so bad that this destructive behaviour wasn't easing my anxiety anymore.

This is going to be a very difficult for me. The nature of my schedule/patient bookings/our staffing levels at work doesn't really allow for me to take much of a break/get away for a few minutes. I go pretty much non-stop from 0800 until lunch, and then again from 1300-1530. I just hope I can manage. I feel terrible being off work as I know how busy/short staffed we are. Sigh.

9 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

I posted PADESI on my blog but couldn't cut and paste so it is a bit weird how it got posted but it is all there.

Davit.

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 11226

Thanks for sharing Davit. I am familiar with assertive and compassionate communication so I know more or less what you mean. It's important to always be self reflective in our interactions with others - not an easy task but important.

Ashley, Health Educator

Here to help :)

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Hi Ashley

It is an acronym For a way of communicating so that the person you are communicating with is not threatened. No criticism, no counting. EG no saying you always do that or you are doing that again. You can say what you are doing bothers me but not why unless asked. It requires thinking before commenting and asking instead of demanding.

I can scan it and send you a copy. I think a person has to be assertive but not aggressive. So if a person learned to be non threatening with others could they learn to be non threatening with themselves? Could it reduce anxiety? Most people don't realize when they cross over the line into aggressive. But the other person does. What if your mind attacks you, would you recognize it as anxiety, would you panic. If your self esteem is low would your mind find it easier to do this. Attack you. Make you feel small and anxious.

Padesi Stands for Prepare, ask, describe, express, specify and invite. It is a form of assertive communication. Where by the person can express their thoughts in a clear respectful way. Assertive but not aggressive.

Again this is something from my Therapist that I can't find on the internet.

Davit

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 11226

Hi Davit,

I would say your thought, "Oh you are here again." is neutral. I also like how you refer to anxiety as "you" - something outside yourself. This is a great technique. You clearly have a lot of experience at this

I have not heard of PADES. What is it?

Ashley, Health Educator

Here to help :)

10 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

You will see by my other post that I've decided to get some help with meds for ten days to get over the hump. I don't like to do this but I really need a rest bad. Besides I'm not the type to get dependant easy. I can do this. Just going to remove all emotion for the next ten days as I revert back to how life was six month ago. It is a cop out I know and I could do it without meds but I'm just to tired. Old, tired and don't give a damn. Watch for the change in ten days when everything is back to normal.

Davit

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I hate, Hate, HATE this.....