Anxiety - Panic Attacks

[DroopyA]

So who here besides me has these?

I get 'em all the time... they fucking suck. I've had 3 in the past 2 days and all I can do is take deep breaths and try to calm myself down... it doesn't work. I mean, it does eventually, but not as quick as you would like. Fuck what everybody thinks, 'calming down' isn't that easy.

People ask me what they're like and I'm not sure how to explain it... for me, I guess it's a feeling of complete and utter helplessness. It's like living out the last seconds of your life time and time again...

It's not so much a fear of dying like you might think... it's not a relegious thing, it's an instinct thing. Fight or flight... it's the feeling of ultimate unavoidable doom... every second is your last, they're ticking away faster then you'd like, and no matter what you do, who you ask for help, or how many times your mom says "It's going to be ok", you know it's not.

The doctors wanted to put me on Xanax but I refuse to take it because it's addicting. I smoke pot instead... it seems to do the job for the most part, but I go through phases. I won't have any attacks for a long time, but then when my pot intake gets too high a reverse effect occures and I start to get multiple ones back to back.

Just curiouse to see if anyone else is in the same boat. Do you take medicine? Does it work? How do you get through them? What are yours like? What triggers them for you?

[Judzfell]

I dont get it, what exactly are you afraid of while in these attacks?

you could just be alone in your room, whats the problem?
how do you usually suffer from these attacks [reason why]?

[BringMeTheDarkness]

Well, if your talking about panic attacks alone, then no i dont get those.

If your talking about panic attacks as a result of something like bipolar or depression, then yes, i get those, and they suck

[TheAztek]

I dont get them at all.

But my neighbor called the paramedics of a panic attack once.

[elementell]

Glad to be I'm not alone in this.

I have bad problems with it too.

):

[Biscuit-Boy]

I'm a pretty calm person.

So no, I don't get them. Sucks that you do, though.

[Persnickety]

My friend has it pretty bad, whenever he gets them he actually gets ulcers so he has to take prescribed medication. Usually gets triggered when he`s stressed for a prolonged time.

[STEM]

Think about how delicious poprocks are next time you have an attack

[GoryBlizzard]

As big a problem as my anxiety is, I have worse problems to deal with. No, I don't take any meds for it.

[Sensationalism]

There are these two pressure points on your chest your can rub that's supposed to calm you down. Counting tiles or something, planting your feet on the ground, telling yourself where you are and that you are safe are helpful too.

Med that worked the best for me as far as panic attacks went was celexa.

[DroopyA]

At 4/14/09 10:51 PM, Judzfell wrote: I dont get it, what exactly are you afraid of while in these attacks?

Mainly, death. It doesn't always have to be immediate death though... it's the type of feeling you would probably experiance when the doctor comes into the room to tell you that you have brain cancer.

It's uncontrollable, unchangeable, impending doom.

you could just be alone in your room, whats the problem?

Thats the thing... nothing has to be wrong. It just sort of kicks in out of nowhere. One moment you're fine, the next moment you're not.

For me, I can usually feel it building up. I get a little jumpy or things start to startle me. Maybe a weird thought creeps into my head or I have trouble dealiing with a common aspect of life. But by the time you realize it's going to happen, it's already too late.... like OCD, once the idea of panic gets in your head, you can't get it out.

how do you usually suffer from these attacks [reason why]?

One condition usually leads to another. For instance, the initial sense of fear might cause physical side effects... the heart starts beating faster and your breathing rate increases. Normally this is healthy... IE: You're trying to run from an attacking wolf... but if you're just sitting in your room it's unsettling. All the sudden you feel like you can't breath right and the short quick breaths pull in more oxygen then you're use to. The resulting feeling is that you feel like you can't breath... you start to hyperventillate and limbs start to go numb as a result.

Suddenly you're sitting in your room, your hearts beating fast, you're having trouble breathing, and your left arm is numb... now you're unjustified fear has turned into "I'm having a heart attack"... which just brings on more fear and worry.

[galatea1]

You refuse to take a prescription drug because it's addicting but you smoke pot. I've nothing further to input.

[DroopyA]

At 4/14/09 10:55 PM, TheAztek wrote: But my neighbor called the paramedics of a panic attack once.

I went to the emergency room twice when I first started having them. From what I understand, this is common.

At 4/14/09 11:01 PM, Sensationalism wrote: There are these two pressure points on your chest your can rub that's supposed to calm you down. Counting tiles or something,

I count my breathing... I inhale for 7 and exhale for 11. It sort of works, but not as fast as I like.

Med that worked the best for me as far as panic attacks went was celexa.

Did it work? After research I was lead to believe that the medicines have more side effects then they do positive effects.

But I get more and more tempted to get medication every time they kick in...

[DroopyA]

At 4/14/09 11:31 PM, galatea1 wrote: You refuse to take a prescription drug because it's addicting but you smoke pot. I've nothing further to input.

Since when has marijuana been addictive?

Also, sorry for the tripple post...

[xSinHarvestx]

"Marijuana is the odd drug out. To the early researchers, it did not look like it should be addictive. Nevertheless, for some people, it is. Recently, a group of Italian researchers succeeded in demonstrating that THC releases dopamine along the reward pathway, like all other drugs of abuse. Some of the mystery of cannabis had been resolved by the end of the 1990s, after researchers had demonstrated that marijuana definitely increased dopamine activity in the ventral tegmental area. Some of the effects of pot are produced the old-fashioned way after all--through alterations along the limbic reward pathway.

By the year 2000, more than 100,000 Americans a year were seeking treatment for marijuana dependency, by some estimates."

Source

[tsdeath1]

just masturbate everytime you think your going to get these attacks, if its in the middle of class say "excuse me i have to go poddy" then go fap in the bathroom. you know?!

[life]

At 4/14/09 11:42 PM, xSinHarvestx wrote:
By the year 2000, more than 100,000 Americans a year were seeking treatment for marijuana dependency, by some estimates."

Source

Because in a court room when faced with jail time or rehab more often than not a person is going to choose rehab. The only reason the number is so large is because marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug.

I get panic attacks at night sometimes. I haven't had a major one for awhile though. I deal with it by thinking logically. Think about how you are thinking. Why are you scared? It's just chemicals firing off in your brain. I could probably go into more detail if you care; probably only makes sense to my odd way of thinking. These usually happen to me on weed though. I envy the people who never have a bad time on it. :(

[MagnumForce]

Actually, I'm so sorry. That really sucks. I hear that those are the worst. My best friend got one like right in front of me one time and I didn't have any idea what to do. I'll never forget it...

[HaniiPuppy]

At 4/14/09 11:56 PM, life wrote: Because in a court room when faced with jail time or rehab more often than not a person is going to choose rehab. The only reason the number is so large is because marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug.

Life speaks the truth.

I only get them with Jack Daniel's :\

[Sensationalism]

At 4/14/09 11:35 PM, DroopyA wrote: Did it work? After research I was lead to believe that the medicines have more side effects then they do positive effects.

But I get more and more tempted to get medication every time they kick in...

I had the least side effects with that one. Drinking alcohol would make me sleepy and I would get drunk or high quicker than usual. Other side effect was I'd sometimes go through withdrawal when I stopped taking them. That didn't happen every time I stopped though. Beats having the panic attacks.

[BUTANE]

When i smoke crack i get anxiety attacks.

[DroopyA]

At 4/14/09 11:42 PM, xSinHarvestx wrote: By the year 2000, more than 100,000 Americans a year were seeking treatment for marijuana dependency, by some estimates."

By some estimates? What does that mean? Are there 100,000 people seeking help for marijuana addiction or not? And where are these people and why are they seeking help? You can't say it's addicting because the court forces someone arrested under the law of possession to go to a counsiling class.

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2006, 14.8 million Americans age 12 or older used marijuana at least once a month. Only 100,000 of them went to seek help for it... doesn't sound very addicting to me.

Besides that, it comes with zero withdrawl symptoms and quiting is as easy as just not doing it.

I was informed by my doctors that Xanax is a diffrent story... I can't just choose when to take the drug, I have to take it once or twice a day every day. Refusing to do so, missing a dose, or not filling my prescription will result in withdrawl symptoms that, believe it or not, my result in more panic attacks. I can't choose to stop either, for the same reasons. If I feel like I no longer want to take the drug, I have to go to the doctors and they have to ween me off the drug through use of other presciption medicines that may come with any number of other side effects.

Choosing to take Xanax is a life long decision. One that ties me to increased healt insurance rates, constant visits to the doctor, and makes me a slave to a presciption pill company that has me physically addicted to a drug that actually makes my problem worse.

Not only that, but the drug effects me all day. I have to take Xanax when I wake up and keep in my system until I go to sleep. If it changes the way I act, it's a permanent change... marijuana effects you for maybe 30 minutes at a time. I can choose when I can get high and just how high I want to be.

Worse yet, I don't understand why it's supposably ok for me to take one mind altering drug made in a lab by mistake-prone humans who are splicing together any number of unknown chemicals but it's not ok for me to take a natural growing mind altering drug that doesn't come with the addiction or negative side effects... why is it ok for me to use drugs if they have a pharamacutical companies label slaped on the side?

It's ok to smoke, drink, and take pills for everything from heart problems and blood preassure to erictile disfunction... but fuck me if I smoke pot to insure I don't stab my eyes out with scisors in a panic induced rage right?

This isn't a thread about drugs though... but I'm just trying to point out that it is a decision I made wisely. I was 26 when I got high for the first time. And I did so only after looking into the facts and comparing the positive and negative effects of both pot and the prescription pills.

Marijuana is the obvious choice. It's effective, safe, cheap, and isn't addictive.
Xanax, on the other hand... is just safe. And even that's questionable... how many of those "have you taken ____ recently? Then sue... " commericals have we seen in the past year?