[puzzclar]

I had to go into the ER last night for a high potasium, they rechecked it and it was normal. AGAIN! Most all of the physical tests are always normal. I never know whats anxiety and what needs to be checked on by the medical docs. Does anyone have any tricks to tell if it's just anxiety or if it is something real (aka not caused by the mind)?

Does anyone have any ideas to reduce the 'hidden' anxiety that plages me? I've tried just about everything inbetween yoga, talk therpy, imagery, and bi-lateral stimulation. Is there any others besides those that work??

[perpetuallysad]

I guess there is no way for any of us to tell you whether you are feeling something medically wrong or anxiety. Sorry, but its just impossible to tell.

Saying that, I have panic attacks all the time and I guess it just never occurred to me that it was something physically wrong, I've always KNOWN something was mentally wrong when they happened.

When you have anxiety, are you thinking about something that upsets you? Has something upsetting happened? I guess those are the things I would ask myself when trying to determine if its something physically wrong or not.

[Stranger2]

I also have never thought about it being physical.. When my anxiety is up and I have panic it's usually if I have to come in contact with people or have to go somewhere..I get really nervous and my mind starts racing.. I have meds for it but if I am going out I can't take them until after the fact.. I'm not suppose to drive when on them..Talk to your doctor about them..

[puzzclar]

Most of the time I don't know what it is, I've had some memory problems and can't tell what it is. It just feels so real to me. But Anxiety is not all that I am dealing with currently, there is a lot going on, some of which I haven't told anyone else yet because I can't deal with it.

I can think back to some of the past Anxiety Attacks but most of them have had a great deal of Shaking involved with them (not just little twiches but full body) What happens before the shaking, i can't remember. I've had a difficult run of life in only 21 years.

Does anyone else have problems with memory after an attack?

[perpetuallysad]

I have memory problems in general. But my pdoc suggests its from stress. May be the same thing for you.

[sanityseeker]

I too have memory losses after panic attacks but not so much with anxiety because I usually know what is triggering the discomfort. Being around people, waiting in a docs office, talking to people and worry are my primary anxiety triggers. Getting ready to go out or face an anxiety triggering situation I become very conscious of the rapid shallow breathing, the shaking body, the growing headache, the racing thoughts and speedy movements.

I do meditation and relaxation exercises before I have to go into those kinds of situation. I then consciously slow myself down by actually making myself move in slow motion for a bit to level it back out. I do a lot of self talking as I head out or into a stressful situation. Visualizations help too but nothing takes it away. I don't have as many panic attacks as I used to because I think all these kinds of tricks in the moment seem to at least stop the anxiety from taking me into panic mode. I also do my best to eat healthy foods (no carbs, no caffine, no sugar) and be well rested before entering into an anxiety trigger zone.

The bigger memory zapper for me is most noticable when I come out of a depression episode. I can't remember much about how I was feeling or how I was thinking when I was depressed. If I read back in my journal it is like reading someone else's story. I have no sense of recall or attachment to the feelings or thoughts expressed. I guess that is a good thing. It really brings home for me the idea of the depression voice as like a separate entity that makes a home in my brain from time to time. One day I am me and the next day I could be 'it'. Well sometimes 'it' stays around for days and weeks at a time but still 'it' doesn't seem like me at all once 'it' leaves.

Sorry... little off topic there.

One other thing.... if you are AD like me than the bag of tricks for coping with anxiety get stall really fast and so I am always on the look out for new ways to manage the symptoms. I guess you could say I am a stress buster junky. My latest think is something they call 'tapping' check out tapping.com for more information if you are interested.

I have also been doing a lot of reading about chakras and a friend sent me a very cool mediation from youtube. I will share it here should you want to take a look...

Take care....

[puzzclar]

Sanityseeker, I have been looking in to tapping.com as well. and some things help but. when motivaiton is involved it's hard to do, and I don't want to talk out loud and let all of my problems for my family to hear. I am glad that there are others out there that have problems just like mine in some of the areas. I think I will try the youtube video and see if it makes a difference thanks.

[sanityseeker]

I know what you mean... motivation is sooo hard to muster up when caught in one or another symptom. Can't win for lossing it feels sometimes hey. Still we keep trying. I like the meditation video cuz ya get to lie down instead of needing to sit in that numbing pose that is often the case. I did it last night and I sleep really really well. Take care.

[Perna]

I don't suspect physical causes of how I feel unless I've been sick or am taking certain meds with known side effects and the anxiety coincides with taking/not taking them, etc. Anxiety is just extremely uncomfortable to me but I don't think of it in terms of being "sick" so I look for soothing things that I like that make me feel better (shower, clean sheets/clothes, warmth, good book, comfort foods, looking at the specific anxiety topic and seeing if I can "do" anything about it. I have trouble in the middle of the night but sometimes a couple slices of toast helps :-)

The best thing for my anxiety was 9 years of good therapy, 1996-2005. My middle-of-the-night stuff now is mostly existential angst (I'm getting "old") and the result of my thyroid replacement not working as well as it might. But before my therapy was over, working on a long project (school) that I really enjoyed helped a lot too.