advertisement
Reply
Thread Tools Display Modes
AliceKate
Grand Member
 
AliceKate's Avatar
AliceKate has an update
 
Member Since: Jan 2021
Location: On a raindrop far, far away
Posts: 871
3 yr Member
2,208 hugs
given
Default Jan 25, 2021 at 06:55 PM
  #1
I have recently experienced having panic attacks. I can't breath, my heart beat quickens, I sweat, I am confused and scared for no good reason. I'm not sure I understand it. I have a doctors appointment on this next week. This is the first time I made an appointment for psychological reasons.

Generally, I am not big on emotions. I have worked through some rather severe issues on my own in the past. I have managed it all on my own, but now I am not sure how to get through this.
I used to be interested in things (not people, much). I used to get interested in a subject and than learn everything I could about it. Now, I feel I have nothing to occupy me, nothing that is facinating. I don't see many people, I can't go to the gym due to the lockdown... you know, Corona.
I get how this is a problem, but I am generally a very unemotional person. I worked on this and considering the panic attacks, I wonder if I might have overdone it. I actually woke up crying today. That's so not me.

Basically, I don't understand how I can have panic attacks. What am I missing? Is this just Corona or are there underlying issues that are surfacing now? I worry that if I go into therapy (as my best friend suggests), I will be in it for the next 50 years.

Maybe you guys have some stories or tipps to share, I'd love to hear them
AliceKate is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
 
Hugs from:
annoyedgrunt84, rechu
 
Thanks for this!
annoyedgrunt84

advertisement
annoyedgrunt84
Veteran Member
 
annoyedgrunt84's Avatar
annoyedgrunt84 has no updates.
 
Member Since: Nov 2014
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 720
8 yr Member
634 hugs
given
PC PoohBah!
Default Jan 25, 2021 at 11:56 PM
  #2
If exercise helps you have you considered looking for alternatives to the gym? If it’s not to brutally cold where you are this time of year could you go to a nearby park? I’ve seen lots of tutorials online about how to get in a workout at a city park. If you don’t want to go to an in person therapy session right now there are lots of workbooks available at a local bookstore or that you could order online. I might push ever so gently on the last thing you said, if an hour long therapy session every week or two could make you happier, what’s so bad about going to it for the next 50 years? I hope you find relief from your panic attacks soon, they can be scary, and miserable.

__________________
"We can hear the night watchman click his flashlight ask himself if it's him or them that's insane"- Bob Dylan

20 mg Citalopram
annoyedgrunt84 is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
AliceKate
Grand Member
 
AliceKate's Avatar
AliceKate has an update
 
Member Since: Jan 2021
Location: On a raindrop far, far away
Posts: 871
3 yr Member
2,208 hugs
given
Default Jan 26, 2021 at 12:29 AM
  #3
Quote:
Originally Posted by annoyedgrunt84 View Post
If exercise helps you have you considered looking for alternatives to the gym? If it’s not to brutally cold where you are this time of year could you go to a nearby park? I’ve seen lots of tutorials online about how to get in a workout at a city park. If you don’t want to go to an in person therapy session right now there are lots of workbooks available at a local bookstore or that you could order online. I might push ever so gently on the last thing you said, if an hour long therapy session every week or two could make you happier, what’s so bad about going to it for the next 50 years? I hope you find relief from your panic attacks soon, they can be scary, and miserable.
I am constantly moving, if I work I stand with my laptop on some boxes, if I don't stand, I move. Either dancing, exercising on a mat, I even jogged a few times, though I am not a fan, or I just walk around. Generally, these past few weeks, if I'm not on my feet, I sleep and I don't do much of that, either. It seems to be ebbing off a bit though. I could sit today for longer than 1h and I actually took a 3h long nap On the other hand, I haven't slept since.

Honestly, I guess have some trust issues with psychiatry and such. You are right though, of course this is not sustainable. I do have an appointment with a general practitioner next week and if he sends me to a therapist than so be it. It's worth a try. Not sure I would accept taking any drugs though.

Thanks much for your kind reply
AliceKate is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
rechu
Magnate
 
rechu's Avatar
rechu has no updates.
 
Member Since: Apr 2016
Location: Somewhere in South America
Posts: 2,209
5 yr Member
1,037 hugs
given
PC PoohBah!
Default Jan 26, 2021 at 02:02 PM
  #4
I'm sorry you are dealing with this. The pandemic has been hard for most people. I hope your doctor has some advice I get panic attacks with similar symptoms from time to time. It usually seems related to my stress level. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a way to stop one if I feel it coming on. I just have to let it run its course.

We have another thread in this section where we talk about how Covid is affecting us. There are participants from a lot of countries. Maybe you will want to check it out. It definitely helps me to vent sometimes and feel like I am not the only one dealing with these challenges.
rechu is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
AliceKate
Grand Member
 
AliceKate's Avatar
AliceKate has an update
 
Member Since: Jan 2021
Location: On a raindrop far, far away
Posts: 871
3 yr Member
2,208 hugs
given
Ooo Jan 27, 2021 at 01:41 PM
  #5
Quote:
Originally Posted by rechu View Post
I'm sorry you are dealing with this. The pandemic has been hard for most people. I hope your doctor has some advice I get panic attacks with similar symptoms from time to time. It usually seems related to my stress level. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a way to stop one if I feel it coming on. I just have to let it run its course.

We have another thread in this section where we talk about how Covid is affecting us. There are participants from a lot of countries. Maybe you will want to check it out. It definitely helps me to vent sometimes and feel like I am not the only one dealing with these challenges.
I will check out the other thread, thank you
A friend told me to install an app for this sort of thing, which I found silly, but did anyways. It had a breathing exercise (4 - 2 - 8 : Breath in - hold - breath out) which I did for what felt like 2 days and I think I got through it now.
I cried for until noon today, and almost all day yesterday, now I feel much better.

I guess this was stress induced also. I am studying again, and a tutor in one subject for other students. It's a lot of work and I do want a top grade. I'm 32 now and it seems pointless for me to study and not get a good grade or finish in the time set for this degree (which almost noone achieves).
I wrote my supervisor today that I feel I have to sit the next one out and that I have a doctor's appointment next week. Not sure if it will be possible, but I don't think it is a good idea for me to do the tutorial tomorrow considering my psychy was screaming at me to slow down.

How do you react to your panic attacks? Do you follow your instincts (mine tell me to run) or just stay where you are and somehow manage to let it flow through you?
AliceKate is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
AliceKate
Grand Member
 
AliceKate's Avatar
AliceKate has an update
 
Member Since: Jan 2021
Location: On a raindrop far, far away
Posts: 871
3 yr Member
2,208 hugs
given
Default Jan 27, 2021 at 06:00 PM
  #6
Quote:
Originally Posted by rechu View Post
I'm sorry you are dealing with this. The pandemic has been hard for most people. I hope your doctor has some advice I get panic attacks with similar symptoms from time to time. It usually seems related to my stress level. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a way to stop one if I feel it coming on. I just have to let it run its course.
And how do you know that you've passed them? Right now I am not altogether certain they have passed. I still worry, espacially when I go for a walk, and of course it feel more as if they are aproaching when I do (and naturally I go at night so as to avoid meeting many people)
AliceKate is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
rechu
Magnate
 
rechu's Avatar
rechu has no updates.
 
Member Since: Apr 2016
Location: Somewhere in South America
Posts: 2,209
5 yr Member
1,037 hugs
given
PC PoohBah!
Default Jan 28, 2021 at 11:35 AM
  #7
The truth is that despite Covid, my stress level is not as high as it used to be. In November 2019, I was let go from a stressful job with severance pay and unemployment, so I was able to take about a month and a half without working, which helped so much to decompress all that stress and anxiety I was feeling. After taking a break, I was able to find freelance work that is more low key. It's busy sometimes, but I deal directly with the company owners who are very nice and reasonable people.


Covid has sucked, especially 132 days of strict lockdowns. But, at least both me and my husband have been healthy, we have our own home with more space than where we used to live, our pets and we can both work from home. I'm trying to focus on those positives as well as my well-being like exercising and eating pretty healthily too.

I don't think I am completely over them, though. If life were to get really stressful again, I am sure they will rear their ugly head.
rechu is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
AliceKate
Grand Member
 
AliceKate's Avatar
AliceKate has an update
 
Member Since: Jan 2021
Location: On a raindrop far, far away
Posts: 871
3 yr Member
2,208 hugs
given
Default Jan 28, 2021 at 01:58 PM
  #8
Freelance is a good option, agreed. It's something to consider.

Yes, we should focus on the good things. It's just hard sometimes, living alone, only seeing one person roughly once a week. And with my condition as it is, I'm not sure I will see anyone this week. It's just phone calls and skype and turning over the same stones time and again, discussing the same old issues with my best friend, my sibling and so on and so forth. It's hard to stay motivated and positive at times.
But you are right, life is good. We can work and study from home, we can see people without putting them in danger, we can meet amazing strangers on the web, this is the perfect time for a pandemic. We even have a vaccine less than a year since the outbreak became global, even if we still have to wait a year to get it.

I am not sure we can ever pass anything completely. I still mourn my stalker friend sometimes. I still sometimes get angry at my former boss, even though it's been 3 years already. That's why over time our psychy goes haywire, I guess. Because we cannot forget, and even forgiveness is but a fleeting feeling easily lost. No matter if it is directed towards ourselves or others.
And even if I get over these panic attacks, I doubt I will ever forget them.
AliceKate is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
 
Hugs from:
rechu
 
Thanks for this!
rechu
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:46 PM.
Powered by vBulletin® — Copyright © 2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.



 

My Support Forums

My Support Forums is the online community that was originally begun as the Psych Central Forums in 2001. It now runs as an independent self-help support group community for mental health, personality, and psychological issues and is overseen by a group of dedicated, caring volunteers from around the world.

 

Helplines and Lifelines

The material on this site is for informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified health care provider.

Always consult your doctor or mental health professional before trying anything you read here.