Oh my gosh-- glad you asked! My mom got a job in the building where I work. So, yes, I see her very often. But still we have a conversation about every other week with her complaints about how little time I spend with her. Bah!

Lori Bell, I thought mine was actually getting better. I chalked it up to the exercise I was getting and the (mostly) whole foods diet. Unfortunately some of the anxiety has returned as well as the depression. I am trying to fight it this time by staying clean on my diet, continuing the exercise, continuing to stay on top of my responsibilities and being around people. Today I had two of my longtime friends over. It forced me to get my house and self all put together, health concious foods prepared, etc. You know, I actually enjoyed my time with them just like I did at the school yesterday.

I suffer from PTSD. My doc put me on these awesome meds that have really helped with the panic attacks. It's something that I take daily, and I havent had an attack, not even a hint of one!! Which I just love. I'm still working on the depression issue. My doc put me back on Prozac until not told to take it anymore (diff story).


My doc back in WA recommend this one book to me called...The Anixety & Phobia workbook. It really helped me learn to think through a panic attack. I'd still use if, but its probably still packed away somewhere, lol.

Shopaholic- that book is wonderful! my mother's a counsellor (which has been immensely helpful. She knows how to help me deal with all of this, and she's a great shoulder to lean on) so she has a copy of the workbook floating around. It's given me heaps of useful tips. Especially the little bit about anxiety while driving I know this is probably a silly question, but what's PTSD?


I've had a rough couple of days. For some reason, my mood's been heading downwards and while it's not anywhere near as bad as it could be, I know the warning signs. I'm sleeping for ages in the afternoon, I can't be bothered replying to my friends when they send me texts or emails or whatever, and I can't be bothered showering. Mum pulled me outside and took me on a nature walk today, which boosted my mood for about 20 minutes. I'm starting to lose a little bit of interest in food again- I'm slower eating meals. Which, in a really morbid way, kinda pleases me.

Frankly, I'd rather be joyful and eating lots. I've gotten to the point where I've been working and fighting for so long to keep my spirits up. I'm resigned to being like this, I guess.

Post Tramatic Stress Disorder.


For me, losing my mom was very tramatic. I'd have horrible nighmares, and sometimes flashback to when she was in the hospital. Although, one time when we were in Az visiting fam..I had a really bad attack, and thought I was still living at home with my mom. I dont remember that, but it freaked my hubby out. I've gotten better though. I've slowly been accepting her death. I'm afraid that going back to Az will make it all come back though...

Shopaholic...^^ I too think all my issues started when my Mom died. She died at the age of 50 from lung cancer and lasted exactly 6 months from diagnosis to death. I was pregnant with my 1 child at the time. He came a few weeks after she died which was 1 week after her 50th b-day. Consequently he was diagnosed with autism a few years later and I've never been the same. Mom got sick in January, 17 years ago and each year that passes, and the older I get I fear the same news. January is hard on me. It sucks.

I'm sorry to hear about that. Losing your mom is the worst thing in the world!!!

I lost my mom very suddenly too. She got sick the week of my 21st bday. She went into the hospital April 27 (my bday is April 29)..and passed away May 28th. Then my aunt (my mom's sis) died June 28th of the same year. So needless to say..April to June is very hard on me. I will never ever forget the look on my mom's face when we told her it was my birthday. She couldnt talk, cuz she had tubes down her throat..but she got really teary eyed. To make matters worse, she had been planning a surpise party for me. I HATE celebrating my birthday now. Ugh..I'm gonna cry from just thinking about this..Losing my aunt was just as hard too. Cuz she was my godmother, and I was pretty close to her too. Before she passed away..she said that God wanted her to be with her little sister...

I'm so happy to see this thread! I believe I've suffered from anxiety for a very long time. And to make matters worse, my mother died in August of lung cancer. My therapist mentioned the same thing post traumatic stress. I suddenly for the first time in my life started having panic attacks, and yes, they were all related to dieting. i'd start to lose weight and literally go crazy. It's funny, cuz i went to my Dr to ask for medication for the panic attacks and she gave me a low dose of zoloft which has majorly helped, but immediately started in on me about my weight. It sucks. People don't get how psychological it is. I've been overweight my entire life, and am now at 30 starting to realize that i have always used food to avoid. I'm so frustrated no one helped me recognize this earlier. But, if anything my mom's death has really fueled a fire for me to change my life. I wonder though? Does anyone have any experience with anger and weight loss? To get philosophical about it, I feel like I'm constantly treated like a second class citizen because i'm so overweight. I hate it, and it sort of makes me want to stay overweight just to prove a point. But also, I'm sick of having to prove myself to the world when everyone else is allowed to exist. All this makes me anger and makes the anxiety worse.

Also! just an FYI, my Dr told me that low blood sugar fuels anxiety symptoms, specifically anger. And, when you diet, your blood sugar drops. That's why I'm doing the atkins diet, the no sugar/ carbs eliminates the blood sugar swings that can cause things like panic attacks.

I dont diet. When I diet, I just get crazy mean and feel really unhappy. So I'm just eating everything in moderation. So far, its been working. Also..I just got my blood results back..and my blood sugar is normal. So who knows?

Shopaholic- right after a posted, I got it! I'm really sorry to learn of the circumstances with your mom and then your aunt. I have no idea what kind of sorrow and pain that would cause. PTSD is such a hard thing to deal with too, because it seems like it just doesn't stop. My mother has PTSD. I'm very glad that you're making lots of progress, and I'm proud to know that too

I feel happy that I found this board. I have been struggling with weight and anxiety for years.

My problem is I didnt seek help with the anxiety until today. I was having a panic attack and decided to just go to the doc and get it checked out. (let's just say this was an appointment full of sobbing and being very scared )

Well, I found out I have some kind of anxiety disorder, some mild depression, possible bipolar or thyroid condition as well!

No wonder I have trouble losing weight. I cant focus on one thing long enough to make a difference. I can totally see now how the two can go hand in hand, just didnt realize it until now.

I have also suffered from anxiety/panic attacks for the last four years so I can understand your pain! I am not as bad as I was four years ago because I have learned how to handle some situations. But I usually feel it come on with anything new (a new place or event) or a crowded place (the mall). I also had severe ones when I tried to drive after 2 traumatic events, so I don't ever drive. Its that feeling that you're not in control that gets me the most. I get dizzy, nauseous, and feel disconnected. I understand that my mind goes into "fight or flight mode" and makes my body feel those things because its trying to warn me that I'm in danger. But I'm not! I just want to drive to the store or work. If anyone knows of any programs that they have found to be successful I would love to hear about them. I have been to 3 therapists and none of them have been able to help. Right now my husband is pushing for a hypnotist!

anxiety and depression can run in families and it sure does run in mine. i also think anxiety and depression go hand in hand. if you've got one you usually have the other.
right now i am doing fine, but at times (right from childhood) i have been pretty miserable with internal emotional pain. if im really low i will have unwanted obsessive thoughts of suicide. this is ironic because i am also a therapist. people around me see me as really together and emotionally stable. and i would never allow anyone to know otherwise. i simply can't. because of that i really don't have anyone to talk with about it. so, im glad this thread is here.
i had never taken any medication until after i became a therapist. ive been on and off prozac for about 14 years now and it really changed my life. i didn't even realize just how miserable i was until the med kicked in. it was the first time that i could enjoy a day without considering suicide. lol.
one problem with prozac is that it can "wash out" on you and stop working. you may need an increase or a holiday. ive always returned to prozac with success.

there is something i want to share. until recently i had a really bad shopping and collecting problem. it totally ran my life for the last year. i shopped on ebay every single day. yes, every day! well, at the same time i wanted a plan to be ready for when my prozac washes out again. my pcp sent me to a psychiatric nurse practitioner. (im going to be honest, i hate psychiatrists, too, and had never personally been to one) anyway she asked me a lot of questions and i ended up telling her about the shopping. she wondered if i had ocd.
i have seen a lot of people for therapy myself, and simply never saw any connection between shopping and ocd. its been a mystery to me why women overshop and ive never been able to help anyone in that area.
so i agreed to an increase in prozac. the belief is that people who take higher doses of ssri's (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, like prozac) will get reduced obsessions. it took about 8 or 9 months to get to the level i needed to be at. im taking 80 mg now and for the first time since i can remember, i have no drive to collect anything!
there are also all kinds of other things i was experiencing that are starting to loosen their grip on me, too. things i had simply never bothered to tell anyone.
and hey, tink777. therapy is a tricky thing. i have tried seeing a therapist myself a few times and it never worked out. i also know from doing therapy that there really has to be a good click between the therapist and client. the therapist has to be able to listen and not all humans are good at doing that. if its not there, you're wasting your time.
among my lovely array of issues is a phobia of public speaking. you would think a therapist wouldn't have to do that, but they do for several reasons. anyway, i went to a hypnotherapist. i am hypnotizable, but it didn't do a thing for me. in my experience, i really didn't trust the person doing it and that well may be why.

i do a treatment called EMDR. (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) it sounds bizarre but many people have success with it. it was mainly started with people who come back from war with PTSD.
the nice things about it is that its much quicker than regular talk therapy. the hard part is that if you have a lot of trauma in your past, this is going to bring it up. the process is that you will work through all the lines of distress you experience but also their lines of connection to your past bad experiences. the therapist doesn't lead you or make you do it. their job is to follow where you go and help you clear it out. its not for everyone. you can look it up on the net if you want to know more.

i guess all this blah blah is meant to say- be picky and pushy about who you chose to work with. you need to be.

hey kitten (and everyone else who mentioned OCD),

this is just a thought, but do you ever think the OCD affects your eating habits? I was just thinking about the idea of collecting and I do that so much. I've even thought I do it with food, and eat like that. There are times that I say to friends "last night I ate like I was trying to kill myself". That's what it feels like.

Hey friends, how is everyone doing? I've been having some major anxiety issues again for the last 3 days. What is it? Just when I think I have everything figured out and under control, it hits me like a ton of bricks.

First, I have these bursts of anxiety, not like an attack...but like 3-5 days in a row where it's just about unbearable...even with meds. Then its smooth sailing for a couple weeks...I'll feel pretty darn great...then BAM! it strikes again. I used to think it was related to PMS, but this time it started a few days after TOM began...blew that theory. Does anyone else experience this? Sometimes it helps just to know I'm not alone in this struggle.

ALSO, I have asked this before but no one really answered. To anyone who does have these spurts/bouts with severe anxiety, have you found you lose weight MUCH faster during these periods, (providing you stay on plan...which is difficult but possible.)

Even now, after a bunch of weight lost, these high intensity weeks of anxiety can result in a 3-4 pound loss. I have this love/hate relationship with anxiety!