The music idea sounds good. I've never really thought about it much but maybe it's the silence that bothers us at night? I'll make a playlist on Youtube and give it a shot .
I can definitely understand having panic attacks with things involving your children, like driving. I don't have any children of my own, but I have nieces and nephews and I get so worried about them when we go to the park or store.

I just thought of the music since hypnosis can work in your sleep so the mind obviously still hears it right. Can't hurt to try though. Hehe

also suffered from severe panic attacks..onset was during narcotics/alcohol addiction...became even more debilitating after I stopped self-medicating and went clean...needed mondo therapy and am now doing very well indeed.....i was taught to recognize my anxiety levels and was given tools to use in case, e.g. exercise, journalling, mindfulness etc. i was against medication due to my history of medication abuse but am reconsidering as my insane fear of flying remains which has kept me from going home to the states to visit for the last 8 years.

Hi Everyone,

I have severe panic attacks which are triggered by my OCD. I suffer from the O in OCD and it started when I had my second child. I didn't know what post partum depression was and I suffered in silence because I thought I was absolutely CRAZY! It started with horrible thoughts and visions in my head that would send me into complete panic. I had my own personal movie theater in my head and it only played horror movies. I don't want to go into too much detail because talking about it triggers anxiety. I STILL suffer, every single day is a challenge but I use exercise as a way to cope. I've been med free for 2 years and use meditation and breathing techniques to control my attacks.

I really wish certain objects didn't trigger my thoughts. For instance, today as I was slicing a tomato, the thought started. As I said above, I don't want to go into too much detail but these episodes scare the **** out of me. I did some research and was relieved to see that having a panic attack is good in a way. My horrible thoughts trigger the attacks which means I'm extremely bothered by them. If I didn't worry and actually enjoyed the thoughts, then there would be cause for concern.

Having OCD and anxiety is NOT fun but I deal by keeping busy..

I could just cry today. Tuesday night I came down with the flu. Threw up for 15 hours straight. Wednesday woke up feeling like I had been ran over by a truck and was so so so dizzy, weak, and anxious. Thursday I woke up with my period and a panic attack. I had residual anxiety for most of the day and ended up just going to bed at 9:30. Woke up this morning again with vertigo and dizziness. I know it's anxiety because I have no problems when I drive my kids to school but as soon as I get home or go to a store or something I get dizzy again.

I just upped my cipralex to 15 mg from 10 mg about 5 or 6 days ago. I have a prescription for ativan but I am afraid it will make me more dizzy.

I just hate all this anxiety. No matter what I do, as soon as my cycle rolls around the anxiety spikes and stays till I ovulate. Doctor won't
Check my hormones since I am only 30. Hard to believe 2 years ago I lived life without a fear.

My suggestion is find another doctor to treat your anxiety. It took me years but I finally found a second doctor because the doctor I had had since age 5 just wasn't listening. He utterly failed me on my thyroid disease because despite having every symptom he refused to test my thyroid- a simple blood test! I even offered to pay cash for it. But my Gyno (a different doc) suggested I get a thyroid test and ta-da, I was hypothyroid just like I had suspected.

After blowing a disc out in my lower back and deciding I didn't want surgery or to be on pain meds for life I started seeing a naturopathic doctor who is also an acupuncturist. She has changed my life, literally. I've lost 30 lbs under her care, my back pain is ZERO on most days, my anxiety is under control (I think a lot of my anxiety was related to untreated hypothyroidism), my thyroid is under control, she keeps an eye on my labs and runs new bloodwork every 6 months.

A good doctor is your greatest ally. Your current doc isn't helping you, so please find one who will! No doctor should ignore anxiety symptoms. Anxiety builds on itself.

In the meantime, do things that will help you to control your anxiety. Things that have helped me are: hypnosis, massage, meditation, prayer, exercise, stretching, yoga, acupuncture, some herbs. And of course, Rx medication. I took Buspar for a while which was pretty effective as an anti-anxiety med, and I still take valium for acute symptoms if I have it. Learn breathing techniques that you can use to calm yourself down. Sometimes when I'm having a panic attack I just pick up the phone and call someone- just the act of talking to someone can short circuit the panic attack. Avoid stimulants like caffeine, and eat a healthy diet so you're getting adequate amounts of nutrients. Consider supplementing magnesium and calcium, because magnesium can help calm you.

Dr. Andrew Weil came out with a book recently you might like- "Spontaneous Happiness". Anxiety and depression go hand it hand, and he has dietary and supplementation suggestions that might help your condition.

Good luck. You CAN see improvement. I used to be so anxiety ridden that I was agorophobic and couldn't even leave my house for 3 months. I had debilitating panic attacks that would have me running to the emergency room certain I was dying. I now live a normal life, with symptoms only popping up every now and then and to be honest I've learned to embrace it when it happens because I feel that having anxiety disorder makes me a better and more empathetic person. Prior to having anxiety disorder I was pretty unsympathetic to people that suffered from depression or anxiety or other mental disorders and thought they should just "snap out of it". Now I know better, and I think it makes me a better person.

I also suffer from anxiety and panic attacks. I was given an antidepressant and xanax but given my family history of addicts, I didn't want to take the chance and become addicted to xanax so I refused taking it.....about a year ago I decided I would try meditation, breathing techniques and Positive thinking. It has truly helped with the panic attacks, I haven't had one in over a year!

My brother also suffers from severe panic attacks/social anxiety and his doctor gave him, Lamacital and celexa. It has done him wonders!! He feels like a new man. He says, "I finally know what it feels like to live without Panic attacks and social anxiety"

I've been suffering from night time anxiety for a few months now. I'm not sure what the cause is really. Mainly I think it's my overall state of mine. I'm 20, been out of school for 3 years with NOTHING to show for it, except a bit of education. I don't have any close friends anymore. I've been on one date in the entire 3 years. It's very depressing. I'm going to continue to look at all the clothes I want to fit into and the body I want to have until it's all I think about. For me, I have to kind of break myself so I finally break down, let go of all this stress and anxiety and literally sweat it out by working my *** off to get to where I want to be. I just know in my heart that once I reach my goal weight, I won't be afraid of ANYTHING. Good luck to everyone here struggling. I will always be here if you need anyone to talk or vent to. <3

Writing down positive affirmations helped me tremendously. For instance:
I am a calm and relaxed person.

The key is to not use the word not as in
I will not worry. Rather say,
I feel carefree.


You can look up other suggestions online.
I spent 15 minutes a day doing it. It took a few months for me to notice the results but I'm telling you it helps!!! You realize how irrational you're being as you start replacing old negative thoughts with positive new ones.

*waves*

I have generalized anxiety disorder and suffer from brutal panic attacks. I believe that, like KimberlyP, my panic/anxiety largely stems from my OCD that exists in the "Pure O" (and NOT the good 'O') form. I obsess constantly - over anything and everything. Honestly, I believe that when I was younger and living in a very volatile situation (mentally ill mother, abusive step-father, responsible for 5 younger siblings from a very young age), this constant hyperfocused awareness was a very necessary component to getting through each day.

As I grew older and demands on my life grew larger my obsessions grew larger. I had to be perfect all the time. I had to take care of everyone all the time because they needed me. I had to be on top of my game every minute of every day.

Suddenly I started worrying that something would happen to me. I didn't want to die and everything seemed terrifying. I specialize in complete panic over the tiniest perceived issues - a mole on my skin? Must be skin cancer - now let me sob hysterically and obsessively panic over it for the next week. Never mind that the mole has been there for the last 10 years and doesn't appear to be changing at all. A small lump under the skin? Can't be a zit or a cyst or lymph node or any one of a zillion begin and common issues - it obviously has to be some sort of cancer and now I'm going to die - so let me obsess over that for the next week until something else comes along.

Eventually the dam broke and the panic attacks started. There was no "safe" place - I'd have them in the middle of the night or in the middle of a restaurant. Finally, after a panic attack that lasted for over 36 hours with little to no relief I sought some serious medical intervention.

Now I take Paxil every day because it treats both my anxiety and my depression (heck, I didn't even know I was depressed until they put me on meds for my anxiety - turns out the only thing fueling me from day to day was the constant nervous and anxious state in which I lived - once that was managed I was so depressed I couldn't drag myself off the couch). I also take Xanax for "emergency" break through anxiety.

Today is one of those days for me. Xanax is too strong for me these days, and even half of the lowest dose of Ativan makes me too tired to function. My eye has been twitching like crazy from anxiety. Blah.

I had the same issue - everytime my period was coming my anxiety would spiral for a few day. Take the Ativan for those few days it will help a lot and it will not make you dizzy.

I have GAD. It's why I'm still awake at 2:30 in the morning... *le sigh*

Sometimes working out helps but the biggest problem I have is getting myself out of my room to do it. If I'm really anxious, I kind of just pace around my room...

I have PTSD and it's definitely a struggle to say the least!

I've come off most meds, which has eased my weight loss challenge. I only take Ativan PRN now.

I just found this site yesterday. I think this board is the one for me. I know that my mental issues play a part in my weight. I hope I can connect with y'all.