At random times during the day, I have these anxiety attacks at times. It's not when there is a crisis. Then I'm fine since there's action that needs to be taken. It's the in between times. It's the anxiety about what could happen that does it. I just find myself with a loudly beating heart and cold with fear.
I take a very small dose of Fluvoxamine (Luvox) for the fibro pain. Years ago I took a higher dose as an antidepressant. There were a number of antidepressants I tried but could not take due to side effects. Luvox is not commonly used as far as I can tell but has an anti anxiety effect as well as being an anti depressant. It is used for OCD - a problem I certainly don't have, but works well for me for fibro with little side effects. Might be worth you asking about it. Antidepressants aren't addictive as anti anxiety meds can be. They simply get your brain chemicals back into the right balance. Good luck.
But the last couple of days in particular have been really bad. The dentist prescribed me amoxicillin and for some reason it's been bothering me and causing a strange reaction. I don't fault anyone for taking SSRI's for anxiety. In fact I went to my doc on Wednesday and asked him for a few Ativan. He is very against taking this and tried to convince me to go on another antidepressant but I just got through weaning myself off of Effexor and don't want to go down this route again so soon. Maybe in the future. Never say never.
Has anyone on here taken an SSRI that had fewer side effects cause it's the side effects that really bother me.
One person could be experiencing no stress at all and still get them, where another person could experience all kind of stress in their environment and not get them.
SSRI basically restore the proper chemical balance, they are not like a benzo like Xanax which tranquilize you, they more fix the problem and are not dangerous or addicting. (again, I am not a medical pro, so this is just what I have learned on my own, take the advice as such)
Finally they convinced me that is what they were, which in itself helped. When I felt one coming on I could sort of control it by not panicking and been taking a very low does of an SSRI.
They are scary when you first experience them.
I have a calm partner and he can always talk me briefly down off the ceiling. He asks about the honest possibility of all I imagine could go wrong. Shortly after he did that re my brother's demolished and towed truck it all went bad in just the way I imagined it. Hee hee. And not so funny.
Each and every person has a right to decide how to deal with the anxiety. Whatever it takes to help you. But the taboo attached to psychotropics is a moot point at this stage of the game.
For years I was a pharmaceutical rep in medical schools and research hospitals and saw first hand that doctors are trained to prescribe drugs drugs drugs. Though certain drugs save lives, overall we take way more than we probably need instead of using less damaging remedies.
In fact do you have any help? Are there any plans for grandma to be placed? You need to care for yourself.
I've also learned it can happen when your thyroid is wacky or your other hormones are not balanced, so please get yourself a medical workup to rule a physical trigger out.
It's interesting how our body manifests these stress responses when something is physically wrong inside of us, or in our environment. It makes sense, of course, but also I think there's a weird disconnect in how these symptoms are treated by modern Psychiatry. Panic/anxiety disorder tends to be treated as brain chemistry gone askew all by itself with no known cause, instead of always screening for other causes first.
When I was going through a period of waking up at night, specifically waking up in panic, I researched online to see what could be causing it. The best I could come up with is that high cortisol/stress hormone levels at nighttime can cause you to jerk awake. I think everyone experiences this once in a while, but to be experiencing it often may mean you're under too much stress and would benefit from SSRI or other anti-anxiety medication. In my case, starting regular exercise seemed to help with all my anxiety-related symptoms, but especially the sleep issues.
good terry you made the bed/ good terry you paid a bill/ good terry you went to the grocery/ good terry you flushed the toilet/ good terry you took a shower.
Well you get the idea.
I was going through a rough patch with anxiety attacks some time ago and posted about it here on AC. A couple of users sent private messages to tell me their coping strategies, and one advised reassuring myself that things are ok. I think reassuring ourselves that we're okay, and encouraging ourselves to keep going on some small tasks even when we're feeling out of sorts, is a great coping tool.
I thought I was going to pass out tonight.
Let me set the scene. Grandma likes to tuck away food in random places and eat it later. Last night she was gnawing on something that I remember giving her 2 days ago. Let's say it shouldn't be left out of the fridge. I grabbed it out of her hands and told her to spit it out. She looked me in the eye with that "go <you know what> youself" look on her face. She swallows it and opens her mouth to show me she has. I tell her she's going to get diarrhea. She did. Started early this morning. I'll leave out the gory details of that disaster. In itself, that's another post. I've changed her diaper 5 times so far today. That's been my day.
So tonight at around 8pm, I smell a scent coming off of grandma from the other side of the living room. When that happens, there's been overflow. So I get up to deal with that. At the same time, the dog starts whining because she needs to go outside. All day long, as usual, dad's been in his chair with his feet up watching TV without a care in the world. All this while I've been dealing with diarrhea grandma, stubborn mom and a very geriatric dog. I've also been dealing with residue business issues. Reviewing contracts when I'm being interrupted every five minutes makes me feel like my head is about to explode. I'll admit it, I was irritated. I raised my voice and asked him to deal with the dog. His response was "IT'S ALWAYS MY FAULT!". Then the yelling began. He ended up marching off to lock himself in the bathroom. All this sets off mom who starts yelling. Grandma is leaking. The dog is whining. For a few seconds, I got lightheaded, my vision tunneled and a swayed a bit. I thought I was going to pass out. I clinched and strained to drive more blood into my brain until it passed.
Now the old people are asleep, including the dog. Turns out she really needed to poop too. Took a while to get dad out of the restroom. I had to do the nightly dance to get mom to brush her teeth. Grandma got changed again. I'm wearing my workout shorts and t-shirt from when I was able to workout since I have no clothes left. Let's say changing grandma involves a bit of poop transference and I've had to change my clothes 5 times. The washing machine has been cranking washing their clothes so mine will have to wait until tomorrow.
I don't feel half bad right now. I realize that's mostly because I've guzzled down a beer. I still have contracts to deal with but I'm thinking the early caregiver heart attack will take care of things before any of that will be a problem. I'll just let the beer do it's work until grandma needs another diaper. I should have a couple of hours before that happens.
I couldn't do all yo do! You are amazing!
My mom is just sooo forgetful. Not flushing the toilet, either using no toilet paper or way to much.
My husband is no help. He just goes outside to his shop. I have to work the evening shift
So much anxiety. He checks on her every so often. But I am so afraid.
She puts dirty dishes in the D/W
after they just been run, I can't keep up. She's now hiding her clothes and wearing them up to 3x.
Jjust feel so overwhelmed and alone. EXAUSTED IN PA !!!
Now plumbing issues.
Help.
I know that exercise has helped me. And I think the psilocybin regimen I did helped, too. It would be great if I could quit drinking alcohol altogether since it raises cortisol levels, but that might be asking too much of myself right now. lol
The withdrawal from benzos is difficult, agree. Are you familiar with The Ashton Manual? I followed it and maybe it helped..? Also there's an online forum for support while w/d from benzos, appropriately named Benzo Buddies. I joined at one time but found I didn't participate all that much. They had a nice community there, as I recall.
I tried a lot of supplements while I was withdrawing -- ashwaghanda, 5 HTP, all the usual things. I think just having something else, besides the benzos, to turn to is helpful. Deep breathing always helped in a pinch. Good luck, Gershun. You'll get through it. I don't envy you, though. 💜
I remembered another time. After Dad passed away a day or two after the funeral my sister and our husbands decided to clear out Dad’s apartment rather than pay for the next months rent. I had basically same symptoms. Queasy, sweaty, confused, tight chest. I hadn’t eaten in who knows when, I had been surviving on coffee mostly. Anyway, they got me out of Dads apartment. I started feeling better, then I ate and recovered completely.
It's interesting. I wonder if it was my brain or body that was overloaded or both?
My body and brain doesn’t seem to have the tolerance for stress that it once had, before caregiving. When my life gets stressful I wake up at 3:30am. It’s always 3:30am. Sometimes I can go back to sleep, sometimes I can’t.