Do you ever have a wave of anxiety come over you? How do you handle it?
I've tried this method for two years and it does work for me: I write it down what I think is making me anxious, and usually after writing it down, it seems less scary and more manageable.(Edited for typo)
I do breathing to activate the vagus nerve which shifts your body from fight or flight response into a calm state. The two I use are: Inhale deeply through your nose. Inhale again sharply at the very top to completely fill your lungs. Exhale slowly and fully through your mouth with a long "sigh" sound. Repeat just 2 to 3 times for an instant release of tension.
I also use box breathing: Inhale slowly through your nose for 4 seconds. Hold your breath at the top for 4 seconds. Keep your airway open rather than clamping your throat shut. Exhale smoothly through your mouth for 4 seconds, emptying your lungs completely. Hold your lungs empty at the bottom for 4 seconds. Repeat this entire loop 4 times to fully lower your heart rate and regain mental clarity.
If you have a full blown panic attack, grab an ice pack and wrap it in a cloth and place it directly into your arm pits and keep it there for a minute or 2. You can also try the back of the neck but arm pits have worked the best for me. You can also splash your face with ice cold water.
I wish you the best✨
I took meds for 4 months. Had severe anxiety after I had to out my dog to sleep. It was unbearable. Sleepless nights, days, could not even drive a car or sit in a plane or stay at hotels. Lasted for four months. The meds helped a lot n it slowly faded away. It also helped because I analyzed and accepted the reality of loosing members in my life. The meds period lasted four months and then out if it after. So see your family physician n explain your situation. Take help of meds for sometime as it gives your nervous system a chance to recover to its normal state. Remember everyone goes through anxiety episodes through their lives n every handles it differently n recovers. Good luck n take action on it soon. See ya family GP.
I started this practice that I learned from this book called The Artist's Way, where every morning you write three pages of stream-of-consciousness onto paper first thing. I noticed it alleviated my anxiety throughout the day by 30% Just with that, and I've struggled with anxiety my whole life. Some days I actually don't notice it because after you get halfway through the pages you realize what you're actually worried about behind the anxiety and there are more solutions that tend to come with that part. I don't know if that makes sense but anxiety is the worst. You will get through it though, hang in there. 🫂
Sharing this progressive muscle relaxation technique which has helped me
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
During the fight-or-flight response, the tension in our muscles increases. This can lead to a feeling of stiffness, or even back and neck pain. Progressive muscle relaxation teaches us to become more aware of this tension so we can better identify and address stress.
Find a private and quiet location. You should sit or lie down somewhere comfortable. The idea of this technique is to intentionally tense each muscle, and then to release the tension. Let's practice with your feet.
a. Tense the muscles in your toes by curling them into your foot. Notice how it feels when your foot is tense. Hold the tension for 5 seconds.
b. Release the tension from your toes. Let them relax. Notice how your toes feel differently after you release the tension.
c. Tense the muscles all throughout your calf. Hold it for 5 seconds. Notice how the feeling of tension in your leg feels.
d. Release the tension from your calf, and notice how the feeling of relaxation differs. Follow this pattern of tensing and releasing tension all throughout your body. After you finish with your feet and legs, move up through your torso, arms, hands, neck, and head.
Yes it's not unusual, and in a community like this its pretty common.
The CBT people have some useful techniques for managing it, you should look into those.
What works is very personal, so keep experimenting.
Never underestimate the value of simply ignoring it and ploughing on regardless. Just because you are feeling or experiencing something doesn't mean it's important. This is how I dealt with my full scale panic attacks once I knew what they were. They don't kill you, even though until you're used to them you think that they might, and they stop on their own whatever you do.
Propranolol turned out to be the lynchpin for me. It kills the panic attacks before the happen.
The advice in the previous posts is all good standard stuff and worth trying to see if it helps you.
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