Anxiety attack right now

[tanaquil]

Hey everyone,

Due to lots of shit coming down in my life, I've been having more anxiety attacks. All I want is my boyfriend right now.

Problem is, hes still in Russia and I don't know when he'll be back. I haven't heard from him in almost 2 and a half weeks. During my anxiety, I wonder if he hates me or has stopped loving me. I guess it's fuelled by the fact that his Russian networking site said he was online yesterday but no emails or anything.

Question is: what do you do during extreme moments of doubt? During anxiety attacks?

Thank you. Sorry for the hurried text. This is from my phone and I'm literally just recovering from an attack.

[digitalfever]

I usually try to think of the good times and why my thoughts are not true.

[prinzeza87]

awful so awful, i feel u, my SO tells me to just stop thinking to much, not an easy shit to do but im under some prescribed anxiety pills that works well for me, so most of the time that im having an attack i exercise lil bit or take my pill

[sewbama]

I'm also prescribed some anxiety meds. They help tons. But I've been having anxiety attacks since I was pretty little. Distract yourself and try not to think about it. I know that's really hard, but if you can get your thoughts going in a different direction, it will help move you past the anxiety. And if you are having anxiety attacks that interrupt your life, it might be worth getting to the doctor and seeing about medication. It has made all the difference in the world to me.

[tanaquil]

Thank you very much. I'm prescribed on anxiety medicine but I don't take it too often since I've been told you can develop an addiction to those things. /: But, definitely, thinking about good things and distracting yourself is really useful!

My SO was online again but no email ... so now, again, I'm freaking out about his feelings towards me. Sigh.

[sewbama]

I was concerned about getting addicted to it, too. When I was prescribed, they told me to take it twice daily, but I just do as needed. It works really quick. I also have the lowest dose they make. So I don't worry about it much.

As for him not being in contact, I really don't know what to say. But there could be all kinds of things keeping him from being able to email you. I assume you've emailed him? One thing you might want to do is stop looking. It's only going to stress you out more. So just leave it alone for a couple days. If he emails, it'll still be there when you look later. And in the mean time, enjoy yourself. Treat yourself to an awesome dinner with friends, or cook yourself an awesome dessert. Take a relaxing bath. Read a book. Do your nails. Etc. Just try to do something for yourself.

[garnet]

It's not so much addiction, so much as dependancy. And if you had a bad heart and were dependent on a drug that kept it going, you'd take it. If your anxiety requires meds, and you become dependent on them to have a better life, that is not a bad thing.

If you don't want to take your meds as a way to cope, distraction is the only thing that has ever worked for me. the best kind I've found is doing something nice for someone else.

[notyourexgirlfriend]

It's not so much addiction, so much as dependancy. And if you had a bad heart and were dependent on a drug that kept it going, you'd take it. If your anxiety requires meds, and you become dependent on them to have a better life, that is not a bad thing.

If you don't want to take your meds as a way to cope, distraction is the only thing that has ever worked for me. the best kind I've found is doing something nice for someone else.

I'm on certain meds that help with anxiety though I take them for migraine preventatives so it's a bonus side effect. Keeping yourself busy is one way to cope with it. Also surrounding yourself with friends if your SO can't be there for you.

[tanaquil]

Thanks everyone! I'm trying to distract myself and all that. (:

As for the medication, I don't think it's 100% a problem with addiction -- the problem is, according to my psychiatrist, that you develop a resistance so it takes more of the same medication to get the same effect. It's Clonazepam, btw.

[notyourexgirlfriend]

I'm on Propranolol Hydrochloride (Deralin). Clonazepam is commonly known as Klonopin in the USA and Rivotril in Australia. Mine is a beta blocker whereas yours is slightly different. Go easy on yourself though. Anxiety is one tough beast sometimes.

[Jgui]

awww i know exactly how you're feeling.. I've felt the same way when I see my SO being online and doesn't respond to my emails or messages. My mind starts to wonder why he didn't respond, he rather talk to other people than talk to me, he doesn't care about me anymore, and the likes. It's horrible.. I know it's hard not to dwell on the feeling, but honestly, it only gets worse by dwelling. Try and take your mind off by doing something else like go out and take a nice long walk, go work out, or hang out with some friends.

[Haley53]

Thanks everyone! I'm trying to distract myself and all that. (:

As for the medication, I don't think it's 100% a problem with addiction -- the problem is, according to my psychiatrist, that you develop a resistance so it takes more of the same medication to get the same effect. It's Clonazepam, btw.

Could you speak to your psychiatrist about switching to a different medication? Most anti-anxiety medications come with this little gem: you often need more of them after so long at a stable dose. However, there are anxiety meds that you can take as needed (as well as on a regular basis). For example, Ativan. I took Ativan on an as-needed basis as a result of anxiety and, later, panic attacks, and if I caught them in time, my medication did the trick. There was a risk for developing a dependency or a new threshold, but because I only took it as needed, I was fine.

That said, if anxiety is a consistent, reoccurring issue for you, and is effecting the quality of your life, it's not like you're going to become so addicted and helpless on the medication that you can't function without it. There's always the option of therapy concurrent with your current psychotropic treatment. CBT is one thing that's incredibly effective when it comes to anxiety and anxiety disorders, as are various exposure and other talk therapies. There are people who have found relief from severe cases of disorders like OCD, even, and have needed less medication as a result of it. Medication is most effective when it's being taken during the course of therapy. However, there's nothing wrong with using a medication to improve the quality of your life, and your body is unlikely to ever become so resistant to it that you start needing harmful doses of the drug to ward it off.

[tanaquil]

Thanks everyone for your input! I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels anxiety every once in a while and, sometimes, it's hard to talk about this with your RL friends. I'm glad you guys are so helpful (: I've actually done CBT in the past and it's helped to an extent. But I'll definitely ask about the Ativan. I don't want to be taking too many drugs since I'm already on Citalopram and some others. /:

Though the medication is really useful, what I'm most curious to learn about is tactics people have when they need to deal with huge moments of paranoia (something that also seems to come with my anxiety). When I think everyone hates me, my boyfriend wants to leave me or doesn't love me anymore. I've been plagued by this every night since my SO has gone on vacation and still hasn't returned. Also, when we both get back to our universities, I don't want to constantly bother him asking for reassurance. So what would you do to handle the paranoia and trust issues in an LDR?

[Haley53]

Personally, I do it by redirecting. I don't allow myself to always ask for reassurance, even though that's easiest. When I start having a negative thought, I catch it, and write/say a positive one aloud. I do this for every time I start to worry. I breathe, and then replace that thought with a positive thought/reassurance of my own. If it's particularly pressing, I will write down the negative thought, why I have it, allow myself to realise it's okay to have it, but then write all the reasons I'm not being logical and am letting my anxiety get the better of me.

I also have to say that physical activity has gone a long way to eliminating most anxiety problems I've experienced, whether it's intensive or simply a short walk outside for 30-60 minutes. Getting out, surrounding yourself with nature if possible, and at least moving can be a good way to deal with anxiety, since it's often as physical as it is mental and emotional.

[tanaquil]

You're right about the physical activity! I think I'll start running again tomorrow to keep my mind of things for at least a little bit. And thinking about the positive is very important, too. I'm just really stupid and tend to think that I'm being stupid and focusing too much on positives that I'm not being realistic. I'm always afraid we'll break up since we've broken up twice. /:

It's a vicious cycle because I worry that I did something to make him want to break up with me, then I hate myself and get upset. He notices and we talk about it. And then I think he wants to break up with me.

Random, but it doesn't help with my antsiness. D: