anxiety

rachel_anne · #1 November 28th, 2011, 07:52 PM

I know a few of you deal or have dealt with anxiety, and I have a question. Ever since Holden was born, I've been dealing with slight anxiety...its usually situational, like when I drive on freeways or am in big crowds. But last month, the day I got my period I got extremely nauseous and nearly had an attack (I didn't think too much of it becuase it happened in the middle of a huge test that my job relied on, so I figured it was just nerves) but this morning, I got super anxious driving to work, and it didn't subside once I got to work. It got so bad, I had to walk out of the training room and literally run to the bathroom to calm down. The anxiety lasted about 2 hours before I was finally able to feel okay again. My period started in the middle of all of this so I linked the 2 episodes together and am thinking it's probably hormone related. Has anyone experienced this before? I'm completely against taking drugs for it, but natural or homeopathic remedies are a possibility, so if you know anything that works, please let me know

krsnow · #2 November 28th, 2011, 11:30 PM

Im sorry you are going thru this. I know how hard it is, I have very similar issues. It was much worse years ago and I went to talk to a counselor about it, and found that it was all related to things going on in my life at the time - I was in a bad marriage and felt trapped. That spread to other areas of my life, so while driving on the highway I felt trapped (with no shoulder or exit) same with being in big crowds. At least this is how the counselor explained it. I am much better now but still have issues with driving on the highway, and I don't really know how to overcome it completely.

So maybe you should try talking to someone to figure out what is causing the anxiety? A lot of companies have a free counseling service that is confidential as a benefit to their employees, maybe your's does? I was also really against taking drugs for it and I have never tried. But, if you are really having a hard time I don't think it is horrible to take something, as long as you make an effort to work out the problems thru counseling at the same time, then you can wean off the drugs.

As for a natural remedy, I don't really know of any quick fix, but the main thing to help while you are having an episode is distraction, if you can get your mind to focus on something else, like do times tables in your head or something. I know it's not that easy to do. Also, here are the other things that helped me:
Exercise - because it releases a chemical in the brain to fight depression & anxiety
Muscle relaxing exercise (you have to do it every day): How to Perform Progressive Muscle Relaxation - wikiHow
Yoga has helped me a lot, if you can take a class it is much better than doing a dvd of it at home.
I also had some cd's that the counselor gave me that really helped, I can search for them and tell you what they are called, I know you can get them off amazon. They are like guided meditation type of thing, but its hard to explain.

I hope this helps a little, I know this is a really hard thing to go thru. feel free to PM me if you want to talk more

mrsjl · #3 November 29th, 2011, 05:10 AM

I get nervous if I have to pass a large truck on the highway, like I have to take deep breaths and make myself do it, I get so afraid that the truck will crash into my car and crush it against the median. I get nervous when I have the kids in a crowd where they might get lost or snatched up, or on ferry boats that they might fall over the edge, or walking in the parking lot and a car speeds through and runs them over, or in a store and I turn around for a second and they are gone.

I don't take anything for anxiety, I just try to push it out of my head.

laisydaisymama · #4 November 29th, 2011, 06:33 AM

there is a natural product called Nutri-Calm, you could look into that

rainbow_brite19 · #5 November 29th, 2011, 06:08 PM

I have had anxiety issues off and on pretty much my entire life (seriously I remember having panic attacks at five years old) so mine aren't hormone related, but I do know where you are coming from. My anxiety flared up again big time when I was pregnant and I constantly worried about Jackson's health, for some reason. I ended up going to counseling and it helped me a lot. I didn't (and still don't) like the idea of taking drugs, either. I took Lexapro for a while when I was like 18-20 years old and it did work but it made me so out of it at night. As mentioned, exercise, muscle and deep breathing exercises are all wonderful and worth looking into. Above all, never feel bad or weird about it. More people go through these kinds of things than they admit, and you are not alone. I'm sorry you are going through it, though. It really is horrible, trust me when I say I understand. Feel free to message me if you ever want someone to talk to.