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Danaj
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Location: Palmy North
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Topic: Anxiety Attacks Posted: 01 October 2008 at 9:34pm |
Is anyone else having these? Or a complete sense of being irrational and not being able to control it? I'm having a hard time handling normal work situations and things that would never usually phase me are setting me in a tail spin.
I've been so upset this afternoon trying to finish my spreadsheet for the 2009 budgets. I have this awful sense of impending doom that I can't shake. It only seems to be with work stuff. I can't even identify what's actually making me feel this way but I can't stop crying today and it's making it worse. It feels like the walls are crashing down and I can't stop it.
Am I going crazy? Is this hormones?
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TraceyA
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Joined: 10 January 2008
Location: Motueka, Tasman
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Posted: 01 October 2008 at 9:48pm |
Sorry to hear your going through this, I've had it in the past for various reasons and the thing I found helped the most was breathing. I learnt some breath awareness meditations (downloaded them free on itunes) and I also did a lot of relaxation exercises, you know when you start with your toes and consciously relax them then work up through the rest of your body. It doesn't make it all just disappear but does help to slow things down and gives you back a feeling of control and peace.
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cuppatea
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Posted: 02 October 2008 at 8:21am |
Could it be your worries about returning after PPL that is really on your mind causing the attacks?
I suffered a few anxiety attacks a few years ago and they were all to do with how unhappy I was at my job and how trapped I felt.
The breathing exercises are great, the basics is to make sure that you breathe out longer than you breathe in so that you don't hyperventilate, so i.e breathe in for 5 secs and breathe out for 7. Avoid coffee and other stimulates that can cause the heart to race and be a trigger for an attack.
Plus the crazy preggo hormones probably aren't helping with feeling rational as they can cause us to flip out over the most stupid little things.
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caraMel
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Posted: 02 October 2008 at 8:41am |
If its completely a work related thing, are you able to take a break when it starts happening? Going for a brisk walk around the block or even around the office might help break the cycle of panic and release some of those good hormones (seratonin etc) so that you can calm down.
If you're not able to leave the work, can you phone up DP or a good friend or relative to have a chat? I always find it helps so much if I can confess my irrational worries to someone and have them advise or just listen and understand. It takes it all out of my head and stops it getting so big. Even if you don't mention your stress, just chatting about other things will probably help you relax again.
Rescue remedy is a great thing. It worked really well for me in my second pregnancy when I was finding it hard to cope with things,
Good luck chick!
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Mel, Mummy to E: 6, B: 4 and:
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razzmatazz
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Location: Christchurch
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Posted: 02 October 2008 at 9:30am |
Hi, I am going through same thing, i started getting anxiety attacks about 6 weeks or so ago and were really sudden and awful.
i felt detached and crazy thought i was going mad.
I went to my doctor about 3 times the first week. I had to go on meds because i suddenly couldnt cope with everyday.
spent the first 2 weeks in bed so freaked out.
had to get my mum to takes kids to school since i couldnt drive.
I am on mend now but still have bad days. when i get bad i tell my brain to shut up basically and try and thingk of a calm peaceful thing.
getting out and walking helps too if you can manage it.
Ive also cut out all coffee, wine etc.
Try and talk to someone while its happening and maybe they can help distract you.
If you need someone to talk to feel free to PM me :)
it does get better and you are not going mad!
its much more common then you probably think.
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Danaj
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Location: Palmy North
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Posted: 02 October 2008 at 9:37am |
Thanks guys. The bonus is that it's school holidays so all my customers are away. I can work from home which really makes this easier
I had a terrible night. I've been up since 4 this morning with another attack. This one had me in tears for over an hour. Horrible nightmares like my dog and cats being killed, feeling depressed and of course that lovely feeling of dread. It feels like i've received terrible news. There is nothing physically wrong with me and mentally i'm ok. I can actually feel that there is an imbalance which may sound off. It's all emotional and it's like a huge bee hive in my head when it gets going.
I've switched to decaf tea. I'm wondering if i'm lacking in something nutrition wise? Would iron or another deficiency cause this?
I didn't realise rescue remedy was safe for pgcy. Might pick some up today. Anyone know of any foods that can help stablize hormones? Google wasn't much help but I'm sure there are foods that can help with this kind of thing.
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cuppatea
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Posted: 02 October 2008 at 9:50am |
You should probably have a chat with your midwife as i'm sure she will have some suggestions, its also possible to get antenatal depression so that is something to consider.....but don't freak out about it cos it does sound to me like its just anxiety attacks.
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Danaj
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Posted: 02 October 2008 at 10:11am |
This might sound weird but I think i've figured out what it feels like. It's grief. It feels like i've had a huge loss or am about to have one. Weird.
I will have a chat to my MW if it doesn't start to ease.
Sitting here in my dressing gown certainly isn't helping. I'm going to clean up, head into the office and sort my desk which is a bomb site. Then i'm going to come home and clean the house which I haven't been paying enough attention to. I know I always feel better when the house is clean and aired. Perhaps I just need to be proactive in trying to make myself feel better.
I might do some more work Madelyn's bedroom this afternoon. That always makes me smile.
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TraceyA
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Posted: 02 October 2008 at 10:17am |
While you clean up, put on some really happy music that you can sing and jiggle along to, it really helps cheer you up.
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Roksana
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Posted: 02 October 2008 at 10:19am |
Hi Danaj,
Sorry to hear that you are going thru this but I had a similar thing happening to me this pregnancy as well but I bit earlier on, I felt almost depressed ast times and felt down every second day...I was happy in life with an amazing DH and a beautiful DD and work was fine and I just couldnt figure out what was causing this. I was worried as I have never felt depressed like that before. I blamed it on Hormones as many do I think....but I wanted to find out for sure. My Doc did a blood test to see if I was low in Iron but that came back fine....so she was puzzled. She said I could be lacking "Something" ...so I started to take Elevit. And luckily I started to feel better...much better. Havnt had that kinda feeling since.....Feel hormonla all the time but not the horrible thing I was feeling before.
Are you taking Elevit? cant hurt if you arent!!
Hope it sorts it self soon.
Take care and Big Hugs!
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caraMel
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Posted: 02 October 2008 at 11:13am |
Low iron and B12 can definitely contribute to it, so it would be worth getting your levels checked.
Rescue Remedy is safe. I checked with my MW, Dr and the pharmacist just to be sure!
Are you sleeping ok generally? (Other than the 4am wake up today)
Sleep is such a big factor for me and especially so when I'm hormonal and pregnant. I always find if I'm not getting enough for more than a couple of days I start getting really unstable and anxious.
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Mel, Mummy to E: 6, B: 4 and:
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Danaj
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Posted: 02 October 2008 at 1:25pm |
I'm sleeping ok aside from always needing to pee lol but i'm sure we're all going through that.
I realised that I had gotten slack in my supplements so made sure I was back onto those this morning. I take the standard supplement but have also added carbonyl iron to be really sure.
I've just gotten back from the office and I do feel a bit better. I had a major clean out and am about to start on the house.
Great idea about the music Tracey. Limewire is downloading as we speak :)
Hopefully I start to come right as this just isn't nice. If this is even remotely what people with clinical depression feel like, then I have a new respect for sufferers.
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razzmatazz
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Posted: 02 October 2008 at 8:21pm |
another dietry thing is that apparantly carby things like potatoes, porridge breads etc are good too because they help boost serotonin levels and helps your body produce them
If you dont start feel better talk to your mw or go to your doc and talk about how your feeling, my doc was really lovely and very helpful. you might even be able to be referred to an anxiety clinic, which helps you deal with attacks etc.
I find that just taking one day day at a time and trying to keep my stress levels down and not plan too much for the day helps.
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AandCsmum
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Posted: 02 October 2008 at 8:41pm |
Banana are great at raising seretonin levels!
Your 4am wake up freak out might be caused by the pregnancy dreams that we can get, I know I went through a few of them along the lines of yours, one was that my dog attacked Alia....now that had me awake in fear & deathly scared, luckly it was not in a every day to day situation thing so I could work my head around it. Took hours though! Prefer the good dreams though anyday!  I am like you without our DH's there to talk about these things with.
St Johns wort tea is fantastic for anxiety but I don't know if it's safe during pregnancy.
If we meet up for coffee you'll be chatting to two women who are right up there with dealing with this sorta stuff.
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Kel
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12
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Danaj
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Posted: 02 October 2008 at 9:47pm |
Feeling alot better tonight. I can still feel that dark cloud but it's more controllable at the moment. I spent 4 hours scrubbing the house then took the dog for a really long walk. I think the exercise would have also helped.
I'm going to get an early night and hopefully a better nights sleep than last night. If i'm feeling off tomorrow then i'm calling in sick so I can veg out in the bath and relax.
Hopefully we can meet up for coffee Kel. It would be good to meet you finally.
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AandCsmum
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Posted: 02 October 2008 at 11:12pm |
Yes....exercise is a definite mood booster!
Will check in with Elayne tomorrow....I got busy cleaning tonight as well
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Kel
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12
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Danaj
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Posted: 03 October 2008 at 8:54am |
Last night was alot better. I had a horrible nightmare that our girl was still born. That's probably a dream alot of us have. It may sound weird but I woke very upset so forced myself to finish the dream awake with a positive outcome. Seemed to do the trick,
Today is heaps better than yesterday so i'm thinking I may have come through the worst of what was just a bad patch.
I must have been tired though as I slept the the rubbish collection. Grrrrrrrr! Especially ticked off as I cleaned up so much I had three bags of trash from having a throw away session yesterday!
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ElfsMum
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Posted: 03 October 2008 at 10:52am |
( about the dream!!I have anxiety attacks and I had CBT which helped but with the breathing deep and also make sure you are breathing from your stomach..sounds weird but try it.. if you are breathing from your chest you won't get enough oxygen and that starts the anxiety feeling.. amazing how much better it;'s made things for me.. and with saying a word with a double N like banana relaxes your jaw.. oh and yeah for me periods of the pregnancy made it worse..
the impending doom is normal too I think? just massive hormones.. i had it after the mc but then realised everything would be ok but still throughout the preg had periods of it coming back..
dark cloud sounds more like depression (hugs) just be careful with bananas they are great but they also have potassium which increases the dreaming thing!!:)
glad last night was better..
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Mum to two amazing boys!
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