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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Guy on November 14, 2002, at 23:30:30
Yesterday my anxiety was so bad I felt suicidal for most of the day. I crashed early, completely exhausted. Today, I feel almost normal...same meds, same amount of sleep, no external pressures. What goes??? Is this just the way anxiety disorders are, or is it possible that something else is at play? This has been going on for six years...mostly down in the dumps, but the odd day like today. It's a mystery to me. My shrink says I have mixed anxiety/depression, but sometimes I wonder about all the storms that pass through my brain.
Posted by Squiggles on November 15, 2002, at 8:14:37
In reply to Anxiety roller-coaster, posted by Guy on November 14, 2002, at 23:30:30
Hi Guy,
I sympathize with your anxiety experience.
You don't describe it in this post in detail
so i can't compare it to mine exactly. But
when I did have anxiety, i could not predict
the hour, or sometimes the day--sure enough
though the anxiety attacks would come.In my case, i think i had hit Xanax tolerance
and it was inevitable that i had anxiety bursts
increasingly over the years; however, i also
had a thyroid dose that may have been high, and
it is possible that my particular constitution
is prone to anxiety if they are right about
my bipolar depression.So, it's a complex picture, but whatever the
causes, if you have this kind of anxiety for
so many years, you need some kind of drug to
get rid of it; is the drug you're taking causing
it maybe? maybe you need another drug in a
different category. Bring these matters up
to your doctor.Squiggles
Posted by Brandymac26 on November 15, 2002, at 8:17:19
In reply to Anxiety roller-coaster, posted by Guy on November 14, 2002, at 23:30:30
> Yesterday my anxiety was so bad I felt suicidal for most of the day. I crashed early, completely exhausted. Today, I feel almost normal...same meds, same amount of sleep, no external pressures. What goes??? Is this just the way anxiety disorders are, or is it possible that something else is at play? This has been going on for six years...mostly down in the dumps, but the odd day like today. It's a mystery to me. My shrink says I have mixed anxiety/depression, but sometimes I wonder about all the storms that pass through my brain.
I've had the same problem the past couple of years. Mainly down, and depressed and down in the dumps, with really bad anxiety levels. it got so bad that I didnt leave my house for months b/c I felt so nervous and depressed,plus I was scared of having panic attacks wherever I went. Then oddly enough, I'd have a good day (or couple of days) for whatever reason, then...back to feel ing like crap! The lexapro has totally stopped this roller coaster for me. I feel great again, and am so glad that Im taking it! I take it for panic disorder/gad/and depression, and I take 10mg's. I also take a smidge of xanax whenever I need it, but thats not very often since starting the lexapro. Good luck to you.
Brandy
Posted by Alara on November 15, 2002, at 19:48:21
In reply to Anxiety roller-coaster, posted by Guy on November 14, 2002, at 23:30:30
> Today, I feel almost normal...same meds, same amount of sleep, no external pressures. What goes???
Hi Guy,
From the sound of it, your anxiety levels lie within the `normal' range when you're not subjected to external stress. This suggests that your anxiety is less generalised and more situationally specific. The first step is to identify the situations that are causing you to become anxious in the first place.
I have very similar tendencies and have lately been working on reducing the number and severity of `high anxiety days' by exploring the relationship between my anxiety and particular types of stressors. Believe me, it helps!
The first thing that I do is to make a note of every situation in which I feel myself feeling stressed. Meanwhile I breathe slowly and deeply to give myself a sense of added security. Later, when I have time, I analyse both the stressful situation and my reactions to it.
Here's an example: The boss at my temp job interrupts my concentration with a request for extra work. Meanwhile a customer calls with a barrage of questions. I feel the pressure rising. All of a sudden the noise of the photocopying machine becomes intolerable and the lights in the office become too bright. My boss, who usually comes across as a kind, friendly person, suddenly looks threatening in my eyes..Fast forward about 10 seconds and my breathing and heart rates have increased. I feel as though I'm about to lose my mind!
In this situation I would take a walk at lunch time and analyse the situation: The stressors in this case were approaching deadlines, interruptions, and too much environmental stimulation (lights and noise). The stress resulted in uncontrollable anxiety due to the following additional factors: the initial rise in blood pressure (not within my control); my rapid shallow breathing (within my control); my thoughts about the situation (within my control); and environmental stimulation (not within immediate control).
You see, we can control our anxiety levels more than we think we can because we can control some of our reactions to stimuli and events. In my case, I could avoid too many repeats of the above anxiety attack if I: 1. breathe calmly and deeply 2. tell myself that a person can only do her best and that my boss has probably not noticed my agitation 3.choose a permanent job in a quieter environment with more pleasant lighting etc. The more times you analyse your reactions to stressful situations, the better you will become at identifying those situations. As a consequence your coping skills will improve and you'll have fewer of those `high anxiety' days. Eventually, you won't need to do all the analysing: These coping skills will become automatic.
I am working on this kind of approach and it is definitely working for me. :-)
Good luck,
Alara
Posted by Squiggles on November 15, 2002, at 19:59:10
In reply to Re: Anxiety roller-coaster » Guy, posted by Alara on November 15, 2002, at 19:48:21
I think this distinction between situational
and general anxiety is insightful. I like
the breathing instructions.
Something, i have recently been wondering about:
do you think that being obese, especially on
the upper (breasts) part can constrict breathing,
and bring on difficulty in breathing when you
get nervous, leading to anxiety, just from the
sensation of dyspnea?I have surprised myself experiencing this, and
it is recently (because of menopause and low
thyroid) that i have gained a lot of weight.Squiggles
Posted by Alara on November 16, 2002, at 19:29:37
In reply to Re: Anxiety roller-coaster » Alara, posted by Squiggles on November 15, 2002, at 19:59:10
>
>
> Something, i have recently been wondering about:
> do you think that being obese, especially on
> the upper (breasts) part can constrict breathing,
> and bring on difficulty in breathing when you
> get nervous, leading to anxiety, just from the
> sensation of dyspnea?
>
>
Squiggles,As a classical singing student, I've noticed that there are a lot of very overweight opera singers who have tremendous breathing. On the other hand, there are some normal weight singing students who have trouble with their breathing because they are self-conscious about appearing larger as they open up their rib cage and fill their lungs with air! (Could this be part of the issue for you perhaps?)
Having said that, I don't know the medical answer to your question. Perhaps there's an interplay between physiological and psychological factors. (?) Anyone else??
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