Starting Back From Anxiety Attacks

Training
41

Here are some things that helped me to deal with Anxiety:

  1. learn to breathe slowly. I like 2 sec. in and 4 sec. out. Also in through your nose and out through your mouth. After doing this for a few minutes your body has no choice but to calm down.

  2. Tell yourself the truth. Its just anxiety and nothing else. Your not going to die or go crazy which are some common fears when a panic attack comes on.

  3. Dont run from it but let it float by. Its no big deal and will go away, it always does.

  4. distract yourself. Do something fun. Workout, go for a walk, play basketball or whatever. Take your mind off of yourself.

Hope this helps and for people who are stuggling you will get better. I went through a horrible period and am now back to normal. Hope this helps and pm me if you need any advice. God BLess

Austin

42

I’ve titrated down a bit more and am now on 1.25mg/d of Clonazepam split between morning / evening . .
Funny how even a .125mg decrease gave more than a few days of GI distress, raciness, shortness of breath here and there . .

I found 5-htp + Valerian between the doses really helpful at “tickling” my GABA receptors so I can stop a cascade of symptoms in their tracks . .

Going to try straight GABA next just to help bridge the drops in med doses each time . . .

Longer road than I thought - ah well :wink:

43

[quote]aslater wrote:
Here are some things that helped me to deal with Anxiety:

  1. learn to breathe slowly. I like 2 sec. in and 4 sec. out. Also in through your nose and out through your mouth. After doing this for a few minutes your body has no choice but to calm down.

  2. Tell yourself the truth. Its just anxiety and nothing else. Your not going to die or go crazy which are some common fears when a panic attack comes on.

  3. Dont run from it but let it float by. Its no big deal and will go away, it always does.

  4. distract yourself. Do something fun. Workout, go for a walk, play basketball or whatever. Take your mind off of yourself.

Hope this helps and for people who are stuggling you will get better. I went through a horrible period and am now back to normal. Hope this helps and pm me if you need any advice. God BLess

Austin [/quote]

The breathing techniques really do work for those that have not tried them yet. Try to focus on breathing through your diaphram and not your chest.

Austin is also correct in that finding smoething to distract yourself with is also an effective way of getting through an episode. I find that if I’m not having a great day, I give myself a list of chores to do around the house and after a while, I forget about my symptoms and return to normal in no time.

44

Wow. What a great thread. I suffer from both social anxiety disorder and seasonal affective disorder. Basically, this time of year I typically want to crawl up in a ball and hide in the corner of my garage. How pathetic is that for a self-proclaimed badass? I’ve been on 37.5 mg Paxil every day for over a year and light treatments since September. It has saved my life. It’s nice to know there are guys out there like me.

To the original poster - also try some daily sunlight. It has all sorts of positive benefits.

“Sprituality is simply doing the next right thing.” - a friend.

45

[quote]CoachMike wrote:
Whatever doctrine you turn to, “He helps those whoo help themeselves” .[/quote]

Sorry, but I have to ask: where did you read that one? I always hear people saying it but never know where it came from.

Thanks

46

TBT, Day 2
Sets: 3
Reps: 8
Rest: 90 seconds

Incline Bench (had to do BB instead of DB b/c all benches were taken by the DB racks): 135

Upright Rows (again, did BB instead of DB): 70

Front Squat: 155

Good Mornings: 115

BB Bicep Curls: 60

Dips: BW+25 lbs.

Did some abs afterwards and the had a really good workout overall. Tomorrow I plan on doing some cardio and then finishing up the week with Day 3 of TBT on Saturday.

47

Thanks for bringing up this issue…Sometimes even your closest friends/family members don’t know how to react when you bring this subject up. I started having panic attacks after a night of shrooms about ten years ago with some friends. I never took the meds route as I didn’t have any health insurance and couldn’t afford to pay cash for the treatment. I had to figure out a lot of this crap on my own as I didn’t have anyone to talk to at the time.

Since then I have learned to control the heavy breathing/flushed feeling/heart attack syptoms by taking a walk outside and getting a breath of fresh air. Family members have taken the meds route and are still on Zoloft after 7 years of treatment…seems like the docs are perfectly happy keeping them on the meds.

It still scares me a lot but the gym is my sanctuary…just give me my IPod and a power rack and I can find that “happy place” where the bottom doesn’t seem to be falling out…

Congrats to everyone who has got their attacks under control, and to those who don’t, just know that their are others out there who know you’re not “crazy,” and would be more than happy to help you through this shitty time.

48

TBT, Day 3
Sets: 2
Reps: 15
Rest: 120 sec.

Decline BB Bench Press: 165
Chin-ups: BW
BB Step-ups: 135
Deadlifts: 165
Seated Calf Raises: 185
Lying BB Triceps Extensions: 50

Workout felt really good today. I’ve got a couple of stories to write this afternoon for work and then I’m taking it easy the rest of the weekend.

Met with my therapist yesterday and she’s amazed at my recent progress. I’ve begun scaling back on my meds and I’m at a point now where if I keep progressing, I’ll only have to see the therapist for a few more sessions, since I now have the tools necessary to overcome anxiety/panic should it strike again.

I hope everyone else is doing well in their efforts to overcome anxiety/panic as well.
-Dan

49

Things that have helped me deal with anxiety and stressful situations are niacinamide 500 mg, 300 mg of Theanine, and passionflower extract 1 dropper full mixed with water. Under extreme conditions I will also add 50 mg of 5HTP. I only take 5HTP once in a while as needed. If I take it every day I start to feel a dependency on it. Hope this helps anyone out there.

50

I’ve been taking a lot of fish oil recently and also taking a multivitamin everday. I only use whey protein right now (money’s kind of tight), but have really cleaned up my diet. No more processed foods or deli meats for me, it’s just chicken breasts, steak, eggs, cheese, spinach, tomatoes (and other salad toppings like carrotts and cuccumbers), oatmeal and some pasta.

I think cleaning my diet up has had an effect on my health. I didn’t realize all the shit I was putting in my body (sodium numbers are huge in most packaged/processed foods) until I sat down and really looked at it.

51

What a good thread. I think that there are so many of us out there that think that we are the only ones who are suffering through issues like these or we are the only ones who take meds to avoid situations like these. Sadly, the rest of the world does not seem as open minded about the issue as the folks on this thread do. When I went through a catastrophic depression event, I lost two friends because of it. They thought I took the easy way out by getting therapy and for going on meds. My one “friends” response was that I should not have pussed out and could have just delt with it since it is all in my head. Needless to say, I really do not miss that friend any more.

52

[quote]marinersfan wrote:
What a good thread. I think that there are so many of us out there that think that we are the only ones who are suffering through issues like these or we are the only ones who take meds to avoid situations like these. Sadly, the rest of the world does not seem as open minded about the issue as the folks on this thread do. When I went through a catastrophic depression event, I lost two friends because of it. They thought I took the easy way out by getting therapy and for going on meds. My one “friends” response was that I should not have pussed out and could have just delt with it since it is all in my head. Needless to say, I really do not miss that friend any more.[/quote]

That sucks that your “friend” was such a jerk. You’re better off without him in your life…when you go through these situations you need people to be supportive of you…not to call you a puss.

Thankfully I have a good support group around me and that was one of the goals of this thread was to set up a support system here on T-Nation, so even if you feel isolated or alone in your personal life, you can come here and find someone to talk to, either on this thread or via PM about your issues.

53

Hey everybody,
I hope you all are doing great and are on your way to being free of anxiety/panic attacks. It’s been a pretty busy week for me at work, but I’ve still managed to get the gym twice for boxing class. Those classes are a definite stree reliever.

Our new instructor is a former fighter who’s still in tip-top shape. He put us through a brutal 45-minute workout on Monday that consisted of a lot of heavy bag work, mixed in with jumping jacks, situps and some light dumbbell work at the end.

Wednesday’s class focused a lot on hitting the mitts, as we worked on different combinations. We again did some abs and also threw in some Hindu squats and light dumbbell work.

I’m off to do Week 2, Day 1 of TBT today and then will go back tomorrow to do Day 3 to get back on schedule, ending the week on Sunday with Day 5. It’s a superset week, so the workouts should go by quickly.

I’m doing much better mentally and think I’m close to getting completely off meds, which is great.

Best of luck to everyone.

54

I’ve also overcome serious issues with this, which almost ruined my college career. Things I have learned (some have been posted already) from this are:

  • sleep - make sure to get enough.

  • food - eat regularly. I did not want to eat for the crippling fear of vomiting. force it down, you must have stable blood sugar and nutrients to beat this.

*stomach discomfort - pepto bismol helped me from feeling butterflies, and from some “nausea”.

*drugs - i went on celexa (citalopram) for 6 weeks then off. i learned to cope with it without drugs, once the acute symptoms vanished.

*love - love is known to cure anxiety problems. at the time i met someone wonderful, and she helped as much as anything.

*fear -any resulting panic attacks after the first one stemmed from the unbelieveable fear that I would have another one. It’s almost crazy to look back and see that the reason the panic attacks were happening was because I was deathly afraid of them.

*confrontation - It came to the point where my logic beat my fears. I decided that living with anxiety was worse than getting comfortable with these panic attacks. What I did, is whenever I felt an extreme sense of panic arising, I would breathe slowly, focusing on the exhale, and WELCOME the panic attack. If I was to vomit, then so what. If I passed out, so what.

(BTW this was performed at home in “safety”) Through this method, my fears of the panic attacks dissipated over days, and I no longer feared the panic attacks, because they never ever came. I learned the hard way that “the only thing to fear is fear itself” I guess. But, I will sustain that this is the hardest thing I have had to do in my life, to welcome these terribly, unbelievably, feel-like-im-gonna-die feelings. If you also worried about heart rate, cardiac arrest, etc. be comforted in the fact that you are a T-man, and your cardiovascular system can totally handle these incidents. I realized that after a while, which helped.

I have been panic attack free for about 3 years or so, and for the most part i have very low anxiety levels throughout the day. I don’t even think about it anymore really, so there is hope for you still suffering, but do not let this statement detour you from how sever this problem was for me. I lost 30 pounds, didnt leave bed for a week, and ate maybe a smoothie or two during then.

Glad too see others’ success also, and I would be more than glad to help out in any way needed with others problems.

Please PM if you desire, as talking about it makes it so much easier.

Jim

55

Jim,
Thanks for sharing your story.

I love the Danzig avatar, BTW. I’ve been listening to Danzig II: Lucifuge during recent workouts.

56

After realizing how sore I was from boxing, I’ve made some modifications in my strength training routine.

Here’s what I did today and will be doing 2x3 a week for the next couple of months. Weights used are in parenthesis:

  1. One-arm DB Snatch 3x5 (50)

2A) BB Bench Press 3x5 (175)
2B) Plyometric Pushups 3x10 (BW)

  1. BB Clean and Press 3x6 (105)

  2. DB Walking Lunges 3x6 (25)

  3. Dumbbell Swings (20)

  4. Hammer Curls (40)

Workout today lasted about 40 minutes, as I took 60-90 seconds rest inbetween sets/exercises.

I’m going back to the gym tomorrow to do some cardio/abs and will probably also do some rotator cuff exercises.

Saw my therapist today and I continue to make progress, which is good. I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend (don’t have much work to do) and watching the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Hope everyone is doing well.
Later,
Dan

57

Great thread. Social Anxiety Disorder sufferer here. Had it ever since I was 4 yrs. old. Pretty much had it all my life, and I’ve really been struggling with it for the past year.

I’ve tried a variety of meds with little to no success. The last time I went to the doc, he tried me out on a combo of Zoloft and Xanax. I was told that I should notice something from the Zoloft within a couple months. Took it religiously with no positive effect.

I promptly discontinued it and have been on the Xanax for longer than I anticipated. Worked great initially, but I’m now to the point where I’ve built up a tolerance and it’s not helping. I try not to go over .5-1 mg/day, and I usually don’t use it on weekends unless I’m going to be somewhere where I’m around a lot of people.

Anyway, I’ve now read that things like Zoloft can take up to a year to start reaping benefits. Has anyone else who has tried it had to be on it for a long time before it helped? I really need to get off the Xanax, and eventually I would like to be off all meds in general. I’ve heard Paxil recommended for social anxiety; however, most of the feedback I’ve seen has been mixed. Any thoughts?

I’d like to find something that doesn’t impact weight gain as I’ve gained 40+ lbs. in the last year due to falling off the fitness wagon. I’ve noticed that the Xanax appears to inhibit fat loss too…don’t know if anyone else has experienced this as well.

58

[quote]El Conquistador wrote:
Great thread. Social Anxiety Disorder sufferer here. Had it ever since I was 4 yrs. old. Pretty much had it all my life, and I’ve really been struggling with it for the past year.

I’ve tried a variety of meds with little to no success. The last time I went to the doc, he tried me out on a combo of Zoloft and Xanax. I was told that I should notice something from the Zoloft within a couple months. Took it religiously with no positive effect.

I promptly discontinued it and have been on the Xanax for longer than I anticipated. Worked great initially, but I’m now to the point where I’ve built up a tolerance and it’s not helping. I try not to go over .5-1 mg/day, and I usually don’t use it on weekends unless I’m going to be somewhere where I’m around a lot of people.

Anyway, I’ve now read that things like Zoloft can take up to a year to start reaping benefits. Has anyone else who has tried it had to be on it for a long time before it helped? I really need to get off the Xanax, and eventually I would like to be off all meds in general. I’ve heard Paxil recommended for social anxiety; however, most of the feedback I’ve seen has been mixed. Any thoughts?

I’d like to find something that doesn’t impact weight gain as I’ve gained 40+ lbs. in the last year due to falling off the fitness wagon. I’ve noticed that the Xanax appears to inhibit fat loss too…don’t know if anyone else has experienced this as well.[/quote]

Paxil and xanax user here. I have had nothing but positive experiences on them both. No longer do I suffer from anxiety or anger issues as in the past. (except that I still fear hospitals. I start to sweat when I go into one.)

59

Great to hear your story, Jim. I actually have the same issue you mentioned, regarding not being able to eat for fear of vomiting.

My anxiety appears to manifest itself differently than most. For whatever reason, my throat tightens up and I have problems with excessive gagging when an attack occurs. This has resulted in more than one embarrassing situation.

I am rarely able to eat unless I am done with work for the day and don’t have anything planned. It’s getting to the point where it’s affecting my job, and my social life obviously. I had actually gone almost two years without any issues, and then I went from a job where I was processing on a computer all day to working in a call center being on the phones all day. This is what started it back up, and it’s just snowballed from there.

60

El Conquistador,
I too was on a Zoloft/Xanax mix for two months. Like you, I didn’t notice any benefits from the Zoloft and I actually suffered some insomnia when I bumped up to .50mg of Zoloft. I’m not taking it anymore and am only on Xanax XR, which is a 10-12 hour control relase pill and it works great. My goal is to get off the Xanax in the next 1-2 months, at which point my doctor and I will decide if I need to return to Zoloft or take something similar like Paxil; or if I will just go off meds all together (my choice).

Stay strong and things will get better.
-Dan