is it just anxiety?

[stressedoutcollegegirl]

Hi everyone i’m new to this website. I’ve had GAD my entire life, i’m a 21 year old college student. about a month and half ago after doing nonstop schoolwork and worrying about not being good enough and drinking a lot, i had a panic attack while driving. this was incredibly distressing and i did not drive for a month. Spring break was the next week and i had too much time to sit around with my thoughts, and after having lots of derealization moments, began researching different mental illnesses and i now have this intense fear that i am somehow slipping into psychosis. i talk to the school counseller often and he tells me that i have my grip on reality and have absolutely no indicators of psychosis, just severe anxiety. i have no family history of psychosis. anyway i was just falling asleep right in that moment between being awake and asleep i had this intense image of something horrible happening to my boyfriend in my mind, and the image seemed so vivid and real. i immediately sat up in bed, in my mind saying “no no no” and felt my legs tingling and began hyperventilating. I thought I briefly lost contact with reality because i know in some mental illnesses people cannot distinguish between thoughts and reality. so my question is, do you think this was some sort of nightmare based on the thought of my worst fears coming to life or did i briefly have a psychotic moment? insight would be much appreciated, i’ve never been so terrified in my life. i started taking zoloft 3 weeks ago but it shouldn't be the zoloft because i've taken it before for a year and a half with no problems.

 

[Concernedgal]

It' the zoloft...believe me sweetie.
Whether or not you have taken a medication before or not is irrelevant.
There are alot of factors to consider.
1) your age: how old were you when you took it before?
2)your stress level: were you a little less stressed at that time than you are now?
3) combination therapy :is your zoloft being used with another medication such as an anti anxiety medication.
You see..as you age your brain chemistry does also, not to the point of extreme change but, when you add a medication such as zoloft (which effects sarotonin in the brain) side effects can and will occur.
Your vivid dreams of course is a major indicator that this drug is causing you side effects. And your school therapist was right....you would have no grip on reality right now if you were phychotic. Your good. Just talk to your doctor about adding an anti anxiety drug to your treatment plan.

 

[stressedoutcollegegirl]

okay thank you so much, i took it from when i was 16-19 and abruptly stopped because i felt better, i think now i was distracted by being so busy at school. felt on top of the world for a year and a half, then i had a panic attack while driving and i think i'm obsessing over my anxiety. the thing is i leave for a college internship in 3 weeks and i feel this enormous pressure to get back to my old self by then, and i feel like i don't have time to experiment with medications. i take no other medication in addition to zoloft. i've had nightmares my entire life but never one that felt so vivid right on the verge of falling asleep and being awake.

 

[jimbolina]

Dude. You're not alone. I have had EXACTLY what you have. I've also thought I'm going mad but you're not. I promise. But let's be clear, the panic response is just about the most terrible thing I have ever experienced.

Like you I used to trigger panic when I was driving on the motorway. That sudden feeling of your tenses altering. Reality seemed to warp, then my brain fores in so many directions I almost didn't know where I was and then the terror that this would cause me to crash my car at 70mph and just trying to hold it together.

What you are experiencing is an error in the human 'fight or flight' instinct. Something that has been programmed into us for millions of years to keep us alive when I sabre tooth tiger was about to have us for breakfast. But for the most part this instinct has no use today, other than ******* with you. What you're experiencing is that mechanism firing for absolutely I reason. The dreadful thing is that after a while you're so afraid of having a panic attack that the fear of that will trigger another attack. It's both a self fulfilling prophecy and a viscous circle.

No two people are the same so what worked for me might not work for you. Bit ill share what helped me:

1. Stop drinking - when I go into a panic cycle I self medicate with alcohol because it has a temporary sedative effect. Try and resist this because it makes the overall situation much worse by depressing your nervous system. There is truth to healthy mind healthy body so knock the drinking on the head until you have the panic under control. I'm not saying forever, maybe only few weeks, but stop.

2. I stop caffeine - when I'm in panic cycle a single cup of tea can set me off. Avoid any stimulants. You nervous system is on hair trigger mode. You really don't want anything to make you more sensitive.

3. Diazepam - for me 5mg of this stuff is a silver bullet to kill bad panic. BE AWARE this is super addictive stuff so keep this as a last resort. Believe me you don't want to get addicted to it. I have some in my pocket now but haven't taken it for over 3 months. But weirdly having it on me stops me having attacks because I know if I need it it's there. This stops be fearing an attack and as a result I have them far far less. Its a 'nothing to fear but fear itself' thing.

4. Tapping - go to YouTube and type 'panic tapping'. My mum does all sort of alternative hippy bullshit and I'm usually a massive sceptic. But when you're panicking get you phone out and follow on of these exercises. You need to be alone as you'll be too self conscious if people are watching you so pull over, go to the bathroom or whatever, but give it a try. I helps for me.

5. Controlled breathing - I do not mean deep breathing. One of the main things that makes a panic attack worse is taking deep breaths quickly. You put too much oxygen in your body which is like pouring petrol on fire for a panic attack. SLOW breaths, in through your nose, hold it for 4 seconds, then really slowly exhale through your mouth through narrow lips. This will help reduce the amount of oxygen your taking in and will calm / abort an attack. It's achieving the same thing as breathing into a paper bag.

Good luck dude. Just remember you're not alone.

Hugs

Jb

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[stressedoutcollegegirl]

thank you so much, ive completely cut out caffiene and alcohol now i just have to make myself eat and socialize with people. i just get so scared that i will somehow lose control and do something crazy in public and wind up in the psych ward and i would feel awful putting my family through all of that