Pressure & anxiety

[coco09]

Hello. It’s been six days since I started Sertraline. I’ve had bad panic attacks but they are better now. I do worry for the quality of my everyday life. I still feel very anxious and I’m scared to even go outside. I also have social anxiety but it was always possible to get up and go out. I have an exam period coming up but it’s impossible to focus on studying. The pressure of that also triggered this intense panic attack. I feel like I can’t take any pressure whatsoever right now. So I stay inside and rest all day.

Are there any similar experiences? How did you cope with everyday tasks? And did it eventually got better?

[Foxfur]

uggg panic attacks, they are the worst! I have suffered on and off for over 20 years with this lovely brain problem. I am on Xanax .5 mg 3 xs a day as needed, but honestly I just take them 3 xs a day everyday because I want to prevent the panic attacks. It works most often, but not always. I went to talk therapy for years and it didn’t help me that much, the flight or fight is warped, we suffer from “deer in the headlights” stuck no flight or fight… 25 years ago the psychiatrists didn’t even know wtf panic attacks were, I was miss diagnosed, it was a major shit show for me, I just thought I was going crazy and that was that.

I find that if I don’t fight the panic attack and try and roll with it, it helps a little, there is no trigger for me, I do have generalized anxiety, and I’m not sure that’s helping lol!

I am not a lot of help but I wanted you to know you are not alone.

[rubyrhythm]

I have had panic attacks over the course of many years. When it was first happening, I found it overwhelming and terrifying - not just during the panic attack but also at the fact that panic attacks could happen to me again. It was like a new world had opened up to me and it was scary. So my fear of panic would sometimes lead to a panic attack. Sigh. One of my earliest strategies was to run to a safe person or a safe place (flight). I would calm down when I was on my way but panic again within a few minutes of arriving.

These days, noticing that it's a panic attack and calling it that is my first step. Once I know it's panic, then I follow my playbook - breathe, walk, let myself cry, remind myself that I've gotten through panic before, remind myself not to analyze my life when I'm panicking, don't judge myself for having the panic, notice that the feelings ebb and flow. I have some books and writings that I pull out and read through, which help ground me again. And resting is definitely needed once the adrenaline leaves.

[Toula223]

hello fellow panic buddy. I will say it definitely gets better. I’ve had panic attacks/ anxiety for about 10 years now and I am also on sertraline. Sertraline has some funny side effects I will say but also not being in a constant state of panic is worth it. When panicking I often find reminding myself “this will pass” works. What’s the longest I’ve ever had a panic attack? 10-15min? But it eventually passed and so will this attack. Our body can’t live in this amplified space forever. Also if there are thoughts associated with the panic I write them down. When the panic passes and I look back I have responses to what I was panicked about. The panic then shows to have no credibility and I realize that’s all it was, a panic attack. Anxiety is our body playing a trick on us. Hang in there ❤️