How did YOUR anxiety begin? A month ago I had a "melt down" of sorts. Kind of like a huge panic attack. Right before it I was feeling depressed. After having the attack I've been a different person with the anxiety switch always in the "on" position. Did YOUR anxiety start with a specific "event" (such as a melt down)? Just curious.....thanks...
How did YOU Anxiety begin?: How did YOUR... - Anxiety Support
How did YOU Anxiety begin?
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DylanD
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My first panic attack I ever experienced was after smoking weed. This was NOT my first time smoking by any means. But whatever happened that one night 11 years ago may or may not have contributed to what I experience now.
Oh wow - I had a panic attack after weed years and years ago right after college. Never touched it again.
I haven't touched Imit since either!
Oh wow I can relate so much
Yours started after smoking as well?
Yea I had bad trip
Back in June since than I haven't been the same.
Sorry to hear that! Mine happened 10 years ago when I was 17. A lot better than I was. However had a recent setback that has sent me back into a lot of anxiety and panic! I know it can be overcame because I have done it before! Don't lose hope bc it is achievable. Ever need to talk feel free to message me.
Wow i had a huge panick attack of weed around thanks giving my heart was racing now i been like this ever sense i been like this for three or four months heart racing mostly all the time and alot of body sympthoms and also shortness of breath have you been alrigt ever sense ?
Once I was diagnosed with anxiety and panic attacks which was roughly a year after the smoking incident I've been ALOT better. Until recently this past Halloween I had a set back that sent me to the ER. However I'm slowly getting better with that, just takes time. I hadn't experienced super bad anxiety and panic attacks for 4-5 years up until this Halloween, so it's almost like starting all over again. But yes I'm better from the smoking incident.
was it laced or was just really strong?
Couldn't have been laced because none of my other friends had the same reaction as myself. Could have been a freak coincidence.
Wow its crazy this happen the same way as me like i been like this for four months idk if this would ever go away everything is alright is just my heart racing mostly all the time and my head feeling wierd and dizzy and shortness of breath
My latest setback has put me back into having health anxiety. And it all is surrounded with something being wrong with my heart, although I've had multiple tests and even been to the ER but sometimes when I get palpitations or feel my heart rate increase For whatever reason it just starts the panic cycle for me.
yeah it does after it happen the smoking weed with you did it ever went away
Weed can affect your heart rhythm and CAN cause a permanent irregular heartbeat
Hi this same thing happens to me it is all centerwd around my health. Its been 4 years for me now amd I feel im getting worse now. I am so scared all the time i just cant function.
Mine wasn't laced either. My mom took me to the doctor to get a drug test because that's exactly what she thought happened.
I wish there was efficient research on why this happens and a cure 
Mine too! And it was all down hill from there
How long ago did that happen too you?
I was 13. I will turn 34 next month. I've been dealing with this cap off and on for 20 years
Oh wow! Do you think the weed is what set it off for you, or a freak coincidence? I'm not sold 100% that it was the weed itself. I feel like it could've been a freak coincidence. But maybe smoking weed that one time was the culprit.
Yeah if it didnt have anything i think it wouldnt do that plus maybe is just the anxiety
Im convinced in my personal experience that weed is the culprit. But I dont think its something that will affect everyone. Just like some foods arent for everybody. Not necessarily an allergy but maybe sensitivity
Yeah I understand what you mean 100%. I just had smoked weed SO many times prior to this one incident that I am just unsure myself. However I do know for 100% I experienced a panic attack right after smoking! =/
It may be certain strains of marijuana that triggers it. I always thought it was because the first time I smoked a blunt and not a joint, that it was something to do with how it was rolled up hahaha! I've racked my brain trying to pinpoint it. I do know that I've smoked it a few more times over the years, and it caused my heart to race and flutter and then more severe panic attacks.
Nope not me!! Lol refuse to touch the stuff. But it is wild to see other people having panic attacks from smoking weed. For the longest time I figured I was the only one ever.
Me too
I think thats what started mine about the 3rd time i smoked and this was 20 years ago
Oh really? Seems to be a lot more common than I ever thought!!
Yea i felt the same way lol
In those 20 years, has your anxiety been persistent? Or does it come and go?
Come and go i was actually good for a long time just had them when i was in a room with a lot people but after i leave the room i was fine but now its constent and the morning depression does not help
I had a stretch of 4-6 years of VERY little anxiety and maybe 1-3 panic attacks a year. Up until this last Halloween I had a set back and I've had countless panic attacks as well as anxiety almost daily since then. Even got prescribed klonopin. Funny thing is I've got past this before but this time around it seems like I can't get through it and everything that I've learned from therapy over the years doesn't work either now.
I was told by my therapist. That the older you get the harder it is to get rid of especially when things that had happened in the past and you being worried about the future could all just blow up in your face like it happned to me
I noticed that my panic and anxiety comes in clusters also. I can go a while with nothing and then it gets really bad
I got one of my panics attacks way back 7 years ako after I smoked weed too. But it just lasted for 4 days. But the worst attack just happened 2 weeks ago, but not bcoz of weed.
It's so weird that happened. I believe my anxiety was triggered when I was stressed and I had taken a dab. I immediately had a panic attack afterwards. It was weird because I've smoked marijuana before and I've never had a panic attack until then. I've been having anxiety and panic attacks for three months now. It usually happens when I'm in public with lots of people or very noisy places. But also at random moments I'm not sure what triggers it but I'm trying to get better because I'm tired of being scared of leaving the house because I might have one..
Mine seem to stem from something traumatic or too many small tramas....and then the Big anxiety/OCD sets in for a while.
Hi Jenny1435 - Yes, that's how i broke.....bunch of stressful things led up to it. I guess the trick is to try to deal with each little stress (if possible) before it all adds up.
Yea i also have ocd i forget about that one
AngepStar
Hi Dylan, my anxiety started after I became ill, I wasn't able to control what was happening to me and had emergency surgery. Not knowing what was wrong with me and being told I might not survive the operation. Then to be told my ilness wasn't curable and the drugs used to try get me into remission could give me cancer.That was 9 months ago but everyday I tell myself I'm still here! Still breathing and make the most of every day. All that was the straw that broke the camels back as they say because I lost my sister, mum and father in law before all that.
Hi Dylan,
I think mine started after 2 years of battling work , travelling, being away from home and lack of sleep because of all this.
I had headaches and muscle tension along the way, that just seemed to build up and up until I am like I am today.
I just want to be again. I have learnt my lesson, there is only so much you can take and you shouldn't keep pushing yourself. Now I feel I am stuck in a trap of misery....scared to go out now because I feel sick and light headed all the time.
I hope we all find a miracle, because this is awful.
Jen xx
Hi Jen...
My stressful period started with headaches too! Hang in there......I think we'll all find better days. It takes time.
xx
D
Let's see mines started around 2 years ago. I thought I felt a lump in my breast and it sent me in a world spin. I also quit smoking at that time as well. I experienced my first panic attack and it was truly awful I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy I thought for sure I was on my way out of this world. After that I've had every symptom you can think of, chest pains shortness of breath dizziness muscle aches, severe fatigue back pains neck pains leg pains numbness in hands arms legs, headaches not so often but I get them. Chest tightness I think 100% my anxiety is in my chest most of the time if that makes sense. I've been to my primary doctor a million times & to the ER a lot blood work done EKG Endoscopy and they find nothing. The only thing I haven't had done & I'm terrified is have a mammogram because I'm convinced I have breast cancer and it spread. I have to go and have it checked I'm just scared of hearing the results. It just sucks to live life like this it's a never ending battle.
Mine started first time at 17 after both parents died before I was 16. Second time, I got ill.
DylanD• in reply to
Those are all big stressors......hope you're doing better now.
AngepStar
Hi Dylan for some reason it won't let me reply to your comment to me but I read something once that has never left me!! It said one day your heart will stop beating and none of your fears will matter!! What will matter though is how you lived!! So I remind myself of that when ever I start to feel afraid and it puts it into perspective for me. We have to find our own ways of dealing with our fears and how life has made us. Your words were very kind Dylan thankyou🙏🏻
I've always had anxiety but it wasn't really something big . but it severely started when my heart rate was high (I've always thought something was wrong with my heart) and i started to have a very bad panic attack in September last year! I was legit thought i was dying and i was screaming around the house saying call the paramedics. they came and said that i had a panic attack and after that day, i was vulnerable to my intrusive thoughts, wasn't able to go out incase i had a heart problem, missed so much school (yr12) and didn't do the ultimate best in classes. now i rarely get panic attacks and occasionally get intrusive thoughts but not severely and im able to go outside by myself again 
Nice to hear that you're improving! These stories give us all hope. Time can be the best remedy as we learn to handle our fears
very true! and no problem
Did you get help or did it just pass?
Mine began 2 years ago when I told my wife and family when I 6/7 I was made to do something sexual on a man I'm 47 now it started when all that about jimmy Saville was in the news and I just opened up I'm on 40my citrolpram and it helping me a bit
Had a small reconstructive surgery. Local anesthesia. Not a big deal. Came home late in the evening around around 11:30pm and took Vicoden for pain and had cup of coffee. Within 20 minutes hell broke loose. My first ever panic attack was a trip from hell. It lasted in its crazy intensity for the next three weeks almost non-stop. Then the panic attacks lost intensity by about 50%. However, anxiety continued with hundreds of different symptoms over the next 8 years.
Have you been on any meds for anxiety or depression?
Omg vicoden and caffeine most likely caused that
That is exactly how mine started. But in hindsight, I realize that I was under a lot of stress for a couple of years before it happened.
How long ago? Yes I'd been under stress for a couple of months.
This was several years ago, For the first couple of years my anxiety was awful and thought I would never feel normal again. But over the years I have learned to deal with it and while I still have anxiety, it is not interfering with my life. Good days and not so good days, but manageable.
Honestly? I've had it since I was about 3 years old. I don't know where it came from but I do know my parents are both anxious people, both suffer from anxiety and depression. I literally don't know what its like to live life without anxiety being part of it. I was worrying about things I shouldn't be worrying about when I was only a foot tall. Very hard to unlearn stuff when you learn it so early on in life. But fuck it, I get by.
I remember being 3 years old and having a panic attack and not knowing why, nobody knew what to do. Very confusing to go through it regardless, never mind being 3 years old. It shaped who I was in ways, I just need to keep it in check now which I am.
You can remember your first panic attack and you were only 3 at the time? Wow that is extremely impressive!
I remember everything, back to when I was 2 years old
Mine started the exact same way, a month ago and has continued to make me feel like someone else it truly sucks
After an issue at 'home' while at high school I moved in with a friend. It wasn't the first time leaving but I knew I wasn't going back. So, at 14, I decided to get drunk in a park with the popular kids to celebrate freedom. I woke up the next evening feeling worse for wear and although everybody said I had been fine and I had not done anything regrettable, not being able to remember triggered the panic. So between 14 and 20 I didn't touch alcohol. Only in the last 2 years have I rebuilt the confidence to drink socially. And I must say I do like the occasional tipple of rum now. But I think it was that night that started me off. I had not been in a great place prior due to home circumstance but it was only after that night the anxiety started.
To this day I still hate the feeling of uncertainty and it has affected everything from work to relationships, but this last year has been the best for me. I went to New York on my own last May and it was the best challenge mentally. Cured me more than a trial of Citalopram did a few years ago! And since that trip I have a lot more confidence and my current relationship is feeling the benefit of it.
2670• in reply to
When I went through this I also made myself go out and experience new places. It really does work. There are many things that start these horrible feelings n symptoms. I strongly feel that if we force ourselves to think outward and not focus on the inward . If we do things out of our norm. We can not only change our reality. But we can use our stories to help heal others. God is good. He shows us the way out of the stuff we go through. Once we come out the other side. Into the light. We can help so many others.
I wanted to give you an insight into my story. I was rushed to hospital 6 months ago with a racing heart (180bpm), was let go everything was fine, I have had a few visits to a&e since then with the same problem. Often after eating (indigestion,heartburn) or due to chest pain/ body pain. My cardiologist says everything is absolutely fine and it appears I am suffering with Anxiety related to my visit to a&e. I now seem to have accepted that my heart is fine and have no trouble after eating and don't seem to be getting any chest pains anymore. However, now I cannot help but think that there is something/everything else wrong with me, yesterday I had a pain in my side which I assumed was my lung, other day I had back pain I assumed was kidney, and any little headache I think that I have a brain tumour. I am now taken Fluoxetine which I am 4 months into and it is still happening. I woke up this morning with just a little cold, but I now believe this is the latest illness that is going to kill me. Any little pain or movement in my body I believe is another fault and my body is slowly giving up on me. I seem to have calmed down about my heart but recently am convinced i have something wrong with my brain and maybe even some sort of cancer in the stomach or something. I find i can be influenced by others, one of my staff called in sick and he had to have a ECG done and after that i started getting chest pains myself, two weeks later he rung up and he was having a scan on his brain, i started getting headaches and blurred vision etc. That day i had a panic attack which was different to any others i ran out of my meeting room my head started pounding and i couldnt breathe, since then i have convinced myself something is wrong with my brain and i dont think i can get past that. I want to talk about sensitisation too as my friend mentioned that to me before, i have had panic attacks over things as silly as... my hair blowing in the wind (assuming its a brain problem) and then if my satchel strap rubs on my chest (panic attack) and even a shirt material rubbing on my chest can make me anxious and set me off, its absolutely ridiculous. The one pro im holding onto is at home and when im sleeping i dont have any pains, but other than that im convinced im dying. Another thing that is casing me grief is itching, my skin itches an awful lot, especially the chest area and head area, just adding to my anxiety. Im sorry to go on but really at my wits end at the moment and not sure what to do. I went doctors last week and she said that I've used so much of their time I really need to stop and get hold of myself. The day after that I was in a&e with kidney stones. They done bloods and urine and ct scan and everything was fine. Apart from the stone. I guess ct scan will pick up everything and anything. Now my anxiety has restored back to the heart. It's a never ending cycle. I get itches all over my back that I scratch a lot and just convince myself that's something is up.
Father God. I pray for sandy . Lord. In the name of Jesus. I ask for healing in this body and mind. Show your love and perfection to her Heal every part God. You do not love one more than another. So I ask that you keep your child in ur hands. Amen
I do the exact same thing and worry I won't be around for my children. I have googled the extensive list of anxiety symptoms and read through it sometimes when experiencing wierd symptoms. It seems to help calm, knowing it's just anxiety and will go away. I also take GABA which is a natural calming vitamin.
I was getting married in September of last year everything just hit me at once I had a major panic attack which brought on high blood pressure which seems ok now
I think my present condition of anxiety/depression came on as result of living with my alcoholic husband for 20 years during which time my mother and my father both died. Since then my husband has died and so did two of my friends. I still think though that genetics play a huge part in it. Many people go through terrible times but do not get this condition. The trouble with old age is that there is less and less to look forward to and more and more to dread. My condition has affected my physical health as well. I get adrenaline shooting through my stomach so that I can't eat. I have recently lost over a stone in weight and my blood pressure is high. I cry a lot and feel there is no help for me. I hope none of you feel like this---ever.
My anxiety started about 8 years ago after a big fight with the ex wife. It's been in high gear as of late and glad I found this community
My anxiety started w a cold and cough that hung around a long time. When I finally got medicine I started to feel better but one morning I woke up and went to get a bottle for my daughter and my whole body got ice cold from the tips of my toes and slowly crept up my feet legs middle and up to my face and head. It ended w a ringing in my ears and I fell to my knees and crawled to my phone and cried out the name of Jesus as I called an ambulance. In the hospital they thought I overdosed on cough medicine and gave me a charcoal mixture to drink to absorb toxins. But after checking the bottle they realized I had not taken more than I should have. A week later I felt a huge rush. Like a wave of physical rushing through my body. I called 911. And a week later it happened again. Until it started becoming 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Constant pain in my body from being so tense. And the many symptoms. Floating. Out of body type feeling. Ringing in the ears. Fainting feeling. Breathless. Numbness. Racing thoughts. Memories good and bad. Just racing through my mind. Uncontrollable. Fear to leave home. Fear of staying home. Fear of aliens. Fear of telephone polls falling on me. Irrational thoughts. Like. What if I lose control of myself. It was the worst years of my life. Telling your family and having them tell you to stop it. Telling you that you are making them miserable . It was a sad time . But freedom finally came. And never returned. It tried to a couple of times. But once you know what you are really feeling. And you know it's all just a progressive illness that starts in ur thoughts. Being completely overwhelmed by the world and all its issues. Wishing you could change every bad thing to good all alone. Then not sleeping or eating which makes it spiral downward. And becomes worse n worse. There is hope. In leaving it all in the hands of God. Praying. Drinking enough water. Eating and sleeping. Staying positive . Smile . Keep smiling. Keep pushing forward. Let the waves hit and breathing. Sing songs that give u hope. To stop the negative thoughts that flood in. Help others. Take ur focus off of yourself. Find small ways to help other people. You are on ur way to a beautiful life . This is the " through". We talk about. When you say I'm going through this. Once you come out the other side. Once your through it. Make it a part of ur life that u can bless others with. Empathize love. Care.
it started year ago.. i had long time some kind of pain in chest, i was not very worried about , but the pain was bigger and bigger and i started a bit to worry if i cant get some heart attack.. but never went to doctor ... one night i just prepared to sleep and when layed on the left side, came really strong pain with dizziness, waves around whole body, my legs started to shake .. i was sure it was heart attack...never felt anything so terrible before... i called ambulance.. all was ok with me...they said probably panic attack.. but i did not believe it.. from this day started my nightmare.. similar thing was repeating.. started to have big bubbling in chest .. heart palpilations.. and started to live in terrible anxiety.. in last year i was in hospital more often than in whole my life.. still having the same pain in chest but doctor said it is something about the bones... so about this im not worried anymore.. but still anything i feel weird around heart scares me so much.. before the first i was stressed quite long time.. not in the moment when it happened.. but i would say a few months before.. now i just wish it would end ..and i could again live normal life like before..
Started with my wife being diagnosed with cancer. I was already stressed from teaching/coaching basketball. This kind of pushed me over the edge. A month after her surgery a friend of mine lost his wife to an aneurysm. All of a sudden I was having one ( in my mind of course) and ended up at the ER. Learned my sugar was high, no working adrenal glands, testosterone barely over 100, vitamin b levels in the basement. I finally got everything in order, lost 50 lbs, thought recovery was mine, then another panic attack from watching trees sway. Since that one I sometimes feel off balanced like I'm walking on a boat. I was given zanex but don't take it. I'm trying really hard to calm myself but now my wife's next cancer check up is around the corner. It's an unbelievable cycle.
I have always had anxiety. Even as a very young child. My earliest years I can remember having anxiety. My first full blown panic attack was at age 7.
My anxiety started becausd of my ex boyfriend and depression and my panic attack started is when i take my blood pressure 150/100 its scared me alot that day i didn't know that anxiety can make your blood pressure up
I think anxiety is a natural human emotion. Not one person doesnt get it. It's often a side effect of something else. Maybe something we are taught. I read even being born can stress babies. I think it's part of life but sometimes it gets out of control. It's fear basically. And everybody is scared of something.
I have always had anxiety and panic attacks since i was young anxiety runs in the family i am now 50 they were just a normal part of life for me until i had a meltdown 4 years ago and now i can't cope with them.
my anxiety stared when after I went to a dental appointment but before then I had a pain in my head (but it is normal) and then I got a panic attack. keep in mind I was isolated and every night I wood think about diseases
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