Hi I'm Mimine and I'm 55. Anxiety back with a vengeance.... Need help please.

[Mimine]

I developed health anxiety 3 years ago. At times it was acute and unbearable but meditation and trying to stay physically active helped a great deal. I was obsessed with having high blood pressure until the day I decided to stop worrying about it and it became normal again.

I had gone through several weeks of feeling really well, positive and feeling really good in myself, almost having forgotten what an anxiety attack feels like when, last night, after having eaten, I got up from the table and started feeling weak in the whole of my body. Immediately, I thought about the onset of a stroke and that was it. A full blown anxiety attack started to grip me: nausea, heart racing, feeling of panic, adrenaline pumping like mad... Although I was still thinking maybe I was having a TIA, I recognised all the signs of anxiety and acted on it by using my breathing techniques and busying myself. Eventually, it passed and I was back to normal.

This morning however, after having lots of nightmares during the night, I still feel apprehensive it's going to come back. I'm so disappointed as I'd been feeling so well. I guess my question is: "Why???" Why did it come back out of the blue? Or was it out of the blue? Could some events in the day have brought it all back?

Could anyone help me understand?...

Thank you in advance!

[annhenderson]

Hi, Mimine. I was also experiencing anxiety cause of my menopause. And sometimes I feel down. and I am always worried about Congestive heart disease cause it runs in my family, my father and older brother were diagnosed with CHD, and I am very concerned for my health. I eat right and exercise, but I want to do more. I've heard omega-3s such as krill oil can help with CHD, depression and anxiety and menopause symptoms, so I bought Niveau Labs Krill oil from Amazon. I am taking for a while now. It helps my anxiety and Menopause symptoms are now manageable.

[Mimine in reply to annhenderson]

Thanks for your reply. I'm sorry to hear you're suffering too, especially if something runs in the family... You seem to be doing all the right things to look after yourself though. I'm taking marine magnesium and Hawthorn (for the palpitations and missed beats that I was experiencing- it really helps).

I really thought I was rid of anxiety and hoping it would never come back but I guess it's always lurking around.... It's important to have different ways of dealing with it, isn't it?

Good luck and take care.

[Madeleinea]

Hi, I think you should be pleased with yourself because you remembered how to handle your attack as it came on and work through it.

You mentioned that you hadn't had an attack in a while which is probably why you were struggling so much last night your system has probably gone a little bit in over drive after the attack which is quite common. After I've had an anxious/stressful day I find actually talking to myself sometimes out loud (strange I know) really helps to settle my mind before bed anything that's on your mind just let it out I also like tell myself at the end "going to bed/sleep now it's okay". Another thing I've done is change all the bed sheets and pjs creating a 'clean slate' it doesn't work for everyone but I've found both of these quite effective myself when I'm struggling to sleep because of anxiety.

We cannot avoid information in regards to health I mean it's on adverts for the tv and radio! I think that you possibly need to reinforce your thoughts when faced with these situations e.g. When an advert for the signs of a condition comes on you tell yourself "it's important I'm aware, so that I can help others". You could also try write down all the things going on in your life at the moment and see if you can find anything that may have caused the attack- to help you start working through it.

Best wishes, Madeleine.

[Mimine]

Thank you for your reply Madeleine. I really appreciate all your comments. For me, as long as I can be sure my symptoms are 'only' anxiety then I can cope. What I worry about is something serious happening to me but me putting it down to anxiety. I suppose the fact that the symptoms pass with some easy techniques does mean that it was only anxiety and nothing more serious like a stroke etc...

I think that thinking about events in my life at the moment could possibly have been the trigger without me realising they were affecting me...

Best wishes