Dealing with anxiety

[Healing_Heart]

hello again,

As I have already mentioned a few times, I’m having breathing issues which in turn make me anxious, and anxiety makes the problem worse… it’s a vicious circle. To the point that sometimes i can hardly tell if I’m just being anxious or not.

I have always been prone to anxiety with shortness of breath and palpitations, although it had become quite rare until my heart issues 3 months ago. Now, it’s an on-going problem.

Do you have to deal with anxiety too? What do you do to get better? Thank you.

[Yumz199725]

Yeah I definitely have to deal with anxiety aswell sometimes it's so intense it's hard to know if it's anxiety or my heart. For a while I tried to deal with it with out medication but in the end it was keeping me awake at night so I had to go onto medication and I've changed onto a different one now because of the side effects. X

[BeKind28-]

Hello

I always had anxiety but since my heart events it is now out of control

I am in the UK and you are in France so I am not sure how your system works regarding support but all the years I have suffered these last few years I have asked and asked for support and there just seems to be none

I was offered one hour per month telephone call which I am not sure how much use the mess I am in could achieve

I have got to the stage I found this Morning when I woke up I went back to sleep as the thought of knowing it was going to be another day of trying to deal with severe anxiety I wanted to delay it for as long as I could

Some people just do not understand this but I know how debilitating it can be and it is not for the lack of trying as no one wants to feel this way

The things you could try if you have these things available is Counselling and therapy , medications , meditation which you can get up on line like YouTube and if you have friends and family let them know how much you are struggling they may not understand what you are going through but it is good to talk and know someone is listening like we are listening to you

I really do hope you can find something that works for you and things slowly start to get better x

[Nicky678]

Hello I've just been told that i might have coronary heart disease.. A nurse at the hospital said to breathe in then breathe out to a slow count of 5..it slows your heart rate but you have to do it a few times.Also I listen to relaxation music on utube that helps too and try and try and focus my mind away from my worries 😟

I know it's scary but you're not alone..I've also phoned the Samaritans phone line too..they will listen and that can help too.

Take care x

[Cairnview]

hi, I also suffer from acute anxiety and breathlessness and it can get a bit scary at times I just concentrate on the fact that I can still get oxygen through my nose and that seems to calm me down

[SaxoBill]

In the past I had episodes of severe anxiety. I started to meditate. There are lots of free resources. I use Healthy Minds app. Also Exeter Uni in UK have a series of free resources. The centre is called Cedar. I have also found exercise helpfulin that while I'm exercising all my anxious energy goes in to the exercise itself. I also play a musical instrument and find focussing on that takes away my as nxietu. Good luck.

[Pickerj]

hi

I found progressive muscle relaxation really helpful. I started doing it once in the morning and again before bed. Takes about 20 minutes .i do it once a day now in the morning. There’s plenty of information on it on you tube. Distraction is also effective for me.

I also find Qi Gong helpful. I was advised against meditation by the talking therapies (they were great) service as you really need to be out of your head rather than further in it !

[Qualipop]

I would guess that over 80% of people on here have dealt with anxiety at some point. It's very normal with heart problems but if you suffer from anxiety all the time then push your gP for more help. I used to have terrible panic attacks which cause awful breathing problems.I refused tablets, so my GP sent me to a wonderful lady who did hypnosis and taught me a sort of self hypnosis; a way of recognising when panic was just starting and learning h ow to stop it in its tracks. It was all about calming and control. It took about 3 years for my panic attacks to stop completely but they reduced massively.

[Bunkular]

I just figured out a couple nights ago that when I get heart palps and indigestion at night in bed that if I take a stomach acid reducing tablet (like Tums) the ectpoic beats minimize & I'm fine within 3 - 5 min. It's amazing how closely integrated the digestive tract is with the respiratory system. This kind of experiment won't do you any harm & it might work for you too.

[Nannysue1]

I have the Calm app on my phone which I think costs around £70 for the year but offers so much. From sleep stories to meditation lessons, relaxing music etc etc. I use it everyday and have done for some years now and find it invaluable.

[Healing_Heart in reply to Nannysue1]

Thanks a lot, I’ll have a look at it 😊

[Nannysue1 in reply to Healing_Heart]

It's been a game changer. When I wake in the night and cant quiet my mind to get back to sleep, I plug in my ear pods and listen to a sleep story. I say that I listen to a story but I rarely get past the first 10mins 🤣