I HAVE SUCH A PROBLEM WITH ANXIETY. iT COMES ON SUDDENLY AND IS STARTING TO RESTRICT MY DRIVING. iT HAPPENED IN A RESTAURANT LAST NIGHT SO I DID'NT EAT. ANYONE ELSE HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. I AM ON A 4MG PATCH JUST WENT UP FROM 3 MG. I HAVE HAD ANXIETY BEFORE PD BUT WORSE NOW. THANKS FOR ANY INFO,
Anxiety: I HAVE SUCH A PROBLEM WITH ANXIETY... - Cure Parkinson's
Anxiety
Written by
cshamb
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27 Replies
•
Does it get worse as your medication wears off?
Yes yes and yes! Comes and then goes quickly. But it can be the littlest thing?
I have RX's for xanax, klonipin, and temazepam. But reallly cannabis or 1/2 glass
of wine works better than any RX for me. An indica strain is great and then it will knock out the anxiety with the tremor too.
• in reply toMGirardi
Yes I'm the same as it's lack of dopamine. I do have a glass of wine which does help me relax and feel less anxious.
For me anxiety rears its ugly head when I am due to go out but the meds have yet to kick in. The anxiety is around needing to go to toilet frequently before the meds get to work. Once they kick in, the anxiety disappears. I also feel anxious if I am out and the meds start wearing off just before I'm due to take the next dose. The person you see before you then is 100% different to the person you saw 5 minutes ago!!
I've tried to think me out of the anxiety episodes by focusing on the positives in my life and exercising so that I have some control of my body. I'm not giving it up to Parkinson's!!
However, anxiety is different for each one of us but how we cope with it and control t is entirely up to us.
I don't know if it will be of any help to you but . when it happens or you can feel it start . try to distract t your mind from it by think about something else . anything at all .
maybe try o go back and think about a holiday you enjoyed . Do an exercise of thinking of boys names , go through the alphabet . or sing .
it works when I get my husband to do it ,
it does. Seem to be another one of the many symptoms .
I'll take B -12
Depression, anxiety and panic attacks are not a sign of weakness. They are signs of having tried to remain strong for too long. Did you know that 1 out of 3 of us go through this at one point in our lives. Talk to your doctor he may be able to prescribe something to help. I take Lorazapam .05mg, but I only take a 1/2 of one on a as needed basis. It help!
Hello to the person complaining of anxiety.
I wonder if there is more happening to you as experience feelings of anxiety. Other symptoms such as shallow rapid breathing, elevated heartrate and churning stomach. So when going to a restaurant and you find yourself feeling anxious, what else are you experiencing?
Anxiety and stress are closely linked. Stress is more a response to a particular threat. A threat to your physical wellbeing or a threat to your ego / peace of mind. Anxiety on the other hand is more to do with an elevated level of stress coming from perhaps a collection of worries and is there bubbling under the surface without us having any conscious awareness of this stress. So feelings of anxiety come and go with no obvious cause because these anxious feelings depend upon the overall level of background stress. Driving is a good example because the business of driving has many stressful events and more often than not we don’t have any awareness of this.
Anyway, this stuff relates very strongly to the flight or fight response. The sensations accompanying this are designed through evolution as a survival mechanism whereby the threatened individual has to be made ready to do something and very quickly It has been shown that the fight or flight response can make the body ready and take appropriate action for half a second before the conscious brain realises.
The necessary things are triggered by Adrenalin and no doubt a myriad of other chemicals, The body is made ready by diverting blood from the digestive system to the cardiovascular so that the body has more oxygen delivered to skeletal muscles and heartbeat is faster and more powerful. Thus enabling the running or fighting other things happen too like eye pupils dilating to allow more light into the eye. The functions of other organs may be stopped e.g. kidneys. There are sensations to accompany some of this activity. For example a churning stomach is the result of that transfer of blood to the cardiovascular system.
People often complain of anxiety coming on suddenly and that there is no discernible trigger. This is because the system is accumulative and it may be that that background level is such that one more stressful moment such as may occur while driving is enough to turn your feelings into what may be the start of the type of episode you have started to describe in that restaurant.
What you describe sounds like the beginning of a panic attack. A panic attack can be a response to a real threat or, just as powerful, a threat seated in your imagination.
This problem is really very common I have experienced this sort of thing too. So what can be done about it.
One proven technique involves the use of special breathing patterns, e.g. 7/11 breathing. This involves inhaling for a count of 7 where each count is for one second. Then breathe out slowly for about 11 seconds. If this is too much hard work use a different pattern such as 3/5. That is in for 3 and out for 5. My particular favourite is 4/4/6. This means breathe in for a count of 4, hold your breath for 4 and out for 6. It doesn’t really matter which except that the main objective is to breathe out as slowly as you can.
The breathing out slowly triggers the body to take action to normalise its functions so the digestive system can return to normal and your breathing and heart rate slows etc.
These responses all sound familiar. I take a 10 mg amitryptiline which does seem to help. So does wine! I also try the breathing exercises as learnt from my yoga classes. Both yoga and tai chi teach good relaxation methods.
My husband who is 75 , and has Parkinson's, started taking Phosphatidyl serine. It makes me feel very calm so I wanted him to try it. He didn't feel it would do him any good, but at the one month mark, taking three a day (I take one) he was shocked to wake up feeling happy. You can buy it on line . It blocks the cortisol in your brain that makes you feel "stuck on red." Before this his cup was always half empty. He's even doing some carpentry work again.
My husband was starting to experience anxiety when driving. He is 70 and does not have parkinsons. His primary care doc recommended vitamin B12, 1000mg daily . It took care of the problem. Apparently as people age, they can develope a deficiency.
I thought this deficiency was in a chemical that enabled the B12 to be absorbed into the blood stream. This problem is overcome by injecting B12 directly into the blood stream once every 3 months.
So taking a vitamin supplement by mouth should make no difference to the person with the B12 shortage.
The following is a link to a webpage that seems to have a fair bit to say about B12 injections.
This page was picked more or less a random out of what the search engine produced when searching for "administering b12 deficiency"
thanks again pete, that saves a lot of figuring out to not have to do. judi. 6
I recently realised that the constant anxiety I was feeling is in fact panic attacks. And I learnt (from a google search), how to stop them as soon as they start.
Here's what works for me. When I feel the familiar pressure in my chest, (although sometimes it starts in different places), I tell myself to relax. I say that it's only a panic attack, and that I am fine. Then I bring my mind back into my body, and into the present time. (This is mindfulness. When we panic our mind goes off somewhere else, worrying about the future, regretting the past, or just rushing off somewhere at great speed. We need to focus on the current time). I do this by telling myself 'you are in your body, at the current time, you're just where you should be'.
If you Google 'stop panic attacks' you can see all the different advice, and put together a strategy that works for you. It's early days yet for me, but doing this has really changed things a lot of things. I thought I'd have a permanent feeling of panic forever but I'm feeling so much more relaxed now.
I rarely get cross but these websites that wibble on and on endlessly promising all manner of things, usually a cure for some incurable disease.
The first website displayed on google for the "stop panic attacks" search string was promising that panic attacks could be cured within 60 seconds. They might be able to do that or not. I am just fed up with being led down a path that takes a large slice of time just to get to the endpoint and oh what a surprise this wonderful solution costs money.
I wonder why they don' talk about money first and save us all from he cost of our time. One website eventually came clean to say that their version, the Lindon method only cost between £97 and £147. This kind of presentation is common on the web and I think close to what you could call "sharp practice".
Come on you people who offer things using this type of selling I expect this type of selling has a name. I have no idea what. " Irritating B*****d selling perhaps"
Please stop wasting our time and sometimes our money by not being up-front with your service or product. Sometimes, what's even worse is that the salesman web site author tells big lumpy lies. "This wonderful methodology encapsulated within the pages of this wonderful tome will cure you of the ailment that your endure.
The rest of the world, yes every single one on the planet knows deep down that your product is a crock of manure and all right thinking people cannot tolerate the odours there from.
If something seems to be too good to be true then almost invariably it is exactly that.
Good luck and good wishes
Hi Pete-1,
I also don't look at "those" kind of websites where you have to buy solutions. Of course they're very shady indeed. I just wanted to say what's been working for me.
I've been under a lot of stress for a long time, and felt like I was having one long panic attack. Just being able to get myself 'back in the moment' has made an enormous difference to me. (I'm not selling anything, lol!)
Why is it that when you loose a post , it is big long one that you have spent ages writing. I have quite a bit of it on the hard drive as a Word document. I will finish this and sent it back tomorrow..At 3:15 in the morning I have insufficient strength to finish it now.
Greetings earthdweller,
Well its spiffing that you are obviously able to make progress under your own steam . Perhaps you have more strength of character than you realise and so have been able to harness that strength of character, that self-reliance to overcome your difficulties thus far.
An example phobia: Agoraphobia –
People who have agoraphobia often also have panic attacks and it is the panic attacks that reinforce the fear of the big outdoors, in simplistic terms. Now one curious thing about say agoraphobia and panic attacks is that the person suffering from these often derive some benefit from being afflicted so. These benefits known generically as secondary gains.
Now pretty much any phobia will include such a gain even if you are unaware of it. Indeed it may well require some poking and digging around your feelings to find and understand it
I know someone who is agoraphobic. I have identified 2 secondary gains. First she can avoid doing at least some things that she doesn’t like. Trips to the local supermarket, dentist etc. To us this may not seem like much but to her it could be quite a big deal.
A second secondary gain comes in the shape of having every one run around after her. while she can sit around doing whatever she pleases.
A third example comes in the form of sympathy. “Oh you have so many problems with your health and now this mental health thing too. You poor old stick you” Being in receipt of sympathy, isn’t that nice, people do care! that’s just great, ………no?
As for panic attacks I and others have written on HU forums about using breathing techniques / patterns. Like 7/11, 5/3 or4/4/6
Using these breathing patterns invokes the bodies own mechanism that calms your bodies own systems that return normal function.
Other methods of controlling a panic attack include body relaxation techniques and guided imagery of idyllic environment, Hypnosis.
Thank you earthdweller
You're welcome. Hope it works for somebody else. It's a very simple thing to do, so worth a try.
all sound. Advice . I suffered from Agoraphoblia for thirty years . started when quite you , These symptoms don't happen overnight it's gradually .
I think it always happens to the nicest people , we all want to please and do the best we can , Push ourselves to the limit .
I am 90 percent improved , but when it do start to get THAT FEELING I reach for the breathing exercise . another one it to hold one side of the nostril and breathe in and hold and let it out the other side . Then reverse nostrils . Even having to concentrate on doing this helps distract the mind from the panic .
o how O wish I had know the way to cope with it all when it first happened , it ruined my life and my husbands . bug there again now those lessons learned is helping me get through all the stress of supporting John . For which I am very thankful for . .
have you found that even talking to others help to make you feel less alone , you are not going mad .
I only had anxiety attacks when I increased the dosage by taking Stalevo. Up from 100/25 LevoCarb to 125/75 Stalevo. No anxiety now as I am back to 100/25 LevoCarb.
Mirtazipine was prescribed for me for anxiety and it helped. Can't say I don't still have anxiety attacks occasionally, though. I'll try your breathing method next time it happens. Thanks.
Hello everyone. I found my way to this thread while Google researching l-serine.
But i'm actually from the Psp forum. My dad has Psp unfortunately.
*I am not a doctor, do your own research before coming to any conclusions.
Always ask your doctor before taking anything.
My research led me to this.
discovermagazine.com/2011/m...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
This is the website of the ppl who are studying this.
Serine in the brain.
brainpower.org/research/pho...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...
Serine in the body.
nutritional-supplements-hea...
Current trials
clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show...
clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show...
europepmc.org/articles/PMC3...
The history of ALS/PDC in Guam.
alstdi.org/forum/?g=posts&t...
Historic case of treating CFIDS with serine.
prohealth.com/library/showa...
I would advise asking your doctors about a urine test to check for serine deficiency.
Good luck guys
Peace.
Ps. Cannabis is is the perfect cure for anxiety.
You can't stop it happening it's one if the symptons it's learning how to deal with it . The only way is to concentrate on something . Think if a sing and sing . Sing sing
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