# Anxiety Attack or not?



## 23392 (Jan 31, 2006)

Ok, I'm trying to start a new thread...About 2 weeks ago I started having a few incidents of waking up [usually from a negative dream--won't say outright nightmare--with a fast pulse: I'd guess about 120. When the fast pulse really does hit, it's sometimes accompanied by flushing sensation--warmth. [I'm a leetle young for hot flashes and I don't think you get a fast pulse?]I can get rid of it in about 15 minutes with a breathing technique I use. But then I'm awake. And when I fall back to sleep I have rotten dreams and sometimes wake up again...sometimes I can pre-empt the fast pulse on these, but still.It came on once, then seemed to go away, and now it's back. I just started MIke's hypno tape last night and i wouldn't *think* there'd be any relation...in fact the blanket of comfort idea seemed to help me calm down. This could be NMH, I have a query in on that. But it seems more like anxiety. God knows I've reason enough...workouts are a question, classes are a question, eating is a question...I'm not getting sleep.And to answer your question about the tapes, Brett: no, it didn't happen when I was listening. I did stay very much awake listening. But I was relaxed and actually got 4 solid hours of sleep after, till I woke up abruptly...I was never a stress kitten [maybe I should change my sig! ] till after the IBS. But now I find myself fretting about 'is this that happening again? What's happening, is it going to get worse' a lot. I usually try to stay calm and oblivious.  But i hope Mike's tapes work FAST!Adn i am wondering if I should be on a short term anti-anxiety drug, just to stop me going "I hope this doesn't happen again tonight" [and then of course it does], maybe just short term.Thanks you guys. I was great 2 days ago, now I'm freakin' out. Maybe *because* this has never happened to me.


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## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

Hi AO,As with anything of this nature, we can only offer suggestions and support based on our research and experiences. IBS for many people has a very strong anxiety component. Part of the IBS Audio Program was designed to address anxiety caused by IBS - and vice versa.But you may have anxiety problems that are outside of the IBS realm, and this is a hard thing to separate. You say you were never a stress kitten until after the IBS - this is the same for me as well. You are just starting the program, so it is hard to say what causes what, but certainly there is a possibility that the session contents were addressing areas of concern to you, and this was your initial reaction. Actually that is a good thing, because it means that work is starting to be done. Also, the fact that you were able to get 4 hours solid sleep may be an indicator as well that things are starting for you. (Though, who's to say that you wouldn't have had that anyway - so I am not going to speculate this early in the game, but it is a possibility.)The amazing thing about the IBS program, is that it addresses those areas that are needing attention in your life - your subconscious mind knows what is needed even if on a conscious level you don't. It is not an overnight cure or even a cure at any point, but a coping tool. If you feel you have anxiety issues to the point where you can't function on a day to day basis and that everything is a question and a worry, only you will know if you need further help and need to see a physician for this - the hypnotherapy is a wonderful and very successful treatment method for IBS and related anxiety, and in many cases can stand alone in this treatment - however, it is not a substitue for medical care - but a complement to it.In any case, I think that you should continue listening to the sessions and persevere - you may find that as you go along, your body will learn to relax more and more, and that you can trust your body to keep you safe. The program won't hurt you in any way, and if you decide to go the medication route, it will be a nice adjunct to it. But since you feel that you haven't had these feelings prior to IBS, you probably will respond well to the program.My daughter has GAD and panic attacks - the problem is that when you get an attack, your mind keeps on that cycle and escalates that negative thinking of what if I get this or that, and then you fulfill your prophecy. You might try saying, what if I calm down and nothing happens! (Yep, hard I know, when your heart is racing!) But I tried this, and a lot of the time it calmed me down.Hang in there - I know it's hard, but try not to worry or predict about the future and the anxiety feelings. If it keeps happening worse and worse, a trip to the doc would be a good idea, but in the meantime, know that you can beat this - and there are many here who have...(((HUGS))) to you - let us know how we can help.Also, you do know you can email Mike with any concerns you may have if you wish.


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## 23392 (Jan 31, 2006)

I have NO intention of quitting the tapes--I intend to do every single one exactly on schedule! My concern is...*was* this an anxiety attack of some sort? Or was it something else?I was hoping someone would weigh in on that...no one's picked up the thread in anxiety/depression to say whether they've had anything like it or not.


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## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

Even if someone on this BB went through the same exact thing as you did, we can't definitively say that what you experienced was or was not an anxiety attack - this is a self-help BB, we are here to support, but not to diagnose. I would say, as I mentioned before, if this is something that you continue to experience on an ongoing basis, and you are concerned about it, you need to see someone professionally to discern just what is going on. Even if someone on this BB says to you, yes I had that and it isn't anxiety , or yes I had that , and it IS anxiety - what is or is not an anxiety attack for one person may not be for another. But I would say you clearly are anxious about it! And from what you write here, in my unprofessional opinion, it does sound like anxiety - but hey, a great many of us here have anxiety related to the IBS.The "something else" - hmmm, could that be just life worry stuff, or lack of sleep, or stressors in your life, uneasiness or unhappiness with stuff going on at home, at work, etc. What difference would it make to slap a label on "what" it was? What steps would you take if what happened had a label? Sorry no one's weighed in on your inquiries - but I do hope you find the answers you are looking for.In the meantime (((HUGS)) to you... xx


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## 23392 (Jan 31, 2006)

Oh, now, THIS is obnoxious. My whole post just disappeared...As to the 'something else,' I don't think it would be sleep apnea, because my weight hasn't changed, my sleeping positions haven't changed, nothing. But obviously my steps would be really different for that.And if it were some odd feature of autonomic nerve dysfunction, it'd be different steps too.I do think the negative dream content that precedes these wakeups could be a clue. If you want a funny...the one time I was dreaming that the dentist asked me, "do you want the extra treatment," I said yes and they gave me some sort of tooth protection treatment...but when a woman showed up with makeup, I began to think, "gee, how much is this 'extra' treatment, I'm really broke right now, and I don't know if I want this glop on my face or their 'look.' And then she pulls out nail polish and manicure stuff, and, in the dream, I *freak*...Once when I was young, someone pushed back my cuticles. No one has ever done that again. Or ever will. >;->So I'm not afraid of dentists; it's *manicurists* I fear!


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