Lived Experience Forum

[Neemtrees]

 Hi. New member here. I recently have been a victim of acute anxiety for about the last 3 months. This comes about mostly in the early hours of the morning when i may wake up around 1 or 2 am after about 4 hours sleep. I am wide awake and my mind goes into overdrive thinking about things which makes me anxious and affects me physically, especially my stomach.

 My doc explained that anxiety increases the heart rate which pumps adrenalin into the stomach which affects the stomach. I have been prescribed tabs which lower the heart rate during these periods. My stomach is in a pretty bad way with bloating, lots of wind and sloppy poos that smell like fish. Pretty gross!!  This does however clear up in a fashion after a couple of days that are anxiety free. 

 The tabs are addictive and as i do not like taking any forms of medication i try and limit taking these. The anxiety attacks are sometimes quite serious and make me really ill and mostly i cannot get back to sleep.

 I may also experience an attack during the day if something brings it on. I feel like my whole body is vibrating and it is very uncomfortable. 

 I watched a tv show based in the US on anxiety and one of the things they recommended was breathing correctly to calm down, as used by the navy seals. Inhale 4 secs through the nose, hold breath for 6 secs and exhale seven secs through the mouth. 

 I am trying to manage this by myself and getting on top of things but i may be ok for 3 or 4 days and then i have a set back and back to square one. 

 Just wondered if any of you folks are suffering the physical side affects of anxiety and what you are doing about it? Anyone had any success with medical hypnosis?

[Jupiter]

Hi @Neemtrees.

Welcome to the forums!

Sorry to hear you have been experiencing acute anxiety lately. Those physical symptoms of your anxiety sound so unpleasant. It's good to hear you are talking with your doctor about what has been happening for you. You're right - breathing can be such a helpful way to regulate our anxiety levels! It can take some time and practice to find a specific technique that works best for you though.

I would also be interested in hearing of other people's experience with hypnosis for anxiety.

All the best,

Jupiter

[utopia]

My physical side effects of anxiety  have mainly been,  an upset tummy,  no regular sleep pattern, heart pain. 

I ignore them mostly.  When the chest pain starts I tell myself it's only anxiety & I keep saying that until I'm calm. 

We all have different symptoms due to our anxiety.  And they can all be very disruptive to living a healthy life. 

Listen to your therapist. 

Try meditation before bed or breathing exercises to help relax your mind. 

Try and sort out reality from what your brain is telling you. Is that really likely to happen?  

Baby steps. You'll get there

[Ochre]

Hi @Neemtrees

Welcome! I like to think of breathing and mindfulness like going to the gym to build a muscle. You need to practice to build that strength and familiarity with the excercise to have it feel fluid and something that you're comfortable with. I'm so glad you're really giving it a go. I know you might feel you're back to square one each time but it sounds like you're being hard on yourself. It's hard when that anxiety shows up again (which it can do over and over) but reaching for that tool (mindfulness/breathwork) and using it again builds that muscle memory and often allows you to feel that when it does show up again that you have that familar comfy tool to work with.

The thing with anxeity is that it's not always about eradicating it or stamping it out, but just giving it space to gently be there while working with the breathing and mindfulness. Relaxation music can be helpful too in combination with the breathwork/mindfulness.

I'm keen to hear if anyone else has favorite music to help with mindfulness or breathing with or what others' experiences are in breathing and mindfulness...

[MHKNW]

Hi you are right I also feel that and but I don’t take any medicines as they have severe effect on me with their side effects 

medical hypnosis is very good 

and cure.