Have you ever had an anxiety attack? If you haven’t, be glad and count yourself as fortunate. For those of us who have, we know how unnerving and scary an anxiety attack can be. The first time I ever experienced an anxiety attack was in February of this year and I think I have a little PTSD from it because of how it occurred. It woke me up from a deep sleep around 3 a.m. and I thought I was having a heart attack, a stroke or that I was dying. My heart was pounding out of my chest, my hands and feet went numb and then they started tingling. Soon after all of that, I was having trouble breathing. I started walking around trying to figure out what exactly was going on with me before eventually calling 911. I was staying at my mother’s house helping to care for her and my elderly grandmother and once the ambulance arrived, I opted to go to the ER.
Thankfully, I was able to get a room and be seen immediately when I got there, but the doctors and nurses struggled for hours to get my heart rate down. They did a stress test, labs, a chest x-ray and everything looked normal except for the fact that my heart rate would not go down. I did everything I could try to lower my heart rate like holding my breath, breathing slowly, thinking positive thoughts, but nothing worked. After several hours in the ER, the doctor finally decided to give me a beta blocker which helped to lower my heart rate. Six hours later a drained and confused me was finally told that I probably had an anxiety attack or a nocturnal panic attack. Really? But why? It just didn’t make sense to me.
Turns out that anxiety can be triggered by excessive caffeine, an overactive thyroid, and prolonged stress just to name a few. Looking back, it was a combination of all three of those factors because I was ripping and running trying to care for my mom, grandmom and a bunch of other things that needed to be done in a short amount of time. I guess my body was telling me to slow down before it eventually puts me down and I have been listening loud and clear every since then. I had one more anxiety attack a few days later, but I think that is because I had been taking multiple flights to get back to the Midwest which stressed me out quite a bit. That second one was a bit scary because it happened as I was driving home from the airport.
Every now and then I find myself getting worked up to the point of almost having another anxiety attack, but I have been managing it pretty well by slowing down, eating healthier, finding productive ways ease or alleviate my stress and I listen to calming music at night. Anxiety can be scary, it can also be crippling, but it should in no way take control of your entire life. If you have been struggling with anxiety and anxiety attacks, I hope that you will find some relief soon whether it is by taking medication or other forms of therapy. Just please do whatever works best for you because your mental health matters.
Here’s to (hopefully) no more anxiety or panic attacks!
✨-Anita
Leave a Reply