Anxiety

[Snowflakey]

Yes, absolutely this. Check first for an underlying medical cause. Magnesium deficiency is another common reason one may suffer anxiety and panic attacks as well as, in my case, a hormone imbalance. Does your daughter have clear anxiety triggers? Because I didn't. I was either in a state of severe anxiety (along with a multitude of other physical symptoms, and the episodes lasted for days at a time) or I wasn't, and external factors had no bearing on that. No amount of positive thinking and breathing exercises is going to help when the problem is in your body (hormone levels, vitamin deficiency, etc.) and not your head. Rule out medical causes first, especially since it sounds like this came on rather suddenly.

Not sure if she has clear triggers. Seems like when she thinks something is wrong, my head hurts, my stomach hurts that sends her into an episode. None of the episodes have lasted over a few minutes.

I will have to get a blood test done. That will send her right into a panic as she can't stand needles and/or doctors

 

[sam_gordon]

It's funny this came up. My DD (19) started having anxiety attacks. She's a sophomore at college. She's convinced a dog will help. DW and I have tried to tell her that's not the best plan right now (cost, she's in a dorm, what happens when she does job shadowing-- she's an elementary education major, what happens when she goes on breaks, etc). She's still convinced this will fix the problem. She's gone to two(?- maybe one) counseling sessions.

 

[HeatherC]

I started getting anxiety for the first time in my life in my 40's. (Perimenopause)

My doctor suggested taking a B Complex vitamin every day in addition to my multivitamin. I have to say it has helped me incredibly. If I run out of them and forget to buy more, I soon start feeling the anxiety creep back in.

In addition, it is hard to take too many B vitamins since you just expel the excess out through your urine...which turns bright yellow.

Maybe this will help your daughter as well. I wish her the best. Anxiety stinks!

 

[amberpi]

You're such a good mom for trying to help her. Anxiety is a weird thing. I developed it during a very bad marriage. I deal with it now by working with a therapist and learning triggers (clutter really bothers me if I'm around it for a long time, its a strange, just low level thing, but it's also incredibly easy to just not have a ton of crap everywhere). Sometimes I know I just need to "call it." Holidays are the worst for me. People have crap all over their houses, and it's so much obligation; I really hate the whole season, so sometimes, I just don't. Your daughter's triggers could be anything but figuring them out will definitely help her! Good luck! It can get better.

 

[sam_gordon]

incredibly easy to just not have a ton of crap everywhere

Not for us!

 

[Christine]

ETA: As I just learned, you can go to any Labcorp/Quest Diagnostics type place and have any and every type of bloodwork done that you request without a doctor's referral as long as you're willing to pay OOP. I wish I had known this years ago when my health problems were at their worst. It would've saved me a lot of aggravation of having to plead with my doctor to get him to order certain types of bloodwork when he was already convinced my problems were just in my head.

Wow, good to know!

 

[eeyoreandtink]

I am struggling with this right now as well. Have been for about 2 months. I had it 14 years ago when I had DD and have never had a problem since. It started creeping back in over the last year or so, and got really bad about 2 months ago. My GP has tried to manage it with meds, and its better, but still present pretty much all the time. I feel like I am constantly running from it, trying to stay one step ahead. I feel like it may be tied up in hormones/ perimenopause and am headed to my Ob/gyn this afternoon to see what he thinks.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Vitamins and checking for underlying health issues is a great idea. Sometimes, though, anxiety is due to “brain wiring” and while wholistic and cognitive behavior techniques can help it won’t just go away.

I had my first panic attack out of the blue at 27ish. I almost called an ambulance because I thought I was having a heart attack, it was truly terrifying. I’ve always been a worrier but that first panic attack kind of came out of thin air.

A lot of people are against them (and I myself am very careful about dosage and talking to my Dr. due to addiction), but benzodiazepines are all that work for me. I tried dozens of long term medication over the span of 5-6 years.

I have no underlying health issues and don’t metabolize long term anxiety meds (traditionally depression meds) correctly so I end up with all of the side affects and none of the benefits. I thought this was in my head but some genetic testing came back that certain receptors don’t work right for those drugs (of course the genetic test says that’s likely but with my history was a confirmation).

I guess I’m sharing all this to show:your DD isn’t alone in her anxiety, there may not be a way to fix it (ie an underlying issue), and the road to finding what works best may be long.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I think seeing a therapist is a great idea. That person will help your DD explore the triggers and come up with some practical solutions. I agree, find someone she likes and is comfortable with, and someone who works with people in her age group.

Someone here on the Dis posted this reference book once, and I've actually given it to people I know who have anxiety, and they found it helpful. It explains that having a panic attack escalates because the adrenaline causes you to feel like you're having physical symptoms, but they are based on no real threat (such as would be needed for fight or flight based on a real threat). There are a lot of worksheets and chapters on self-help.

https://www.amazon.com/Anxiety-Phobia-Workbook-Edmund-Bourne/dp/1626252157/ref=dp_ob_image_bk

And I agree with the recommendations for learning to regularly practice complementary habits like yoga, mindfulness, relaxation techniques, visualization, even prayer (the #1 complementary therapy), etc. The reason they work - and this comes directly from the mouth of the Father of Mind/Body Medicine, Dr. Herbert Benson, whose Mind/Body Medicine course I attended at Harvard Medical School - is because it is literally impossible to worry when you have to concentrate on something else, such as holding a yoga pose, kneeling and praying, or standing on one foot like some monks do. The more you practice relaxation techniques, the better you get at pushing intrusive thoughts away, but it must be practiced. I had to learn this myself when I was in cancer treatment, so I could actually make it through the sessions. I also used some of these with my son in his sport - if a mistake was made, you could see the whole team's heads went down and errors started to happen. I taught him (and later the whole team) a visualization to "sweep it away", literally visualizing a broom sweeping thoughts away, then repeatative words coming in to replace those thoughts that said, "One play at a time". This worked really well for him/them as they learned to automatically reference it. We can all learn to do the same with some practice.

There is another book, called The Wellness Book, that I think might also be helpful. I would buy both for your DD, and I think you will enjoy it, too. Dr. Benson is one of the authors.

https://www.amazon.com/Wellness-Book-Comprehensive-Maintaining-Stress-Related/dp/0671797506

Anxiety for women can get worse at certain phases of their cycles due to hormones, so something to be aware of and perhaps track. They address this in The Wellness Book.

Good luck. It's great that you're helping your daughter.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Making your body go as limp as possible (sometimes you can't too much, if you're in public) can help. Also, sometimes cool air blowing on you (or me, anyway!) helps. I have GAD, but used to have a panic disorder (panic attacks) and a two weeks of Xanax and reading a book about panic attacks by Claire Weekes pretty much eradicated them. I don't remember the title of the book, but it explained panic attacks and what was happening when you experience each symptom. Once you know what it is, it does escalate the panic.

 

[Snowflakey]

I think seeing a therapist is a great idea. That person will help your DD explore the triggers and come up with some practical solutions. I agree, find someone she likes and is comfortable with, and someone who works with people in her age group.

Someone here on the Dis posted this reference book once, and I've actually given it to people I know who have anxiety, and they found it helpful. It explains that having a panic attack escalates because the adrenaline causes you to feel like you're having physical symptoms, but they are based on no real threat (such as would be needed for fight or flight based on a real threat). There are a lot of worksheets and chapters on self-help.

https://www.amazon.com/Anxiety-Phobia-Workbook-Edmund-Bourne/dp/1626252157/ref=dp_ob_image_bk

And I agree with the recommendations for learning to regularly practice complementary habits like yoga, mindfulness, relaxation techniques, visualization, even prayer (the #1 complementary therapy), etc. The reason they work - and this comes directly from the mouth of the Father of Mind/Body Medicine, Dr. Herbert Benson, whose Mind/Body Medicine course I attended at Harvard Medical School - is because it is literally impossible to worry when you have to concentrate on something else, such as holding a yoga pose, kneeling and praying, or standing on one foot like some monks do. The more you practice relaxation techniques, the better you get at pushing intrusive thoughts away, but it must be practiced. I had to learn this myself when I was in cancer treatment, so I could actually make it through the sessions. I also used some of these with my son in his sport - if a mistake was made, you could see the whole team's heads went down and errors started to happen. I taught him (and later the whole team) a visualization to "sweep it away", literally visualizing a broom sweeping thoughts away, then repeatative words coming in to replace those thoughts that said, "One play at a time". This worked really well for him/them as they learned to automatically reference it. We can all learn to do the same with some practice.

There is another book, called The Wellness Book, that I think might also be helpful. I would buy both for your DD, and I think you will enjoy it, too. Dr. Benson is one of the authors.

https://www.amazon.com/Wellness-Book-Comprehensive-Maintaining-Stress-Related/dp/0671797506

Anxiety for women can get worse at certain phases of their cycles due to hormones, so something to be aware of and perhaps track. They address this in The Wellness Book.

Good luck. It's great that you're helping your daughter.

Thanks Pea-n-Me - I'm going to get these books!

 

[Liberty Belle]

Just started her on a multivitamin because she is a picky eater. She gets great sleep - 8+ hours a night. I don't want her to take any pill for this. I want her to learn how to manage/beat/understand and work through it.

She may have to, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Sometimes people need medication in order to be calm enough to learn how to manage it.

 

[Lynne M]

Just started her on a multivitamin because she is a picky eater. She gets great sleep - 8+ hours a night. I don't want her to take any pill for this. I want her to learn how to manage/beat/understand and work through it.

Anxiety can be a biochemical disorder, and if that's the case for her, she's not going to be able to manage it or work through it any more than she could rationally, logically talk herself out of having diabetes or hypothyroidism. Therapy can teach her how to manage living with the symptoms, but the underlying biological processes are still happening.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Wow, good to know!

Right?! And the prices I've seen are much cheaper than I would've expected. For example, my husband has been getting his liver values checked -- full liver panel -- $35. Just out of curiosity's sake, I considered getting an AMH fertility evaluation -- $80. Getting random bloodwork done might become my new hobby.

 

[amberpi]

Vitamins and checking for underlying health issues is a great idea. Sometimes, though, anxiety is due to “brain wiring” and while wholistic and cognitive behavior techniques can help it won’t just go away.

I had my first panic attack out of the blue at 27ish. I almost called an ambulance because I thought I was having a heart attack, it was truly terrifying. I’ve always been a worrier but that first panic attack kind of came out of thin air.

This was me the first panic attack I had. I get them at night sometimes, when I'm asleep and the first time I woke myself up having one was so scary even though I knew by that point, what it was.

 

[Snowflakey]

I just want to thank you all for sharing your experiences/stories. You are all the best

 

[Kay123456]

This was me the first panic attack I had. I get them at night sometimes, when I'm asleep and the first time I woke myself up having one was so scary even though I knew by that point, what it was.

Yes they are terrible. That was pretty much the only time I couldnt get them under control because they were already full force. Terrible waking up that way!!!!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I'm also going to throw this out there, too. My DD20 just wrote a paper on research-based negative effects of social media on college age people. It was super interesting. She talked about how depression and anxiety rates in college age people are five times higher than they were in same age people during the depression era. The gist of it was this: social media highlights social status and popularity, and those who feel they don't measure up can feel subordinated and envious of others, which can lead to depression and anxiety; envy being the key to these feelings. Looking at others' postings and photos makes it seem like everyone else is out having a good time and someone only looking is not. Whereas posting photos themselves was found not to be associated with feelings of envy, because it gives them the sense that their lives are fun, too. Heavy social media use and having a high number of followers was also cited as causing more symptoms. Her conclusion was that "People need to realize that people post about the best parts of their lives and not the bad or negative parts, which can make others feel their lives aren't as good". I think it's important information for our young people today to realize, as their lives are consumed by social media. Things some of us can't imagine, like losing followers, or having a snap left open, can send some of these people into a complete tailspin. I think it's healthy for them to perhaps learn to put down their phones and to do things without them. All things to consider. (And OP I think it's also healthy for your DD to learn how to be strong and content with herself even if her boyfriend isn't around! That might be something she can talk to the therapist about.)

 

[Pea-n-Me]

You're such a good mom for trying to help her. Anxiety is a weird thing. I developed it during a very bad marriage. I deal with it now by working with a therapist and learning triggers (clutter really bothers me if I'm around it for a long time, its a strange, just low level thing, but it's also incredibly easy to just not have a ton of crap everywhere). Sometimes I know I just need to "call it." Holidays are the worst for me. People have crap all over their houses, and it's so much obligation; I really hate the whole season, so sometimes, I just don't. Your daughter's triggers could be anything but figuring them out will definitely help her! Good luck! It can get better.

Clutter really bothers me as well. I never had a panic attack over it but it does increase my anxiety, for sure. (Not that I don't have some in my house!)

 

[punkin]

It's funny this came up. My DD (19) started having anxiety attacks. She's a sophomore at college. She's convinced a dog will help. DW and I have tried to tell her that's not the best plan right now (cost, she's in a dorm, what happens when she does job shadowing-- she's an elementary education major, what happens when she goes on breaks, etc). She's still convinced this will fix the problem. She's gone to two(?- maybe one) counseling sessions.

We're going through this exact thing now. So hard.