Constant Anxiety?

[Amp]

Greetings!

I'm new around here, and I'm liking the place so far. :)

Brief as I can background: Around 18 I suddenly developed a panic disorder. I had no problems up until that point; Next thing I knew, I couldn't get off the couch, barely ate and slept most of the day, and did this for a couple weeks before working up the ability to go to a doctor who, after a battery of tests, diagnosed me with a panic disorder. I very briefly had medication (I think it was Zoloft), but my insurance had run out shortly thereafter.

Fast forward a little over a decade, and for the most part I've been managing my disorder on my own. When I do get them, they're frequently started by a heart palpitation (this weird feeling of it stopping, beating really hard once and then resuming its normal rhythm) and I'm usually able to quash them within about 30 seconds. Sometimes I felt the wave wash over me, and it wouldn't even break my stride.

With that out of the way, back in Nov of last year, I had that similar heart palpitation, and at first figured it was nothing. Then it did it again, until it did it about 15 times in a row. That, of course, threw me into an hours long panic attack, that had me actually calling paramedics, followed by a hospital visit. Of course, they hooked me up to an EKG for a couple hours, took blood / urine, and said there were no signs of anything, and that my blood test actually came out great. Feeling a little better, I went home, and though it took me a few days to 'wind down' from that mega panic shock, I did, and was fone for a couple of months...

Which brings me to the present, or about 3 weeks ago. I was sitting on the couch, just watching TV with my wife when BAM, a 3 hour long panic attack strikes. This one wasn't even caused by a palpitation, yet it ended in her driving me to the emergency room, when I had the usual EKG / Blood test / doctor listening for murmurs, all of which were perfectly fine. The problem is, since then,  I've spent the last 3 weeks having panic attacks and when I'm not having one, I'm constantly anxious feeling. I went to urgent care, and the doctor gave me some Viibryd samples, as well as a prescription for Ativan. I've been taking the Viibryd for about 2 weeks (I've only done the 10mg so far... I have my first psych appointment on the 12th, so I figured better to not get too deep in something they might want to change) and while it has helped over all with the panic attacks (they aren't as frequent and are easier to set aside thus far) I simply cannot get rid of the constantly anxious feeling.

I get the shooting and dull chest pains (which I know are muscular and probably radiating around from my usual upper back pain, as I can press on my chest muscles and feel the soreness), and my muscles all over, though particularly my upper body, feel... Worn. Restless. I also have the urge to just sleep, all the time, even when I don't take the Ativan. I've been hitting the 12 hour mark most nights, and if I didn't make myself get up, I'm fairly certain I could sleep away a day. If I could just get rid of the constant anxious feeling, I would actually feel perfectly fine otherwise, but the fact that it isn't going away invites more panic.

So, the TL;DR - Is it normal to have the general symptoms of anxiety (muscle tension / pain, fast heartbeat here and there) for weeks on end? Could it also be my mind / body adjusting to the Viibryd? I've had enough tests to know now that my heart is likely A-OK, so it isn't the fear of that driving panic attacks anymore, it is just this weird, sudden onset of my panic disorder that I've been dealing with for years very well that is bothering me.

2 other things:

1. I have become unemployed recently, but I'm actually still financially stable, so while I don't THINK that would cause it, I obviously can't be certain.

2. About a month ago, I started dieting. I went from daily soda, candy and big meals to under 1800 calories (I'm 5'11", 280 lbs), and I completely carved candy, most sugar and caffeine out of my diet cold turkey. Could the sudden change in blood sugar, caffeine withdrawal or perhaps hormones from fat loss (I'm down to 260) have brought on or contributed to the sudden onset?

Thank you to anyone who actually makes it through all of that. I know it is a lot, but I really need to find an answer somehow. I've gone from having a morbid fear of death to getting thoughts of inviting it because I don't like living this way, and I'm not comfortable with that change.

[Cuchculan]

Panic attacks come in all shapes and forms. As odd as it may sound it the body just protecting us from a danger it has sensed. A danger we have sent to the brain. One that doesn't really exist. Different people have different triggers. Things that start off their attacks. So for a person who might not like crowds, they will sense danger if they are stuck in a crowded places. Send a message to the brain and the brain will put the body on alert to protect that person. All can seem a bit whacky when you imagine it as the body only protecting us. When it makes us feel so bad. But you have had all your tests done. I think we know it is not your heart. Even you have accepted that much. I am not sure if you ever saw a therapist? To try and help explain anxiety and shows you ways to deal with it. It is kind of like we are in a mood. From that mood we get a thought. From that thought we react in a certain way. Our reactions brings on our symptoms. They are all related to each other. So we work on trying to change the way we think or the way we react. And the rest will simply fall into place. But we have to try and work out what is triggering the latest attacks off. I am not sure if you are depressed at all. You can tell me. The loss of a job can do this to some people. Anxiety can even do it to a lot of people. As they feel they have lost control over things and never know when the next attack might happen. Thus they get down in the dumps. They feel like doing nothing much at all. Hence all the sleeping. It would be good if you could find something to do. By way of a hobby. Just to keep the mind occupied. To give you something you can turn to, by way of giving you a sense of focus back in your life again. You can speak with your own doctor about the diet. It can be adjusted. The medication may take a bit of time to work. But no matter how bad it feels right now, just remember, there is always a road back. You could even try a self help book. I used to use one called ' Mind over Mood '. Wouldn't cost that much to buy. May give you a few answers. A bit of direction in your life. But stick with us here on the forum and keep us posted.

[Jules1963]

It sounds very much like my situation. I was treated 4 years ago for anxiety after having a minor surgery I was experiencing dizziness, knot in stomach loss of appetite for over a month. I went to the ER numerous times and every test was normal. I was treated with lexapro and therapy. Flash forward to this year and the same things have been happening again and I had. Full blown panic attack at work at the beginning of January.  I took Ativan prescribed by the ER doc which seemed to help but I still felt weird. I finally saw a psychiatrist who started me on remeron which is an AD and to help with sleep and appetite.  I've been on it just over 2 weeks now but. Most days I still feel very anxious. As you say it's hard to know what are the original symptoms or what are side effects from the med. I'm trying to be patient but its hard to live each day feeling so tense. I hope you start to feel better soon.

[Amp]

It sounds very much like my situation. I was treated 4 years ago for anxiety after having a minor surgery I was experiencing dizziness, knot in stomach loss of appetite for over a month. I went to the ER numerous times and every test was normal. I was treated with lexapro and therapy. Flash forward to this year and the same things have been happening again and I had. Full blown panic attack at work at the beginning of January.  I took Ativan prescribed by the ER doc which seemed to help but I still felt weird. I finally saw a psychiatrist who started me on remeron which is an AD and to help with sleep and appetite.  I've been on it just over 2 weeks now but. Most days I still feel very anxious. As you say it's hard to know what are the original symptoms or what are side effects from the med. I'm trying to be patient but its hard to live each day feeling so tense. I hope you start to feel better soon.

Sounds familiar! :)

At this point, I've been to my first appointments at the therapy place. The Viibryd I was taking seemed to be all negative side effects, and the intake person I saw at the psych office said weening myself off should be okay since I haven't gone too far along with it.

Of course, my first appointments were the intake person just to describe what was going on. This got my an appointment with a Psychiatrist APRIL 15TH... Ugh. They said I can go hang out there and hope someone doesn't show up, which I will probably end up doing. Unfortunately I'm basically snowed-in at the moment, so that will be a couple days.

My other appointment was the therapist. Again, this was more of a describe my history thus far, get to know you sort of session. I have another appointment with her in the last 2 weeks. She actually said she was quite impressed that I basically gave myself cognitive behavioral therapy without help and that I've been dealing with it well for as long as I have. Unfortunately, what caused it to rage out of control so suddenly is still a mystery at this point.

I've been doing my best to cope in the meantime. I think if I could get the general upper body muscle tension / restlessness to go away, I'd have a much easier time putting the whole thing out of my mind. On the plus side, chatting with my wife I've kind of come to the determination that a general fear of death. Yes, there was the heart attack fears, though I've mostly been able to quash those... But I have this morbid fear of dying, period. It's a lot harder to dig myself out of this hole with this being the cause of my panic attacks. A heart attack I can rationalize away with a good family history, good test results etc; The fact that I'm going to die, whether it is now or 40 years from now is inevitable, and trying to push that out of my mind has been an unimaginable hurdle for me.

I'm hoping that my therapist can find a good way to frame and accept death (in the future) in my mind, because if she can't, I don't know how I'm going to get out of this slump.