Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Posted by ainsleigh @ainsleigh, Apr 14, 2018

So many of us have suffered for anxiety and panic and I would like to share something that has helped me . In my Recovery group I learned that
nervous symptoms are " distressing but not dangerous i.e." NO DANGER." If I ever feel myself getting anxious I repeat those in my mind-
it is a "secure thought " and helps me to relax and avoids the escalation of symptoms. It takes a little practice but can make a big difference. I would love to hear if any of you find it helpful too.
Ainsleigh

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Depression & Anxiety Support Group.

@lisalucier

Hi, @mbabkk -- sounds like you've been on a journey to find the right medication and dosing that works for your clinical depression. Glad you have been advocating for yourself along the way.

@contentandwell @gman007and @cdcc may have some thoughts to share from personal experience or knowing someone taking Lorazepam (Ativan).

You mentioned feeling much more like you used to be after tapering off the Sertraline (Zoloft). Wondering if you could share more about that and how you are feeling different now?

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@contentandwell, Ativan is a class 4 controlled substance in a class of drugs called benzodiazepines. Not an opiate, but still a very addictive medication, but I don't think you have a problem at 20 per year.
Peace, Gary

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@gailb

I read this in the NORML Newsletter today and thought some here may benefit from the information. Gail, Volunteer Mentor

Patients Replace Opioids With Cannabis
Thursday, 07 June 2018

Chronic Pain Patients Replace Opioids With Cannabis
Cleveland, OH: More than two-thirds of chronic pain patients registered to legally access medical cannabis products substitute marijuana for prescription opioids, according to data published in The Journal of Headache and Pain.

Investigators from the United States and Canada assessed the use of medical cannabis and prescription drugs in a cohort of over 2,000 Canadian patients licensed to access marijuana products. Among those patients with a primary diagnosis of chronic pain, 73 percent reported substituting cannabis in place of opioids. Among those patients diagnosed specifically with headache/migraine, cannabis was frequently reported as a substitute for other medications - including opiates (43 percent), anti-depressants (39 percent), NSAIDS (21 percent), triptans (8 percent), and anti-convulsants (8 percent).

"Most patients in the pain groups reported replacing prescription medications with medicinal cannabis, the most common of which were opiates/opioids across all patient groups," authors concluded. "This is notable given the well-described 'opioid-sparing effect' of cannabinoids and growing abundance of literature suggesting that cannabis may help in weaning from these medications and perhaps providing a means of combating the opioid epidemic."

For more information, contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, "Patterns of medicinal cannabis use, strain analysis, and substitution effect among patients with migraine, headache, arthritis, and chronic pain in a medicinal cannabis cohort," appears in The Journal of Headache and Pain. NORML's fact-sheet highlighting the relevant, peer-reviewed research specific to the relationship between cannabis and opioids is available online.

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@gailb, Thanks for posting this. Since I was prescribed Marinol(sp?), a synthetic form of cannabis, for appetite enhancement after a major surgery due to not eating enough to promote healing, I knew this to be a fact. My appetite certainly did improve, but the period of time when I could get refills and had the marinol, were the only completely pain free weeks I have had since 2006.
Gary

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My panic attack due to stopping Xanax Was dangerous I would up in the hospital with horrid head pain , 300 BP , very sick

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@joanm65

I have one question for all of you how does this help when you are frightened, in the midst of a full-blown attack and are aa alone? My panic attacks and anxiety have led to agoraphobia. I really want to hear from you all who live with it everyday.

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I feel so much empathy for you parus.. I'm 82 years old, and have been battling with depression and anxiety all my life, after growing up in terror through the war then having my wonderful mother, who was my world, die when I was sixteen. In those days depression was not recognized, and I know that my Dad was ill for ten months after Mum died, he was so devastated. As I became an adult I took medication which helped up to a point, but now that I'm older my body won't tolerate the medications. My anxiety is overwhelming, and every day is a battle. I have tried every single suggestion from doctors and therapists, taken CBT classes and had ECT treatments. When I visualize the good things I've lived through, and my family, it makes me cry because I'm so sad that all those days are gone, and I'm now alone. I recently lost my dear brother, who was the only person in my life who loved me unconditionally and who tried to understand what I was going through. Now there is no one to talk about it with. I do have therapists and doctors, but although they know everything in theory, unless they have experienced this anxiety I think it is impossible for them to really understand. I think it is wonderful that so many people find help these ways I've been reading about. I don't go outside much now, just impossible sometimes, and as I said, each day is a battle. Sorry for going on so long, but it is somewhat comforting to know that other people are going through this too.

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@joanm65

I have one question for all of you how does this help when you are frightened, in the midst of a full-blown attack and are aa alone? My panic attacks and anxiety have led to agoraphobia. I really want to hear from you all who live with it everyday.

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I M SO VERY SORRY FOR ALL YOU HAVE AND ARE GOING THROUGH. KNOW THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE (HERE)
WHO CARE ABOUT YOU!
BEST WISHES AINSLEIGH

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@joanm65

I have one question for all of you how does this help when you are frightened, in the midst of a full-blown attack and are aa alone? My panic attacks and anxiety have led to agoraphobia. I really want to hear from you all who live with it everyday.

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eThank you, Ainsleigh. Very much.

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@joanm65

I have one question for all of you how does this help when you are frightened, in the midst of a full-blown attack and are aa alone? My panic attacks and anxiety have led to agoraphobia. I really want to hear from you all who live with it everyday.

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And I feel for you,too. Can't believe there isnt a way OUT. So much beauty in life that I cant quite reach.

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I have learned the practice of mindfulness helps shut down my internal dialog about whatever worry or sensation is trying to grip me have me go panicky. I focus on my breathing and dismissing what thought comes to mind at that time because "at that time" is not when to engage that thought stream.

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@lisalucier

Hi, @mbabkk -- sounds like you've been on a journey to find the right medication and dosing that works for your clinical depression. Glad you have been advocating for yourself along the way.

@contentandwell @gman007and @cdcc may have some thoughts to share from personal experience or knowing someone taking Lorazepam (Ativan).

You mentioned feeling much more like you used to be after tapering off the Sertraline (Zoloft). Wondering if you could share more about that and how you are feeling different now?

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@gman007 actually it's not 20 per year, my PCP generally gives me an Rx for 10 and that is about one time a year. I know I do not have a problem but he is a real gnat and very reluctant to prescribe much of anything of that nature.
When I was in significant pain after a knee replacement in the fall, I needed one of the medications that cannot be called in to the pharmacy. My doctor was more than an hour away, in Boston so he called my PCP and asked him to give me a prescription of enough to get me through the weekend. My PCP would not. Thankfully I had some pills leftover of the same type from an earlier problem and I was able to use them to get through the weekend until the prescription arrived in the mail. I really did not feel that my PCP had my best interest in heart when he said no to that. He knows me well enough to know I am not at all an abuser of drugs.
JK

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@lisalucier

Hi, @mbabkk -- sounds like you've been on a journey to find the right medication and dosing that works for your clinical depression. Glad you have been advocating for yourself along the way.

@contentandwell @gman007and @cdcc may have some thoughts to share from personal experience or knowing someone taking Lorazepam (Ativan).

You mentioned feeling much more like you used to be after tapering off the Sertraline (Zoloft). Wondering if you could share more about that and how you are feeling different now?

Jump to this post

@contentandwell, I rant about physicians treating to FDA/DEA statements and not their patients on a regular basis. I have a new psychiatrist who feels that if she is reasonably confident that medications will be taken as prescribed, she is going to treat patients with the knowledge she worked so hard to acquire and not base treatment on what government agencies suggest. I do believe there are some continuing ed. requirements for opiate prescription writing and additional oversight that a lot of PCP's don't want the added hassle needed to write opioid scripts.
Blessings, Gary

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