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Scary!!

Old 06-15-2005, 04:58 PM
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Scary!!

A few weeks ago I had an experience that I need help with. I was hung over and opened a soda to help with the dehydration; I put a chew of Copenhagen in my mouth, and then it happened! My heart began fluttering at a million miles a second (I've had arrythmia all of my life), I got shortness of breathe, and the worst panic attack that I've ever had. I went to the hospital and my blood work checked out - there was no heart problems. The doctor said that most of my symptoms were caused by gastritis, and that I should stop drinking and chewing and take maalox for the acid.
Well, for 18 days now I've stopped both drugs and started taking maalox for the acid. Here is where the question comes in: I'm still getting suffering the affects of the gastritis. When I eat something spicy ( or sometimes something not spicy) I get the panicy feeling and get a little light headed, until I take the Maalox and things get calmed down again for a little while.
Has anyone else had this happen to them? I can't believe that stomach acid would have such an affect on brain chemistry (panic attack), and I wonder if this will stop on it's own? How long would you wait until you went to see the dr. again?
I have prayed that God would take away my addictions and I firmly believe that He has, but I can't help questioning the method. I have been scared sober, but I hope I haven't permanently damaged myself.
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Old 06-15-2005, 05:36 PM
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Welcome to SR, geddy! And thanks for sharing! Why not go ahead and go back to the doctor now? They may want to do an endoscopy to check out what's really going on down in there. And KUDOS on quitting the drinking and chewing! Have you considered AA to stay quit? I highly recommend it. Take care and keep in touch!

Love and hugs,
Eddie
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Old 06-15-2005, 05:48 PM
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Hi and welcome geddy! Yup! Been there to and it does sound like an anxiety attack perpetuating the gastritis. I'm no doctor but that's what I was told. It took a few weeks for it all to subside once I finally quit drinking. You really don't want to mess around with gastritis though and just for reassurance I would have it checked out as if left untreated can cause some damage. I'm sure it's just anxiety and panic attacks but better safe then sorry, and while you go through the early stages of recovery your doctor can prescribe a mild dose of medication to help relieve your anxiety.
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Old 06-15-2005, 06:18 PM
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Thanks a bunch!

Thanks you guys for the information as well as the support. I'm going to give it another week of swigging Maalox and see what happens, but if it keeps up or gets worse I'll be going to the doctor. I think that just hearing that someone else has experienced this themselves helps a lot.
As far as staying recovered, this incident has scared me worse than anything I've ever been through. I won't soon forget lying in bed, shaking, with my head spinning, wondering if I was going to have a heart attack. It's hard to believe that acid could produce such panic! I'm more concerned with trying to feel normal again, I have no thoughts of drinking. Like I said in my intitial post, I have been praying about this for a long time and I think it's been answered. But with that same logic, I should trust God to get me through this problem too, but alas I don't have enough faith. Should I recover from this, I've beaten it. Believe me or not.
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Old 06-15-2005, 06:35 PM
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Originally Posted by geddy5
...if it keeps up or gets worse I'll be going to the doctor.
Promise?

Love and hugs,
Eddie
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Old 06-15-2005, 06:56 PM
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Yes, I promise. I can't see me putting up with this for too much longer.
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Old 06-15-2005, 07:07 PM
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Good. And I forgot to say you're welcome, too. Take care!

Love and hugs,
Eddie
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Old 06-16-2005, 07:43 AM
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Hi, geddy,
I used to get panic attacks quite regularly. Looking up info online, I came to the conclusion that they aren't very well understood. But various medical and behavioral approaches seem to work in managing them.
The good news for me was that when I quit drinking they just went away. Completely.
Here's an article that gives a behavioral approach to managing anxiety.
-------------
Break Out from the Vicious Circle of Anxiety


Windy Dryden, Ph.D., Dept. of Psychology, Goldsmiths College


I have worked as a counseling psychologist for over ten years. One of the most common problems that people consult me on is anxiety when the source of that anxiety is unclear to them. When people are anxious about specific things in the world, like dogs, spiders or other people's negative reactions, then at least the person knows what he or she is anxious about. However, a lot of people are anxious about being anxious and this is so common and yet so frequently misunderstood that such lack of knowledge leads to more anxiety.

Anxiety about anxiety occurs when you first experience a fearful reaction, say, while shopping, riding in a lift, driving in a car or even in your home. Having experienced this anxiety (problem 1) you begin to become anxious in case you get anxious again (problem 2). This double-barreled situation is the breeding ground for the development of your vicious circle of anxiety from which you find it so difficult to escape. Understanding this process is the first step to solving the problem.

Let me explain this vicious circle in greater detail. Once you have experienced anxiety "for no good reason," you then bring an anxious attitude to the prospect of getting anxious. You think something like "Wouldn't it be terrible if I got anxious." Thinking in this way actually leads to anxiety. You then notice your anxiety and think something like "Oh my god, I'm getting anxious." This leads to increased anxiety which triggers a further thought like "Oh my god, I'm losing control. What if I faint (or panic, have a heart attack or act crazily); wouldn't that be terrible!" Anxiety is again heightened which leads to more anxious "thinking" and so on. Now this pattern occurs incredibly quickly and you probably are only aware of a building sense of panic. In addition, you may be one of a large number of people who "overbreathe" when you get anxious. This means that you take in too much oxygen and feel, paradoxically, that you need to breath in more air, whereas you actually need less. "Overbreathing" leads to such sensations as tingling, faintness, giddiness and heart palpitations. Without knowing this, you may consider that these sensations are evidence that there really is something wrong with you and "that would be awful." This though leads to more anxiety and the vicious circle continues.

Without the presence of the anxious attitude of "wouldn't it be terrible," panic would probably not occur even if you tend to overbreathe so it is this anxious attitude that you need to identify and change if the seeds of problem solution are to be sown. However, very few people understand this and therefore this explanation is not common knowledge. As such, what you may have done is to avoid situations where you fear you might be anxious. If you don't avoid these situations you may continue to face the anxiety-provoking situation by using a number of common techniques which are designed to distract yourself from your anxiety (e.g. relaxation, counting to ten, drinking, etc). These can be helpful in the short-term but more often do not solve the problem and in the case of the use of alcohol to quell anxiety it is positively hazardous.

What can be done? First, distinguish between the attitudes of "uncomfortable" and "terrible." Terrible probably means to you literally the end of the world. Anxiety is not the end of the world. It is uncomfortable, damned uncomfortable at times, but it is not terrible unless you define it as such. If you do define anxiety as terrible then you will take another trip around your vicious circle. So first if you get anxious you have to show yourself that anxiety is uncomfortable, bad, inconvenient but it is not dangerous and it is not the end of the world.

Second, show yourself this in the situation you have tended to shy away from. This sounds simple and it is BUT IT IS NOT EASY! Remember this distinction, it is an important one. You have trained yourself to think that anxiety is terrible and your body reacts to this definition. It is going to take some time for you to retrain yourself and think that anxiety is damned uncomfortable but not terrible. And it will take longer for your body to react to your new definition.

Third, I have found that the following principle I developed some years ago to be very useful. I call it "challenging but not overwhelming." By this I mean that if you believe that a situation would be overwhelming for you, then it is perhaps better not to face it yet. But it would be a mistake to go very gradually and only do things that you can do comfortably. Overcoming anxiety means tolerating discomfort so it is important to face and not shy away from feeling uncomfortable. So choose to start with an experience you will find a challenge. If you don't succeed with this, remember that is unfortunate, not "terrible." Keep applying this principle of "challenging but not overwhelming." Choose a challenging situation, face it and practice the attitude of "anxiety is damned uncomfortable but not terrible" while you are facing it. If you fear panicking remember that panic (or a "ten" as sufferers call it) lasts only for a very short time even though it seems endless at the time. So use the same attitude to panic. "If I panic, I panic, that's damned unfortunate but not terrible."

Now I want to cover one important feature which a large number of my clients have said is also involved in this circle. If you fear that you may act stupidly, crazily and will attract other people's scornful attention as a result, first realize that this is unlikely to happen. However, a better solution is to imagine that this will happen and practice another anti-anxiety attitude. Now if you have this fear it is likely that you believe that if you act stupidly or crazily then this proves you are worthless (useless, stupid, a fool or whatever word you personally use to condemn yourself.) If other people then scorn you this is not the problem. It is your agreement with their reaction that is the problem. You think "If they think I'm stupid they're right I am." So, once again, it is your attitude towards yourself that is the problem here. Now what you need to ask yourself is this: "Am I worthless, useless, etc., for acting this way, or am I a fallible human being (and equal to others) with a problem?" I hope you realize that you are the latter. If a good friend acted stupidly in public would you condemn them, or would you adopt a compassionate attitude of acceptance towards them? Most probably you would accept them. But they are human like you. So you can practice the accepting attitude toward yourself. "If I act stupidly that would be bad but I'm a fallible human being with a problem."

My clients report that this attitude helps them realize that first they are not that likely to act stupidly, etc; second, even if they did act stupidly, other people probably would not condemn them; and third, even if other people did condemn them then this would not be the end of the world.

If you do tend to "overbreathe" it is important that you gain control of your breathing. This requires a lot of practice and is best done initially under the supervision of a knowledgeable person such as a clinical or counselling psychologist. Controlled breathing involves your taking smooth, slow, regular and fairly shallow (not deep!) breaths. Breathe in through you nose and out though you mouth in regular (in-out) cycles. Twelve such cycles per minute is often helpful, but find your own comfortable breathing rhythm. These cycles regulate the amount of oxygen you take in so that you do not experience the tingling, fainting and giddy sensations (as well as palpitations, etc.) which are associated with "overbreathing."

Applying these anti-anxiety attitudes and techniques like controlled breathing does unfortunately require lots of practice but I have seen many of my clients make steady progress (setbacks do occur and are to be expected) and I predict if you closely follow these guidelines you will also learn to escape from your own vicious circle of anxiety.
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Old 06-16-2005, 07:58 AM
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Geddy5,

I'm sorry for what you had to go through! That sounds like it must have been scary. I hope you are feeling better now.

Believe it or not, I once had to go to the ER for an overdose of CAFFEINE! I only took four pills over about 5 hours (just for energy; I was dead tired), but that morning I had also started taking Provigil, and I hadn't been eating right and stuff. I also take Klonopin for anxiety, so I suppose it was all just a really bad combo.

I ended up having to call my mom to come pick me up at my house and take me to the hospital (I couldn't drive), where I couldn't even sign my name because my hands were so shaky. They finally put me into a room when I vomited (not a nice sight when you haven't eaten all day) and hooked me up to a heart monitor and an IV.

I don't know what was worse... the physical pain or the embarrassment, in my case.

~ashes
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Old 06-16-2005, 01:04 PM
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Think positive thoughts. I'm sure you haven't damaged yourself. All the best. x
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Old 06-16-2005, 03:55 PM
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whew!

Thanks for all the replies! Last night was pretty bad as far as the anxiety and acid situation. I drank some maalox and took an anti-anxiety pill (Hydroxazine) and went to bed early. Well, this morning I woke up hazy thanks to the stupid pill - I only take them when I can't stand it anymore because they "zone me out" so bad. Anyway, I woke up and immediately felt the acid begin to churn. Yesterday I bought some Zantac 75 and only took one (which didn't really help at all), so this morning I took 2, fully planning on going to see the doctor today after work. Well, about mid morning I was surprised to realize that the acid was gone, my mind had cleared, and the panic was nonexistent! I couldn't believe it, I actually felt good. And since I haven't had a drink in 20 days, I feel quite energized! Hopfully I'm on the mend and will be alright now, though the memory of my last hang over stay with me always - after going through that drinking seems stupid. Keep in mind that I was thouroughly convinced that I was going to die at any moment.
Anyway, I thank you guys again for the help and encouragement, and I wish you well in your own recovery. I will drop by from time to time!

Geddy.
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Old 06-16-2005, 05:39 PM
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You're welcome, Geddy! I'm glad things are improving for you. And DO keep in touch!

Love and hugs,
Eddie
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