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Sudden Onset of Anxiety/Panic Attacks
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An_245649 posted:
I have been experiencing panic attacks for the last four months. I've only had two full blown panic attacks, but I feel anxious on and off all throughout the day. I have never experienced anxiety like this in the past. In fact, I've always been a very relaxed person without much worrying. I've also been experiencing migraines over the past four months as well. I have seen my general practioner several times as well as a neurologist, allergist, chiropractor, OB/GYN and dentist. I've discovered I have TMJ and am in the process of getting an orthodic that I will wear 24/7 for a few months. I'm not sure if the TMJ causes anxiety or vice versa. I had a baby almost seven months ago. I was fine for the first three months before any of the anxiety started. My general practioner thinks it could be postpartum related, but my OB disagrees since I felt normal for the first three months. This is my second child and I truly love being a mother. I do not feel depressed or anxious about my children. In fact, my anxiety does not seem to be related to anything in particular. I will go from feeling completely normal one minute to feeling very anxious the next. It is so frustrating to me that I don't know what is going on with my body. I'm not sure if it's hormonal, psychological or physiological. I have never been on medication in the past, but after much frustration about the disruption in my daily activities, I started taking Pamelor five weeks ago. I am up to 30mg, once daily before bed. The doctors thought it might help with both the anxiety and the migraines. Because I've always been such an "in control" person, these feelings I'm having have really thrown me for a loop. I keep wanting to pinpoint a physical cause for my symptoms. I was convinced it was a thyroid issue, but I've been checked and the tests came back "normal." I haven't completely ruled out postpartum thyroiditis or hyperthyroidism since I'm not sure if the doctor even ran the correct tests. But if it's not thyroid related, I'm wondering if there could be any other physical reasons as to why I'm experiencing these feeling of anxiety, particularly why I feel so normal one day and then completely anxious the next. If it turns out I just have an anxiety disorder, what causes it to happen so suddenly? And if this Pamelor doesn't work soon, what other avenues should I explore?
1 Replies |Watch This Discussion | Report This| Share this:Sudden Onset of Anxiety/Panic AttacksI have been experiencing panic attacks for the last four months. I've only had two full blown panic attacks, but I feel anxious on and off all throughout the day. I have never experienced anxiety like this in the past. In fact, I've always been a very relaxed person without much worrying. I've also been experiencing migraines over the past four months as well. I have seen my general practioner several times as well as a neurologist, allergist, chiropractor, OB/GYN and dentist. I've discovered I have TMJ and am in the process of getting an orthodic that I will wear 24/7 for a few months. I'm not sure if the TMJ causes anxiety or vice versa. I had a baby almost seven months ago. I was fine for the first three months before any of the anxiety started. My general practioner thinks it could be postpartum related, but my OB disagrees since I felt normal for the first three months. This is my second child and I truly love being a mother. I do not feel depressed or anxious about my children. In fact, my anxiety does not seem to be related to anything in particular. I will go from feeling completely normal one minute to feeling very anxious the next. It is so frustrating to me that I don't know what is going on with my body. I'm not sure if it's hormonal, psychological or physiological. I have never been on medication in the past, but after much frustration about the disruption in my daily activities, I started taking Pamelor five weeks ago. I am up to 30mg, once daily before bed. The doctors thought it might help with both the anxiety and the migraines. Because I've always been such an "in control" person, these feelings I'm having have really thrown me for a loop. I keep wanting to pinpoint a physical cause for my symptoms. I was convinced it was a thyroid issue, but I've been checked and the tests came back "normal." I haven't completely ruled out postpartum thyroiditis or hyperthyroidism since I'm not sure if the doctor even ran the correct tests. But if it's not thyroid related, I'm wondering if there could be any other physical reasons as to why I'm experiencing these feeling of anxiety, particularly why I feel so normal one day and then completely anxious the next. If it turns out I just have an anxiety disorder, what causes it to happen so suddenly? And if this Pamelor doesn't work soon, what other avenues should I explore?
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Patricia Farrell, PhD responded:
I am not an MD, but I'm wondering, since you indicated you didn't know whether or not the correct thyroid tests were performed, if they ever provided a copy of the test results to you. You may request copies of any test results and that might be a good thing for you to begin keeping in your own home. Usually, it's my understanding that the tests that would be done for a thyroid are called T3, T4 and you might ask if this was done.


Since everything else seems to have turned out all right and your OB believes you do not have postpartum related problems, have you had any problems sleeping? Having a young child can often result in sleep disruption which can result, in turn, in increased problems during the daytime. However, since the anxiety fluctuates and you don't have it every day, it is a bit of a mystery. Do you do any type of exercise? If you don't, please check with your healthcare providers and consider doing some exercise, even in your home. We know that exercise can be very beneficial for everything from stress, anxiety and even mild depression. It stimulates the body to provide substances which promote psychological health.


You might also consider using relaxation breathing and we do have a video tutorial on this in our Tips column. In fact we also have simple exercises that you can do in your home there.


Whenever you are provided with any medication, it's always a good idea to look up any side effects and this includes over-the-counter medications. Diet is also an important consideration as is your caffeine intake, so please review everything.


I hope you have found this useful and that you do feel much better very soon.


Dr. Farrell
Report This| Share this:Sudden Onset of Anxiety/Panic AttacksI am not an MD, but I'm wondering, since you indicated you didn't know whether or not the correct thyroid tests were performed, if they ever provided a copy of the test results to you. You may request copies of any test results and that might be a good thing for you to begin keeping in your own home. Usually, it's my understanding that the tests that would be done for a thyroid are called T3, T4 and you might ask if this was done.<br /><br /><br />Since everything else seems to have turned out all right and your OB believes you do not have postpartum related problems, have you had any problems sleeping? Having a young child can often result in sleep disruption which can result, in turn, in increased problems during the daytime. However, since the anxiety fluctuates and you don't have it every day, it is a bit of a mystery. Do you do any type of exercise? If you don't, please check with your healthcare providers and consider doing some exercise, even in your home. We know that exercise can be very beneficial for everything from stress, anxiety and even mild depression. It stimulates the body to provide substances which promote psychological health.<br /><br /><br />You might also consider using relaxation breathing and we do have a video tutorial on this in our Tips column. In fact we also have simple exercises that you can do in your home there.<br /><br /><br />Whenever you are provided with any medication, it's always a good idea to look up any side effects and this includes over-the-counter medications. Diet is also an important consideration as is your caffeine intake, so please review everything.<br /><br /><br />I hope you have found this useful and that you do feel much better very soon.<br /><br /><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.drfarrell.net">Dr. Farrell</a>
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