Hi Everyone!

I have been suffering with horrible anxiety/insomnia since the birth of my daughter in July.  I have been diagnosed with Postpartum anxiety/insomnia.  I don't have any depression symptoms which is a positive.  I have been put on Ativan .5mg 3x's a day to help and it's been helping.  I take 1 during the day and after I get up and feed my daughter I take 2 to go back to sleep.  I would really like other techniques and ways to cope with both the anxiety/insomnia than to have to take meds.  I'm worried about addiction to the Ativan.  Any advice would be much appreciated!  Thanks in advance!

Sarah     

Tips for Calming Down when Panic sets in

« on: April 25, 2009, 11:47:08 PM » Quote Modify Remove Split Topic  

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1. Tell yourself that your body feels funny, but that's it, nothing else is happening. There is no need to worry about what is wrong with you, you'll just panic more. It's just your body overreacting to something that is not there and it helps to remember that.

2. When you feel anxious, usually it is because you are thinking irrational thoughts about things...and this escalates the anxiety. If you can write down what you are experiencing and thinking in a Journal, and then write the most rational responses to your irrational thoughts, ie "I am going crazy!" Response: "I am NOT going crazy, this is temporary. It is my brain chemistry playing tricks on me. I am NOT scared of the situation, I am scared of my body's reaction which is a FALSE reaction, I am ok!" etc. Writing helps to get you out of the distorted thinking that both causes and makes existing anxiety worse.

3. Breath breath breath, Concentrate on breathing from your diaphragm, not your upper chest.

4. Yoga - or any sort of stretching that involves deep rhythmic breathing and draining thoughts from your head. Focus on an object or on one thought/feeling. If Yoga is not an option, writing helps tremendously. Write anything - your thoughts, observations, this documentation permits you to evaluate your condition. What causes the anxiety and what alleviates it. Moreover, it drains your frustration - letting it out.

5. Read a really good book or see a movie, whatever holds your attention best and takes your mind off your anxiety. It's important to let go of that anxiety and concentrate on something else completely.

6. A nice long, hot bath or shower to relax your muscles and your mind!

7. A helpful phrase to use is, "They are only feelings, they can't hurt me".

8. Remind yourself that sensation is just that - sensation. You have to tell yourself that the physical sensations you're experiencing are not life threatening. It also helps to list for yourself all the times you have been able to do the very things you're afraid of.

9. One of the best ways to combat fear is to exercise - Not only does it relieve stress, it also produces endorphins which raise your sense of well being - and it becomes another thing that reinforces your "rational" belief that you are not in any physical danger.

10. Drink a warm cup of milk which helps to relax so that you can start to think more rationally, without the anxiety clouding your thoughts. It usually helps to calm the anxious feelings.

11. If you "act" calm, you will be calm. Imitate the body language of a relaxed person and you will take on that feeling within minutes.

12. When you have a panic attack do deep breathing, and say over and over you are calm and relaxed. Think only positive thoughts, instead of thinking you're dying, tell yourself you are fine, you have gone through this many times and nothing has happened before, it takes a lot of practice.

13. Take a nice long walk, the exercise will help to clear your mind or talk to someone you're close to and tell them how you're feeling. Just telling someone else makes you look at it objectively.

14. Listen to music, it takes you away, write a letter to nobody, recite the alphabet backwards, If you're driving pick a color and start counting cars of that colour until you reach 100. Distraction is the key.

15. After you realize that it's just an attack and you're not dying or anything, you will calm yourself down, put on headphones and listen to relaxation music and do some more deep breathing.

What to do if you feel an Anxiety/Panic attack coming on to avoid it?

If you feel a panic or anxiety attack coming on, think through the problem by breaking it down. Imagine the worst that can happen. Nine times out of ten it then appears less serious.

author unknown

Sarah- here is a list of things that can help with anxiety. Also, view topics throughout this section and do some research. There are some great books available also. Have you read Hope & Help For Your Nerves by Claire Weeks (amazon or google or library will have) and also, just googling anxiety techniques will provide alot of information. There is also a great website, wholeperson.com that has progressive relaxation tapes/Cd's...I have used Natural Tranquilizer's, Calm Down and Worry Stopper's; you may want to check out that site...they also have tapes/CD's on a host of subjets.

There are many other things that can be done to help with anxiety, acceptance of it is a must, learning to under-react to it is a must, exercises and watching the amount of caffeine(I don't do caffeine at all) and watching the amount of sugar intake helps. Also, be compassionate to yourself...counter your negative thoughts with positive thoughts...this is something that will take time to learn but is also a must in handling your anxiety.

Just Breathe

I have been suffering with horrible anxiety/insomnia since the birth of my daughter in July.  I have been diagnosed with Postpartum anxiety/insomnia.  I don't have any depression symptoms which is a positive.  I have been put on Ativan .5mg 3x's a day to help and it's been helping.  I take 1 during the day and after I get up and feed my daughter I take 2 to go back to sleep.  I would really like other techniques and ways to cope with both the anxiety/insomnia than to have to take meds.  I'm worried about addiction to the Ativan.  Any advice would be much appreciated!  Thanks in advance!

 

Sarah      

Welcome to BenzoBuddies, Sarah.  

Despite what some doctors say, benzos such as ativan are potentially addictive.  It took years for me to find this out and by then I had increased my dose several times and still felt more anxious than before I started on them. Just Breathe has posted some good suggestions for calming yourself and I used slow "belly" breathing a lot and still do.  I also used a homeopathic remedy called Calms Forte a bit while I was tapering off lorazepam (ativan).  I also learned to like chamomille tea.     To get to sleep, I took to listening to a CD book or meditation CD.  

Are you interested in tapering off the ativan?

I have been suffering with horrible anxiety/insomnia since the birth of my daughter in July.  I have been diagnosed with Postpartum anxiety/insomnia.  I don't have any depression symptoms which is a positive.  I have been put on Ativan .5mg 3x's a day to help and it's been helping.  I take 1 during the day and after I get up and feed my daughter I take 2 to go back to sleep.  I would really like other techniques and ways to cope with both the anxiety/insomnia than to have to take meds.  I'm worried about addiction to the Ativan.  Any advice would be much appreciated!  Thanks in advance!

 

Sarah     

Hi Sarah and welcome! Are you nursing your daughter?

Sarah, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I would definitely not be on that stuff any longer than 2 weeks if I were you. Benzo's like Avitan reduce REM sleep.

pointofreturn.com/ativan_withdrawal.html

I was hooked on Xanax (another Benzo) last winter/spring and although I could sleep great with Xanax, I noticed that over time I had to keep upping my dose. I never understood why I was so tired during the day even after 9 - 10 hours of sleep. I would crash by 10:00 AM or 2:00 PM, depending on the day and be completely out for 2 and 1/2 or 3 hours. Once I got off of Xanax, after the withdrawal period, I noticed I was sleeping so much less and was easily able to fall asleep at night. You're very smart to be looking into this early. Just look around and you'll see the drama benzo addiction can cause.

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