AIBU to ask for simple ways to manage acute anxiety tonight?

Hi OP, I suffer from generalised anxiety disorder and sometimes have these anxiety attacks where it is unmanageable and Genuinley makes me want to die. My inbox is open if you need a chat. It sounds silly but I use chat GPT to speak logically to me and it really does help calm me. I also use the 7-11 breathing technique. Breath in and hold for 7 seconds and breath out and hold for 11 seconds. Sending love, it won’t last forever xx

Yes you can.

It's not like diazepam or other sedative types.

You can take a very small amount, 10mg and see how it affects you and go up to 40 if needed.

You don't have to take it all the time for it to work - just as needed.

At my worst, I would count from 1 to 10, then tell myself “well that’s 10 seconds nearer to feeling better.” And just repeat.

I only have experience of diazepam and it can make me a little drowsy. Nothing terrible, but I only take a low dose (2-4mg).

I've never become addicted, but I am careful to only take it when I am feeling my very worst. I try everything else first.

Generally you'll never be prescribed more than a week's worth to avoid any addiction issues. So for me it's a crisis only drug. Not day to day.

OP the only thing that helped me, before I saw my GP was a hypnotherapy app (Paul McKenna). I’d never used one before but was at my wits end. I signed up for a free trial and used it when I went to bed. Lights off, ear buds in. It really did seem to help. I really feel for you, it’s the most awful feeling. If it helps, my gp put me on Mirtazapine and from the first night of taking it, my anxiety/panic (nearly) went. It was like someone flicking a switch.
Hope this helps. Sending love x

I’ve been here very very recently and you’ve had some good suggestions re distraction, grounding techniques and breathing. I’d recommend all of these.

I was going to write about the 54321 grounding technique using your senses but someone beat me to it. In a similar vein, look around you and look for things you can see in the order of the rainbow. I like this as can do it in different rooms/ places. I was struggling in the dentist waiting room recently and this was a good distraction.

Im unable to walk far or exercise but even just sitting in nature instantly calms me especially if I add in some deep breaths, and a couple of the above grounding exercises.

A few other tools I use are meditation apps like calm or insight timer (there are specific meditations re calming your nervous system if you search them) a warm bath, rescue remedy, stroking my dog, writing down my thoughts, reaching out even via text to a friend in real life.

A therapist described it as a wave you just need to ride, know it will pass and you will get through this.

Lovey, you don't need it.

It's just your fight or flight response missfiring because you are stressed. Fot acute situations propranolol can help, and trust me probably all of us on the thread have been in a position where we just want someone to give us something to make it stop, but knowledge and understanding is power and you can get through this. We are here to chat and guide you through.

What do you like to put on as a comfort, say if you had the flu and had to hole up in bed feeling rubbish for a day? I love the US Office, GBBO or Frasier, or a Disney Movie, or something trashy like MAFS 🤭 how about you?

Yes, you can ask for propranolol which is a blocker of adrenaline and will hopefully calm the racing heart, sick feeling, shakes

It won't stop your mind, but when your body is calm, that becomes easier to achieve yourself

Not addictive at all and very commonly prescribed, and work immediately.

Lots of wonderful advice here.

I do cognitive shuffling, think of a word and then go through it letter by letter thinking of objects that begin with each one.
i can guarantee when I start doing this I cannot concentrate but just keep trying and eventually I am calmer without realising it.

I also listen to solfeggio tunes or binaural beats, these are best on headphones.
I like a YouTube account Michael Sealey, he has hypnosis tracks that calm me.
I also like the account Down To Sleep for really calming audiobooks.

well done asking for help. Those of us that know the feeling are always happy to help someone who needs it

Hi OP, sorry you're feeling this way. It will absolutely pass even though right now it is overwhelming. This is temporary and better days will come where all this will be a distant memory. I do understand as I have been in the grip of extreme anxiety more times than I would like to count. It WILL pass. I cannot emphasise this enough.

What I used to find helpful was putting something funny on the TV, a daft American comedy film (loved Identity Thief!) or even something old and nostalgic - bit of Disney?

Most of all, when the feeling was too overwhelming, I just imagined myself as a giant, solid rock in the sea. The waves of anxiety may come but just let them, don't fight it, let them wash over you and recede again. You are a giant, solid, unmoving rock and you'll still be there. You won't lose your grip, you won't wash away. Let the waves come and let them go away again. You're safe and solid. Always will be 🤗

Anxiety sucks!!! I feel for you, im going through similar at the moment. It's the 2,3,4am times that I really struggle. Think I've imposter syndrome and scroll looking for jobs.

This is great advice. I’ve suffered with bouts of crippling anxiety for years and this has truly been the thing that’s helped me the most. Recognise that it’s ’just’ anxiety, it can’t hurt you. And by ‘just’, I don’t mean that it isn’t a really awful feeling. But it isn’t going to kill you, you aren’t going to fall apart or go completely mad. Acknowledge ‘I am feeling anxious’ and then try to do something like, say, the washing up or folding some laundry. You’ll be doing those things while feeling anxious, sure, but so what?

The problem with trying harder and harder to make the anxiety go away is that it reinforces the sense that something Very Bad and Scary is going on and that you MUST stop/fix it. But when you try to acknowledge ‘ok, I’m anxious, now what?’ it gradually stops feeling like such a threat. And then, ironically, for me that’s usually when the anxiety starts to dissipate.

When I was diagnosed with cancer in 2023 I started writing in a nice notebook with a nice pen whenever I felt I needed to get things off my chest. I just wrote what I was feeling. What I was worried about. What I was angry about. If I was awake at 2 in the morning and I was worried then I got up and wrote in my notebook.

There are lots of things you can do physically as well, and I think all the PPs have probably told you most of those, but writing it down is what helps for me. I now write in my journal every night before I go to sleep, but just what I feel like, and as much as I feel like, so some days it's half a page, some days it's 3 pages. I am now NED (no evidence of disease) but it is still comforting for me to be able to write things down.

I find that counting how long I'm breathing in and out for can make me feel more stressed. I like the 'physiological sigh', which (almost) avoids all counting and is very effective for quickly decreasing your heart rate.

First Inhale: Take a deep, full breath in through your nose.
Second Inhale: Without exhaling, take a second, shorter, sharper breath in to fully inflate your lungs.
Exhale: Release the air slowly and completely through pursed lips, as if sighing.
Repeat: Do 1 to 3 rounds of this pattern to achieve an immediate calming effect.

Oh and Google progressive muscle relaxation. Another good & relatively easy thing to do

A second for a walk
Move it to lose it Just a long walk will maybe
improve perspective and problem solving thinking

Sipping water helps me. Don’t know why.

its a hideous feeling, but it absolutely can get better.

I hug a teddy really close to, despite being in my 40s. Something about the squeeze makes me feel better.

also, if you just want to hear about peoples’ days- I went to a sort of Comicon thing today and nearly got wiped out by R2D2.
cheeky git wheeled straight for me 😂

Hey, I am here, how are you now?

Been having really similar and have posted about it. Sorry I havent read all the comments.

First for a really quick fix, have you tried the dive response reflex? Fill a basic with cold water, lean well over and fully submerge your head. Hold your breath for 20 - 30 seconds. Its a quick reset.

I have been given distress intolerance work to go through by my therapist and it has helped so much. The key is to remember and engage the fact that although your thoughts and feelings may feel big or overwhelming, they are still just thoughts and feelings and you can experience them without getting swept away by them.

You are safe. Your thoughts are just thoughts, and even if you did have a panic attack, which you won't because we are here supporting you, you will be okay anyway. Is it nice? Not at all, but its all a safe experience and you will get through it.

Try to detach, observe what you are feeling for a few seconds, recognise that you are feeling anxious, but remind yourself that you can cope, you will get through this moment, and then you need to redirect your attention. You do not need to engage with the thoughts or fight them in any way, just keep trying to acknowledge them, remind yourself that you dont have to get caught up in them, and then focus on something more positive and self care minded. Read the thread, focus on a hot cup of tea, put something naff on the telly.

How do you feel now? X

If there’s a late night chemist I find the Bach flower pastilles (yellow tin) very helpful. I am going through a prolonged period of stress with my business and these help the knot in my stomach dissipate . Not sure if the relief is all in my mind but it helps to feel I’m doing something to relieve it

Listen to yoga nidra. I’m sorry you feel so dreadful.

This too will pass! Every five minutes, every half hour and hour you get through, are a little victory.

Comfort or compelling viewing is my recommendation. I can watch sitcoms like Friends, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and so on and they are soothing. What are some of your favourite TV shows? Put one on.

Try the 5 4 3 2 1 grounding technique. 5 things you can see. 4 things you can hear. 3 things you can touch. 2 things you can smell. One thing you can taste.
take your shoes and socks off and really feel the floor beneath you.
look at the Childline website toolbox/calm zone- you do not have to to be a child to need calming ideas.
piece of paper with a-z on the left. Think of categories like clothing female names male names countries animals birds and write them down ie Angela Barbara Charlotte etc etc

This is just a feeling. Well done for seeing your GP. Also look at docready.org.uk for prep for seeing GP. In my experience books are too long term, you need something g immediate. In the longer term build your box of things that help, knowing that some times, a thing will work and other times it won’t-which doesn’t mean it never will, just its not the right to g right now.