What kind of anxiety is this?

[FluffyFeathers]

I want to tackle my anxiety with self help stuff or therapy but mine does not seem to fit with the descriptions. So when I try to address it, the stuff I’m looking at doesn’t really apply to me so I can’t identify.
I worry intermittently and now and again spiral and go off the charts.
I don’t think I have generalised anxiety. I don’t feel anxious all the time for no reason.
I maybe have a bit of health anxiety but don’t imagine every little thing is something bad.
But sometimes I react to something that has happened- situation, medical issue, something involving my kids/family - and worry totally disproportionately 24/7. And it floors me. Yet when the issue resolves I calm down and I’m good again.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? I’ve tried telephone guided cbt but didn’t engage with it. Any books? Natural remedies?

Not keen on taking meds. Tried in the past but didn’t really help.

Thank you.

Anxiety is anxiety - it can directed in different ways (social, health, etc) but the feelings are the same.

Yet when the issue resolves I calm down and I’m good again. That's anxiety doing it's job correctly!!

Have a look at this video and see if it resonates;

This is me OP. Cut down on caffeine and alcohol and up exercise big time. Eat healthily too as serotonin is made in your gut.

Thanks. I’ve seen that video before and tbh it doesn’t really do anything for me. He seems to be talking about generalised or social anxiety. Not what I’ve got where I get along nicely then all of a sudden something happens and I start worry so much I almost shut down. Then I am ok again.
Of course I agree that everyone worries about stuff, it’s only natural, but how do you stop the debilitating worry about things you have no control over. How do you accept that? Sorry I’m not being very clear.

I do excercise and eat healthy anyway and have the odd alcoholic drink.

Is there such a thing as reactive anxiety? I know there is reactive depression.
Is this what I’ve got?

What kind of things are you anxious about?

I'm hyper vigilant due to complex PTSD and I can be totally fine one minute and absolutely freaked out the next if I hear/smell something or even if I just think about something that could be a risk to me.

Different things. Might be a health worry for myself or family members.
Usually things where you cannot control the outcome. Wait and see what happens things.

This is me too and I'm sorry I probably can't help, but I am going through exactly the same thing. Mine is triggered by dental pain, after I had an abscess and was in horrific pain all weekend. Any twinge now and I go into panic mode and it spirals out of control. It doesn't help that my dentist is awful and has berated and humiliated me so many times, that I now have anxiety about the pain and going to the dentist.

What meds have you tried? I did go the Drs about 6 months ago and he wanted to prescribe antidepressants, which I don't want. I'm not against them, but I can go months and feel ok, so I don't think they're right for me in this situation. If there was something I could take when I had an anxiety attack, I would definitely try it. My Dr also gave me a link to some NHS leaflets, but they were useless! They all ended with sleep well! I'd love to be able to sleep when I'm hyperventilating in the middle of an anxiety attack.

Have you tried mindfulness meditation? I'm just looking into that now. I used to be able to listen to something on my Fitbit app and it really helped me to feel calm enough to sleep, but they've all changed now. Longer term though, I want to be able to find something to change my mindset, so I can stop the spiralling.

Do you have anyone you can talk to about it? I have tried talking to my partner, but he doesn't get it. He can't understand why I worry about things that are not in my control and might not even happen! He says to just stop thinking about it...if only it was so simple!

I hope you can find something that helps, as I know how debilitating these anxiety attacks are when they happen.

Hi. Thanks for that. I’m the same in that I can go long periods of time when I’m fine. Then just go off on one.

DH is the same. He understands but he doesn’t worry about things like I do. Says there is no point. So much easier said than done. And because I worry about family and their situations too, I cannot talk to friends about it because they don’t want other people knowing their business. And rightly so. And I worry more about my family/kids than anything these days.

Again the same with meds. Because it’s not all the time, I don’t think I need them. Maybe I do but I dread the side effects and the last time I was on them they made minimal difference. I still worried after 6 months. The doc just chucked them at me coz I was crying in his office about what was going on at the time. The problem resolved and I felt better as a result.

Im just fed up of being like this. As far as meditation, excercise and all the things I should be doing, well when I have an episode I cannot engage with it and when I’m better I think I don’t need it.