Guess I'm not the only Freak!

I have stopped counting at how many "good days" I have had lately! Its been that many! HOORAY (knock on wood of course).

I went to see a psychologist, to teach me strategies with how to move on and deal with the panic. She turned out to be a bit of a fruit cake really...trinkets all over the office, dream catchers, crazy hair...you know the type. One minute she was speaking all clinical then the next was "what's your sign?" REALLY?

As then session ended I asked for what I came for....ONE strategy to help me with the panic. Seeing as the fee she charged was $150.00 per hour I was sure she was the one with all the answers.

She handed me a paper bag and proceeded to give me the step by step on how to breath into the bag when things get bad. Um......REALLY????I was hoping for something a little more...I don't know....what's the word....realistic? I'm sure it works for some people, but I reallly can't see using that while teaching!

Needless to say I know have a new lunch bag for school tomorrow!

Ugh

16 Comments

I Know the Type

by Bionic Man - 2010-01-10 07:01:25

I'm picturing her looking like Mrs Roper from "Threes Company" It's great you're having good days. It is certainly a battle. After seeing what she charges I think I'm in the wrong business. Hopefully for $150 it's a reusable lunch bag.
Thanks for giving me a "good day". I was having a down one today and it picked me up.
Good Luck,
Bob

$150.00

by wenditt - 2010-01-10 08:01:57

For 150.00 it damn well better be a magical bag! But I am thinking it the school lunch bag idea falls apart, my daughter and I could also make a hand puppet with it!!!!!

Known a Couple ~ ~

by Carolyn65 - 2010-01-10 09:01:05

It is great to hear you are doing so much better so far. I think you were doing better off on your on without that "character" you called your psych ~ $150.00/HR?

I have only known of two. Both crazy! Each one over the years were a Mother to a student where I was an administrative secretary. After meeting the Mothers, I could understand very well why the two students were and had the problems they did. Both of the Mothers were "loose as a Goose"/"2 shades to the winds""both on cloud 9" and both loved wild, bright, crazy colors. Neither could carry on an intelligent conversation.

Please find you a professional who is aware of the panic attacks. There are thousands of us who have some form or another of these attacks, some worse than others. Mine is of heights, even short heights.

Good Luck to You ~ ~
Carolyn G. in TEXAS GO UT BASKETBALL!

Anxiety

by Pookie - 2010-01-10 10:01:24


I too, as you know, struggled with anxiety and full blown panic attacks for the first 2 yrs of having my pacemaker.

I too have seen 3 psychologists at $150/hour, during the past 5 yrs, but only one (in my opinion) gave me the tools in which I could help myself work out of the anxiety. (I have also been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ~ which is another story)

This is what he said: "Every time you have worried over your pacemaker, and ended up having a panic attack; thinking you were going to die; you have been 100% wrong 100% of the time."

After he said that, I said to myself..."What the F?"

But he kept looking at me and kept repeating it, over and over and over again. I thought HE was nuts !!!!

But....He was right!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I finally "got it".

Meaning: every time I started to worry, which then built into stress, which then built into anxiety, which then built into a panic attack (thinking I was about to die); nothing happened....nothing.....I didn't die !!!

He taught me to look back at the panic attacks (or even the really stressful moments) and realize that all they amounted to was: feeling really really terrible for what? Nothing.

So, after that, when I would feel the stress coming on, it didn't amount to anything any more because I knew where it would go - to a full blown panic attack - and I learned that going thru it would mean nothing in the end, other than feeling really yucky with no benefits.

Does this make sense?

I know I'm not explaining it like he did, but I'm also not charging you $150 per hour....LOL.

Pookie

It makes perfect sense

by wenditt - 2010-01-10 10:01:53

I had my "A ha" moment the other day. It seems silly because all of you have told me 100,000 times that people with PM live long healthy lives.....so I suppose at 100,001 I finally listened!

I am calmer now anyway (Xanax creator should be granted Sainthood) and I am learning to let go of the PAC's a lot better now. Clearly I am only what....3 weeks in to this new found freedom so I am NO expert....but whatever lightbulb was turned on, switch flicked, whatever...it's working!

I am happy again....happy to just be my old self again.

Just hoping it all lasts!

okay people

by jessie - 2010-01-11 02:01:35

you learn to cope with the panic by telling your body to calm down. you won't die. you use the paerb ag it helps the breathing.i hope this helps i taught s lot of people to cope with giving the m the power to tell themselves it is okay. in other words i encouage them to reassure them sel jessie

paper bag

by jessie - 2010-01-11 02:01:57

i meant paper bag

I concer on the xanex

by walkerd - 2010-01-11 07:01:08

my mom has been on those for some years my brother and I werent aware of it we knew she was on pain killers butttttt...she has had alot thrown on her table her sister died, brother got killed, dad had four bypasses got diminsha, then was diagonosed with cancer and lasted four months, then her mom whom they had cared for for numerous years died. she had been a nurse in cardiac care and hurt her back lifting a patient up and had to retire, meds for pain, bla bla then she moved up here i had noticed before all she did was sleep, now Im worried to death about her as I know she is addicted to this crap and I blame the doctors for just writing scripts for this crap. Saint hood my you know what, legal drug dealers is what i think.... sorry to rant but this one is close to my heart which doesnt need this kind of stress put on it. Im at my wits end on what to do.
and also sorry for hijacking this thread. Im so glad your doing much better with all the good days, and sorry but I think you got ripped off for the so called treatment....
dave

I don't normally do this..but

by wenditt - 2010-01-11 08:01:06

but I have to stick up for myself here.

I realize many people have different ideas about the use of Xanax. And I can appreciate that. But what I can also appreciate is that on the lowest dose once per day I have my life back.

I have checked with several doctors and at this dose I am not in danger of addiction. I appreciate your concern as I am hopeful that was the root for some of the comments. I am not on the track to addiction rather on the track to moving on and if this is the path that I have to take then so be it.

Clearly I am in therapy....attempting to learn strategies so that I don't need the Xanax. BUT.....without those strategies under my belt yet it would be premature for me to try to do it alone. I've been doing that for 13 weeks and it wasn't working.

I certainly applaud all of you that can just tell yourself "it's ok" and then it is. I applaud all of you that got your pacemakers and walked away from it all perfectly fine. I was unable to do so.

So I applaud myself for taking the steps I need to to walk away from it too.

do what you need to do

by cfritza - 2010-01-11 10:01:51

I think Wendy that you need to do what you need to do. As long as your aware that Xanax is not a long term answer no drug should be. This is something new your learning to deal with and if Xanax is making your life more liveable right now than I say more power to you. We do all deal with things in our own way and what works for some of us may not be for others. You sound like you know what you need right now and I wish the best to you! Carol

price

by justme - 2010-01-11 12:01:03

Oh, and I paid $75 per hour. It was worth well more than that.

My 2 cents worth...

by Pookie - 2010-01-11 12:01:31

I agree with cfritza.

I too turned to Ativan (which is the same as Xanax, just called a different name here in Canada).

It helped me over the hump. Then I weaned myself off of it. I too heard horror stories about it. As long as one is aware and is responsible, which I know you are, you will do fine.

I too was on the lowest dose possible and what it did for me was to "take the edge off" until I was able to learn (through therapy) how to deal with what had happened to me. I was also diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, 5 yrs after the fact, but hey, life is life and I'll eventually get help for this too.

We just don't want you to end up dependent on Xanax, which can easily happen, so just be aware.

I think you are doing a great job as I've been following your story since you first posted. You'll be fine and ^5 to you for taking the steps necessary to help yourself and your family through this bump in your life.

Hugs,
Pookie

No Sainthood for Xanax

by ted - 2010-01-11 12:01:48

I'm so happy that you seem to be making some headway with your anxiety/panic issues. But, I wouldn't go so far as to annoint the inventor of Xanax with either sainthood or a Nobel Prize. Xanax is a highly addictive drug not meant to be taken for long periods of time. Xanax is not meant to be a solution for life's problems and has probably hurt more people than it has helped because it turns them into zombies who become so out of it, that they are not capable of getting real and lasting help for their problems.

Better Days

by bgarza - 2010-01-11 12:01:55

Xanex became my friend on 31 May 2009. I got my PM on 24 Apr 09. It took over a month of adjustments and two full blown anxiety attacks that landed me in the ER for me to get help. By help, I mean the Xanex. At that point, my cardiologist reviewed all my meds and prescribed 20mg of Paxil and 25mg of Xanex. The Paxil was to help with the anxiety and the Xanex as a fast acting med to calm an anxiety attack. He said that I should aim at being off the Paxil by April and I have not needed to take a Xanex since late June. All does get better and we just re-frame our feelings to talk ourselves out of the anxiety. But I feel that the Xanex was a big help in the beginning. I hope that you continue having good days and I KNOW that all days will soon be good. Take care and have a wonderful and blessed day - Blanca

a method that worked wonders...

by justme - 2010-01-11 12:01:56

For starters, I am a trained and liscensed therapist...but when it came to REALLY needing it for me related to all this heart crap I was mildly clueless where to turn exactly. I was overly traumatized by my first procedure where everyone said I would be comfortable and asleep and the Dr came in and said that I could be neither b/c of the problem he was trying to fix...and then proceeded to bring me to the brink of death wide awake countless times over the ensuing hours...including shocking me back into sinus rhythm while awake and without sedation. I came out of it compeletely messed up and unable to function with flashbacks and everything. So long story short, I knew that I needed help, and was even willing to try meds, but know that there are evidence based practices that can work especially for trauma and panic and stuff.
So, I got a referral from a university dean (I'm a therapist and an academic...and my boss told her boss who happens to be a major trauma researcher).
Mildly long story short: find someone certified in EMDR. It may sound loopy, but it's basically a form of trauma exposure therapy that deals with the mind body connection. It is also VERY FAST. I went for 5 sessions in 2 weeks started with clinical diagnosis of accute PTSD ended with no diagnosis and had a second heart surgery in between. It helped sooooo much that even thinking about the really scary pieces I cannot force myself to panic, it's like I've already conqured that. So paying $$ for therapy, you totally get your money's worth from it, I thought I was going to have to be in long term therpy the trauma felt that huge (and I'm trained...and that's what I went into it thinking). I was shocked (no pun intended) by how quick it was and how good it worked. Sooooooo many people who saw me before who didn't know that I had gone commented on the difference it was that marked. People who knew that I went were even more amazed.
The therapist may be a bit quirkey, and the process may seem just looking at it to be strange, and I never thought I would say this, but it really works. There are many different modalities for it, if you can find someone who will do the direct eye movement therapy (as opposed to tappers or sound) the process will move even faster...I would recommend it to anyone.

My coments

by walkerd - 2010-01-12 07:01:11

werent meant to be disrespectful I was worried about you takeing to many of these wonder drugs. I wish you all the luck with your recovery and hope your good days keep going.

dave

You know you're wired when...

You have an excuse for gaining an extra ounce or two.

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