Last summer I had a surgery that set off panic attacks for the first time in my life, and I have been battling a severe anxiety disorder ever since with some depression and horrible insomnia. I have been prescribed every psychotropic drug known to man since then, and I either can't tolerate the side effects, or it gives me depression rather than helping, or I have had an allergic reaction. I am at my wits end.
As far as the panic/anxiety disorder, I am in therapy, and reading that book about help for your nerves by Claire Weekes.
But as far as I am concerned, I think it may be very possible that I have some sort of hormone imbalance, especially because I wake up out of a dead sleep to severe panic attacks and can't sleep past 4:30 in the morning. I used to LOVE sleeping, and now it's a literal nightmare to stay asleep (although I usually fall asleep no problem at night, because I am so exhausted from dealing with such severe anxiety all day). It has progressed to an absolute paranoia of everything almost. I can't believe what has happened to me, it's just unbelievable to be dealing with this.
At any rate, next week I will be seeing Holtof Medical Group in Torrance, CA, they specialize in bio identical hormone replacement therapy and other endocrine disorders. I will be interested to see what happens as far as hormones, vitamin defiencies, etc.
Has anyone done anything like this for a similar issue and did it help?
I am so debilitated by this and am desperate to do anything that might help. I have a husband and 3 kids who need their mom back.
Thank you.
I do take the bio-identical hormones for thyroid and progesterone. They have made quite a difference in my life. I have friend that had a complete hysterectomy at a young age and after she went on the bio-identical hormones she was able to quit her anti-depressants.
Good Luck! It sounds like you are on the right track and I'd love to hear how it works out for you. I don't technically have an anxiety disorder but had PTSD from a traumatic event as a child (I was only 3 and don't remember anything) but I could only sleep for about 2-3 hours a night and had very bad chronic nightmares.
I went through a bio-feedback/cognitive association therapy that worked wonders for my nightmares and ptsd when I was a child. If any of your doctors have recommended this I say go for it.
Sleep dep can be very rough on you and your family and being combined with anxiety has got to be just awful for you *hugs*. I wish you the best.
Dear T.L.
Boy can I relate to what you have written. I was identified with perimenopause three years ago and was put on bio identical a few months after. It really made a HUGE difference. It took approximately 2 months for me to feel fully myself again, but I started to feel the effects of the hormones in about two weeks.
In the meantime, have you tried Bach's Rescue Remedy and Bach's Sleep Remedy? They are both fantastic! They were great bandaids in the interim until I was feeling better.
Additionally, some supplements you may want to consider are: fish oil (for mood balance), B 12 for energy, and D for mood balance.
Finally, if you can get out and take a brisk walk in the sun for about 30 minutes a day that will also help.
Once you are on the hormones you will feel incredibly better.
BTW: What I discovered was that once I started getting good sleep the anxiety attacks and depression were gone. There is something with hormone imbalances that causes sleep deprivation. You may be sleeping, but just might not be getting good REM sleep, which is the restorative sleep.
Feel free to reply back if you need encouragement. No need to go through this alone!!
If I could have afforded it, I certainly would have done it. I, too, have had similiar problems, though not quite as severe. I still have issues with insomnia & depression which I think is caused by hormonal issues and stress. I also think this is what causes my IBS issues. Forget all the psychotropic drugs. I don't think they help anything. Meditation, exercise and eating healthy are what helps me. I believe hormones cause a lot more problems that most people are aware of. Good luck to you! I know how horrible it is to not be able to sleep.
Another thing to consider. I have heard that even though a person is under anesthesia during surgery, another part of the brain remembers everything they went through. Maybe you could work with someone who deals with hypnosis and EMDR to release trauma you might have experienced due to surgery.
It sounds like some of the other moms had hormonal issues that were causing the panic attacks, anxiety and insomnia. I would definitely get hormonal issue rules out by an endocrinologist, but I am a therapist and it sounds like a classic case of panic disorder to me--especially the part about being awakened by panic attacks. I would find a TRUE cognitive-behavioral therapist in your area at www.abct.org and order the following book: Mastery of Your Anxiety and Panic: Client Workbook by David Barlow and Michelle Craske. It has been empirically proven in clinical trials to be effective for panic disorder. I would try this before doing something biomedical if you haven't been diagnosed with a hormone problem. Good luck!
You don't say how old you are, but when you reach menopause or even periomenopause, as the hormones drop, in addition to hot flashes which some women experience and others don't, you can also experience panic attacks and anxiety as well as the inability to sleep -- it's all hormone related. I am on biodentical hormones and now feel like a normal human being -- the hot flashes for me every half hour with heart palpitations (which is another symptom) were unbearable as well as debilitating, and I didn't know how much my heart could take as well as the constant heat.
My sister-in-law experienced panic attacks and anxiety when she went through menopause and had to take a medication to combat that until she got the other side of menopause -- stopped it and she is fine now although she still has sleep problems -- waking up several times in the night and gets up real early in the morning. She hasn't taken any hormones. As I said, for me I am 60 and still take the biodenticals and it has helped me so tremendously. Vertigo is another thing that can happen in menopause -- no one tells women how much estrogen and testosterone affect so many parts of us in addition to the sex parts. It has been quite a journey and learning experience -- so many women suffer in silence although more has come out about it than in the past. Suzanne Somers book "The Sexy Years" and her later book have helped with information and go on Oprah www.oprah.com and plug in menopause in search -- she has a LOT of information there about it -- a year ago she had several shows concerning menopause.
The only thing is that my insurance doesn't cover biodenticals because they made with natural plants such as soy and yam (especially ground by a pharmacist) so once I year I pay out of pocket to see a physician's assistant who prescribes them for me and pay out of pocket to buy them from the compounding pharmacy I get them from but for me (and my husband) it's well worth it.
Good luck -- the right answer is out there for you.
I don't know if this is related at all...but I think you may be on the right track.
When I started peri-menopause and hot flashes, I found out that I have the severe type of menopause, with numerous flashes- numerous per hour. I started having panic attacks just before they hit, it was absolutely hideous. It was explained to me that it was hormonal. Just by chance I was given medication for a Shingles outbreak that has helped me tremendously. If you want the name of it, message me privately so you can discuss it with your physician.
Hope you feel better soon!
(hugs)
