Let me start by saying I purchased the tape series 9 years ago and have sporadically tried on & off to follow through with it.

I have suffered from anxiety and depression on and off for the last 22 years. My first memorable panic attack was when I was 14 years old.

I take an anti-depressant (imipramine) and an anti-anxiety medication (xanax) to control things. I had been to the point where I would take a xanax for social situations only and then the positive dialogue thing would work.

Since October, I have been having MAJOR panic attacks the week before my period, during my period and the week after my period and I'm taking a lot of xanax but now it doesn't seem like anything is working to control these unless I'm medicated 24 hours a day. Even on medication, I still worry and obsess constantly about the darn attacks.

I can't even get close to getting rid of this fear of the attacks themselves no matter how hard I try. It's almost like I need to be medicated to build up my confidence to do things and then slowly work my way up to doing whatever it is that I need to do. For example, I needed to go to the grocery store & the pharmacy. I was able to do them even though I was anxious as crazy and when I came home I had the mother of all panic attacks.

I can't figure out for the life of me what's wrong. I am trying to get in to see a psychiatrist to see if he can help me. My anticipatory anxiety is totally over the edge and I have no safe place or person and I cannot seem to control these.

I've tried the relaxation tape but and it works but as soon as I stop doing something and have quiet time, I'm right to being a basket case.

Am I beyond help because I can't seem to work this system?

I think you said it in your first paragraph. Off & on you have tried to apply the program over the last nine years. The program takes committment & consistency. Without those two things it will not work. The program builds upon itself. With practice come permenance. You need to start with lesson 1 stay there for a week follow the lesson plan than take your next step. You can't skip around, you can't do it for a month, stop for a time then start again. I do not think you are "beyond help". I think maybe your approach is off.
Also you may want to consider getting a coach through the midwest center. It might be the additional support you need. You can give them a call & they can tell you about it.

If you go to "General Comments/ support" you will find a posting called "Does your anxiety worsen around your period?"

I can tell you that it does for me big time.
There is a lot of useful info on this topic. I think that you might want to check it out.
Let me know how it goes...

Hi there Tammy, You asked "Am i beyond help because i can't work this system?" The answer to that is "NO". People come to this Program at different stages of their lives, with different levels and intensitites of fear. Some others will understand what's happening with you and some won't, so try not to compare yourself with others that are going further with this system. There was a time in my life when I would have been completely unable to work this program or any program, because the level of the panic in my body was so incredibly high...it was all i could do just to move from one room in my apartment to another. My body was in such a high state of terror, my nervous system was way over the top. In those days, i too took imipramine. At one point i took Zoloft for 8 months, which helped quite a bit.(it's not for everyone) I was not in any shape to be able to work a program. Nobody seemed able to help me. I read everything i could on panic disorder. Friends tried taking me outside eventually, for short walks. It took a very long time until i could venture a couple of blocks from home. Perhaps I could have worked on the rest of the Program at that time but certainly i was not Ready to deal with the attacks outdoors. There is such a thing as "being ready". I learned to pat myself on the back for the smallest things! Believe it or not, when i started to be able to walk around the area i lived in, maybe 5 blocks in any direction...i attended a 3 year course at a school for Training in Psychotherapy, where i did receive my certificate as a Counsellor and Therapist. It was in that school that I learned many skills and techniques with which to GROUND myself, to cultivate a feeling of safety within myself....there was alot of hands-on work going on there, i mean that the students (age 20 through 70!) used what they learned...together...in dyads. Not a traditional school. Through the use of these tools, i eventually felt quite a bit less afraid....of my feelings, of fear itself, of finding out what was 'wrong' with me. Sometimes working with a Good therapist can be so helpful and so necessary. It is only YOU who knows if you are just avoiding doing the work in this program, or if you genuinely feel you cannot do it the way you are feeling. You may be Ready and you may not be. But whatever stage you're at, there is help for you! I'm not sure how Xanax works...if it is in the same type of family as Valium, than i do know (first-hand) that it would be addictive. If it is that type of drug, then it's possible that it can cause the panic symtoms to be worse. That's how minor tranquilizers work. Anti-depressants don't work that way. I can make a couple of suggestions around helping symptoms around your period. One) Pure Progesterone Cream, made at your pharmacy...it really helps and you can ask how to take it. Two) There is something called Noni Juice, which is helping me...with hormonal stuff and also with the adrenal gland (which gushes out panic feelings) Thing is, it's expensive...like $90 a month! My aunt has been helping me with that one. I hope you are able to apply yourself to this program we are all trying to do our best at. Even if you need to spend alot of time on one lesson.
A reading that helped me out in such a major way, several years ago, was called "The Voice Dialogue Manual" by Hal Stone and Sidra Winkelman. It's something you can practice yourself. Please feel free to write back, if you like. God bless, Linda (Toronto)

------------------
Linda

quote:

Originally posted by TammyW:
Let me start by saying I purchased the tape series 9 years ago and have sporadically tried on & off to follow through with it.

I have suffered from anxiety and depression on and off for the last 22 years. My first memorable panic attack was when I was 14 years old.

I take an anti-depressant (imipramine) and an anti-anxiety medication (xanax) to control things. I had been to the point where I would take a xanax for social situations only and then the positive dialogue thing would work.

Since October, I have been having MAJOR panic attacks the week before my period, during my period and the week after my period and I'm taking a lot of xanax but now it doesn't seem like anything is working to control these unless I'm medicated 24 hours a day. Even on medication, I still worry and obsess constantly about the darn attacks.

I can't even get close to getting rid of this fear of the attacks themselves no matter how hard I try. It's almost like I need to be medicated to build up my confidence to do things and then slowly work my way up to doing whatever it is that I need to do. For example, I needed to go to the grocery store & the pharmacy. I was able to do them even though I was anxious as crazy and when I came home I had the mother of all panic attacks.

I can't figure out for the life of me what's wrong. I am trying to get in to see a psychiatrist to see if he can help me. My anticipatory anxiety is totally over the edge and I have no safe place or person and I cannot seem to control these.

I've tried the relaxation tape but and it works but as soon as I stop doing something and have quiet time, I'm right to being a basket case.

Am I beyond help because I can't seem to work this system?

[This message has been edited by Mo (edited 03-21-2001).]

Mo - are you trying to say something that's not getting through? I've received two notices stating that you've posted a response but I'm not seeing anything?

Dear Tammy,

I too have had problems with my anxiety worsening a week before my period. And here are the things that have helped. Watch what you eat! I cannot stress this enough. Stay away from chocolate, sugar, caffine, and high amounts of sodium. These things cause your body to retain water which causes mood disorders from PMS. Take a dieretic (water pill) it will help allieviate the water you have retained. Also benadryl helps a lot.


Also as far as the anticipatory anxiety is concerned, I think your trying to hard to control it. Insted LET IT HAPPEN. I know how difficult this is but it's the only way you will prove to your self that this "thing"
CAN NOT HURT YOU. Think about it this way, how many times have you had a panic attack that came true? For example if you are afraid of fainting, have you ever actually fainted? If you have obsesive scary thoughts have they ever come true? My guess would be NO. You just have to accept the FACT that this is just anxiety and the ONLY thing it can do is scare you and nothing more.

Hope this helps you

Mellie

[This message has been edited by mellie (edited 03-27-2001).]

[This message has been edited by mellie (edited 03-27-2001).]