You Live and Learn

For a full week I skipped the gym, and I had to learn the hard way, that it was a mistake.  The short time I had been going to the gym turned out to be a great way for me to release my stress, anger, and anxiety.  I know that it’s almost common knowledge, but when you learn for yourself, and you get a chance to experience the positive effects of regular exercise, it’s even more awesome.  The  week we didn’t go to the gym was just pure laziness.  I have always had an anxiety disorder, but it had been getting worse these past few years, and for the second time this year I had a panic attack at work.

Monday morning started off the same as it always has, I pray that it’s actually Sunday, then I get ready and head to work.  At around noon I started to feel shaky, faint, short of breath, chest discomfort, tingly, etc.  I knew the drill, I just had to breathe in and out, concentrate, and wait for it to pass.  Only, it just got worse as the time ticked buy, and I tried harder and harder to reign it in.   Great, I happen to be having one of the worst panic attacks, at the office.  I was experiencing 8 of the 13 symptoms below, for 3 hours straight, before I gave in and went home.  

“According to the DSM-IV-TR, a panic attack is characterized by four or more of the following symptoms: “
1. palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate
2. sweating
3. trembling or shaking
4. sensations of shortness of breath or smothering
5. feeling of choking
6. chest pain or discomfort
7. nausea or abdominal distress
8. feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded, or faint
9. feelings of unreality (derealization) or being detached from oneself (depersonalization)
10. fear of losing control or going crazy
11. fear of dying
12. numbness or tingling sensations (paresthesias)
13. chills or hot flushes

Luckily my cousin had some meds handy and with a nice concoction I started to feel “better.”  I had to miss work the next day, because I still had half of the symptoms of the day before.  by this morning, I was actually starting to feel almost normal again, when this afternoon, it started all over again. Tingling followed by lightheadedness, then pounding heart, the fear of losing control, and shortness of breath etc.  I tried to calm down on my own, to no avail.  I finally sat down and spoke to a friend/coworker.  They too suffer from anxiety,and we were able to have a short conversation, that seemed to help me overcome it.  I decided that I will no longer skip gym time, which I have so quickly begun to depend on.  I knew I had been feeling really antsy, lately, and I that voice was chiding me for not listening.

-Madeline