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Do any of you suddenly get anxiety that has no trigger? You are not thinking anything negative, not doing any negative self talk, you are not obsessing, everything is fine. Then, bam, you just feel jumpy for no reason at all. This usually happens to me about 11 am about every day and I cannot figure out what is causing it. Today, I decided to "head it off" so I was doing Lucinda's relaxation tape, was all calm and relaxed and right after the 2nd section, I suddenly felt jumpy. Anyone else experience this and what do you do about it?

Samcat,

Absolutely!! I am on lesson 4 right now and while I have panic attacks, most of my anxiety is from out of the blue and it's generalized - like I'm just "on". I've had a couple of really good days and then today it's been one of those massive anxiety for absolutely no reason days.

I have been doing the deep breathing exercises and while it's helped, I still feel "ON".

Anyone else who is a little further along or has experience with this have any advice? Thanks!

This has happened to me several times. I was sitting one night watch the Monday Night Football game. I was only watching because my husband wanted to watch it, anyway, all of sudden my heart started RACING very fast and I became very anxious and jumpy. It freaked me out!!! I called my dr and she told me I was just having an anxiety/panic attack and she said that I needed to calm down and relax. Ok, how was supposed to do this when I wasn't upset and was worried about anything?!?!?!?!?!?

What I do now is read the Bible, watch a funny film, talk to a friend, exercise, been reading books about anxiety/panic attacks...also how is your eating habits?

I eat really healthy foods and have avoided caffeine and sugar like the plague since I listened to lesson 5 last year. So I doubt it is any food stimulants.

gstroop28 has described what I am talking about to a "T", the feeling of being "on". I even asked my psychiatrist about it and he was stumped. He suggested exercise, so maybe I should try that in the morning to burn off some adrenaline. Frankly, I think some of you people on this board have a better handle on this condition than a lot of M.D.s do, because you actually have it and some of you have overcome it.

I could see how Monday Night Football could get you going. It is loud and noisy and maybe you got excited rooting for your team and the old adrenaline started flowing and your body just reacted without your mind triggering anything.

Somtimes I think after we have this garbage a while, our bodies become hypersentive to adrenaline , cortislol and sodium lactate. My shrink told me that one of his patients cannot play too much racquetball because the sodium lactate will build up in his body and then he gets a panic attack.

This is strange country we are wandering in, isn't it??

I just wanted to chime in and say that, Yes, this happens to me on occasion. I'll be relaxed, doing something, then from out of nowhere the anxiety comes. You are not alone in this for sure! Take care!

I work on my bicycle! Any kind of distraction helps.

Samcat -

Something from your post caught my eye. You mentioned that it usually happens every day about the same time. Do you think that you have begun to either consciously or subsconciously come to expect it at that time? If that's the case, then the anticipation could be playing a role. Even if it's not the anticipation, then it could just be the pattern. For example, if you start to feel a body symptom at that time of day, do you then think that "this is it, it's starting again"? I'm not really sure if this is the case for you, but I know that it has happened to me. I've experience what I thought were random panic attacks but as I started to analyze them, I realized there was a pattern whether it was the time of day, related to another event (like after eating), or various other reasons.

Jamie

Thanks Jamie,

The same thought has also occured to me. The happening around the same time every day is what I think is strange about it. You could have a good point. Thanks for your input--it is always good!

It is 11:30 now and I am going downstairs to get on the elliptical machine and see what happens. Sometimes we just have to experiment on ourselves to find out what works and what doesn't.

Well put, Samcat. This disorder is so hard to sort out, sometimes the best approach is the good old guess and check method. So how did it work out for you the other day? Did the exercise help?

Hi Jamie,

Yes, I think it did. Exercise always helped me with the anxiety, but when I really got into it last year, I tried doing squats and did them the wrong way. That gave me patellea femoral symdrome, which is a fancy way of saying your knees hurt. That really bummed me out, because even though I went to an orthopedic doc and did physical therapy, the knees still bug me. So I got an elliptical machine--supposed to be easier on your knees than a treadmill. They still hurt though--guess that is just tough luck. I am going to have keep experimenting around to find out what I can tolerate in the exercise area.

Thanks for asking. That was very considerate of you.

BTW, I also PM'ed Carolyn and never got an answer. I hope she is not sick--that is not like her to not answer. So I PM'ed baked pears (Tammy) and she told me she is no longer a moderator, but would contact someone at the StressCenter.com.