Oh, how the list goes on in my head!!! But, my two largest and worst anxiety triggers are as follow: I thought I was having heart problems for years because I keep getting this flippy feeling in my chest that goes up my throat. Every time this would happen, panic would kick in and just take off. This was a HUGE symptom for me to conquer. I was terrified of dying and leaving my children without a mother. One day, my doctor told me that this is a very normal heart rhythm that everyone has and some people are more likely to feel it than others. She said that panickers feel it more because we are more intuned with our bodies and every little bump and grind that doesn't feel right. Basically, because we pay more attention to it than people who don't panic. Anyway, she also told me that once I realized that this was not something dangerous (which she assured me it isn't) that it would start to go away. So, by working with the Panic Program and going through the steps, I taught myself to stop being afraid of this symptom. I had to constantly remind myself of what my doctor said - CONSTANTLY. And, she was right. I've stopped being afraid of it, and it doesn't happen hardly at all anymore. It does still come now and again, but it doesn't make me want to crawl out of my skin anymore. So, I got rid of that one and now I'm dealing with another, equally difficult, symptom. The light headed, dizzy, derealization nightmare we all deal with. This one is a tough one and I still haven't gotten through it. I keep reminding myself of things I've learned here and I keep telling myself this is just anxiety, this is just anxiety, you're ok, etc.... etc.... But, I still struggle with it every day. Some days are certainly worse than others. Today is proving to be a tough day with it. Actually, I think my allergies have kicked in with the Autumn weather coming and that always makes me dizzy. But, it certainly doesn't help with the anxiety much either!!! Sometimes I wonder if I'm dizzy because of the anxiety or is it something deeper and I'm anxious because of the dizziness?! ;p Really irritating!! However..... I'm going through the Panic Program again and trying to talk myself through this symptom the same as before as with the other trigger. Most days it does help. A work in progress I suppose.

I find it hard to choose just one symptom that i find horrible or worse then the rest. I find most symptoms horrible and scary lol. But i will list only two and how I cope with those so here goes. 1. Feeling like I am choking and out of breath: Oddly enough this happens to me when I am hyperventilating lol which means I am breathing too much too fast and not choking hehe. What really helped me with this was one or two breathing tewchniques (one of which is the box-breathing from this program) which I practice twice a day for 5 minutes everyday. First of all it is a great way to relax. Also, when I do have a panic attack and start hyperventilating, I just lie down and start doing my breathing exercises which controls my hyperventilating and often as I stop hyperentilating many aweful symptoms (like the choking feeling) that come with hyperventilating just go away which makes the whole thing just less scary as a whole. I find that practicing the breathing makes it easier for meto use that tool when panicking. I am so used to those ways of breathing now that I donèt have to think about it during an attack I just go into it and it makes me feel better. So that is my way to cope with that. 2. Feeling like I will have a heart attack: Well this one I guess is kind of made up of many other symptoms like really fast pounding heart beat and chest pain and dizziness and such. Here also the breathing exercise help :) Also, I find that challenging my thoughts about it all really helps. Challenging my thoughts is one of the first things I do when confronted with this. Once I have managed to get back to reality and am no longer convinced I am dying the whole panic thing tends to lessen quickly. So I defenitely am for thought challenging. Also, I find that relaxation techniques work pretty well but only if I am not too far gone. So first thought challenging then breathing then relaxation. Finally I find that I have "safe places" even within my own house, places that make me feel better, so when I am having really bad symptoms that is where I go and that helps me calm down. So none of my coping mechanisms are perfect but they do help me out. I would sure be interested in hearing other peopleès thoughts on this :) -Diva

Hi Espanol 1, Great idea for a thread! Members, jump in and share your experiences! Looking forward to everyone's replies. Casey ________________________________ The PC Support Team

what symptoms of anxiety has been the worst and what did you do to coping those