Starting Back From Anxiety Attacks

Bigger Stronger Leaner
542

[quote]mithious wrote:
Wow. This was my story… Very, very similar. In 2004 (I was 31) I had a near death experience. After I “recovered”, I started having frequent panic attacks / anxiety and depression, landing in the hospital several times.

The second or third time I went to the hospital I thought I had a heart attack WHILE working out. As you can imagine, I didn’t go back to the gym for a long time. Like, a year? As working out is a really big part of my life, this really sucked.

And the lack of exercise made things progressively worse, until I ended up afraid to leave the house at all… Worried that I might pass out on the street.

I got a bit of counsilling. Here in Manitoba, Canada, there is A.D.A.M., Anxiety Disorder Assosiation of Manitoba, which is where I BEGAN to get help.

As much as possible, I stayed away from meds. Just as a personal choice. I now do not take any medication.

I came back to the gym slowly, I found I had atrophied significantly, so I started slow. My heartrate seemed unnaturally fast, and then I realized my cardio conditioning was shot, so I focused on cardio first, weights second, every workout.

Now I’m back, all out. I workout 5-6 days a week, with my old all out intensity. Muscle memory didn’t seem to be there for me, I had to gain every bit back a piece at a time… But then, maybe it just seemed that way.

At one point (when i wasn’t working out, due to anxiety) the doc’s did a stress test for my heart… And it came back normal, in the middle of average, maybe low average, for a guy my age. This is when I realized I wasn’t in good shape. All that time focusing on just muscle. Except for the one that really counts.

Now the heart and cardio system is still my main focus, because of this, I’m more vascular than I ever was before… And my recovery times between sets is better, and I think I get better pumps too.

To sum up:

Dude, I feel your pain. I wish you the best - I hope you make it back. Remember man, your heart is supposed to do beat fast when you exercise. It really is.

My experience taught me to take better care of my health, emotionally and physically. I’m not cured, but i’d say I’m 90% better, and I learn more techniques constantly on how to control my anxiety.

My Advice:

Well, not that anybody really listens to the advice of some stranger… But then, you posted this - so:

  1. talk out your problems as much as you can. with different counsillers, doctors, friends, etc. let it out.

  2. laugh often… laugh loud.

That’s all I got. I wish you well dude. Good luck.

[/quote]

Thanks for sharing your story. I too, spent many years neglecting cardio and once I got back in the gym after my attacks, that was one of the first things I noticed was how quickly my HR shot up. So, like you, I switched to focusing more on endurance and am also doing things like BJJ and Muay Thai that are good workouts for your cardiovascular system, as well as helping to define your body.

543

Hey everyone,
Well, thanks to yet another storm, I wasn’t able to get out to the gym on Friday. I did make my Muay Thai class today and it was very good.

We started out just reviewing the basics like footwork and then throwing jabs, crosses and like, just to get warmed up, as it’d been 2-3 weeks since most of us had been there. After that we put together some combos along with some knees then worked on a 3-on, 3-off schedule with a partner, working on the various techniques.

Afterwards we did some ab work. My conditioning was pretty good, considering I hadn’t been to class in 3 weeks, but the home boxing workouts helped. My knees have definitely improved and my striking was real crisp today, so I was happy with how I performed overall.

Going to try and get to the gym tomorrow but we’ll see how it goes. Going to try out a new church tomorrow morning and then I have to watch the Giants-Eagles game at 2:30 p.m. Hopefully the G-Men can keep it close and somehow come away with a victory. Even with all the crap they’ve gone through this year, the NFC is still weak enough to where if they can put things together, they are still very dangerous.

Well, I’m off to eat lunch and then will do some meditation. Oh, and I’m going to try Sushi tonight, so I’m looking forward to that.

Take care,
Dan

544

Hey everyone,
Changed things up a bit and went to the gym this morning instead of lunch time. I have a dentist appt. @ 2:30 p.m., so that kind of factored into my decision. I ended up having a really good workout, and I think that little change in schedule was good for me.

Here’s the stats:

  1. Jump Shrugs, 8x3: skipped. I’m actually looking to replace this with something else, as the JS were bothering my shoulders.
  2. Max. Hold Squat, 1x120%: 265
  3. Max. Reps Squat, 1 set: 225x4
  4. Max. Hold BB Decline, 1x120%: 245
  5. Max. Reps BB Decline, 1 set: 215x4
    6A. Overhead Squat, 3x3: 75
    6B. Chin-ups, 3x3: BW + 32.5
    7A. 1-arm DB Rows, 3x3: 85
    7B. DB Tricep Overhead Ext., 3x3: 75
    8A. Hand Walks, 3x4: BW
    8B. Cleans, 3x4: 115
  6. Reverse Wrist Curls, 3x5: 60

Weight stayed pretty much the same on all exercises and even went up on a couple, which was good b/c I haven’t been to the gym much in the last 2-3 weeks due to all the snowstorms out here.

Take care,
Dan

545

Safe to assume that the lack of commentary on the sushi meant that you were less than dazzled?

Inquiring minds want to know!

546

[quote]proxy wrote:
Safe to assume that the lack of commentary on the sushi meant that you were less than dazzled?

Inquiring minds want to know![/quote]

It actually wasn’t that bad, better than what I was expecting in my mind, anyway. The tuna, crab and salmon rolls I had were all good.

I definitely ate too much and that kind of deters from the enjoyment when you’re having to pop a handful of Rolaids shortly after dinner.

Would I eat it again? Definitely. I don’t know how often it will be, but it’s definitely worth eating every now and then…although I still prefer my grilled salmon or crab cakes.

547

So, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking recently about faith and spirituality and what I can do to increase those aspects of my life.

My wife and I are in process of trying out several churches in our area, to see which one is the best fit. I was raised Catholic, but I don’t want to make my wife go since she doesn’t understand what’s going on during mass and doesn’t have the desire to convert (she was raised Baptist but her family didn’t pracitce).

We attended a Nazarene church last Sunday and while the message of the pastor’s sermon was good, the service was a bit long for my taste, 90 minutes, and I’m not a big fan of music, and there was a lot of it. We’re going to try out a community church this Sunday, and I believe their service is only an hour.

But, even when I was an altar boy, I never quite understood the devout loyalty people had with attending mass/service EVERY WEEK. To me, it just seemed that people used that to say they were Christians, even though they rarely acted like one outside of the church. Personally, I think you be a practicing Christian, and be a good one, without having to attend mass/service all the time.

So, I was thinking that in addition to my meditation and prayer rituals that I’ve started, I should maybe buy a Bible and a study guide to go along with it and spend a little time each day studying it. Anyone have any recommendations?

And, if anyone has any other thoughts or suggestions on how to increase my spirituality?

Thanks,
Dan

548

Hey Dan,

no suggestions really, just wanted to let you know I think you’re on a really positive path. I totally agree that attending mass doesn’t make you a good Christian, and a good Christian does necessarily attend mass each and every week.

I did the church thing awhile back, and in the end it wasn’t right for me, but it can be an amazing process of self-discovery. My suggestion is to start reading the bible, try different churches, and keep an open mind.

If you find a good fit, that’s awesome. But if you don’t, don’t feel bad about not going - I really don’t think it’s right to attend a church that’s the wrong fit.

You also might want to do some reading about the roots and evolution of Christianity. That can be a really enlightening way of understanding the historical context of the Bible and the faith as a whole.

549

[quote]Jinx Me wrote:
Hey Dan,

no suggestions really, just wanted to let you know I think you’re on a really positive path. I totally agree that attending mass doesn’t make you a good Christian, and a good Christian does necessarily attend mass each and every week.

I did the church thing awhile back, and in the end it wasn’t right for me, but it can be an amazing process of self-discovery. My suggestion is to start reading the bible, try different churches, and keep an open mind.

If you find a good fit, that’s awesome. But if you don’t, don’t feel bad about not going - I really don’t think it’s right to attend a church that’s the wrong fit.

You also might want to do some reading about the roots and evolution of Christianity. That can be a really enlightening way of understanding the historical context of the Bible and the faith as a whole. [/quote]

Thanks, Jinx. As always, you bring some good points to the table.

550

Hey everyone,
Just got back from BJJ and Muay Thai (yes, both!) tonight. Very good workout. In BJJ, we worked on escaping and securing guillotine chokes and also worked some sweeps and sweep defense. In Muay Thai, we worked on stance, footwork and did some pad work for 3-on, 3-off, 3-on, 3-off; working punches first, then punch-knee and punch-kick combos.

Had good energy throughout and even though I’ve had a bit of reflux today, it didn’t really bother me during class, which was good.

Going to the therapist tomorrow for my monthly appointment and then will hit the gym for a HD: Endurance workout.

Take care,
Dan

551

Hey everyone,
Had a really good HD: Endurance workout today. Circuit lasted just over 20 minutes and I had good energy throughout, despite my long workout last night.

Kind of freaked before my workout, though, when I went and weighed myself on the scale. It was reading at 178 or so, which is 5-7 pounds lighter than my average weight. So, I stepped off and zeroed out the scale and sure enough, it wasn’t calibrated. I hate those old scales and it doesn’t help matters when all the old dudes never reset the things, they always start reading heavy or light after a few days of overweight guys stepping on there and then leaving it set on 200 + pounds.

Had a good breakthrough in therapy today. I told the therapist about a dream I had involving my old friends from high school. At first I thought I had the dream b/c I was angry with the fact that they don’t bother to keep in touch with me anymore; but the therapist brought up a good point in that it also is likely meaning that I don’t necesarily miss my old friends, I miss the relationship we have. I’ve said before that one of the things that bums me out from time-to-time is that since I’ve moved out here I don’t have any real close guy friends who I can hang out and watch the game with or go to the gym with or just do guy things. It will nice to get a different perspective on things and that explanation definitely makes sense, because it is something that does bother me and that dream was just my mind’s way of bringing it to the forefront.

Well, I’m taking a well-deserved day off tomorrow. We’re due for ANOTHER STORM starting tomorrow evening. Some reports are another foot, while some are saying a few inches. I’m hoping for the latter, so I can go to the gym on Friday and Muay Thai on Saturday. Either way, it’s definitely going to be COLD!

Take care,
Dan

552

Hey everyone,
Despite the bitter cold, I made it to the gym this morning and had a really good workout. Oh, and the scale has been fixed at the gym, and my weight was at 184, which is right in the normal range for me.

Here’s the stats from today:

1A. Jumping Box Squat, 5x3: BW
1B. Clap Push-ups, 5x3: BW
2. Max. Reps Sumo DL Rack Pulls: 315x3
3. Max. Reps Sumo DL: 255x4 (had to use straps on last rep)
4A. Bulgarian Split Squat, 3x3: BW + 50
4B. Push Press, 3x3: 135
5. Suitcase DL’s, 3x3: 95 (these are harder than they look)
6. Dips, 3x3: BW + 60
7A. External Rotations, 2x12: 10
7B. Reverse Wrist Curls, 2x12: 40

Finished with 10 minutes of stretching, bringing the total workout time to around 50 minutes.

Hopefully my car will start tomorrow morning (it’s supposed to get down to like -8 overnight) and I can go to Muay Thai class.

Take care,
Dan

553

Hey everyone,
Just got back from the gym and had a really good workout. I needed it after not doing much over the weekend. It was just too damn cold to get out!

Anyway, here’s the stats from today’s workout:

  1. Max. Hold Squat: 275
  2. Max. Reps 90% Squat: 225x4
  3. Max. Hold BB Decline: 260
  4. Max. Reps 90% BB Decline: 225x3
    5A. Overhead Squat, 3x3: 70
    5B. Pull-ups, 3x3: BW + 35
    6A. 1-arm DB Rows, 3x3: 90
    6B. DB Overhead Triceps Ext., 3x6: 75
    7A. Hand Crawls, 3x4: BW
    7B. Power Cleans, 3x4: 125
  5. BB Reverse Wrist Curls, 3x5: 60

Did some light stretching afterwards. Very happy with my intensity and focus after having a crappy night of sleep. Going to do some meditating this afternoon and some reading.

One of my goals for 2007 is to spend less time in front of the TV when I’m off of work. So, I’m doing more reading, meditating, journaling and also some household activities. I’m just so sick and tired of flipping mindlessly around the dial looking for something to watch, when 90% of the time, there’s NOTHING on.

Going to go to BJJ tomorrow night.

Take care,
Dan

554

Amen to the TV ocmment! It is one of my goals too. I started in 2006 by cutting back on the amount of time that I watched the national/international news. I know you are a writer, and enjoy the local news, but the gloom and doom of the national news networks can be a real “downer” for us folks with anxiety.

Keep up the good workouts…and try to stay sane during the crazy Colorado snow this year! Too much!

555

[quote]muscleintraining wrote:
Amen to the TV ocmment! It is one of my goals too. I started in 2006 by cutting back on the amount of time that I watched the national/international news. I know you are a writer, and enjoy the local news, but the gloom and doom of the national news networks can be a real “downer” for us folks with anxiety.

Keep up the good workouts…and try to stay sane during the crazy Colorado snow this year! Too much![/quote]

I don’t like local news that much, either. I counted one night and out of the first 10 stories, 9 were negative. I’m definitely in the minority in terms of my journalistic attitude. Most of my peers are constant cynics…I tend to look at things in a more positive light.

Thanks for the kind words about the workouts…I’m trying to get them in where I can. Been doing a lot of GPP work (shoveling) and home boxing workouts to make up for not getting to the gym as often.

Take care,
Dan

556

Hey everyone,
Sorry it’s been a few days since I posted last. Had a bit of an emotional breakdown the other day. Nothing too severe just the stress of being strapped for money (wife is in school, so that cuts into finances), looking for a new job and trying to figure out what to do with my wisdom teeth and trying to figure out how to get off my meds all got to me.

Thankfully, my wife just sat there and let me vent my angers and frustrations and I feel a lot better now that it’s all out in the open.

We talked about switching therapists. I just don’t feel my current one is that effective anymore and isn’t showing any interest in getting me off my meds, which is something I keep pushing for. I know the weening off process is going to take several months and I’m prepared for that (first time I did it too quickly and relapsed), but I think the therapist is being too conservative and is just putting a band-aid over things by continually writing prescriptions without asking me how I feel while on or off the meds and if I’d like to start tapering off.

As for my wisdom teeth, they’re pretty messed up. Unfortunately, I have had shitty dentists for most of my life, and the one I had back home in NY said I wouldn’t need mine removed. Why he said that, I don’t know. So now that I’m a bit older, it makes things more complicated. My bottom right one is so messed up that not only does it have a cyst over it, but b/c my jaw is small, that when they do remove the tooth, I’m going to have to go on a soft food diet for 4-6 weeks to let the area completely heal, otherwise, I could break my jaw. How nice!

And, because my surgery is complicated, it’s going to cost more money. I’ve opted to have just the lower 2 done this year, that way I don’t have to pay as much out of pocket, and will get the upper 2 (which are in normal spots and easy to remove) done in the beginning of 2008 when I will be able to draw from my insurance again.

Didn’t get a chance to workout the past couple of days due to work and the above issues, but did go today (sans medication) and had a really good workout.

1A. Jumping Box Squat, 5x3: BW
1B. Clap Push-ups, 5x3: BW
2. Max. Reps Sumo DL Rack Pulls: 325x3
3. Max. Reps Sumo DL: 275x4
4A. Bulgarian Split Squat, 3x3: BW + 70
4B. Push Press, 3x3: 145
5. Suitcase DL’s, 3x3: 95 (these are harder than they look)
6. Dips, 3x3: BW + 60
7A. External Rotations, 2x12: 10
7B. Reverse Wrist Curls, 2x12: 50

Did 10 min. of stretching aftewards. Going to Muay Thai tomorrow. I’m hoping the gloves that I ordered will be there, I’ve been waiting a while for them to come in.

Take care,
Dan

557

Hey everyone,
Just got back from a brutal Muay Thai class. We went 10 rounds straight, working defense and then throwing combos off that, and also worked some punch-kick combos. I got my new gloves today and they’re sweet. They did cut up my knuckles a bit, though, so I think I’m going to have to get some athletic tape and use that to protect the skin, since there’s not enough room to get my wraps in there. My energy was good for most of the 10 rounds, although I did start to cramp a bit at the end, but that was due to my not breathing properly more than anything else. Once I caught the mistake, I was fine and actually finished the final round with a flurry.

Going to relax the rest of the day today. Got a couple of movies “Crank” and “Gridiron Gang” so that should keep me busy for a while.

Tomorrow I’ll see how I feel. I might hit the gym or just take the day off, depending on how sore I am from today’s class.

Take care,
Dan

558

Hey everyone,
Had a good weekend…“Gridiron Gang” was a really good movie. Definitely The Rock’s best performance to date. “Crank” was a good action flick, so I was happy with both choices.

Think my wife and I found a church to start attending on a regular basis, so we’re excited about that. It’s a community church, so there’s a good mix of people there.

Had a really good workout today…my strength is improving each week, which is nice considering I haven’t gained any weight recently due to the MMA training.

Here’s the stats from today’s workout:

  1. Max. Hold Squat: 285
  2. Max. Reps 90% Squat: 235x3
  3. Max. Hold BB Decline: 265
  4. Max. Reps 90% BB Decline: 225x3
    5A. Overhead Squat, 3x3: 75
    5B. Pull-ups, 3x3: BW + 35
    6A. 1-arm DB Rows, 3x3: 90
    6B. DB Overhead Triceps Ext., 3x6: 80
    7A. Hand Crawls, 3x4: BW
    7B. Power Cleans, 3x4: 130
  5. BB Reverse Wrist Curls, 3x5: 60

Tomorrow I’m going to do a home boxing workout, b/c I won’t be able to go to BJJ class.

Take care,
Dan

559

DjWlfpack…

Anxiety and depression are closely related. Do you think your attacks could be the result of overtraining? Depression can result from, certainly severe, overtraining.

I used to get bad anxiety attacks when I was a kid. I often got them when I had a fever. They are scary.

I find deep breathing (lower abdomen rising) is an instant relaxer. It litterally only takes seconds.

I have gone skydiving quite a few times and I find this technique to work very well while I ride in the plane.

560

[quote]MytchBucanan wrote:
DjWlfpack…

Anxiety and depression are closely related. Do you think your attacks could be the result of overtraining? Depression can result from, certainly severe, overtraining.

I used to get bad anxiety attacks when I was a kid. I often got them when I had a fever. They are scary.

I find deep breathing (lower abdomen rising) is an instant relaxer. It litterally only takes seconds.

I have gone skydiving quite a few times and I find this technique to work very well while I ride in the plane.[/quote]

I don’t think exercise has anything to do with my attacks, especially when they first started, I wasn’t working out at all.

561

Hey everyone,
Just got back from the gym and had a really good HD: Endurance workout. I changed things up some and through in some new exercises to the routine, and they were killer.

I tied a band to the end of one of the cable machines and threw some punches with the band, then did 2 sets of 10 shots on each leg. Also added some extra push-ups and did a seated medicine ball throw-and-catch-into-ab crunch for 10 reps.

Workout was 30 minutes, which included a .5-mile sprint at the end.

Tomorrow going to do a home boxing workout (skipped yesterday due to work).

Take care,
Dan