Anxiety

Hello.

TL;DR - I've been experiencing great anxiety at sudden movements. Mostly from shadows. Heart racing, chest pain, etc. - real or imagined. What actions can I take to lessen its prevalence or eradicate this entirely? This started with my Bipolar 1...

Back story: After encountering a hypnagogic hallucination(?) - I was attacked by a "dark entity/presence", something of the sort - I frequently experienced fear of shadows, as if there's something waiting in them, as if they had sentience and were out for me. I had to leave shadowy areas (mostly in my house) quickly, feeling followed when my back was turned. My eyes picked up darting shadows, scurrying things in my periphery. It was pretty terrible. Anxiety, tears type thing. This was a year ago.

Now, idk what's happening. Well, as I opened, the fear of shadows have returned, the chest pain, the jumping. Told my psych of the original attack and he said it was my "over-active imagination". I accepted that but this still exists and it's debilitating.

Cyclothymia -> Bipolar 1 -> Bipolar 2 (I was told by my psychiatrist after a few successive assessments). On lamictal 200mg only. Seroquel was bad. Excessive sleep, night terrors, occasional sleepwalking...

Nyame1988 wrote:Hello.

TL;DR - I've been experiencing great anxiety at sudden movements. Mostly from shadows. Heart racing, chest pain, etc. - real or imagined. What actions can I take to lessen its prevalence or eradicate this entirely? This started with my Bipolar 1...

Back story: After encountering a hypnagogic hallucination(?) - I was attacked by a "dark entity/presence", something of the sort - I frequently experienced fear of shadows, as if there's something waiting in them, as if they had sentience and were out for me. I had to leave shadowy areas (mostly in my house) quickly, feeling followed when my back was turned. My eyes picked up darting shadows, scurrying things in my periphery. It was pretty terrible. Anxiety, tears type thing. This was a year ago.

Now, idk what's happening. Well, as I opened, the fear of shadows have returned, the chest pain, the jumping. Told my psych of the original attack and he said it was my "over-active imagination". I accepted that but this still exists and it's debilitating.

Cyclothymia -> Bipolar 1 -> Bipolar 2 (I was told by my psychiatrist after a few successive assessments). On lamictal 200mg only. Seroquel was bad. Excessive sleep, night terrors, occasional sleepwalking...

Just some ideas: I see you're only taking a mood stabilizer. Can't prescribe but if you have severe anxiety, there's a pill for that. Many on here I've noticed take Valium or Klonopin. If you are having delusions, an antipsychotic may also help or possibly an increase of your mood stabilizer. Ask your pdoc about this though. If you are having serious issues, sometimes a med adjustment is needed.

I agree. Try writing down some things for your doc, like a log or something. S/he might take you more seriously if you obviously put thought/effort into keeping track of what is going on (Docs like that:)) Make sure that you explain how this is something that has changed - you didn't have this problem 2 (or whatever) months ago, but now you do, how often, how bad, getting better/worse/cycling... I agree with other posters that this sounds like (I'm not a doc, just my unprofessional impression) something that a mood stabilizer like lithium wouldn't handle...

Hm... If your psychiatrist isn't taking you seriously about this, I would quite honestly switch. Perhaps this isn't the best advice, but panic attacks need medication. I've experienced so truly bizarre ones that I was quite literally stuck crawling on the floor, since the room was spinning. "an active imagination" is no appropriate response to a true panic attack.

Now, if you've been with her or him for a long time, I understand that a switch is quite difficult, but he can send your files over to a new one... or you could just tell your new psychiatrist what you were formerly prescribed and be very adamant about the panic attacks that have been such a burden on your life. I've gone through quite a few psychiatrists until I finally found a gem in the field. One of them actually told me that "I had the devil inside of me." That was so much more than a little odd... then, another one wouldn't prescribe me buprenorphine (wellbutrin, not even classified as a stimulant) despite the fact that I had done nothing but sleep for an entire month.

Panic attacks are not in your "imagination." They can wreak havoc. Could you perhaps ask for a small prescription to see if it would assist you, and then if it does, your doctor would have solved his odd response.

*hugs!* I hope that you feel better, dear. Fight! Find someone who takes you seriously!