This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Im 26 years old i was officially diagnosed with RRMS 4 years ago. I have always had anxiety, but it was manageable. It has now reached a point where I am having panic attacks regularly (2 or more times per week). The main thing that has been causing me to panic is being in a car especially on the highway. All of the cars, people, lights and trees going by just make me feel so overwhelmed. When we drive on the highway my stomach literally feels like I'm on a rollercoaster and that feeling in my stomach doesn't stop until we stop moving.

Has anyone ever experienced this? My nurse thinks its overstimulation.
I am going to the doctor to ask about anxiety medication.

Can anyone share their experience with that type of medication? I am very reluctant taking about anti depressants and anti anxiety medication but we are moving across the country In 2 months and we are driving :/ lol.

Thanks

1. What were your first two symptoms, i.e., your first reason for coming into the doctor (and being diagnosed with clinically isolated syndrome) and the second reason for going to your doctor (and being diagnosed with definite-relapsing remitting MS)?

2. Have you ever rode roller-coasters or theme-park rides as a juvenile? Did you particularly enjoy them? I, for instance, have horrible motion sickness and cannot stomach them; though driving is not a problem for me.

3. Have you tried focusing on other parts of the scenery (like the lanes directly in front of you)? Have you tried applying blinkers to yourself with your hands and seeing how you felt then?

4. What if you are driving? Is there a difference in sensation as you have a firm hold of the steering wheel [if you wish to: try it slowly, at first, down a straight, unpopulated road]?

5. Have you had anxiety or panic attacks in the past unrelated to the current driving scenario?

you might investigate your magnesium status. I originally took high doses of magnesium for muscular difficulties - I had accidentally driven my levels lower taking high dose vitamin d3 with insufficient and poorly timed magnesium. when I started taking therapeutic levels of magnesium and getting the timing and the form right, my initial problems resolved in two days, with several significant side benefits that built up over the longer term - including total resolution of underlying anxiety which I had had for years. it's done the same for other friends of mine since, too. you can review your diet for magnesium content and try to ensure 400mg per day, you can get a serum magnesium test (it will probably come back on the low side of normal, but you want to be 'optimal') and ensure the level is at least 0.90-0.95 mmol/L, and you can try to find a magnesium glycinate supplement (the proper form is very important) to help correct any insufficiency. not a big outlay and it really can be lifechanging.

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my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

I have used magnesium to help calm me and aid in sleep but lately I have found that Bach's Rescue Remendy works very well and quickly. It is a mix of 5 flowers and helps with panic and is safe for kids too,my 10 yr old uses it is he can't turn off his mind and sleep. I found the book " The feeling good handbook" by David Burns MD was helpful.

personally although I do value herbal medicines, I would consider rescue remedy or similar a beneficial short term first aid kind of solution while as a nutrient, magnesium addresses hundreds of important bodily functions.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

Thanks everyone for responding


I do have aggressive definite RRMS. My first relapses were numbness is several parts of my body and my right arm was paralyzed.

I have had anxiety and panic attacks since I was a kid (few and far between though) My panic attacks are caused by many different things lately. Generally, they happen while I am in a car whether I am the driver or passenger. My husband always drives when we are on the highway because of my anxiety.

I used to just be shy and nervous, but I was able to handle that. Now almost every time I get nervous I just have a panic attack. It's taking a toll on my body. This extreme anxiety started around January.

About the highway thing, when you are about to go down a big hill or go down a roller coaster and your stomach goes up into your chest or tickles or whatever you want to call that intense feeling, that is what happens to me when we go fast and it doesn't just get better, we actually have to stop or slow down for that intense feeling to stop. The funny thing is this happens to me in the movie theater as well, so the over stimulation thing makes sense.

It doesn't matter if I cover my eyes because my brain still knows I'm moving fast and it doesn't like it lol. I will not be driving when we move as we have 2 small children I need to take care of and even when I was driving, the cars zooming by me would cause me to panic. I'm just so tired of it!

I am going to my doctor soon to talk about something to relax me. I just don't want to be on an anti depressant. I will definitely look into my magnesium levels and into Bachs rescue remedy

hi again sb your emphasis on avoiding antidepressants reminded me of this little story: magnesium deficiency has been studied as an experimental model of depression. antidepressant drugs successfully corrected symptoms of 'depression' in magnesium deprived mice (hilarious measures, to be sure). researchers concluded that magnesium deprivation provides a useful model for assessing pharmaceutical antidepressant drugs. might just be me, but i found this entire study ridiculous. fix the magnesium status, problem solved. not to mention all the other body functions that rely on magnesium!

something else that may or may not be relevant for you, sb... I almost lost my driver's license at one time, due to difficulty processing spatial information at speed. I couldn't make decisions about how quickly things were changing around me. I couldn't decide when to change lanes, and I couldn't get through four way stops in case something had appeared while I was looking the other way. I could feel my brain struggling to process visual data. I felt it as a sort of stretch, particularly behind my left eye. then I found out I had a reasonably serious zinc deficiency, and my spatial issues resolved completely, never to return, once my zinc status was optimized. many other cognitive deficits also improved with zinc repletion. for that one, serum zinc is the useful test and the optimal result you want is the high teens, right at the very top of the reference range (not an individual lab's range - that will be different and likely lower)

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my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

Anxiety is one of ms symptoms, probably because some over reactivity of some brain regions or some deficiencies (maybe magnesium), I do not know that... To be clear, I'm talking about the type of anxiety that you feel extreme anxiety for no reason or you feel anxious because you expect something bad to happen soon.
If you have anxiety you will more likely get panic attacks. But panic attack are something that you can control.
Maybe the constant anxiety is a result of too many panic attacks?

If you get PA only in some specific situations it means that you create them them on your own. You need to understand how your brain works. First of all you can't be afraid that you will get panic attack. I'm sure that when you enter the car you already think that you will probably get attack. You have to avoid it because this way you tell your brain that you are in trouble. Brain doesn't recognize if you are really in front of blue elephant that you are afraid of or you only think about blue elephant.

Some more hints
- Read about nlp, read about "fast phobia cure" technique,
- Try this simple trick, whenever you feel anxious tell these words in your mind "hey panic attack, where are you, come on, attack me, I want more anxiety" or something similar, this way you accept the state of mind you have, you admit that you're not afraid of attack.
- Attacks are created in your mind, focus on something when you think PA is coming, try to calculate complex numbers like 25*25, 15*15 etc, try counting down from 100 to 0 in 3 increments (100; 97; 94,) etc
- antidepressants will help you but not fix the problem in 100%
- I noticed that ALA + ALC help reduce my anxiety.

I like this post. I would be interested to know if sleeping beauty tried these and if they worked.

Do you drink coffee? I'd only had a few panic attacks pre-ms until I kep being told to lay in an MRI tube by every doctor I saw. That brought on the panic attacks big time!

i quit coffee for a few days prior and found that I was so much better. I know caffeine is suppose to only stay in your system for a short time, by I found that it built up over time and really raised my anxiety level. I also started taking an herbal called holy basil. Idk how much is the placebo effect (to which I am super susceptible ) or if it really makes a difference but I find it mildly calming.

According to the book, Primal Body Primal Mind, by Nora Gedgaudas, CNS, CNT, on page 165:

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My hypothesis: excess insulin (hyperinsulinemia) plays a major role in MS, as developed in my initial post: http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-discussion-f1/topic1878.html "Insulin – Could This Be the Key?"