Breast Cancer, Mental Health

How to Manage Cancer Induced Anxiety

Cancer Induced Anxiety: For anyone who has dealt with anxiety, you know it can be a beast. If you have been lucky enough not to experience anxiety thus far in life, consider yourself lucky. Anxiety can be overwhelming, stressful, and physically exhausting. You never know when it will hit; each person may have anxiety present with its unique symptoms. The one thing we have in common is that we are all looking for ways to manage anxiety and thrive despite it.

How to Manage Anxiety
Managing Cancer Induced Anxiety

My History With Anxiety

Before cancer, I was lucky enough never to experience a full-fledged panic attack. I have always been a worrier and thought that worry and stress were synonymous with anxiety. After experiencing true cancer-induced anxiety though, I can say I didn’t have a clue. Full-fledged anxiety is so different from the day-to-day stress and worries that everyone experiences, but I had no idea until I went through it.

Anxiety Triggers

What triggers anxiety and panic attacks? The triggers can be unique for each person, but for many cancer patients, panic attacks can be sensory-related or situational meaning they present at hospitals or offices where bad news has been shared. It is a form of PTSD.

My First Panic Attack

My first panic attack happened in the hospital following my first mastectomy. I wasn’t ready to see my surgery site and the evidence of the trauma. We had asked that the nurses to give me time to look away before they unwrapped my bandages to check for swelling or infection. During this particular instance, my pain had worsened and I was experiencing extreme discomfort worsening by the minute. In a rush to check me, the nurse ripped off my bandages while I was looking down, despite my cries for her to wait. Her actions triggered an intense physical and emotional reaction. The panic and anxiety set in.

Symptoms of Anxiety

My heart began to race during my first panic attack, and nausea took over. Sweat poured from my body, my hands were shaking and my blood pressure spiked. All of these symptoms were magnified by the morphine for my pain. The physical symptoms worsened as my emotional concern grew. Never having experienced anything like this before, I feared the worst. I thought the medication was making me sick or the surgery had gone wrong (more on my surgery complications). The fear of experiencing these unfamiliar physical symptoms threatened my ability to think logically. It took some time and coaching from my husband along with deep breathing and a cool towel on my body overcome that anxiety.

Managing Cancer Induced Anxiety

Recognizing the Signs of Anxiety

After this first horrific experience with anxiety, I began to learn how to recognize the onset of my anxiety and resulting physical symptoms much faster. The next time I had a similar attack was when I was preparing for my first post-mastectomy shower. Witnessing the full trauma my body endured triggered fear and panic to washed over me. My stomach threatened to revolt and my heart rate quickened.  I sunk to the floor like a noodle unable to control my limbs or my breathing. Luckily my husband could see what was happening immediately was able to help me calm my body with a cool washcloth, deep breathing and a comforting voice. With his support I made it through my second panic attack. Recognizing the signs of anxiety is the first step towards managing it. You must first understand what it is before you can make a management “plan”.

Anxiety and Cancer Treatment

Throughout my various surgeries and chemotherapy I experienced a range of anxious moments. Some were more intense than others but most of them all shared a similar theme — loss of control. With time I was able to find ways to keep the extreme panic at bay. It took developing a toolkit of resources and practicing, to find out what works best for me in those uncomfortable moments. The anxiety has never fully gone away but I can say now that the moments are fewer and more spread out.

Managing Cancer Induced Anxiety

My Anxiety Toolkit

In addition to the proactive and more natural coping tools that help me manage my anxiety, medication has been an effective resource . I know not everyone supports the use of anxiety medication and some may feel it is overused, but for me, it has been a lifesaver. Medication combined with therapy can be a powerful combination. Sometimes in extreme moments of anxiety or panic, I need the medication to first calm me enough to breathe, meditation or take additional action. Medication obviously won’t work for everyone but I encourage you to try all the tools and resources available to you in order to find a combination that is uniquely beneficial to you.

How to Live With Anxiety

As I prepared for my multiple surgery and the great unknown associated with life after cancer I have been forced to confront my fear and panic head on. It doesn’t change the familiar symptoms of anxiety resurfacing, but it does help me recover quicker.

Those anxious feelings wait until I am lying in bed trying to go to sleep, and then they pounce. All my distractions and excitement from the day fade away and I am left with nothing but my own thoughts. The familiar racing heart and chest pressure return and my frustration about experiencing this anxiety yet again leaves me discouraged.

I constantly remind myself I am not alone in these feelings. I have thousands of other women and men around me facing the same moments and in that I find comfort.

Managing Anxiety

What Makes Cancer-Induced Anxiety Unique?

Luckily, I know exactly what is causing my anxiety. Many people struggle for years to determine the root of their anxiety. Cancer and everything related to my treatment and trauma give me a very logical explanation for my anxiety. Without this anxiety and fear, it wouldn’t all feel as accurate, so in a way, I am grateful for the physical manifestation of my feelings.  As Mac keeps telling me, something would be wrong with me if I wasn’t feeling some sort of emotions.

I am extremely passionate about brining awareness to the experience of dealing with anxiety and mental health issues. Mental health as a whole seems to be a neglected area and cancer patients are even more at risk. You never know what someone else is facing internally and the power of just asking makes a huge difference. I have a friend that constantly asks me how I am taking care of my mental health and I have appreciated that beyond belief. She holds me accountable for that aspect of my care and ensures I am getting the support I need. Anxiety, panic and depression can be isolating and knowing you’re not alone is the first step to recovering and effective management of the problem.

Hopefully my experience with anxiety and some of my suggestions will help you through your anxiety journey. I would love to hear what strategies work for you and how you find relief from your anxiety challenges.

Check out my video on life after cancer for a little more insight on mental health.

Original written February 2, 2016. Updated on June 20, 2018.SaveSaveSaveSave

17 Comments

    Debra Zinn

    February 2, 2016Reply

    Good luck, Anna! You are so open with what you are going through. I know you are helping people in countless ways! Your husband sounds like an amazing fellow…so glad you found each other! Lot of love,
    Debra

      Anna

      February 2, 2016Reply

      Wow I am so impressed with how quick you read this post. Thank you for your continued support. It means so much having so many cheerleaders.

    Teresa Harris

    February 2, 2016Reply

    Anna, Only wishing you the best as you head into this next surgery. You are strong and brave and we are all praying for you and keeping you in our thoughts.

    Joe

    February 7, 2016Reply

    I agree, mental health is largely neglected. I witnessed it first hand working with a soldier returning from Iraq who had witnessed combat and he said that he had PTSD, and it became more obvious the more he stayed with the company. He seemed detached from his surroundings is the most simple way I can express what I saw. He was eventually fired for “erratic behavior” but I wonder what my co-worker would have been like if he had not had those experiences. Or maybe if he used some of the tools you mentioned to try and cope with his past.

    Once again, give yourself some props for being honest with yourself and recognizing which tools you can use to achieve that balance or peace of mind. Funny, the day I read this post a friend asked me earlier in the day if I would join her in yoga classes. I immediately shot her down, and said that I cannot wear those ridiculous pants. But later that day I read the part in your post about meditation and I’m interested in how that works out for you, because that might be something I would like to give a try (no dress code). One big thing that works for me is leaving my phone at home and go out in nature without any distraction hiking through the Eno trail, I find it really therapeutic. As always, thanks for sharing, I find the knowledge and tools you share are applicable to my life even though my degree’s of anxiety might be different.

    Stay Strong, Joe

      Anna

      February 7, 2016Reply

      Joe, thank you so much for your feedback. It means so much to me. Thank you sharing the strategy about detaching from technology and sending time in nature. I love that idea and have been able to find relief in that way as well.

    Mac

    March 5, 2016Reply

    I just love your blog hunny and I absolutely love how dedicated you are to learning the inside of the html website world. The new design is awesome!

    Porschia

    March 21, 2016Reply

    First of all congratulations for your courage to be strong enough to help people understand what your going thru. A lot of times people like to be negative or angry at others because they don’t understand what they are going thru versus explaining it. I have not had to deal with anxiety to this depth but i can relate to the shower incident. For me I’m afraid of needles and one day i got my navel pierced LOL smh. But the same day i went to take a shower i literally almost passed out. Something in my made my vision clear again and managed to make it out. I am just thankful to see your doing good again as well as you are able to acknowledge when the attack is there. It is extremely hard for most to do, hence this can be the reason recovery is looking good on you 🙂

      Anna

      March 21, 2016Reply

      Yay! I love your surprise comment. Thank you for taking the time to give me feedback. I am so glad to hear that my writing and perspective is helpful to those non-cancer readers, friends and family. Many times the friends and family and coworkers are overlooked and we don’t think about how hard it is for them to understand what we are going through. Not only does it help the person sharing to open up but it helps everyone else around them understand and show more compassion. Thanks friend! I totally get the navel incident! The mind can do crazy things to your body especially when it identifies foreign objects lol.

    Jules Prophet

    March 30, 2016Reply

    I haven’t checked in here for some time since I thought it was getting boring, but the last several posts are great quality so I guess I will add you back to my everyday bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂

      Anna

      March 31, 2016Reply

      I am glad to have you back. What type of content are you most interested in?

    Lonna Searight

    March 30, 2016Reply

    I’ve been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this blog. Thanks, I will try and check back more frequently. How frequently you update your web site?

    Jumbled Genius

    April 11, 2016Reply

    I can completely relate to cancer induced anxiety, which for me happened almost a year after I finished treatment. Happy to share my experience here. https://jumbledgenius.com/portfolio/what-if/

      Anna

      April 11, 2016Reply

      Thank you for sharing. I will check out your website.

    Margarite

    April 14, 2016Reply

    I can definitely relate to the “panic” I have struggled with it for many years now, as my children can attest to. I have realized the root of the evil that brought them on, but they are always there waiting; I have learned over many years of trial and error, that detaching, walking in nature, working in yard, new adventure, or a new craft, has brought me the best rewards and results. Love you, Mama Dukes

    Elyssa Berger

    June 21, 2018Reply

    I am experiencing this right now. I have an appt w my primary care this afternoon. I also know and have used all the other skills for anxiety in the past, but like you mentioned this time for me, I’m not able to get to the point of being able to use them. I’m hoping I can get a medication to break the cycle. It only happens at night too. I think when I go to lay down the tightness from my BLM gets worse. I had a BLM on June 17th with expanders places for reconstruction but I had severe nerve pain from the expanders and after 3 weeks of narcotic not really helping too much and my PS not willing to give me something else to try, as I heard Valium has helped some women with nerve pain, I decided to have the expanders out.
    The removal and scar revision was a difficult recover too because my pectoral muscules had to be resutured to the chest wall from the rib where it was making a pocket for the TE/later implant and I didn’t have very much skin (not much stretching took place in 3 weeks, especially because my pecs were so tight when she put the TE in she said she couldn’t fill them at all) so the skin had to be really stretched for the revision. I’m 2weeks post of from that and I’m struggling at night with this anxiety caused by the tightness and not being able to sleep on my back. When I was taking pain pills it seemed to take the edge off and I was able to sleep.
    I was so thankful to see your post today! It was perfect timing. It gives me hope.

      Anna

      June 22, 2018Reply

      It sounds like you’ve been through so much! My heart goes out to you. I’m sure your doc can help you get an appropriate medication. To supplement your other strategies. I agree that the nighttime is the hardest especially when it comes to nerve pain. Sending you love!!!

    Sole Risso

    June 24, 2018Reply

    yoga at home! infinitamente agradecida a Elena Malova http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKgAjzlkKH8

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *