I Need A Doctor

"I'm about to lose my mind, 
You've been gone for so long, I'm running out of time
I need a doctor, Call me a doctor, 
I need a doctor, doctor to bring me back to life" - Dr. Dre, Eminem, Skylar Grey

Image of Dr. Hibbert by Matt Groening via Search.com

I thought I was handling all of the wedding planning stress pretty well.  Most of the projects are done and packed and ready to be dropped off at the venue the week of the wedding.  I have had nightmares about the wedding, but who doesn't have them? I guess my subconscious was trying to clue me into the fact that everything wasn't as stress free as I thought it was.

Add on the stress from major work projects due tomorrow and the week we get back from our minimoon, and the fact that Aunt Flo will be visiting me this weekend and only time would tell when something would set me off.  That something was getting the news that I was once again getting shifted to another team with a new boss (in the 3 years that I have worked here I have had 4 different bosses and 4 or 5 different teams).  Don't get me wrong, of course I'm happy to still have a job, but this news wasn't something that I saw coming and wasn't something that I really wanted to deal with 23 days to go.  But you know what they say.  Life doesn't stop moving just because you're planning a wedding.

All of this stress compounded and resulted in a minor panic attack.  I got off the "reorganization" call with my boss and lost it. I couldn't breath.  My hands started to tingle and then I couldn't move them.  My eyes were twitching in between the tears.  I called Mr. E who was in class. I called Mama E who was on a national conference call and left her cell in her office.  I ended up calling Brother E to get in touch with mom because I could barley move my hand to hit dial much less send a text.

I can't thank Mr. E and Mama E enough!  They both rushed home where they found me frozen in my seat still in front of the work laptop. They calmed me down, rubbed feeling back into my arms and hands and had me drink some water through a straw.  We headed to the doctor who confirmed it was a minor panic attack and that it is pretty common to deal with higher levels of anxiety while planning a wedding. He wrote a prescription to help with my anxiety and also for my sleepless nights.  For those that are not into medication, he did mention that there is a herbal remedy called Kava that can help with short term anxiety.

It totally sucks that I got to that stressful point, but I am happy that it happened now and not the week of the wedding when our friends and family are in town.

Have you dealt with higher levels of anxiety or stress in other aspects of your life during your planning period?  How have you been able to push through?