Controlling nerves

Nothing to be embarassed about bud, you Nam vets are serious heroes.
My dad was a WW2 vet and they had the same as you do. Only problem was, no one knew there was such a thing as PTSS. They had no idea what was happening to them. I had a brain op 9 years ago. I need magic pills to help get me thru the day, wish I didn't but thats the way it is. My pills are really nasty, they can really smuck up a day for you if you're not carefull, but they sure can make a stressful game unstresful.

Sounds like it helped you a lot, and that's a good thing.

I can see where you'd wanna sing its praises since it solved your problem, but it's worth mentioning that this is for those with serious anxiety issues only. Wouldn't recommend it for regular tournament nerves... from what I hear it can be addictive.

Not knocking it though, I really am glad it helped you. Good luck in your future tournaments.

measureman said:

Otherwise known as dogging it.I am a Viet Nam veteran Marine. I suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome. It is the same feeling as when you are under any type of pressure, dry mouth rapid heartbeat and a feeling that you must get away. This is classic anxiety and it triggers the flight or fight syndrome.After years of dealing with this and it is not easy I finally talked to my Doctor about it. It is somewhat embarrassing. So my good Doctor prescribed a little tiny pill called Atavan. Now i don't take them every day but when i feel the need it is nothing short of a miracle. It will calm you down and not fuzz up your head. So if any of you suffer from anxiety in everyday life or just when you are under pressure from playing pool or life's bad times talk to your Doctor.There is nothing wrong with a little help now and then. I just wished i had discovered this years ago.It's a tough thing to admit that we need a little help but why suffer.

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I'm glad you found a pill to help you. I take xanax, ativan...etc etc. I find xanax to help calm me more than ativan. Although, ativan is more sedating. Everyone reacts different. Good luck with your game :thumbup:

Beta- Blockers...

I think you should contact your physician and ask him about the possible benefits of a beta-blocker (non-selective like propranolol). This will counteract the results of your sympathetic nervous system and decrease the chest palpitation, sweats, nervousness as well with no sedating effects. JS

Ativan is a great drug for me, when i get stressed I get heart problems.

I'm glad you found it MM, thanks for your service

B Carefull!

My wife suffers from severe depression and has for over ten years. About 5 years ago she had a very bad time and ended up OD'ing on a Friday afternoon. She had been on a cocktail of meds for many years and one was Ativan. When she was admitted to the emergency room she was treated with charcoal and when she became coherent admitted to trying to hurt herself. Off to the psych ward she went, I told the MD in emergency that he should contact her pschyiatrist regarding her situation which he decided to not do. She was immediately taken off all her meds (cold turkey) including the Ativan, 36 hours later she had a full brain seizure and they found her in the corner of the psych ward standing on her head. Being removed suddenly from the Ativan was later found to be the cause, she should have been brought off slowly. By the grace of god she did not suffer permanent injury and has recovered. She is my wife and best friend and whenever I hear about these drugs I think of what the effects are and how they can become so debilitating and at the same time helpfull!
BE CAREFULL!!
Wish the OP all the best!!!
Dan

I'm glad your wife is ok Quesports.

measureman said:

Otherwise known as dogging it.I am a Viet Nam veteran Marine. I suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome. It is the same feeling as when you are under any type of pressure, dry mouth rapid heartbeat and a feeling that you must get away. This is classic anxiety and it triggers the flight or fight syndrome.After years of dealing with this and it is not easy I finally talked to my Doctor about it. It is somewhat embarrassing. So my good Doctor prescribed a little tiny pill called Atavan. Now i don't take them every day but when i feel the need it is nothing short of a miracle. It will calm you down and not fuzz up your head. So if any of you suffer from anxiety in everyday life or just when you are under pressure from playing pool or life's bad times talk to your Doctor.There is nothing wrong with a little help now and then. I just wished i had discovered this years ago.It's a tough thing to admit that we need a little help but why suffer.

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I asked around once about this and I got answers that I have performance anxiety. Sometimes lately it seems I can't even watch a pressure situation on TV (imagining myself in it) without my heart racing.

What do these little pills cost?

PTSS is a horrible thing to happen to anyone's life and I am glad such pills are available that will make life easier for those suffering from it.

On the other hand it is awfully wrong - in my opinion - if you think you need these for pool tournament anxiety or even for hollywood movies - unless it gets bad to such extent as PTSS. I wanted to be a psychiatrist for a long time (so I have read a few things in this matter) and the basic thing is that while there are common and less common illnesses and problems each and every person's case is unique and should be handled that way... so just make sure an expert (Doctor) who's been learning about this for years and has experience tells you if you need this stuff or you don't. Just "imo"...

Use a little caution when taking them though. Benzos are extremely addicting. I've heard the withdrawal effects rival that of heroin.

I am retired now but I hold a Ph.D. in psychology. I was a licensed psychologist for over 25 years. Among other things I had a private practice where I treated people for various problems. My first order of the day when working with anyone was to get a complete physical checkup by the person’s family physician. Then, assuming everything in the physical area was OK and other specialists were not involved, I would teach some people how to use deep muscle relaxation to learn to deal with various forms of anxiety including performance anxiety, PTSD and similar types of disorders.

The article I referenced in a previous post

(or see http://www.sunburstselect.com/PBReview/Competitive_Anxiety.htm)

Was written for pool players but is very similar to what is used in a professional practice to help people with these types of problems. Read this article and follow the directions. If you continue to have problems consult with a professional. The use of medications has its place for some people, some times. Before going down that road see if less invasive things can be used.

I usually do not tell people about my qualifications but I would like those of you who are considering using medications to hear what a “doctor” would say by way of general recommendations.

You may find the article will address many of your problems.

JoeW said:

I am retired now but I hold a Ph.D. in psychology. I was a licensed psychologist for over 25 years. Among other things I had a private practice where I treated people for various problems. My first order of the day when working with anyone was to get a complete physical checkup by the person’s family physician. Then, assuming everything in the physical area was OK and other specialists were not involved, I would teach some people how to use deep muscle relaxation to learn to deal with various forms of anxiety including performance anxiety, PTSD and similar types of disorders.

The article I referenced in a previous post

(or see http://www.sunburstselect.com/PBReview/Competitive_Anxiety.htm)

Was written for pool players but is very similar to what is used in a professional practice to help people with these types of problems. Read this article and follow the directions. If you continue to have problems consult with a professional. The use of medications has its place for some people, some times. Before going down that road see if less invasive things can be used.

I usually do not tell people about my qualifications but I would like those of you who are considering using medications to hear what a “doctor” would say by way of general recommendations.

You may find the article will address many of your problems.

Click to expand...

I went to the link and all I saw was the title of the article and your name. The rest of the page was blank.

Joe Pickens said:

I went to the link and all I saw was the title of the article and your name. The rest of the page was blank.

Click to expand...

For some reason Fire Fox and similar browser's cannot read this article. Use IE explorer to open this page that was written with Microsoft Frontpage. If you can't get, it send me your email address and I will send a copy to you. However, I am not going to be on the net for a few days. If you don't hear from me know that I will get back to you as soon as I can, probably Wednesday or so.

Like others said, use it with caution. If you use it on a regular basis, your body will become physically dependent on it. You will find that when you don't take it, your anxiety symptoms will be worse than you had before you started taking the medication. Withdrawal symptoms from benzos can be life threatening, and long term users experience those symptoms for months after stopping the medication.

2 years ago i went to the doctor for an irregular heart beat. Loong story short they put me on Atenolol. It worked like magic. As I read about the drug it said they sometimes prescribe it to people like actors, speakers, or if you get nervous in front of crowds etc.......pool tournaments

Later I found out my mom and dad also have taken this for years, and my pops heart doc said it is very good for your heart long term as it calms the stress.

I take the lowest mg. and for the last 3 years it has worked very well.

good luck with it!

G.

measureman said:

Otherwise known as dogging it.I am a Viet Nam veteran Marine. I suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome. It is the same feeling as when you are under any type of pressure, dry mouth rapid heartbeat and a feeling that you must get away. This is classic anxiety and it triggers the flight or fight syndrome.After years of dealing with this and it is not easy I finally talked to my Doctor about it. It is somewhat embarrassing. So my good Doctor prescribed a little tiny pill called Atavan. Now i don't take them every day but when i feel the need it is nothing short of a miracle. It will calm you down and not fuzz up your head. So if any of you suffer from anxiety in everyday life or just when you are under pressure from playing pool or life's bad times talk to your Doctor.There is nothing wrong with a little help now and then. I just wished i had discovered this years ago.It's a tough thing to admit that we need a little help but why suffer.

Click to expand...

This a good story, so please don't take this the wrong way. What you describe shouldn't be confused with nerves or dogging it. Your condition is a different level of anxiety with its own treatment that others should not be considering as part of their future for better pool.

There is a world of difference between nerves during playing pool and anxiety or panic attacks. So, if readers truly from anxiety attacks, see your doctor. If you dog balls, practice more and put yourself in more pressure situations to get used to it.

Fred <~~~ documented anxiety attack sufferer

JoeW said:

For some reason Fire Fox and similar browser's cannot read this article. Use IE explorer to open this page that was written with Microsoft Frontpage. If you can't get, it send me your email address and I will send a copy to you. However, I am not going to be on the net for a few days. If you don't hear from me know that I will get back to you as soon as I can, probably Wednesday or so.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the offer to email me this article. I took your advice and used IE and was able to see everything on the page. A good article that I will read and refer to a lot over the next few months.

JoeW said:

For some reason Fire Fox and similar browser's cannot read this article. Use IE explorer to open this page that was written with Microsoft Frontpage. If you can't get, it send me your email address and I will send a copy to you. However, I am not going to be on the net for a few days. If you don't hear from me know that I will get back to you as soon as I can, probably Wednesday or so.

Click to expand...

I'll just indulge in some (hopefully useful) nerdery.

The quick fix for anyone who wants to read joe's article:
Press ctrl+A on your keyboard.

The windy explanation:
MS frontpage and other do-it-yourself website builders unfortunately have side effects like that. The error comes from line 111 of the laye1011.css file:

table {
color:transparent;
}

That makes the text transparent. In CSS, typing color: whatever specifies the text color, rather than the background color, but the guys who made frontpage didn't understand that and they were shooting for a transparent table with no background. Because their browser also handles these commands incorrectly and draws transparent text even when it's not supposed to, the problem went unnoticed. Or they noticed but didn't care because firefox is a competitor.

Joe, not sure if you have the willpower to fool with it, but if you can find that file and the offending line... changing that one word from "transparent" to "black" should fix you up. You would then have to upload the changed file to sunburstselect's web server, replacing the old "laye1011.css" file with the fixed one.

Feel free to PM if you want any help with this. The number of people using firefox is now almost even with the number of people using some form of internet explorer. If you want to reach people with your site, you can't afford to have it fail in firefox.