Panic attacks driving me mad!

Azure_sky

I hav'nt had any in about four years but recently they've come back, and have gotten progressively worse in the past week-to the point where I'm at risk at having one when I leave the house. It's a horrible feeling...
I got some meds of the Doc, but will they really work, and how soon?

Has anyone else suffered from this? How did you cope?

Freiheit

Deep breathing, count to 3 as you breathe in deep, hold to a count of 3, count to 4 as you exhale, do this a number of times to either prevent or alleviate an attack. Talk to someone also, either a friend, a Counsellor or a support group. I've had hundreds in the past . A good group is www.grow.ie

Medication has a role short term but not a good idea long term. Rescue remedy is availble outside the counter in most retail outlets,

Fittle

I've been there.

I had panic attacks for almost one year, to the point where I couldnt use public transport and had to ring friends just before I used the loo, in case I had one in there .... They are the most debilitating and underestimated form of situations....

My last panic attack was when I was in my sisters company...my arms froze, I couldn't breath, I thought I was just about to take a stroke. My sister said to me 'This is not a stroke. You are having a panic attack. You are in control of this. Re-focus your mind on your breathing and the attack will stop'. It took five minutes...
And it did.
You ARE in control. You just don't think you are. Continue to repeat to yourself 'I am in control, my breath is my life'.
It took me a while, and I also have faith and repeated some other mantras to myself like 'If X if with me, who can be against me' (I say X here, for me it was God, for you it might be someone else).

Unfortunately, when you are in the throes of panic attacks, it's almost impossible to see how to get out of it - but OP, YOU ARE IN CONTROL, control your breathing...control your stress...you can stop them....take care of yourself x

Zen65

Azure_sky wrote: »

Has anyone else suffered from this? How did you cope?

Yes, been there, know what the T-shirt looks like.

Training in the form of biofeedback or CBT has the best long-term benefit.

Also exercise. You cannot underestimate the benefit of simply doing hard exercise on a regular basis.

Give up any chemical stimulants or depressants you may be taking - especially coffee, alcohol, Red Bull etc. These things mess up your production of adrenaline.

If you're a smoker; stop.

After that, be patient. Once you realise these attacks are just transient, and usually are just a response to periods of time when you were not breathing correctly, they really do start to fade away. You know this, you recovered from them years ago.

Be at peace,

Z

jessiejam

Are you under a lot of stress at the moment. As a sufferer in the past i know that would set them off for me.
If you can picture all the stresses in your life no matter how trivial they may seem and give them a number. Think of your mind as a bottle that can hold ten numbers.
Say there are 7 things bothering you at the moment. 1 could be the traffic your stuck in 2 could be the ESB bill you have 3 could be an argument you had with a friend etc etc.

All these stresses get put into your mind (bottle) and by the time you reach number ten the top of the bottle explodes ulitmately leaving you with the sweaty hands the rapid heart beat and dizzy spells bringing on a panic attack.

What I did in that situation is eliminate as many of those stresses as i possibly could, ones that I was in control of ultimately reducing the number from 10 to 7 or 8. Then I was able to cope with anything else life threw at me. Also with the help of CBT.

Sorry if the post doesn't make sense, but know that you can and will overcome them with a little help and patience
good luck

Azure_sky

Thanks for your replies. I've had alot of stress over the course of my life.
I'm trying to reduce my stress levels now. The meds seem to have had some effect. I'm mainly trying to help myself,by rationalising how irrational panic attacks are.

buswankers

Hi Op...

Firstly sorry to hear about ur situation - never had to suffer a panic attack but my sister has been getting them on & off for a couple of years & it just seems like the scariest experience ever....

I would agree that stress levels are a large factor in bringing on a spate of panic attacks - esp considering you had gone so long without having 1. My sisters got really bad just before Christmas last year, so much so that in the beginning she would have to ring me anytime she was going anywhere on her own - i think the worst part of it is the fear of having a panic attack because u know just how bad it is....or for her it was the fear of being somewhere where no-one could help her etc....the big thing is realising that u ARE in control and it will all be ok if u just tell yourself that. Easier said then done believe me i know. She had been to the doc & has been on medication since early December but at it got worse before it got better in that it got so bad with my sis that she barely left the house all over Christmas....it was so so worrying... we're from Galway but both work in Dublin & by the end of the holidays i honestly thought i was never going to get her back up here!! thought she'd end up packing in her job & just stay at home forever! I actually was so shocked 2 c how these things can completely take over a persons life.

There are a number of books you can get over the internet dealing with panic attacks - i konw she used a workbook that you had to work through to get to the root of why their happening in the first place. Thankfully she slowly but surely improved - she see's a counsellor once a week which seems to help her greatly...& for now is prety much back to normal....she drove down home on the Motorway on her own last weekend for the first time since it all happened - it has actually taken that long!! (for her the motorway terrified her in case she got an attack & there was no way a person to get to her to help - i did my best to drill into her that even if we could get to her it is her that has to help herself!)
Anyway, sorry for rambling - not sure i've been much help as havent experienced them personally but am very close to my sis so have witnessed how difficult they are first hand... i think i would definitely advise you to talk to someone - my sisters counsellor seems to have brought her on leaps & bounds....& fingers crossed the damn things stay well away for the forseeable future.... & also try & avoid putting urself under any stress - it was stress in work that triggered the spurt for my sis before Christmas so its a major factor.

Best of luck - really hope u get them sorted.

wylo

Check out "Claire Weekes" , she has a few books, life changing stuff, her approach is completely different yet years and years old, so dont be put off by her old fashioned style.
This guy has a few free audios about his life and how she changed it, never heard something so honest before AND theres no annoying sales angle to it. There is something on his site you can buy but i think he only mentions it once or something in his whole life story.

http://controllinganxiety.com/dsp_downloads.php They got so bad for him he wouldnt ever leave the house, very inspiring how he explains how a simple book had done so much more for him than the 1000s he had spent on counseling.

Claire Weekes basically teaches you about desensitizing your nerves. She explains there are two nervous attacks, the standard one that everyone gets when theyre nervous about something that should settle down. then theres the one that nervous anxiety/panic sufferers get, the second attack which is the fear of being nervous, or nervous of being nervous and thats the one that ruins peoples lives. She teaches you to accept the first nervousness as opposed to fighting it, because fighting it is what keeps you sensitive and thats where the viscous cycle stars.
She has audios as well that are brilliant, 'pass through panic' its called.