I started suffering from panic attacks about a month ago, I was wondering if there's anyone else who has the same problem here and is willing to talk about it, I hope this does not fall under a personal thread, if it does, please close.

There's various topics that could be discussed here, like the pro's and con's of medication, various techniques that help reduce the attacks, successes people have had at dealing with this problem.

Firstly I'm sorry to hear that demented_are_go, panic attacks are horrible.

I have no real panic attacks but I do suffer from an anxiety problem which I have had for years but since last summer it's been constant . I wake up every day feeling worried and I don't know why. All I can suggest is going to a doctor if you have not done so already because they have given me some medication which helps. I know it sounds like pretty obvious advice but It'd be worth it IMO.

I used to, it only lasted for a few days, to be honest.. turns out it was the beginning of my depression (great call, nature! nice heads up for me! ¬_¬) not saying it's happening to you, it varies for everyone. My friend had a panic attack once and she oki now

I used to have breathing problems, cry and becoming extremely worried about every little thing... they aren't fun. I'm glad yours stopped (I think you said that in a way?) but I don't suggest medication for it. I know it's a different matter and don't direct me to any other thread, I know where I am, but I did at one point think about medication (for depression but whatever) and I was told that I probably wouldn't be allowed to have them because you can become addicted easily. Not just that but, like painkillers, your body may become immune to them or take longer to react if you take them on a regular basis.

I don't really know what to suggest as I didn't have them long- saying "stay away from stressful situations" doesn't really help because it's not always your surrounding. As I said, everyone's different.

I was given ativan, which helps to a certain extent but makes me feel horrible when it wears off, and I worry about how it will be when I run out. Has anyone tried acupuncture ? A friend of a friend of mine was down to the point she could not get out of the house, she says it saved her life, I'm going to try it next week and see if it helps.

Feeling like you are a stranger in your own body is the worst feeling anyone can experience. I've been to two different doctors so far, one scared me to death talking about heart attacks and saying that's probably what i had, then I went to another, he brought up panic attacks, made me do bloodwork and an electrocardiogram to check my heart, everything's ok, no problems at all, nothing's off.

How do you find a good doctor for this ? From what I read, it's hard to get a clear diagnostic, the canadian health system is evil when you do not have a family doctor, I've tried to see a therapist before, through the hospital, I was put on a waiting list for the waiting list and told a nurse would call me in a month or two to see if I should be put on a waiting list.

Claireishness, I wish they had stopped, my doctor said that if I keep going like this, it will turn into depression.

I've had panic attacks for about 4 years, and I know how horrible they can be. I take Prozac for them but I still get them sometimes so I do this technique:
breath in through your nose, counting to five
exhale through your mouth, counting to 10. I've learned the best way to handle them is to just breath.
hope I helped :]

Considering I've talked about it in a large lecture class (PsychBio), talking here doesn't bother me at all.

I've been through panic attacks. Times where I was in lecture or such, and have no idea what was going on as I was just frozen, with my mind screaming "TRAPPEDTRAPPEDTRAPPED" for the entire time. I was lucky enough to have a psych major friend on hand the first time I slipped over that edge.

I was also struggling with depression at the time they started, due to that knee issue (stupid horse...), because I'm the sort of person who HAS to stay active. Before then I'd just been uncomfortable in crowds. The depression cleared away after my knee was repaired, but the panic attacks just dropped back to a controllable level.

So now, I'm just careful of my surroundings, I can't allow myself to get into a 'trapped' position, especially if there's already tension in the air, like during classes I make sure nothing obstructs my path to a door, especially for exams. It surprised my PsychBio prof when I pretty much threw myself out of my seat during an exam because the people around me were closing in.

I'm really glad that I can control it without drugs, because I have a history of being resistant to such, and building up tolerances to things very fast.

What is irritating is that I've had a couple (medical) doctors who on checking me for other issues (like a loose strung hand) were convinced I am currently depressed. Nobody with a real amount of psych training agrees with them. Go figure.

I've had anxiety attacks (or at least I think that's what it is...maybe it's a panic attack...), many times. It always has to do with social situations (going to public places, etc.), it even happened one time when I was just talking to my mom. And they come for no reason at all, and I don't know why. I feel faint, and my hands start shaking, it's hard to get it to go away. It hasen't happened in a while, and I don't think my mom knows anything about it. I can sometimes tame it by taking slow breathes, but it takes a really long time for it to stop.

I've had a couple over the years but I don't have them frequently or anything. Those few times were really weird and scary (I was a lot younger and didn't know what was going on), and it didn't help that my parents thought I was just being spoiled or something.. so yeah I really didn't know what was going on so I was just freaking out until it passed :/

I am liable to suffer from panic attacks.

About 14 years ago, I used to suffer from them continuously - every two days or so. I can also suffer from bad depression. The solution for me *warning I am very solution oriented* was mainly getting an older role model, someone who I could talk to, that wasn't a parent or relative, and deal with some pretty big issues.

I had another panic attack about 2 years ago after a break of 10 years, due to my mother in law. My solution to that was to come to a decision - that nothing I do or think about will stop her actions (she is a real :banned: ) and now I limit my contact.

I find that understanding that you can't change things, and limiting the time spent with stressful things, or in stressful situations is enough to stave them off, but usually at the root of the problem are some pretty big issues.

I had, and occasionally still have, incredibly severe anxiety attacks. If I get a bad one, I will call in sick to work (if I have the presence of mind to do so) and do nothing but stare at the wall and panic until it goes away. They come out of nowhere, everything will be going well and suddenly I feel trapped or threatened for no reason whatsoever. I used to experience them, to the point of being dehabilitated, about twice a week, with less severe attacks slightly more frequently. They also relate to nothing in particular, so I can have a wonderful day and still freak out later. My case might be a little different than other people in the thread, as my anxiety attacks are kind of a "side-effect" of bi-polar disorder.

Has anyone here tried Seroquel? It's prescribed more often specifically for bi-polar disorder, but its a drug that effectively "smooths" your moods so that you cannot have a panic attack. Unlike some that make you have pretty much no moods at all, this one allows you to have normally fluctuating moods but stops them before you get to the point of having a panic attack.

I don't think I have panic attack but my mom does, she is really worried about everythings. I have little panic attack and I am still just became teenager because I always worried about my family and friends and teachers, I am so very overprotective to them. I remember that one time, my hearts hurts really bad that I could barely move and have to stay home from school.

demented_are_go: The most important thing is to look deep inside and try to find the cause of your anxiety. Drugs will help to calm you, but it crucial to figure out what is triggering these episodes. My mother suffered from crippling attacks - it turned out to be work related stress. After she quit that job, the anxiety attacks stopped completely. I wish you luck and hope that you 'get better' soon.

I have suffered with panic attacks for about 10 years now.I was that bad i wouldn't leave the house because it didn't matter where i was i would get them.First my heart would pump faster,my hands would sweet, i would shake,i would get the feeling that i needed to start running and not stop,I would feel num and i couldn't feel myself breathing and i would get the feeling i was outside my body and would feel apart from everything.I'd have to keep moving to remind myself i did exist.To cut a long story short, i learn to control it myself after i got sick of it controlling me.I would explain how i did it but i would need a whole page and i don't know if your allowed to do that.When i was learning to control them i realised they actually came in stages,(as discribed above),but one thing i realised as well was,it was the fear of having one that made things worse,because it's about fear and there can be other underlining factors.I hadn't had one in about 6 years when about 2 years ago they came back and they were the same but different some how.I went and got help this time.I tried meds but i found i had to many side effects so i stopped taking them.So again i just learnt how to control them.

I've only ever had one (Well, I'm not sure if it was an actual panic attack, but it all the symptoms seem to fit :hmm: ) and I'm glad that was the only one I've had. x_x
One of my old friends used to have panic attacks, and the only thing that helped her was to just sit them out :hmm:

I used to experience panic attacks daily, sometimes twice a day when it was really bad. For about six months I tried to sit them out but it simply didn't work for me, instead I slipped into an anxiety-induced depression that made even existing difficult. Finally I sought the help of a counsellor at school - it took me two seconds to figure out that he wasn't taking me seriously, treating me as though I was over-reacting. Fortunately with the support of my parents, I began seeing an independent counsellor/psychologist who prescribed anti-depressants for the depression and valium for panic attacks; combined with some cognitive therapy, I've managed to reach a level where I am in control and not my anxiety.

It's important to deal with the issues behind the attacks as well, although th way I understand it is that some people also have a pre-disposition to anxiety and will always operate on a higher level of stress than others not so.

Personally, I don't think I would have been able to cope without the intervention of medication but it depends on the frequence and severity of your attacks.

If you need to talk to someone, I'd gladly lend an ear ...

I'm a chronic worrier - I drive myself mad with worry. As a result I've occasionally had a few panic attacks here and there about the things I'm worrying about.

I have never found much help in therapy and medication, though I have tried both for... mental issues other than panic attacks. For me, I've found the most effective way of dealing with it is to identify the underlying cause, wrap my mind around it, and then find something else to dive into. Not so much push it away as... identify it properly, put it on a back burner so my subconscious can deal with it in its own way. I've got to have something to keep my mind busy, so organization, lots of numbers, figuring out logic puzzles, etc. can keep that part of my mind churning.

I've also found that some of the basic things one does as practice for chaos magic tend to focus your mind in ways that area really helpful just for general emotional issues. There's some very simple exercises one can do like... Sitting quietly and clearing your mind and focusing completely on your breathing. Repeating a sound over and over in your mind until it loses all meaning. Staring at a single point or object until the scene in front of your eyes loses all meaning to your brain (goes all high contrast and then blurry - it's really weird after about 15 minutes). In chaos magic it's to train your conscious mind to be quiet so your unconscious mind can do things your conscious mind cannot while it's blathering and yammering all over the place... but it can really help anyone, regardless of beliefs, wrangle their brains under control a bit more. And it's really calming.

I've been feeling way off for the past three days, I'm not exactly having a great time dealing with this, the first attack I had was almost a month ago now, and I had it in the car while driving home, I was convinced I was going to die. Since then I've been questionning everything, I feel weird 75% of the time, like something's wrong, I've had bloodwork done and I've even had my heart checked out, everything was fine, but I don't feel fine, I feel lightheaded, sometimes I feel like I have a hard time breathing, I'm totally freaked out still, how did you guys deal with the aftermath ? the fear of another attack, the symptoms that just won't go away? Trying and trying to stop thinking about it but being utterly unable to ?

I've still got some pills that I can take, but I'm not sure how I feel about that, I don't want to run out and I don't want to take too much. How did you guys get through this ? I'm sure I'm not the only one struggling here.

I'm also a chronic worrier, I cannot help it, if I say one thing that embarasses me, let's say at a party, while drunk, it will haunt me for days, I worry about anything and everything, I stress out easily, I can go from being perfectly fine and calm to hyperventilating in minutes.

I used to have panic attacks when I was younger. I was also a sever hypochondriac back then, and I think that tended to induce my panic attacks. One time my attack was so severe my mother took me to the ER. My heart was going very fast (125 beats per minute), and they diagnosed me as having tachycardia (fast heartrate). I was only about 12 at the time. My heart still goes abnormally fast, but other than that my heart is fine.

I was also diagnosed with depression in the spring of 2006. My mother had me put into the psych ward of the hospital where I stayed for a week as an inpatient. They put me on the antidepressant Zoloft. I stopped taking Zoloft a couple of months ago because the generic version was causing me to have heartburn and the brand name Zoloft was too expensive for us to buy every month. Since going off Zoloft I have been fine and have not experienced any more periods of depression or panic.

If you are having severe panic attacks, I would look into some treatment and possibly medication. Zoloft did seem to help me with my depression once I got over the pouting stage of not wanting to be caught taking antidepressants. lol.

You can PM if you want and i can try to explain how i learn to control them.It may help.I'm also a constant worrier and worry about everything and anything so i know what it feels like.

been dealing with panic/anxiety attacks for years, they were so bad at one time that they'd last for three days at a time... it would really disable me and cause me to crash physically, not fun, they've been gone for awhile, but they recently started back when some un needed pressure was added to my life

When I was in the military I became deeply depressed (seriously, not leaving the barracks for a year will do that to you) and starting getting panic attacks to the point where I would pass out. Thankfully I managed to be alone when that happened, but, still. Very bad. They continued on for years after I was out, and I would get them whenever someone was near me - in the car, in the grocery store, whatever. I self medicated (as I had no health insurance) for quite some time.

I did some intense soul searching meditation and dug up a few nasty memories that seemed to be triggering it. It was messed up and painful, but after coming to terms with them and getting them out in the open, I got a little better. Then it was just time. Apparently, now that I have health insurance, my allergist (my allergist of all people, wth?) wants to send me to anxiety control classes.

So I don't know what to tell you other than don't rely on substances. Prescribed or otherwise, you know? The answer is in that noggin of yours somewhere.

I also agree with stacey.If you have the money,that probable would be your best option.I use to get them a couple of times a day and i found waiting them out didn't work.Back then there were few who new how to deal with them, now a days they know what they are and can give you steps to help over come them.

I had some real problem for some years (ten-fifteen ago) with anxiety and panicattacks. A doctor gave me antidepressives, and I tried it for some time, but decided to turn it down, cause I had weird sideeffects from it. I also , sadly, selfmedicated with alcohol for some time. I dont recommend that, and it actually made the chemical imbalance stronger and I had to deal with even more anxiety.

A breakingpoint for me was when I decided to take full responsability for my condition. I started keeping a journal, and I started to meditate and take long walks to relieve stress. I looked at my life. What was I eating, and how did it affect me? What people did I involve in my life, and how did they affect me? And I kept asking myself what was going on, and what was on my mind.Every habit of mine got scrutinized like that, cause I really just wanted to feel better. I had to realise I have my weakspots, and I learned not to take on more than I can handle, and Ive learned to take better care of my self. It helped a lot. I can still get depressed or feel worried at times, but now I feel I can handle it and control my life. I also learned to say a simple "no" to things that causes me to freak out. I was surprised to see that people was really understanding and helpful, and that its ok. not to be perfect.

A really clever doctor once reminded me to have fun. Its sometimes easy to forget, but laughing and enjoying something is the enemy of anxiety.

I have had alot of panic attacks over the years. I lost my dad at 10 and was raped at 15 that is what started them. I have learned how to get through them. I am more than willing to talk about them you can email me at any time Krazyboutkatz@yahoo.com