Anxiety/Panic Attacks

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Posted by neeniebean86

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Posted by RedHead

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Posted by marymoon

Like Red, I wake up in the middle of the night with then. My heart races and I absolutely cannot sleep. I used to get them during finals at school or another stressful time and since my dad left, etc, I've been getting them a lot. I basically didn't sleep a full night for months,

ETA: it's totally NOT mind over matter. Anyone who says that has never had them. You can learn strategies to cope with them, but it's nt like you can just be like 'it's ok.' and it'll all end right then and there. When it's really bad, or when I'ms tressed really bad, it can actually give me an asthma attack. People think I'm faking it, or it's psychological. No. My lungs are really contracting.

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it really depends on where the stress is manifested from. Sometimes panic attacks derived from phobias can be mind over matter and/or mind reconditioning.
Mine started like yours in HS, continued throughout college and grad school and manifest to anything i am worried about at the time (job, money, condo, house hunting etc.)

ALthough it probably will never go away, you can train yourself how to deal with it more effectively. In fact i feel that if i had learned some of the techniques i know now, i could have saved myself a lot of sleepless nights!
And then there are the days that NOTHING works...

it is a person to person, situation to situation issue as to treatment

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i agree with Red- sometimes i can control it, and sometimes i cant. Im not that religious, but when its REALLY bad, i say prayers over and over again... it keeps my mind occupied and eases it a little bit.

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do you take meds for it? st brigids huh? my home town..yours too?

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Posted by jandt2006
do you take meds for it? st brigids huh? my home town..yours too?

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no... i only have them in a certain few situations, and when that happens, i just kinda deal with it
yup.. its my hometown now

I suffer for anxiety and panicattacks about 3- 4 times a week' Medication has alleviated a lot of the symptoms.

They are very scary. THe heavy breathing, shortness of breath, and crying.

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Posted by regi

I suffer for anxiety and panicattacks about 3- 4 times a week' Medication has alleviated a lo the symptoms.

They are very scary. THe breahing, short of breath, and crying.

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i'm glad that the medicine works for you!!

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Posted by neeniebean86

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Posted by jandt2006
do you take meds for it? st brigids huh? my home town..yours too?

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no... i only have them in a certain few situations, and when that happens, i just kinda deal with it
yup.. its my hometown now

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well welcome to my town

Medication, excercise, avioding overly stressful situations, more medication, therapy, deep/controlled breathing and a wonderful FI have helped.
FM me if you need anything. I had my first major one 3 years ago. I'm sure now that I must have had them as a kid too. You need to take the medication for a long time for it to work. I still get attacks occasionally and I use a stronger/ valium type to calm me down. For me it is a mental problem with my synapses, it's not just nerves. I would suggested talking to a doctor and sticking with a plan for years.

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Posted by jennymac

Medication, excercise, avioding overly stressful situations, more medication, therapy, deep/controlled breathing and a wonderful FI have helped.
FM me if you need anything. I had my first major one 3 years ago. I'm sure now that I must have had them as a kid too.

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you still take the meds?

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Posted by jandt2006

well welcome to my town

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DH is from here too he lured me in (im from brooklyn)

what grade do you teach?
yeah sometimes it's better to make meds at night, i take certain ones at night and different ones in the morning.

oooh that's rough

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Posted by MonkeyLuv

Just a general question that came up in conversation this weekend:

How many of you have them?

How often?

What do you do to combat them?

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I get them once in a while. Less frequent now. I had a really bad attack one time when half my body went numb and I couldn't breath and felt a tightness in my chest. Fortunately, I went to a cardiologist and everything was ok. I think for me I needed to learn how to deal with stress better. I use to push myself beyond what I could do physically and mentally. Another thing I want to mention is that you can still have an attack even when you have no worries and feel like your life is perfect. My last year in college- it was the last day of class and I pretty much had finished all my requirements. Out of no where I lost my breath. I couldn't breath. My friend walked out of the class with me and I drank some water and inhaled and exhaled slowly. Where it came from---I have no idea. The mind is soooo powerful.
My FI has also been having attacks this past year a few times. He recently started speaking to a therapist. He just needs to deal with stress better and learn how to express himself openly.

I started getting them when I was around 23. They got really bad in my late 20's and early 30's until I finally accepted the fact that I needed to be on medication.

Mine were random. They would come when I was driving or waiting on line in a store, any situation where I was 'stuck'. I remember getting them in a club and in the airport too. If I couldn't get to an exit fast enough I would have one. I went through a few periods when I could not drive at all for a week or two. I would make my Mother drive over to my house in the middle of the night just to take my pulse!

Finally, I was put on meds. I tried a few and ended up on Klopopin, when I really needed it, and daily Zoloft. The only time I have one now is when I stop taking the Zoloft. I have finally accepted the fact that I can't stop taking it. My life is so much more normal now!

I have been getting anxiety attacks since I was 19 ( Family issues are what started them I think)

Back then I had them every few weeks so I went on Zoloft but I did not really like it so then I started taking xanax only when I needed it or felt an attack coming on. At the time I was in a physically and verbally abusive relationship which made it a hundred times worse - plus gave me horrible tension headaches. This went on for several years until I got out of that relationship, then it stopped until recently.

My Anxiety attacks returned about a month ago for several possible reasons (new job, wedding to plan, became a mom 1 year ago, death of close friend etc...) Now I am on Klonopin (tranquilizer like xanax) ONLY when I need it. My Dr. Prescribed me .50mg 2 times a day as needed... Yeah right I fall asleep standing up! I only take 1/2 of a pill once a day if I feel an attack cominb on. I also just started seeing a therapist yesterday, let's see if that helps a little.

If I had to rate them I would say my attacks are around an 8.5 on the richter scale.

There are definitely coping strategies, but someone sayinf 'snap out of it' does NOT help. That's what I mean.

I don't take any meds for it, though incresingly I feel like I should. I have tried in the past, I took Zoloft, but it made me very very sick, I felt so weird in my head I can;t even describe it. my thoughts were not my own, I had trouble driving and then one night I woke up ina cold sweat turning yellow. Wasn't for me! I should try again though. I'm just really sort of scared of takng meds, and I also just feel like I should be able to tough it out w/o them, even though I know it's not true, and if your brain is wired a certain way, that's what it is. Also, I have ADD. I can find a lot of ways to cope and work around it, but certain things would just be a lot easier w. medication

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Posted by wood2be

I started getting them when I was around 23. They got really bad in my late 20's and early 30's until I finally accepted the fact that I needed to be on medication.

Mine were random. They would come when I was driving or waiting on line in a store, any situation where I was 'stuck'. I remember getting them in a club and in the airport too. If I couldn't get to an exit fast enough I would have one. I went through a few periods when I could not drive at all for a week or two. I would make my Mother drive over to my house in the middle of the night just to take my pulse!

Finally, I was put on meds. I tried a few and ended up on Klopopin, when I really needed it, and daily Zoloft. The only time I have one now is when I stop taking the Zoloft. I have finally accepted the fact that I can't stop taking it. My life is so much more normal now!

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wow i dont' feel so alone now!!

Funny I should read this post today of all days. I had a massive panic attack at work yesterday, which prompted a call to 911 and I was taken to the hospital

My heart was racing, I was hyperventilating, and I was numb all over my body. I swore I was going to die. Thats just it though, youre not going to die, but you feel like you are and there is nobody that can convince you of anything different.

Mine lasted about an hour, I was white as a ghost, shaking, and I really thought I was going to drop dead on the spot.

I went to my regular doctor and he gave me Zoloft and some Xanax.

I know that I am going to have to stay on these meds for a while, because I got one today too. Much milder than yesterday, but still scary.

I got one today because I was so scared of getting another one at work, I actually brought it on myself.

I really sympathize with anyone who goes through this, it's hard to deal with, and very frightening.