No More Panic Attacks- My Story and how I beat them.

[dagit]

Heres my story - I sincerely hope it helps you.

I'm just an average joe - I'm a happy go lucky kind of guy. Nothing phases me. Im almost horizontal when it comes to problems and stresses of the day. I live life to the full and nothing is too much bother for me. Im 27 years old. Im married and i have a newly born son. I have a great life, a good job and i earn ok.

Generally speaking, i go out for a beer after work with the fellas, and we talk about sports, girls, beer. the usual kinda thing. Then when I'm done. I catch the late train home, usually alone (after stopping for a drunken burger king) and goto bed. Life's pretty good.

When I'm out, I'm generally the life and soul of the party…"Hey, James has arrived…" Im the first one to get up and dance (even though i dance like a Dad), I'm the first one to get the beers in and I'm usually the one to stand up, make an arse of myself and tell all of the jokes. It's fair to say that people like to be around me and I like to be around them.

Then one day, something changed.

It was about 9pm. Me and some buddies had been out for the night - nothing special a few beers (and I do mean a few) and we decided to go back to one of the guys houses for Pizza. We sat in his dining room, chatting about the experiences of the evening, all with a beer in our hands, waiting for the pizza delivery when suddenly i felt really sick.. Dizzy…. Nauseous… The room. it started to spin.. i couldn't catch my breath….

***Breathing, pounding, couldn't catch my breath

my heart, it pounded…louder and louder. it felt like it was going to break out of my chest….I grabbed at my collar and ripped it down as if my t shirt was trying to choke me…i looked around the room, and it was spinning… i looked at my friends and they were giggling, no idea what was happening to me… it was like a Batman movie … all slow-mo….giggles, laughing….pointing……
Were they pointing at me?? Was it suddenly obvious to everyone in the room that i could not longer talk, or more importantly breath… could everyone actually see what was happening to me?????

Am I going to die???? am i going to pass out?? Am I going to fall on the floor and piss myself? Are all of my mates going to take the piss out of me and from now on my life is going to be utter, utter shit….

What the hell is happening to me!!!!!

I decide that i cannot take it any more and so i decided to make a break for the front door….Fresh air…that will sort it…must have been a bad pint i thought to myself…….i get outside…..all "seems" to clam down a bit…my breathing starts to settle…"what the hell was that"…i start to think…..slowly thinking its all ok again….my mind slowing down, my breathing slowing down, my beating heart slowing down……

Then a mate comes out to see if I'm ok…BAAAM!!! it starts again… heart races faster and faster, breathing faster and faster, I'm going to die, I'm going to die…..nausea, dizzy, I'm going to be sick…. HELP ME…….

So what did i do??? I drove home (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DONT DO THIS).
I drove home, cos i thought that home was safe, i drove home cos i thought that i needed to be alone…One of my buddies, followed me home in his car….We got about 1/2 mile up the road and i had to pull over - there was NO WAY i could drive…let alone safely…. I parked up, left the car door open and unlocked, got into my mates car and was driven home.

Safe……

When i got home, I met my wife and she could see the sheer terror on my face…."whats up with you?" she said, "I'm gonna die" i said.. and with that i ran to the top of the stairs, fell over and started to die….actually i started to hyper ventilate, but i had no idea what that was…

so she called an ambulance - its the first time that I've ever had an ambulance at home, blues and twos flashing…sirens whaling….we live in a cul-de-sac - nice and quite…you can imagine what the neighbours thought at midnight….

anyways the ambulance crew rushed up the stairs to find me curled up in tears at the top barley breathing.... did they bust out the defibrillator? Did they call 999 emergency? Did they call ghost busters?? No…. The lead paramedic said, calmly and with authority…"Son, you're having a panic attack…It will go soon…please, just try to relax"…

RELAX…RELAX… my heart is coming out of my chest, my lungs are about to burst, i can't see anymore as the world is spinning and I'm sweating.. oh my, I'm sweating…..im going to die…relax my arse…..

He gave a bag to breath into….he talked calmly to me.. and within 10 minutes, I was me again… panic over and with that he left…

That was the experience of my first panic attack…An attack that came, one that i didn't know what it was…my wife didn't know either, no one i knew had ever had one before, so i was completely alone….I had absolutely no clue as to what just happened..As a result there was obviously no support, no help and no guidance, no understanding……..What a crappy place to be…..

Next day I woke up and everything was good in the world once again… Normal morning, i recalled the previous night, although to be honest, i couldn't remember all of it, just snip bits of the ambulance driver and feeling sick, nothing too traumatic..i even called my mate and said "Hey!!! you'll never guess what happened to me last night - i had an ambulance at home"… how little did I know what was about to happen….

[dagit]

My wife and I had some breakfast and all seemed fine…until she wanted to go outside for a countryside walk… all of a sudden (well if felt like that) i couldn't go out of the house…..I couldn't step over the doorstep…are you crazy??? i commute to work every single day… walk, taxi, train, tube, walk, taxi, work… i work in the heart of the city of London and i can't step outside my door in the countryside?????? what the hell!!!

I had no idea what was happening to me. I stepped outside of the house, just in the same way that id done million times before, only this time, as the door shut and the lock clicked, the terror started. Sheer terror….My heart started to race again, thumping in my chest, louder and louder, the sweat started to build up on my forehead, then started to drip slowly down my face. I was bright red in the face, my chest was tight…really tight..and it was getting tighter…”I’m having a heart attack!” i thought - “on no, this is it…I’m going to die right here on my own front door step”… I looked around at my wife and she was looking at me strangely. “Are you ok?” she said..”having…heart…attack” I replied, struggling to get any of the words out.. My mind racing over and over with the words..Heart Attack…..the more i thought i was having a heart attack, the more my chest tightened, the more sweat came down and the greater i started to shake. I just stood there, completely frozen, locked still with fear. I couldn’t think straight ,i couldn’t see straight. The only thing that kept repeating were the words, Heart Attack…..

Having now noticed the full plight of my attack in action, my wife sat me down on the door step and started to offer words of encouragement, telling me not to worry, that i was being silly, I’m ok, that it was not a heart attack and i was worrying for nothing. Just relax, it will go shortly, it will soon pass……

“STOP TALKING TO ME WOMAN”… i shouted, still completely wrapped with fear. “what the hell do you know about it? I’m dying right here before your very eyes and you are telling me to calm down and that I’m making all this shit up!…are you insane….Im DYING”….

She stood there, completely shocked and alarmed at my response. This wasn’t him, he doesn’t do things like that, she thought…

She continued to try to comfort me and attempt to calm me down, she knew that my life wasn’t in danger, and although she didn’t know what panic attack was, I’m sure it was blatantly obvious to her that, that was exactly what was going on and another episode that the paramedic from the night before had explained.

After what seemed an age. It was probably only a matter of minutes, for some reason i started to calm down. I started to rationalise what had just happened. Had I just survived a heart attack without even falling over? Wow.. My heart stopped thumping like it was trying to break my ribs and my chest instantly became relaxed and no longer tight. The sweating stopped and my normal colour slowly came back to my face and hands.

“you had another one” she said….”Are you ok now”?…… I felt such an arse for shouting at her, and apologised immediately, explaining that it was a classic fight or flight reaction and that fear of having a heart attack made me scared out of my whits. I explained that i wasn’t thinking straight and that i really didn’t like what was happening to me. With that, we went back inside the house.

I stayed at home with my wife for the next couple of days. Not leaving the house, excepting to go outside into the garden or into the garage. All was fine. No more panics. No more hyper ventilating, all was calm and relaxed….

A few days later, my wife returned to work, luckily i had a few days leave planned, so the thought of going back to work hadnt occurred to me at that point. I was home alone for a couple of hours, happily wasting time doing not much at all when out of the blue…i had another panic attack. I was in my own home, sitting on a sofa, watching tv with a cup of coffee in my hand. Nothing special. I remember watching some crappy morning TV show, so it wasn’t even as if i was getting excited about a plot or being stimulated by an action movie, it was bloody day time tv and it was crap! How the hell does that cause a panic attack…… anyways.. it did.

Usual thing started to happen, chest tightening, heart thumping, sweat dripping, hands shaking, “heart attack, heart attack, you’re having a heart attack”, was all that was going through my mind. I jumped up and turned off the tv just incase it was the tv’s fault in someway. I stood there in the middle of my lounge, dying…alone… all I could think to do was to find the phone and call my wife at work.. that same wife whose advice just a few days ago i dismissed as complete nonsense..

“Its me, I’m having a heart attack, get here quick” i spouted down the phone to her. Completely unaware that she was in an open planned office and everyone could see her face and the expressions that she was pulling. I didn’t care. I wanted her home. NOW, cos I was dying. “Have you left yet?” i screamed at her..”calm down” she said “Its just another one of those episodes”, she was trying to calm me down without letting her office know what was going on..”Calm down!! Calm Down!! bloody hell woman I’m having a heart attack” and with that i threw the phone across the room and waited for the pain of the heart attack to finally hit me..

I stood there, motionless for about 10 minutes, just staring at the floor, feeling my chest getting tighter and tighter, my heart beating quicker and quicker, my arms shaking, fear running through my body…”I need to talk to her again”..I thought…..”quick, get the phone”..I called her again….”Its me”….i said trying to be at least coherent. Then she said something I realised later would be the very key to beating this thing that i had developed.

“You’re not dead then”…..she said calmly.

Well, you can imagine what i thought about that at the time. I was furious! Livid! How dare she!!! Not dead then!! Did she think i was playing?? Did she think i was just making this shit up!!! Unfortunately, my reaction to her on the phone was not the best and it ended in me hanging up again and storming off muttering to myself about how much my wife didn’t care a hoot about me and that my life was shit.

Do you know what happened next? It stopped. Although very pissed off and utterly furious still, i slowly began to notice that i wasn’t panicking anymore, i had stopped sweating, my heart had stopped trying to escape from my chest and it was no longer tight. I was however still very red faced, but that was because i was pissed at her.

During that course of that evening, my wife and I discussed - repeatedly, over and over, and over again, the events of the day and the weekend. I just had to get it right in my own head. What the hell was it, ok its a panic attack… but perhaps the most import question of all.. What the hell causes them? And how do i stop them?

They came out of no where. For absolutely no reason whatsoever, nothing seemed to trigger them. I was completely fine one minute and the next, I’m having heart attack..

I tried for weeks to work it out. What the hell caused them? They could come at any time in the day, I could be anywhere, doing anything. or I could be doing absolutely nothing. Just sitting there. I tried lots of ways to deal with them. I even tried to run as fast as i could whenever i was having one, with the express thought of seeing if i would actually die of a heart attack.

I started to notice a pattern forming.

Every time i had a panic attack, it was generally without my wife being there. Every time she was with me, i didn’t have a panic attack…..
Every time I had a panic attack i would head for home. Where ever i was. On the train, in the car, at work, it didn’t matter - as soon as i had an attack, i would immediately call my wife (yes, the one whose help and advice i didn’t want) and head for home by the quickest means possible. Home was my safe place, especially if my wife was there too.

As the panic’s didn’t seem to be going away, i went to visit my GP and explained what was happening. He talked through it with me for awhile and prescribed beta blockers for me. Explaining what they were and what they did.

I really didn’t get on with them. I took then for a couple of days until they started to work. Did they stop me from panicking? Im sure that they did, they stopped me from living!! I was a complete zombie on them. Spaced out all of the time. No idea what time of day it was, or even what day it was for that matter. I was the walking - dead. “Sod that!” I thought, there must be a better way than walking around practically unconscious.

I was advised by a friend that perhaps a herbalist might be able to help. As the drugs that they prescribed were natural, maybe that was a better route. So i found a herbalist and made my first visit. What a revelation!! This was the first person that i had met that actually had panic attacks and stopped them!! “Excellent”! I thought.. this is the very thing for me. Ill be cured in no time and back to myself again! Tickety-boo!.

Well, unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out like I had hoped. Although she was excellent, very understanding and listened intently. She also “prescribed” different herbal remedies for me from bachs rescue remedy to echinacea (thats the only one i remember) and told me when to take them and how many, the panics actually didn’t seem to go away. I started to use my fortnightly visit as more of a therapy session, talking to her about my attacks, how often they occurred, what had happened, where etc..principally because the only other person that i was comfortable telling was my wife, and she was pretty bored to tears hearing for the umpteenth time about yet another bout of attacks.

All in all, it made me start to think that if I, personally, didn’t find a way to stop these panics and cure myself. No one else was going to either.

[dagit]

First, as i said earlier, i wanted to know what i was frightened of. What was causing the panic to grow. For me the main reason was thinking that i was having a heart attack. With that thought constantly in my head, it was almost impossible to stop the fear rising. as every time i started to panic, id worry about a heart attack, which in turn would make me worry more, and so the fear of heart attack grew - and on it went.

What else was i scared of? Why for example did i dislike going out of the house without my wife? Can she cure heart attacks? Obviously not. So what did i fear when leaving the house? It was a combination of looking an idiot and passing out in front of everyone and embarrassing myself. This was particularly relevant when collecting my son from school. All the parents and I standing in the playground waiting for the kids to come out. What if i passed out on the playground? What would everyone say? What would they think? How would my son get home if i passed out and died of a heart attack right there at school? To be honest, i had no chance of avoiding a panic attack with thoughts like that going around in my head.

I knew i had to stand up and try to confront and resolve at the very least, these two key concerns.

Whilst I’m sure what i did is not conventional in anyway. I can honestly tell you, it worked for me…

Firstly, the heart attack…… When a panic came on and i could feel it rising and rising. id stop. collect my thoughts as much as i could and shout at the top of my voice…”Go on then, bloody die!! Get on with it you tart!”….and then id wait…nothing…..so id wait some more…..nothing…….then, perhaps more calmly (as the panic effect was waring off a bit), id say to myself..”Not dead yet then? Heart attack didn’t come this time ‘eh”?…….and before i had a chance to argue with myself about the fact that i was lucky this time and the next one would definitely get me (i know….i know…arguing with myself…) I’d call myself an ass and and think about something else.

Every time I did this, i achieved exactly the same result….I DIDNT DIE OF A HEART ATTACK.

So, you can imagine. the fear, it slowly started to go away…As the fear left, so did the panics…I had nothing else to panic about…If i ever did get a panic start, id think…”It’s a panic. You’ve had hundreds of them before, you will not have a heart attack, it will go in a moment”…sometimes, id actually tell it to “Bugger off!”

I did exactly the same thing, rather embarrassingly i have to tell you, with the second problem.. What if i pass out at the school and look a complete wally in front of all the parents and the children. What if my son comes out form school and sees his Dad looking almost dead on the floor, dribbling to himself?

I had to force myself into the situation to try to cure it (told you it was a little unconventional). I went to the school gates, armed with the fact that if i did pass out, at the very least, i wasn’t going to die of a heart attack because of it. The moment i reached the playground i could feel the panic starting to rise. Im SURE it was because i was EXPECTING it too, i was kind of willing it to happen without even knowing it…how nuts is that! Anyways, it started. So what did i do? In the middle of the playground and right in front of the very people that i didn’t want to make myself look stupid in front of. I shouted, yet shouted…”Well pass out then!”……guess what… I didn’t pass out.

Everyone looked at me..”who the heck is this nutter near our children”…I’m sure they were saying to each other….. I don’t know exactly if that was what they were thinking because no one spoke to me. In fact, they seemed to move further away from me…. in hindsight, i could have shouted into a mile phone or something to make it look like i was actually talking to someone else..and not myself….but hey…..

It had worked…The panic left me that day (the embarrassment stayed for a few more school visits i have to tell you). Now for a short time after that episode, whenever i reached the school gate, I could sense the panic trying to start again, but now i absolutely knew that it was my brain expecting it to happen and that i was actually causing it by my own suggestion. So it was much easier to cope with. I simply acknowledged what was happening and thought to myself “Not today”.


So thats my story, and whilst its a very personal thing to write about. I sincerely hope that if it helps just one person overcome this terrible condition, then it was worth it.

You can beat this. you can triumph, even though you probably feel that you can’t. I thought that same. I thought id always have this. But who wants a life like that? A life of constant worry what if i have an attack and look an arse. Why one earth would you do that to yourself. Im not going to tell you that you are not going to worry about, you will. I can tell you that one day, you will stop that too. but for now. every time the thought or fear comes along. Recognise it for what it actually is….fear. nothing else. Everything else is your own thoughts making it worse. Look at it this way. You’re all alone, at night, in the a middle of a violent part of town. Out of nowhere a group of men suddenly come towards you. You instantly start to worry.. Are they going to hurt me? Are they going to mug me? and you start to look for an escape route. Can i run? Can I hide anywhere? Naturally, you will start to sweat, your hands will shake, your chest will tighten and your heart will beat so loud that you will think the men can hear it……sound familiar???…

How about, if, at that very moment. Someone puts on a light. The men are just happy chatting away to themselves and walk straight past you without so much as looking at you and within a few moments, are out of sight. You put yourself through all that panic, all that worry, all that anxiety for what? absolutely nothing. What started out as your survival instinct making sure that you were ready to escape should the worst happen. pumping your heart to get the blood flow to your legs to make them ready to run. Breathing heavily to ensure that your lungs are at capacity incase you need to run like hell or scream the place down….all of these thing are natural occurrences designed to help you in and anyone else in a situation like that….

The problem is, that people who suffer with panic attacks and anxiety, do this to themselves every singe day. Some multiple times…. Wouldn’t it be great if you could “Turn the light on” when you started to notice a panic happening? Wouldn’t it be great if you could see the panic start and at that moment, take the fear out of it so that it would simply go away.

Well you can. You just have to try. You just have to trust yourself.

Find out what you are afraid of.. When a panic starts, what keeps it there? For me it was dying of a heart attack. Whilst the panic would start on its own, and i had no control to stop that. What i DID control was that i knew i wasn’t going to have a heart attack. Simple because i knew that, I took away the fear…the result….The panic started ,then fear left me, the panic calmed down, it went.

Now it did take a while to get used to it and it did take courage to stand by it. BUT, in the end, i mastered it.

Im 42 years old now and i haven’t had a panic attack for 15 years. Sure i think about it now and then, in actual fact i was concerned that writing this might cause them to start again…It hasn’t.

I wrote this to help those who have panic attacks and anxiety issues in a clear way. Ive seen plenty of books on the subject, mostly written by some Doctor, who will give best practice advice. But rarely do people that have actually suffered from them talk about them. I believe that there is some stigma, some undisclosed weakness that people who suffer from them think about themselves. Some how it makes you weak or suggested that you have mental health issues and if anyone knew you’d be locked up and put into the asylum immediately chased down by a group of pitch fork welding yokel folk from the village.

Its not like that at all. Its just another issue to test your strength and mental resolve and to get you ready for whatever else life throws at you.

I sincerely wish you well and I want you to look forward to the very day that you finally no longer have to deal with anxiety.

[trinidiva]

Loved reading your story....I could truly relate. I too had to call an ambulance to come and get me the first time I had a panic attack....but over the years and trying lots of different things, I've found a way to control them.

[rpea]

First, as i said earlier, i wanted to know what i was frightened of. What was causing the panic to grow. For me the main reason was thinking that i was having a heart attack. With that thought constantly in my head, it was almost impossible to stop the fear rising. as every time i started to panic, id worry about a heart attack, which in turn would make me worry more, and so the fear of heart attack grew - and on it went.

What else was i scared of? Why for example did i dislike going out of the house without my wife? Can she cure heart attacks? Obviously not. So what did i fear when leaving the house? It was a combination of looking an idiot and passing out in front of everyone and embarrassing myself. This was particularly relevant when collecting my son from school. All the parents and I standing in the playground waiting for the kids to come out. What if i passed out on the playground? What would everyone say? What would they think? How would my son get home if i passed out and died of a heart attack right there at school? To be honest, i had no chance of avoiding a panic attack with thoughts like that going around in my head.

I knew i had to stand up and try to confront and resolve at the very least, these two key concerns.

Whilst I’m sure what i did is not conventional in anyway. I can honestly tell you, it worked for me…

Firstly, the heart attack…… When a panic came on and i could feel it rising and rising. id stop. collect my thoughts as much as i could and shout at the top of my voice…”Go on then, bloody die!! Get on with it you tart!”….and then id wait…nothing…..so id wait some more…..nothing…….then, perhaps more calmly (as the panic effect was waring off a bit), id say to myself..”Not dead yet then? Heart attack didn’t come this time ‘eh”?…….and before i had a chance to argue with myself about the fact that i was lucky this time and the next one would definitely get me (i know….i know…arguing with myself…) I’d call myself an ass and and think about something else.

Every time I did this, i achieved exactly the same result….I DIDNT DIE OF A HEART ATTACK.

So, you can imagine. the fear, it slowly started to go away…As the fear left, so did the panics…I had nothing else to panic about…If i ever did get a panic start, id think…”It’s a panic. You’ve had hundreds of them before, you will not have a heart attack, it will go in a moment”…sometimes, id actually tell it to “Bugger off!”

I did exactly the same thing, rather embarrassingly i have to tell you, with the second problem.. What if i pass out at the school and look a complete wally in front of all the parents and the children. What if my son comes out form school and sees his Dad looking almost dead on the floor, dribbling to himself?

I had to force myself into the situation to try to cure it (told you it was a little unconventional). I went to the school gates, armed with the fact that if i did pass out, at the very least, i wasn’t going to die of a heart attack because of it. The moment i reached the playground i could feel the panic starting to rise. Im SURE it was because i was EXPECTING it too, i was kind of willing it to happen without even knowing it…how nuts is that! Anyways, it started. So what did i do? In the middle of the playground and right in front of the very people that i didn’t want to make myself look stupid in front of. I shouted, yet shouted…”Well pass out then!”……guess what… I didn’t pass out.

Everyone looked at me..”who the heck is this nutter near our children”…I’m sure they were saying to each other….. I don’t know exactly if that was what they were thinking because no one spoke to me. In fact, they seemed to move further away from me…. in hindsight, i could have shouted into a mile phone or something to make it look like i was actually talking to someone else..and not myself….but hey…..

It had worked…The panic left me that day (the embarrassment stayed for a few more school visits i have to tell you). Now for a short time after that episode, whenever i reached the school gate, I could sense the panic trying to start again, but now i absolutely knew that it was my brain expecting it to happen and that i was actually causing it by my own suggestion. So it was much easier to cope with. I simply acknowledged what was happening and thought to myself “Not today”.


So thats my story, and whilst its a very personal thing to write about. I sincerely hope that if it helps just one person overcome this terrible condition, then it was worth it.

You can beat this. you can triumph, even though you probably feel that you can’t. I thought that same. I thought id always have this. But who wants a life like that? A life of constant worry what if i have an attack and look an arse. Why one earth would you do that to yourself. Im not going to tell you that you are not going to worry about, you will. I can tell you that one day, you will stop that too. but for now. every time the thought or fear comes along. Recognise it for what it actually is….fear. nothing else. Everything else is your own thoughts making it worse. Look at it this way. You’re all alone, at night, in the a middle of a violent part of town. Out of nowhere a group of men suddenly come towards you. You instantly start to worry.. Are they going to hurt me? Are they going to mug me? and you start to look for an escape route. Can i run? Can I hide anywhere? Naturally, you will start to sweat, your hands will shake, your chest will tighten and your heart will beat so loud that you will think the men can hear it……sound familiar???…

How about, if, at that very moment. Someone puts on a light. The men are just happy chatting away to themselves and walk straight past you without so much as looking at you and within a few moments, are out of sight. You put yourself through all that panic, all that worry, all that anxiety for what? absolutely nothing. What started out as your survival instinct making sure that you were ready to escape should the worst happen. pumping your heart to get the blood flow to your legs to make them ready to run. Breathing heavily to ensure that your lungs are at capacity incase you need to run like hell or scream the place down….all of these thing are natural occurrences designed to help you in and anyone else in a situation like that….

The problem is, that people who suffer with panic attacks and anxiety, do this to themselves every singe day. Some multiple times…. Wouldn’t it be great if you could “Turn the light on” when you started to notice a panic happening? Wouldn’t it be great if you could see the panic start and at that moment, take the fear out of it so that it would simply go away.

Well you can. You just have to try. You just have to trust yourself.

Find out what you are afraid of.. When a panic starts, what keeps it there? For me it was dying of a heart attack. Whilst the panic would start on its own, and i had no control to stop that. What i DID control was that i knew i wasn’t going to have a heart attack. Simple because i knew that, I took away the fear…the result….The panic started ,then fear left me, the panic calmed down, it went.

Now it did take a while to get used to it and it did take courage to stand by it. BUT, in the end, i mastered it.

Im 42 years old now and i haven’t had a panic attack for 15 years. Sure i think about it now and then, in actual fact i was concerned that writing this might cause them to start again…It hasn’t.

I wrote this to help those who have panic attacks and anxiety issues in a clear way. Ive seen plenty of books on the subject, mostly written by some Doctor, who will give best practice advice. But rarely do people that have actually suffered from them talk about them. I believe that there is some stigma, some undisclosed weakness that people who suffer from them think about themselves. Some how it makes you weak or suggested that you have mental health issues and if anyone knew you’d be locked up and put into the asylum immediately chased down by a group of pitch fork welding yokel folk from the village.

Its not like that at all. Its just another issue to test your strength and mental resolve and to get you ready for whatever else life throws at you.

I sincerely wish you well and I want you to look forward to the very day that you finally no longer have to deal with anxiety.

Thanks so much for sharing your story. I think the key is addressing the fear/panic. Either directly face it or just let it ride without fighting it. It wants a fight. Don't give it one.

[vic]

Wonderful indepth story very detailed and very helpful and so true it is absolutely amazing what our minds can do to our bodies and how our minds can mimic illnesses

[coachm]

Screaming at it definitely works for me!

[mylove9080]

Wow while i was reading is like if i was their. Picturing everything I KNOW HOW IT FEELS. and bout the school thing its exactly whats happening to me when i go pik up my daughter from school.

[mylove9080]

Really good. Did you ever take vitamins like b complex?

[Sjkar]

I hope you're still active.

I had my first panic attack 3months ago. It was terrifying for me. Since then I've had 3 more and I feel crippled. I'm so afraid of the future. My panic attacks come at night when I'm falling asleep. I somehow think that the second I relax my whole body to fall asleep I will die. Because my airway will be crushed. Or my throat will not allow oxygen. My body jerks awake then I feel the symptoms setting in. My heart rate and my blood pressure rise, and I'm so scared.

The first time, I sat in the panic for three hours until I sobbed and woke my husband up. Now, I fee the symptoms creeping in and I immediately get up and leave the room.

The last time I did that was at 3am. I chugged vodka til I was drunk enough to pass out. That's no way to live.
I'm so scare to fall asleep. Every night.

I'm a stay at home mom and the only daily provider for my kids. I can't afford to be crippled by exhaustion or a hangover.
But I'm terrified of sleep.

I loved your post because I relate. Thank you so much for sharing.

Please offer advice. I have doctor appointments scheduled but for now...nighttime is so terrifying.

[seeny]

Sjkar. Hang in there it will get better i promise ! mine started about 2 months ago daily went to the doctor tried some anti depressants but they didn't work didn't like the way they made me feel Xanax has been a big help but this forum I think saved me! A post last week about vitamin deficiency I am low in b-12 and if you research this is linked to panic & anxiety also vitamin d3 I'm going for another blood test this week to check that level talk to your doctor about this

[Sjkar]

I just got out of the shower and found a NASTY bruise on my leg. It's angry. I don't remember getting it and my husband confirmed. Is it possible they're related????!


Oh anxiety...how I hate you.

[Sjkar]

And seeny, thanks for responding. I feel so lonely at night. It's nice to know someone out there cares.

[Sarah_1292]

Thank you for sharing that, I used to have this sort of anxiety until I tormented myself (told myself to just hurry up and finish the job ect) a really good read! Not too serious but really helpful!

[Lollsy]

Loved reading that. Got some real inspiration from this. Living like this is very hard and deep down we all have the strength to beat this. :-) good luck x

[rabbritt]

Thanks so much for sharing your story. It really helps.
I also had (have) the same attacks. Mine started differently (I randomly started suffering from heartburn)
But none the less, I thought I was dying of a heart attack. But I have practiced what you have and it does help. When I start feeling a attack coming on I relax myself by thinking "Hey, how many times has this happened before? You haven't died yet have you? NO. So I'm not going to die this time. This ISN'T the time is finally kills me. I'm going to be fine. I've made it this far already"
You pretty much kick it in the butt and push it aside.
(I don't have time for this, not today, not right now)

[dagit]

Hey Guys

Hang in there. I know how disabling panic attacks and anxiety can be. You have to try to control it. I know that its easier said than done, but thats the secret to it. Control. If you can get a handle on it, it will go away. Let me repeat that, If you get a handle on it, it will go away.... As you know, I've been there, and sometimes its easier to feel like the victim and feel sorry for yourself. However, sometimes, its GREAT to feel like the hero, like nothing can stop you today and that no matter what... you can beat it. The truth is, anxiety CAN be beaten, but you have to give yourself enough credit. You are strong. If you weren't, you wouldn't be looking for help (on here for example), you'd just give up and put up with it, BUT the fact that you are here looking for advice to beat it. You just need some reassurance. Perhaps you just need to read that it can be beaten. Something that worked for me, right in the middle of an attack, was to take a minute to say - "Ok, do your worst - right now! - I'm ready".......guess what happened..........Not a damn thing.

Best wishes.

Jas.

[anxietyslayer]

This is very uplifting, and I am glad you were able to beat them, I saw myself in a similar situation, and now that I am fully recovered it is so liberating. :-)

[crmac50]

great advice. thanks!

[Factotum]

Thanks so much for sharing. I understand that feeling about thinking a heart attack is going to come on. I used to feel that now I get scared I'm going to have a seizure or something. But I never have, and as you pointed out earlier it is about control. We have to realise that we are in charge of our feelings and thoughts even if it doesn't seem like it sometimes.

[Handshakes]

Scuba diving finally cured me of my panic attacks because you can't let yourself panic while diving. I never had them before and didnt understand them until I started having bad side effects from a medication, slowly they began to calm down, but diving got rid of them entirely.

Strange since for many people diving is an anxiety causing event!

[Andres Tavarez]

I only had 1 really bad panic attack but that was enough to leave me with worry and symptoms that to this day haunt me. Ive had examinations, blood work and a CT scan. All showing im normal other than an elevated white blood cell count which ive been told can be due to stress. Going for a walk today, hope that helps me clear my mind. Im working 2 jobs and i feel like that does add to my stress a little bit. Hope you beat it! :D

btw anyone feel tingly feeling in arms and feet at times?

[samanthaistired]

I only had 1 really bad panic attack but that was enough to leave me with worry and symptoms that to this day haunt me. Ive had examinations, blood work and a CT scan. All showing im normal other than an elevated white blood cell count which ive been told can be due to stress. Going for a walk today, hope that helps me clear my mind. Im working 2 jobs and i feel like that does add to my stress a little bit. Hope you beat it! :D

btw anyone feel tingly feeling in arms and feet at times?

Yes. I do get tingly in my hands, arms, feet, etc. :) You are not alone that.

[Mark A. Camacho]

Hey everyone my name is Mark and I am 40 years old. I am facing the problem of panic attack as well and I am very tense too because my wife and my whole family is tense because of this disease I am really tense and like Sjkar i want your suggestions too

[nobot87]

Scuba diving finally cured me of my panic attacks because you can't let yourself panic while diving. I never had them before and didnt understand them until I started having bad side effects from a medication, slowly they began to calm down, but diving got rid of them entirely.

Strange since for many people diving is an anxiety causing event!

That sounds like the most terrifying way to cure panic attacks! It must be an insta-cure though hah

[Hun]

I love reading positive stories and the seeing that people actually are able to get out of this... :) I faced all the above you have described...in last 2 months. And now am at the point where i know i have to PUSH myself into the situation and get over this.. But, still trying to learn it.. I have already seen it that when i totally forgot about my anxiety and didnt care for myself and got busy, my panic attacks disappeared.... but now am free all the time, and this is what i guess has caused the panic to be bad. I m trying myself to be busy...going out is the major thing i want to do as soon as possible at my own... Reading urr story really helped a lot..

I really wish everyone good luck..and wish the same for me too.. I am already feeling a bit better and positive from inside..taking medicine too..try to push myself for a walk daily. Am gonna keep trying and I hope i'll be able to get out of this phase ...need ur wishes and suggestions.

[Alexandra02]

Thank you for sharing. This gives me hope. I know about so much of what you wrote. I know how it feels

[teardrop]

Wow reading your story kinda made me feel like I was going to have a panic attack. I first experienced anxiety at age 9. My teacher got up shut the windows and blinds, went over and shut the doors. ( So class could take a test ) as soon as she did that I instantly thought I could not breath. This went on for 7 weeks, I missed 7 weeks of school. One day I just went back and it seemed to be gone. THEN 2 years ago at age 27 it came back in FULL FORCE. I too feel all the what will people think if i pass out? or puke? or start breathing like a crazy person. Thankfully my husband understands and helps me out so much. Theres so much more to my story but I wont get into all the details on your thread. But I am glad to know there is hope because right now I am in the hardest part of my life and struggling more than i ever thought possible :(

[KenPowell]

Yes. I do get tingly in my hands, arms, feet, etc. :) You are not alone that.


I only had 1 really bad panic attack but that was enough to leave me with worry and symptoms that to this day haunt me. Ive had examinations, blood work and a CT scan. All showing im normal other than an elevated white blood cell count which ive been told can be due to stress. Going for a walk today, hope that helps me clear my mind. Im working 2 jobs and i feel like that does add to my stress a little bit. Hope you beat it! :D

btw anyone feel tingly feeling in arms and feet at times?

I used to! I consulted some healers and what they said was absolutely true. That tingling feeling you feel is actually energy flow. Because of our panic attacks, we are more sensitive to the energy flow in our bodies. What I did was to try to shift that weird tingling uneasiness, or unproductive energy, into useful focused energy for exercising, working, and so on.

To overcome panic attacks is so much dependent on what your focusing upon and where you put your energy to. I have a free resource on my own page on how I overcame my panic attacks and anxiety. You guys can access it from my signature. There you can also find articles regarding panic attacks/anxiety that might be useful :)

God bless, take care
Ken Powell

[Melissahope]

The most real and inspiring post I've read. Thank you so much! Reading this has opened my eyes and I will definitely try this technique!

[Matthew Caleb]

Great story and hope it encourages all who read. My first panic was very similar. Ive been dealing with them and anxiety for 9 months now. I just started therapy last month and hoping for recover.

[Ambition]

I've had panic off and on since 2009. One of the worst panic attacks was when I was out doing my favourite walk. Its about 4 miles drive from my home. I parked up in Wellswood and went on my walk, I had been feeling spaced out which is part of my anxiety. I must have been over a mile or so from the car when it started. I felt even more spaced out, then the tunnel vision started. I felt very faint. I though I would faint. I felt unreal. I started to think why was I so stupid? Why did I walk so far? How will I get back? Will I have to knock on someone's door telling them I was unwell or having a panic attack? The thoughts escalated. I now felt totally detached and unreal. I started gulping in air. All along I walked faster and faster panicking to get back to the car. Saying to myself its gonna be alright. As I speeded up knowing my route back was close the gradually symptoms stopped. I felt uneasy but managed the mile walk back. Sadly I never do this walk anymore. I'd loved that area since 1989. In 2014 it was ruined thanks to panic attacks!

[laura03]

Dagit that was such a nice post and so amazing that you were able to overcome the panic. I wish I could somehow do that. They seem to come out of nowhere and scare me to death. For me it's more like I feel like I can't stop thinking and I'll go crazy..then the physical symptoms come where I'm so focused on my breathing. Sjkar bedtime is the worst for me too.
Thanks all for sharing. I am new to this site and can't imagine feeling better.

[ErinK]

Hi there, Im Erin. I was talking to my local herbal/nutrition shop and the practitioner there talked about magnesium deficiency causing panic and anxiety attacks. She said because there is an increase in everyones diet regarding the consumption of lattes and cappuccinos, hence a larger amount of calcium that this depletes our magnesium in our bodies. This contributes to panic attacks and anxiety. Has anyone else heard of this research?

[bestfriend12-]

sounds awesome!

[bestfriend12-]

i agree. This sounds like the best thing in my opinion

[javiergraciafdez]

ANXIETY, Somebody help me!! Author: Sara Burillo.
EXCELLENT!!! Fully Recommended! This book saved me... What book saved you? :)

[ErinK]

I know its cliche but "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway"...was good....but nothing I hadnt heard of before to be honest. But another book called More to Life than Shoes...by Nadia Finer and Emily Nash is a book full of profiles of ordinary people who have done extraordinary things. People who believed in themselves and shared a gift...could be a secret writer that quit her job without telling her family and instead went to the library every day to write her book...another person invented cheap way of keeping things cool and went to Africa to share her idea. She was only 22 at the time. Anyhow this book has been great for me, its takes me out of me and it allows me to see their is a huge world of delight out there, it takes the intense and exhausting mental scrutiny I give myself and moves me into another realm. :)

[aml0017]

This is an amazing story, I have gotten angry at my anxiety but never did shout aloud at it. It makes sense though, it really is our mind playing tricks on us, panicking when there is nothing to panic about. Sadly, I have not conquered my anxiety yet but I have come a long way in 15-20 years. I still have anxiety episodes but they are further and further apart and very rarely do I have a full on panic attack these days. I do remember my first attack quite vividly though I didn't go to the hospital I was alone and just frozen in place with fear. The main thing is after so long you no longer fear the anxiety itself, it becomes more like a physical illness you have to get through , like a cold or virus. Still sucks when it happens though :(

[kenreezy]

This was very inspiring and gives me hope that my GF will get better. I'm going to share this with her and hopefully she can gather the courage that you did to overcome this.

Brgds,

Ken

[struggling1234]

wow, amazing story, can relate so much!! proud of you man! hopefully we can all get back to optimum brain health!

[Vincent Miller]

thanks for sharing your story, it gives us all hope and motivation!

[missedlink]

Thanks for your story, I see myself reflected in some places and it's very reassuring

[Davit]

I don't want anyone to think I'm a jerk but I saw the humour in the story because I too am recovered but only for six years. It was hell, but I survived and nothing is going to bring it back. Nothing. I spent time in the psych ward, interesting but like I told the shrinks, "it's a nice hotel but the beds lumpy and the food not that good". They sent me home to my local hospital. I had a broken leg also. I got sent there for talking suicide. When I got home I researched every thing on anxiety and panic and a few other related topics and built my own program based on CBT. It obviously worked. Sounds like your average 35 year old male with a good job etc etc. HA HA truth is I'm one step away from long term care, I have arthritis am 64 and single without a good reason to live but I'm going to anyway because I didn't put in all that work getting rid of anxiety to waste the time I have left. Keep working at it, you will find something that works. Oh, and smile so people don't know how scared you are.

[BettyClark]

Really inspirational! Thanks for sharing your story.

[timjpcollins]

Great Story!

[Emily Smith]

Thank you for sharing this

[SD JONES]

its scary like hell.
I been living with this for 20 plus years....
have controlled them to The point where I can at least LIVE and enjoy life!

[Kingcee]

My first panic attack was what I like to call a fake near death experience. I thought I was dying.

[Louisa Parsen]

Thanks for sharing your post :D

[philknightlife]

I can also totally relate to this. I had a bit of a panic attack yesterday, and thought I was having heart failure issues. My wife says the same stuff to me, over and over. It passed. No heart problems. I've had all the tests in the recent past.

I went for a run today. Felt great.

The mind is such a powerful thing.

[RoderickLariviere]

So inspiring.. Thanks for sharing your story...

[cloudy black]

its weird cos i never acknowledge that i have panic attacks. to me its intense anxiety where i could easily thump someone and if you knew me that is not like me at all. today i have had to push through the anxiety and depression, got the two today . i needed to get up town and do things. for me when it feels so much like supercharged turmoil. i will more than likely scream into a pillow and that helps!

[Blagoj Ristovski]

"Hi, i have phobia of measuring my blood preasure,every time when i have panic attack i measure and rhe numbers are high,thats scare me :( what shoyuld i dooo

[salvator here]

Uh, yeah, I've been there with the blood pressure machine and that is not fun. Purchasing one only increased my OCD so I thew it away. When you have anxiety your blood pressure will increase, and although 120/70 is normal, it's not unheard of to have the systolic pressure go up to 150 during times of panic. If the bottom number stays up around 90, this is where your doctor will wonder if you are hypertensive. Another reason for having the blood pressure increase could be too much sodium - should try to reduce it.

[Blagoj Ristovski]

salvator here yes a have anxiety my normal BP is 120/80 or 130/80 during panic attack and some stress a got numbers of 150/80 160/85 90 my hart rate never gets up i im on 10 mg escitalopram about 4 months ,my blood picture and EKG are ok should a messure my BP often. i dont have any hadache or other symptomhs of high blood preasure 10x..

[salvator here]

Good to know your EKG is normal. Anxiety and panic will mess with your BP, so best to just try to allow the attack to pass (It will - trust me). Please follow your doctors orders, and if this means to monitor your BP; please do so per doctors order along with any medications prescribed. Best of luck :)

[Blagoj Ristovski]

Hi salvador im am in perfcet shape dont have any tryglicerides,my hart is in good condition i am fitness trainer this panic attack begin after my friend wedding a drunk to much alchohol that night since then a have this anxiety feel in the past 2 months a dont have panic attack but a dont feel like old me :D do u have ani solutions or recomendation. my english is not very good :D

[salvator here]

The new you, is YOU - shaped (but not defined) by things you've learned and experienced. The old you is rarely an improved version of your true self, and constant pining of getting back your old self will only hold you back from moving forward. As long as your test results have come back fine, I'd be fairly secure in knowing you're healthy. I'm wondering if something happened at your friends wedding that triggered this anxiety? Doubt the alcohol you drank caused permanent anxiety though. I've no solutions, but my recommendation would just to work on keeping yourself in good shape both mentally as well as physically :)

[Blagoj Ristovski]

10 q Veryyy Much !!!!

[ZenAqua]

Great story! Loved the detail... I can definitely relate. I've been through the heart-attack/ambulance routine three times now. Can't seem to get passed the heart-attack feeling, but working on it. One thing that's been helping lately - telling myself in my head that I can't die of a heart attack. It really is next to impossible - 28 years old, active, good diet. Maybe I should tell myself out loud like you did.

[James88]

Great Story! Thank you for sharing

[James Waide]

:p
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A month age we found a mint breath spray that has CBD oil in it.
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[James Waide]

I am coping with anxiety with the Natural pen. It has been a God Send.
I got tired of the "happy pills" and knew there had to be a all natural remedy for anxiety.
Try it 1684

[tmex]

good for you

[ponato]

What an outstanding story. I can relate to much of it and Im sure many others can. Good stuff

[NoMorePanickingNow]

Thank you for the share!

[Marie Lends]

It's a really good story. Like it.

[kbh33]

Screaming at it! I am so excited to try this idea!

[Anxiousexplosion]

you cannot "beat" anxiety, it is always in you/with you. You may have periods where you're feeling better about things going on in your life, and thus the anxiety will dissipate, but, never make the mistake of thinking the anxiety won't return if issues arise again.

[Barong Baj Baj]

Great story brother, I appreciate the time it took for you to write it down and share it with the world

[MrsMargo]

Thank you for sharing your story!

[fslharoon]

amazing sharing thank you for this

[HopefullyAnxious]

Wow! All I can say is that after so many years of over coming this you had the courage to write about it. Your experience and overcoming it was very up lifting to me. This actually brought tears to my eyes as I'm sitting here with my chest tight from Anxiety. I too deal with panic attacks, however my main issue is overcoming my anxiety which in turn is causing the attacks. Thank you so much for sharing.