Hi! I suffer from panic attacks

[Panicking]

Hi,

I am a young woman who's been suffering from anxiety disorders for about 7 years. I grew up being very shy and introverted. I used to have severe social phobia, but I overcame it a few years ago. However, I soon developed panic disorder and agoraphobia instead. I am at home almost all the time, I dropped out of high school and I can't have a job. Some days, if it gets really bad, I have 3-4 panic attacks in one day. Usually I have panic attacks several times a week. My panic attacks last for at least 30 minutes every time, sometimes 60-90 minutes. I take no medications anymore (since 9 months back); I took between 3 and 5 different psychiatric medications every day for 6 years but they didn't help at all.

[SanFranLarry]

Have you tried therapy? I feel so bad for you going through it so often. There has to be something to help you.

[annemieke87]

I agree with SanFranLarry. I am feeling sorry for you, like SanFranLarry said: there has to be something to help you. How did you get over your social phobia? I see you suffer from agorafobia as well, perhaps online therapy is good for you to start with?

[Ataner]

Hi. I suffered from PA and social phobias,and OCD for the last 8 years.Than started depression which was very bad. The only thing helped me get out of this horror is meditation. Every single day. I started from one download from amazon.:Mindfulness (mark willimas)- 8 week program. Then another download:Self compassion step by step (kristin neff). I meditated every day. Believe me it helps. Good audio book is "rewire your anxious brain" . It will help you to understand the anxiety and why PA are happening. Believe me you need to work on your condition. It won't go away till you start understand your brain and why it is doing it to you. I went through many yars of suffering and can not believe I am free ow. Every time I feel anxiety coming back i start do my old meditation. God Bless you. Hope you will get better. If you need any help on more information message me.

[Panicking]

Have you tried therapy? I feel so bad for you going through it so often. There has to be something to help you.

Hi! I have tried using a self-help book on my own a little while ago, but it was very difficult and my anxiety became worse for some reason. I haven't met a therapist; my psychiatrist always said he would make sure I got cognitive behavioral therapy, but he always prescribed new psychiatric medications for me instead, he never made me get any therapy no matter how much I, or my parents, asked. The doctors I have seen over the years only want to give me medications, but that hasn't helped me and I felt much better when I stopped using my medications (my anxiety didn't get better but I have been feeling much less depressed).

[Panicking]

I agree with SanFranLarry. I am feeling sorry for you, like SanFranLarry said: there has to be something to help you. How did you get over your social phobia? I see you suffer from agorafobia as well, perhaps online therapy is good for you to start with?

I overcame my social phobia when I was forced to move to a boarding school when I was 15. I had to be around people all the time and I decided to just do whatever scared me, and after a few months my social phobia was gone (I had selective mutism too, which I got over at the same time; I hadn't spoken to anyone except my family members for two years). But then something happened at that boarding school, and I had two panic attacks in one day. I had never had panic attacks before. Then I started getting panic attacks more and more often, and I avoid situations because of that. I don't have social phobia anymore - if I know that I am in a situation where I won't have a panic attack, I don't care what people think of me or anything (I am naturally shy though, I don't really like to be the center of attention).

My panic attacks can show up anytime. I don't know how to stop them when I feel that I am about to have a panic attack. I have read books about it and read things on the Internet but it's so difficult! I can't seem to accept the physical sensations I get, and just let them be there, I just freak out.

Yes, perhaps I should try online therapy. I will try to find out more about that!

[Panicking]

Hi. I suffered from PA and social phobias,and OCD for the last 8 years.Than started depression which was very bad. The only thing helped me get out of this horror is meditation. Every single day. I started from one download from amazon.:Mindfulness (mark willimas)- 8 week program. Then another download:Self compassion step by step (kristin neff). I meditated every day. Believe me it helps. Good audio book is "rewire your anxious brain" . It will help you to understand the anxiety and why PA are happening. Believe me you need to work on your condition. It won't go away till you start understand your brain and why it is doing it to you. I went through many yars of suffering and can not believe I am free ow. Every time I feel anxiety coming back i start do my old meditation. God Bless you. Hope you will get better. If you need any help on more information message me.

Thank you for your advice! I haven't tried meditation (just once or twice), so I will give it a try. :)

[cjorgensen]

Hi. I had a weird experience last night that I think was a panic attack but I'm not sure and I'm hoping someone here could help me.

To give you guys some background: I'm 18 years old and have a medical marijuana card for anxiety. Yesterday was my last day of high school and I was pretty upset about it. But also coming along with that, I had finals this week, and I noticed my anxiety level was at an all-time high, like I have never experienced. I was constantly anxious, and usually I'm only anxious in anxiety-provoking situations. I've been stressing a lot about college this week and getting my boyfriend to come to my college (because the decisions for my school were supposed to come out this week). It's a pretty complicated situation, but basically my stress level was also at an all time high. I also didn't get a lot of sleep this week, only getting about 4 hours a night including the night before this attack happened, but I had taken a 3 hour nap only about 3 hours before this happened. I had also taken mass amounts of caffeine that week in the form of diet pills(I took them for the energy boost when I didn't sleep a lot) and also coffee, but I had the most caffeine the day before the possible attack. Also, I have pretty bad social anxiety and had a confrontation with 2 people that have had an ongoing feud with my friends (I know this sounds stupid) but I had a really bad anxiety attack from it so I took an Ativan (anti-anxiety pill if you don't know what it is). I've always had mild anxiety, but that being said its always been a lot higher than your average person. I was a very anxious child, my anxiety was MUCH higher than every other kid in my elementary school. For my whole life, I've never consistently taken medication for it or anything even though there have been times where I felt I needed it, but nothing really serious.

Last night, I was driving around with my boyfriend and got a lot higher than I've been in a while. I've sometimes noticed that marijuana makes my anxiety worse, but sometimes it makes it better. I was feeling kind of anxious when I was high, but then all of a sudden I had this strange feeling. My legs felt like they were tingling in a way and I had this intense chest pain and I felt like I couldn't breathe. It was accompanied with this weird, overwhelming feeling of anxiety, but the anxiety felt kind of different than regular anxiety. I don't really know how to explain it. But it would come in waves. When my chest hurt, I literally felt like I couldn't breathe and this would last for like maybe 10-30 seconds, I'm not really sure because I don't remember very well, it felt surreal. This happened like probably 5 or 6 times until they stopped completely. In between them, I would hyperventilate trying to catch my breath but I was also freaking out and thought that I was having a heart attack that was related to the caffeine or diet pills (I also have a pretty bad diet and don't exercise) and was going to die. I mean, I'm only 18 so I feel like it probably wasn't that, but I'm not sure.

I want to know if this WAS a panic attack or if it was some sort of heart issue, because if it was a heart issue I definitely want to get this checked out. i'm worried about dismissing it as a panic attack and ignoring a heart problem that could be life threatening in the future.

Thanks for helping!!

[annemieke87]

I overcame my social phobia when I was forced to move to a boarding school when I was 15. I had to be around people all the time and I decided to just do whatever scared me, and after a few months my social phobia was gone (I had selective mutism too, which I got over at the same time; I hadn't spoken to anyone except my family members for two years). But then something happened at that boarding school, and I had two panic attacks in one day. I had never had panic attacks before. Then I started getting panic attacks more and more often, and I avoid situations because of that. I don't have social phobia anymore - if I know that I am in a situation where I won't have a panic attack, I don't care what people think of me or anything (I am naturally shy though, I don't really like to be the center of attention).

My panic attacks can show up anytime. I don't know how to stop them when I feel that I am about to have a panic attack. I have read books about it and read things on the Internet but it's so difficult! I can't seem to accept the physical sensations I get, and just let them be there, I just freak out.

Yes, perhaps I should try online therapy. I will try to find out more about that!

It must be terrifying knowing panic attacks can pop up any time. I can imagine it makes you so insecure. Like Ataner said: Mindfulness and meditation are a good way to start dealing with your anxiety. I hear lots of good stories about it.

About CBT, it is known that if you have a good therapist 60-80% of the people who suffer from a panicdisorder can recover during intense treatment. (I treated people for anxiety, and saw great results). You must be prepared to work hard though. You need to understand that your alarm system is overexposed. That is why those panic attacks just pop up. In a normal situation, your alarm system will work when there is dangerous situation, it helps you to get ready for action to protect yourself. (it will start pump blood into your muscles, your heartbeat will fasten, you start shaking and sweating etc.). When there is no danger anymore everything will be normal again.

A panic attack consists out of three elements:
during the attack you are feeling something (for example, shaking, dizziness, palpitations, shortness of breath).
alarming thoughts about feelings 'I need to go home, I am heaving a heart attack etc'
and last your are doing something: sit down, go home, run

In CBT you will work on those three elements, you will learn how to recognise your feelings, to control your thoughts and deal with situations and actions.