Running around asia like a demented fool.

[Izzycam]

Have just come back from a holiday of a lifetime in Asia.
When I booked I thought I would be Ok, as I have not had a panic attack for a year.So thought, great I'm now over the worse.
Boy was I wrong, they were coming so thick and fast I could barely get to a pharmacy quick enough.I walked around with a diazepan, gaviscon and a sleeping tablet in my hand full time.(I know this is silly, but I was so frightened).
Sweats, chills, sleeplesness, shakes, nutty things going on in my head...it was literally a nightmare at times.
Can anyone tell me, has anyone overcome panic attacks for life, or once you have them will they always come back.
Also, why do they come back after such a long duration of absence.
Thank You.

[littleredhen]

Hi Izzycam. I'm afraid I don't have anything useful to reply, but noticed that noone else had replied yet, so thought I would just say hello.

Where were you on holiday?

I don't know if panic ever goes away, after all, everybody must get it at some point in their life to a varying degree, so I suppose it just depends on what is going on. After over 20 years of panic attacks, i've only recently realised what it is. I genuinely thought I was either a) completely mental, b) just depressed and unable to cope or c) really suffering from some terrible illness....so ironically, I'm quite glad I can pin it down to something :yesyes: At least I know it won't actually kill me (thought it might feel like it).

[paula lynne]

Hi there x
I think panic and anxiety are always with us in some form, after all we need anxiety to a degree to get us up, out the door, to face the world. Does it ever go away forever? I think that depends on you as an individual, and your personality/family history/genetics/environment/job.....some people have 1 panic attack and never have another, for others, they have them everyday. Being on holiday, it must have been an intense stressor (even though it should be a nice experience!), and your anxiety surfaced. I think for those who suffer with anxiety and panic, being in a strange country in unfamiliar surroundings is bound to set off some anxiety, and thats ok.


Put it to the back of your mind, and get back to your usual daily routine now you are home, things should settle down pretty quickly. "Reactive" anxiety usually disappears when you are no longer in that stressful situation.

You did amazingly well going to Asia, I have to psych myself up for weeks just to go camping hahah! Take care x

[Izzycam]

Thanks for the replies, it has certainly triggered something off in my brain, as I'm still having them even though I have been home 2 days.
I just wonder will I ever be able to be normal again...
We'll see, it's very hard,each one is just so mentally draining, it takes me days to recover.
Thanks again....Hope I can get back to some kind of normality soon.

[Izzycam]

Here's a question I find hard to understand ?
After reading the bumph on why we have panic attacks and the outcome it mostly says the flight or fight response is responsible for this.
Why then do I feel my mind is totally bonkers, and I feel very sad,strange paranoid,frightened, down and depressed during one of these.(it's like being hit with the worse feelings ever).
This surely is not a flight or fight situation, as I just feel like giving up completely during the time I take the diazepan and gaviscon and the time it kicks in when a panic attack happens.
How can you fight or fly during this time.

[erin31]

Hi Izzycam. I'm afraid I can't answer your question but I do feel exactly as you do during these attacks ie it is the worst feeling ever and when these feelings are at there worst I just want to pull the duvet over my head and hide from the world. I certainly don't have the strength to fight or fly either. I just can't understand why these attacks are happening as I should be extremely happy and deep down I am but anxiety keeps coming along despite this. xx

[potato11]

Hi Izzycam and everyone

What I have learnt is that panic attacks will come as long as you fear them... you've probably heard that several times before. I know it took me several times until I believed it and I'm still getting my head round it!!

Have you received any CBT in the past?

Basically, panic attacks are a 'mistake' of the mind - yes there are genuine physical symptoms that appear to come 'out of the blue' but if you really slow time down, they can be something harmless that we quickly grasp onto and panic about, and then relate panic to the symptom, and dump adrenaline on it all which makes it feel 10 times worse

Your thoughts determine your reality - more than you realise - what happens when you think of your fave food? stomach grumbles, mouth waters... what happens when you see something of a sexual nature... what happens when you see something extremely sad i.e. sad movie...

It's the same with panic, but because it's so scary and we can't determine it's origin - like you can escape from a tiger or whatever but you can't escape from the thought "what is WRONG with me?!?" so the flight or fight response is pretty fired up a majority of the time because you haven't got your ANSWER you want - or the escape - etc

Panic attacks occur more when your stressed because unusual body sensations like to manifest themselves when your stressed - which you then turn into a panic attack by panicking about them. Please be aware that this happens in the fastest flash - just like when you nearly fall backward off a chair, or when someone walks into a room and shouts "FIRE!!" - your body instantly goes in to fight or flight

so then your mind goes round and round, trying to find the cause - the origin - and depending on what you come up with , you'll either calm yourself down or make the panic worse

this is why CBT is so effective, it breaks the fear-adrenaline-fear cycle. It takes a lot of practice and time because it's so hard to convince yourself you aren't about to die

Best thing to do when you panic is do the opposite of what you want to do - it takes the courage of a lion to do jumping jacks or run on the spot when you feel like you're about to have a heart attack but DO IT because the relief that comes from proving to yourself you aren't having a heart attack is worth it

The thing that makes panic one of the scariest things in the world is the perceived ''uncertainty'' - at first we don't understand "what is happening to us" so it seems there is "no escape" which ironically feeds to fear merry-go-round

If you're just frightened of something like spiders - you can get away from those, it's harder to get away from constant negative thought (until you learn how, i'm not saying it isn't possible - far from it)

..well I wrote an essay!!

Anyway - fly in the face of it rather than spending all your time worrying what is wrong with you. That is the way out..

[Izzycam]

Thank you for your replies.
I'll take on board the CBT idea .....but I must add, in the past I've tried a lot of things to get out of a panic attack, including exercise, trying to put my mind on other things, resting, but I find unless I have a diazepan they just don't work.
Once I tried to hold off with the medication and the fellings and sensations came and went for 2 days and nearly destroyed me.(and I consider myself to be quite a strong person in a lot of ways, I can run a business and family etc, why can't I control this).

[potato11]

hmm

perhaps it's the attitude of trying to "get out" of a panic attack that is stopping you

the more you try the less likely you will, the old what you resist persists shenanigan

It's more of an 'accepting the feelings' - as Claire Weekes said, you don't 'strive' for relaxation, you wait for it

Thoughts like "why hasn't it gone, it must be something worser than anxiety, it's still there, for gods sake this is hell on earth" provoke the fight or flight response. It's all pretty subtle

I understand where you're coming from cos I've been exactly the same - you just want to NOT feel this way anymore but ironically that's the thought style that guarantees it continuing

You can't 'escape' panic unless you understand it - once you understand and accept, you lose the fear and gradually the sensitisation

If that makes sense?