View Full Version : *new member* Continuous panic attacks - please help
Dear all - as you can see its 4:22am and to be quite frank about my current situation, I feel like I'm going insane. I need help. Please. From anybody willing...
Up until 7th June my anxiety level was probably what id call 'normal' - as in, everyone feels anxiety some of the time. However, I was given some information on that day (health related) where I was potentially facing cancer. The great news is, it wasn't cancer, but the bad news is the week I had to wait for that news was the worst of my entire life and now the effects are continuing and I feel its getting out of hand.
I have called the paramedics out once, been to my gp twice and been to a&e twice - all within 10 days. When these attacks happen, I cannot sleep, I cannot breathe, my throat swells up, my hands and feet turn ice cold, I shiver, I sweat, I vomit and I feel like I will drop to the ground at any moment and I feel I can only calm down by reassurance from medical staff. i almost nearly rang 999 again a short time ago as I have a feeling of pressure in my head and earache yet I already know what it is - a panic attack that started at 10.30pm and hasn't gone away .... please help someone :(
I have had panic attacks for years.. and they can last that long believe me.
The trick that mostly helped me was the power of your mind.
sit there, and keep going over in your head "i'm not having a panic attack, everything is fine"
close your eyes, and focus on your breathing. "in and out, nice and slow"
if you can, find a quiet place to lay down, if you cant, rest your head on your lap. (I found that a cool cloth always helped me because I would get super hot and sweaty too)
The main thing is to focus your breathing and use the power of your mind to keep telling yourself that this feeling will pass, because eventually it will.
This is probably not the most productive thing to say, and may sound silly..
but I really found that putting my hands in a ball, and digging my nails slightly into my palm helped me snap out of it.
the slight shock of pain in your palm makes your mind focus on that, and forget about the panicky feeling.
using a rubber band and snapping it too!
<3
Thankyou for replying...
Fortunately this is the only or that's lasted thus long. What I dont understand is why it happens!! i never experienced this prior to the 7th June and boom...it hit me with an almighty force :( I just dont understand it...it appears that week if worry has ruined my little head :(
I do try and control my breathing but its sooo hard when you're so worked up. Will definitely give those other ideas a try too!! I'm willing to try anything...thanks again!! :)
xvolatileheart
20-06-12, 11:50
My panic attacks last hours. Like you, I've gone to A&E because I'm convinced I'm dying. Mine started at the end of January, and I still struggle daily with the feeling that there must be something wrong with me because I get these symptoms all the time. But I'm still here!
When I'm in the middle of a panic attack, no amount of breathing exercises help me... in fact, it makes it worse for me. The best thing for me is to tell myself over and over "it will pass" and try to distract myself - either by coming here, watching a movie, talking to my husband, etc. If I get even a few seconds of relief, it starts to ease up.
Speak to your GP about it, and they can offer therapy and/or medication if it continues to be a problem. Wishing you the best!
I agree, go back to Gp either for meds or councilling.
Joy
This one is not a productive means of helping either.. please don't start because I said it helped me..
but cigarettes helped me lotttss.
You can't always focus on breathing.. but smoking always evened out my breathing .
quitting is in the future.. near future..
no worries ;)
I empatise with you. This is how my anxiety started back in Nov 2006. Its truely horrible and the fear of all these new symptoms is what fed it for me. Over time I made it my duty to write down every symptom I experienced. I then realised they were coming and going. I felt just like you, I wanted to throw everthing at it. Doctors, Doctors, Doctors then on to alternative help. The problem I found was exactly that, The panic to remove the panic kept it going. I decided what is the worse that can happen? I could Die! I started to deal with that and slowly over a few months it started to subside. I found my local buddhist meditation centre and started learning relaxation and then I realised I never felt this good. The problem was when I went home the symptoms returned. I believe acceptance and learning how to truly relax the mind saved me.
I started like many others on here to doubt the medical staff. I thought they had missed something and I was the only one who knew I was ill. Then my family who didn't understand. I felt totally alone. I had to find a tool kit for my mind.
When you begin to be able to sleep again you will feel a lot better. In the mean time learn acceptance of what you are feeling. This wont be easy until you have experienced it for some months and still you are alive. Time is a great healer.
Enjoy the journey you will be a different person, a better person at the end of it.
Mee
Thank you all for your replies, support and advice :)
Since my original post, I feel I have gotten worse :( My parents feel I am becoming obsessed with attending A&E or seeking health advice from professionals on the phone. Everyday I seem to have new symptoms that need 'investigating'. Like this evening for example, i have been on the phone to NHS Direct thinking something major is happening to me because i've got a numb sensation in my head/face and neck and i've been vomiting. Everyone around me tells me this is the panic/anxiety i am feeling. I can't see that at all?! I know my own body and i know when something isn't right yet all the tests i have had this last 2 weeks confirm i am really well with no concerns shown in blood tests, ecg's etc. They told me they've given me a full MOT which 99% of the population hasnt had...yet I am still in doubt. This is madness!!!
The hardest thing about all this for me is - I know that how i'm thinking/feeling is wrong or unhealthy and I also know what I have to do to change it BUT...i feel like i can't. I feel like i'm no longer in control of my own body/mind and its bloody scary!! Never experienced anything like this in my life so far and it's crippling. I still live at home with my parents and I feel that they are gradually losing the plot with all this and they don't know what to do with me (as my mum put it). She has been a nurse for 35 years and doesn't know how to cope with her own daughter - I feel lost and like they are giving up on me :(
My father doesn't want me to see a therapist/psychologist as he thinks it's a route i'll wish i didn't go down. He feels they will quickly administer drugs which i really dont need. In a way, i agree. I've been taking proponolol and diazepam for the last 2 weeks and yes they get rid of the physical symptoms like palpatations/sweating hands etc but it doesn't change what's going on upstairs and the thoughts in my mind are still racing at 100 mph. Those meds just mask the real issue. I do feel i need to talk to someone who can perhaps teach me how to alter my ways of thinking but i am reluctant to continue on these tablets. I feel doped and i don't like it.
What scares me is reading through the posts on this forum where people state they have been going through this way of life for years - panic stricken and anxious to the point where it ruins their lives. I pray that there is a quick way of ridding myself of this hellish feeling...it's absolutely awful and yet it's only a state of mind in our own heads. It's very odd indeed and makes you realise how powerful the mind is.
Much love to all - Natalie
I've been taking proponolol and diazepam for the last 2 weeks and yes they get rid of the physical symptoms like palpatations/sweating hands etc but it doesn't change what's going on upstairs and the thoughts in my mind are still racing at 100 mph. Those meds just mask the real issue.
Natalie
What you say here is telling me that you really believe that your symptoms are created with your mind. I had to have all the tests and then some more before I felt I had enough of doctors telling me I was ok. CBT is great for some but you will have to work at it. Once you feel that you have exhausted all the medical checks and you are feeling like its in your head, you can move on to the next phase and get rid of the meds, like your dad says these will just prolong the recovery. Why not read the Claire weekes book in the shop on NMP. It is very good at describing what you are going through and giving you the skills to conker this.
You need to work at it and retrain your mind. We are led to believe that we are our mind and that we should believe everything it tells us. The problem is in this heightened state of anxiety your primal nervous centre has ambushed your logical mind a bit like it would in a war zone. The problem seems to revolve round believing in the doctors. We are all aware that doctors cannot tell us for sure that nothing is wrong. In my experience Doctors hand out pills and are gatekeepers for the Hospitals and specialists.
The only person that can get you out of this is YOU!! I truly believe that for most of us Anxiety is a way of life it fulfils the hierarchy of human needs:-
Certainty
Variety
Significance
intimacy/Love
Growth
Contribution
Anxiety gives us intimacy as we receive a lot of attention from others. Certainty because we can feel comfortable with our safety behaviour and Variety because we don't know what symptoms our mind will present us with next.
Anxiety fulfils all these needs and if we have got low self worth and no confidence it is a easy way out. How we escape this destructive pattern is the life skill. I think we need to learn to gain the 6 primary human needs in other ways and that takes energy and hard work and for most of us we don't feel we have that.
I feel 80% better and sometimes slip a little but who doesn't its a very easy lazy way to fulfil three of your needs.
Mee
At 9.30pm this evening I have an appointment at an emergency dr's because I have a headache and numb sensation in the top of my head which spreads right down the ride hand side of my face and neck. My arms feel weak. My legs feel weak. I feel sick. And I just don't feel right...my parents are telling me its all in my head. Is it, really?
I felt absolutely fine up until late this afternoon...these sensations have been going on for 3 days now. How can I believe that these feelings are brought on by anxiety...I wasn't even feeling anxious?!:weep:
It's all common I've all the above symptoms for 2 years and my anxiety started from1 traumatic Experiance just like you
scaniajess
22-06-12, 22:19
NL2012 I know what your going through. It only takes something minor to "upset" my nerves and I suffer the effects for ages after. They've come on up to three weeks later and have had constant severely high anxiety for up to a month. During this time I cant even sit up in bed as the adrenaline is so bad and a doctor has to visit me in my bedroom to do the usual routine tests.
Urgh, this is utter poo :( i am now back from the Drs and he has prescribed something for this tension migraine im supposedly having. Never had a migraine in my life...ever!!! I've taken the tablet and I feel like my head is a block of concrete :( ace!! By sounds of it, these symptoms im having are similar to those that everyone gets durung/after a panic attack...
What happens when adrenaline is released then?? What happens to your body which means you cant get up??
xvolatileheart
23-06-12, 23:31
Everything you are experiencing sounds so much like what I've been going through. I'm only just starting to accept that this is maybe just all anxiety and nothing physical... but I haven't fully accepted it. My compromise is that, even if this is a physical condition, then 1) It's not likely to kill me anytime soon, and 2) I can't control it, so I might as well try and get on with life. Much easier said than done, I know!
I think that therapy would be a really great idea, rather than just masking it with meds.
That's the way im trying to deal with it...at the end of the day we only get one shot at living and I sure ain't going to spend it feeling like this. What a waste.
Iv had a bit of a wake up call this evening watching the hackney weekend coverage on tv...watching all those ppl having the time of their lives whilst iv spent the last 2 weeks in a complete sorry state which I got myself into. I feel slightly embarrassed for allowing this to take control. Iv let it happen.
So, as you can see iv had a little word with myself this evening...it works. I recommend it.
T
So, as you can see iv had a little word with myself this evening...it works. I recommend it.
Thats how it works. Well done you. Self pity gives us comfort. I once was asked if I'd like to visit a anxiety meeting, "it might help me". I replied "I couldn't think of anything worse than being in a meeting of lots of selfish people full of self pity". Anyhow the person who invited me stopped going too and has since conquered there anxiety.
The moral of the story is that the comfort of common ground with others the sympathy, love and variety it gives us is enough to keep us in this destructive cycle. Sometimes we need some harsh words said to us to snap out of our comfort zone.
Mee
Couldn't agree more... And once you make that realisation, its like a massive breath of fresh air.
have a look at the cbt4panic website as advertised on No more panic all makes perfect sense its just doing its that hard.
or ask your gp to be referred for cbt or mental health team
joy
Hi Joy
Great to hear that the programme is making sense for you. You will do it ok :-) just take your time and go through each step carefully.
The link for the thread on CBT4PANIC is below
Best of luck
Robin
I second the notion. Try cbt4panic, you have nothing to lose as you get a 30 day free trial.
I think me and Joy are but two of Robin's unerring fanclub lol.
hahaha I came on here to recommend CBT4PANIC also.
I third the notion!!
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