wfcpru
31-10-12, 15:17
hi all
I had what I now know to be a panic attack firstly in 2010 in south africa when I was there to watch the world cup.
I was in a restaurant in cape town, and all of a sudden had a feeling I was dying & had to run to a taxi to go straight to my hotel. I was petrified, and spent literally 3 hrs just walking rd the room, I had this fear that if I was to lie down that would be it - that I would die. I was 44 yrs old & had never had anything like this before.
had to call a doc, he came & examined me, found nothing wrong to my surprise, but never mentioned panic attacks. god knows how, but I made it through to the end of the holiday.
when I got home all was fine for about 3 months. I never mentioned this to anyone, & tried to just forget it. but then around oct, I had another attack in church of all places. I had to flee, again thinking I was about to die. had to tell my wife about it, this was tough. on the outside I am a mans man, love pubs/socialising/football etc & held down a job managing 20 odd blokes. but these feelings were unbelievable. I started having really bad thoughts about harming myself/wife, so I knew I had to go see my doc.
she referred me to a psychiatrist - he was fine - put me on pregabalin. this sort of worked, but the side effects of this stuff (headaches) were too much for me. he weaned me off this, & prescribed lorazepam, saying to only take it when I needed ie not regularly. Around summer 2011 I commenced CBT with another psychiatrist. I found this immensely helpful, but also found myself taking lorezepam on a daily basis. This stuff helped me, but I realised I was becoming dependant on it, so I weaned myself off it. This is harder than it seems, I was not able to sleep, & would suffer badly. But I am strong willed & was determined to go through with it, so this summer I finally stopped taking it altogether.
I could go on & on with examples of my problem, but as you are on this site you probably all know too well the feelings of despair etc. BUT, you can kick this, there is light at the end of the tunnel, believe me. Medication can work but each to their own. I realised, keeping fit, not stressing about work too much, and talking about it are better therapies. Also, I found a book this summer – understanding panic attacks by dr roger baker. This is really amazing, I was reading it & felt it was written specifically for me. There is a part about what the body does when experiencing fear, that was a bit of a ‘eureka’ moment for me, it explained what was going on with my mind.
I'm not saying I am totally cured, only the other day at work I had to do a presentation at a meeting, there was my name in lights on the projecter screen on the agenda. I had that feeling come over me, I was desperate to flee, but I didn’t, and of course, once I started talking I was fine. But what I'm saying is that it no longer controls me like it once did.
This website is fantastic help for all, I wish everyone all the best.
I had what I now know to be a panic attack firstly in 2010 in south africa when I was there to watch the world cup.
I was in a restaurant in cape town, and all of a sudden had a feeling I was dying & had to run to a taxi to go straight to my hotel. I was petrified, and spent literally 3 hrs just walking rd the room, I had this fear that if I was to lie down that would be it - that I would die. I was 44 yrs old & had never had anything like this before.
had to call a doc, he came & examined me, found nothing wrong to my surprise, but never mentioned panic attacks. god knows how, but I made it through to the end of the holiday.
when I got home all was fine for about 3 months. I never mentioned this to anyone, & tried to just forget it. but then around oct, I had another attack in church of all places. I had to flee, again thinking I was about to die. had to tell my wife about it, this was tough. on the outside I am a mans man, love pubs/socialising/football etc & held down a job managing 20 odd blokes. but these feelings were unbelievable. I started having really bad thoughts about harming myself/wife, so I knew I had to go see my doc.
she referred me to a psychiatrist - he was fine - put me on pregabalin. this sort of worked, but the side effects of this stuff (headaches) were too much for me. he weaned me off this, & prescribed lorazepam, saying to only take it when I needed ie not regularly. Around summer 2011 I commenced CBT with another psychiatrist. I found this immensely helpful, but also found myself taking lorezepam on a daily basis. This stuff helped me, but I realised I was becoming dependant on it, so I weaned myself off it. This is harder than it seems, I was not able to sleep, & would suffer badly. But I am strong willed & was determined to go through with it, so this summer I finally stopped taking it altogether.
I could go on & on with examples of my problem, but as you are on this site you probably all know too well the feelings of despair etc. BUT, you can kick this, there is light at the end of the tunnel, believe me. Medication can work but each to their own. I realised, keeping fit, not stressing about work too much, and talking about it are better therapies. Also, I found a book this summer – understanding panic attacks by dr roger baker. This is really amazing, I was reading it & felt it was written specifically for me. There is a part about what the body does when experiencing fear, that was a bit of a ‘eureka’ moment for me, it explained what was going on with my mind.
I'm not saying I am totally cured, only the other day at work I had to do a presentation at a meeting, there was my name in lights on the projecter screen on the agenda. I had that feeling come over me, I was desperate to flee, but I didn’t, and of course, once I started talking I was fine. But what I'm saying is that it no longer controls me like it once did.
This website is fantastic help for all, I wish everyone all the best.