Help!!! Urgent!!! Please!!!

[CharlieM]

Hey guys,

I am suffering an intense panic attack (at least I hope it is). Sure I am having a heart-attack!!

Been going on for over 30 mins now. I've tried reading my CBT stuff - no good. Tried Belly Breathing - no good. Went for a short walk - made it worse. I have had this twice before, but not as bad or for as long as this. Really scared now.

Had loads of ECG's, bloods, etc, and all ok.

For some reason I can't convince myself it is just a panic attack.

Need some reassurance guys as I am about to go and trouble A&E yet again!!!!

Charlie.

[Bekzie]

Hi Charlie,
This attack probably seems worse BECAUSE you can't seem to convince yourself it is panic. You have been here before and came out the other side. You will be fine, keep calm and try and distract yourself. You are a strong health human being, do not let your mind convince you otherwise :hugs:

[CharlieM]

Thanks Bekzie :hugs:

Still going on, but not as bad. Surely a heart-attack would have happened by now!! ;-)

I am feeling drained now, but pulse still far higher than my normal resting pulse.

Still reading the CBT packs, but they aren't really helping.

This is so scary - wish I didn't have this anxiety stuff.

Charlie

[fruity]

if it was heart attack don,t think you,d be able to speak,post........ your ok.

[CharlieM]

Thanks guys. Seems to be back under control for now. Pulse is back to 64 which is normal for me. It hit 120+ during the attack.

One thing I am struggling with when reading the CBT packs, is to stop myself using prevention techniques. When an attack happens, the CBT says you should welcome the panic and not try and stop it (e.g. Get a drink, move somewhere safe, sit down, etc).

But that is so difficult to do WHILE it is happening. All I can think is to try and reduce the symptoms by doing stuff that I know has worked in the past. Anyone got thoughts on this?

Charlie

[Pinktel]

you have to start with the cognitive stuff first and really get a handle on it before you leap onto the behavioural stuff.
Which CBT are you doing.?
ON the CBT4 panic I am having success with I fill in analysis sheets to begin to work on my symptoms. You need to analyse what you are MOST scared of in a panic - ie dying, being unable to breathe, going mad, really boil it down - not just enough to say I am scared I am going to panic - examine what symptoms you get and what the symptoms make you think is going to happen, then you begin to disprove them one by one. You can list all the reasons you think you are going to have say a heartattack - like racing heart, shortness of breath, pain, then one by one go through and write down and think about why these happen. I am assuming you have learned all about flight and fight sensations and the mechanisms adrenaline has to give you all these symptoms?
Add into this any tests you may have had which are clear as powerful reinforcers that there is nothing wrong.

YOu need to do this til you are bored to death of it. Til you can't face filling in another sheet :D:D This is the beginning of cognitive restructuring. It takes weeks.

Then once this is beginning to take hold into your brain and you are begiinning to believe your own hype, then you start the behavioural side with more confidence.

Have you learned about de sensitising yourself to the symptoms through techniques also described in CBT4panic - it is called interoceptive exposure.?

It is too much to just read a bit about CBT and fight/flight sensations and then expect yourself to welcome and embrace the panic. If it was that easy we'd all be doing it and skipping off into the sunset after a day or two totally cured :D:D

[CharlieM]

Pinktel,

Absolutely agree with what you are saying. I have done all the symptoms, written them out and then filled in the Misinterpretation and Catastrophising worksheets.

I have then written out all the substitution thoughts to try and replace the bad thoughts.

I am way off the Behavoural sections, as I am just trying to acquaint myself with what I am feeling.

I struggle to remember in the midst of a bad attack, as All I can think is that I am about to die of a heart-attack. The feelings I get SEEM so real. I will stick at it and see if I can get my head round the symptoms and try and stop avoiding!!

Thanks for your great comments :hugs:

Charlie

[Pinktel]

keep up the good work Charlie!!

I think you just have to say to yourself that this takes time - it's why lots of people give up on CBT - it isn't easy, requires effort mentally and physically and results can take time.

But when you get the results they are lasting and meaningful because you will carry those techniques with you for a lifetime and nobody can take that knowledge and those methods out of your brain as they can take a prescription for medication away from you.

Think of the cognitive exercises as chipping away at your anxious symptoms little by little , as how a river eventually erodes rock away to form a waterfall. Once it's there and created nothing will stop it, but it wasn't always there and it took time and energy and effort to create.

One day in the future you will have a panic and something deep inside your mind will begin to doubt your symptoms. It will take the edge off the panic just ever so slightly (it will still probably be horrid), but once those little doubts begin to foster you will begin to see a lessening in the extremes of your symptoms.

[JackieMR]

Hi Charlie, I'm new on here today so didn't see your post yesterday - hope you're feeling better today. I so relate to how you were feeling yesterday. I'm having massive panic attacks currently - one every couple of days and am absolutely convinced when they are happening that I'm about to die of a heart attack. Off now to read up on this CBT stuff!

[Tessar]

Hello everyone. I did CBT for low self-esteem & to build up my confidence enough to stop being bullied. I appreciate that this is very different to doing it for panic and/or anxiety but you are so right in saying it takes time.
I know from experience that managing to remember what on earth is going through your head at the time of heightened anxiety is very difficult. If you keep at it then one day all of a sudden, you'll find that something you deliberately had to think about & try to remember, will happen automatically. I admire you all for fighting these feelings as I would say any anxiety I might have felt through my fears is going to be nothing compared to what you are feeling or fearing for that matter. My worst fear is humiliation & crying in front of people, looking stupid and then losing control. Well, that's not as bad as a fear of dying or other physical things so that's why I feel you are all courageous.
Keep at it regarding CBT. It can make a difference & the more you read up, practice and apply the skills, the better it all sinks in.

[CharlieM]

Thanks guys :hugs:

Had a better day :)

Feeling low level anxiety tonight, but def under control.

I believe that every panic attack that doesn't end in 'catastrophe' helps reinforce the CBT. I almost want more panic attacks so I can keep proving to myself that I am not about to die!!

The problem is, I can't bring them on at will, and when they do happen, I get so scared that I lose all perspective and forget the CBT.

Hope you are all having a better day too.

Charlie xx