how long do your panic attacks last?

[anxiouskay]

hey guys im new here so hey,
so im wondering how long do your panic attacks last? sometimes mine range from about an hour and other times they can last up to 4 hours.
now when i have the 4 hour panic attacks they.are.brutal, im just wondering is this normal? please tell me im not the only one :unsure:

[Sabre120]

I had one walking down to uni 2 weeks ago that lasted for 4 hours or so. My attack today lasted about 30 minutes or so, but I'm thankful my friend was there to help take my mind off of it, so I think it tends to vary quite significantly.

[FullofLife]

I have panic attacks that can last anywhere from 10 minutes to several hours. My last major panic attack lasted for about 2 days (on and off of course) and then I had another one that last for about half an hour the day after. It all depends on what triggers the attack. It takes a lot to calm down but try breathing slowly and controlled. Don't think "I just want this to stop" because my psychologist says that the more you attempt to control a panic attack the worse it will get and the longer it could last.

[shatteredsolace]

Mine can last anywhere from ten minutes to half a day, to be honest. There was a time in my final year of uni where I was having near-constant panic attacks (heart racing, shakes, pain, sickness, rinse, repeat) and couldn't really eat or sleep, but that was an extreme panic episode (it lasted about five weeks in total). These days the bad ones can last a few hours. So no, you're not alone :)

[anxiouskay]

im glad to see im not the only one, but wow like all of you have long panic attacks my last big one was last august it started around 11:30 pm and started to pick up and get worse around 1am and lasted until 4:30 in the morning.
i find that they only happen at night when im alone,they never happen when i have someone awake with me.

[Sabre120]

Such is life unfortunately, I had a nasty one last night that lasted a fair while, mixed with ectopic heartbeats, it made for a pretty scary evening. I'm feeling much better now, though pretty exhausted, drinking too much this weekend is most likely the reason for its occurence.

[anxiouskay]

yea i stopped having my nightly weekend chardonnays this past weekend and my panic attack sunday night was quite mild compared to others i've had at night..i found that when my happy kinda sleepy buzz wears off im like suddenly "aware" and i panic and i get freaked i wont be able to sleep and yea panic attack.

[Rubicon]

Your body can only produce adrenaline for 90 seconds. Hours of panic attacks are a myth, sorry. Here's evidence on the 90 second thing.. http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/body-building/5-symptoms-of-an-adrenaline-rush.html

Of course, i've experienced panic for much longer - anything beyond the 90 second mark is us 'fearing the fear' worrying how much worse will it get, what is happening to me, something terrible is going to happen etc. If you stop fearing the fear, you'll stop having '4 hour panic attacks'

Some symptoms can last for some hours, racing heart, dizziness, and so on.. but a full blown attack can not. It might be that you're having one every hour or so.. If you become more accepting of the feelings, and let them wash over you, with a thinking pattern of 'you cannot hurt me, give me all you've got!!' not trying to fight them or worry about them (hard i know), you'll soon find them dissolving away.

Panic is just a dog whose bark is far worse than his bite. Hope that makes sense x

[anxiouskay]

interesting! i do try to tell myself it will pass but yea it really is fear of fear, and i think what keeps my panic attacks going is when my heart races i get scared which just makes it race even more its a cycle really.

[jill]

Hi Hun :D

You have had some very good advice already, as always from this great site..:yesyes:

What I found helpful which I was advised on this great site...and helped me soo much
was to number my panic/anxiety...

10 being full blown panic, my worse...

0 feeling normal Mmm or whatever YOUR normal is LOL

and ANYTHING in between IS ANXIETY.

The lower the number the lower the anxiety, the higher the number the higher the anxiety... AND of course YOUR 10, your full blown panic, your worse fears, your worse nightmare ....

I myself would swear blind that my first panic lasted the full length of my journey and beyond to Spain, which is a 3 hour flight...BUT, I know better now, I have gained that knowledge that I so dearly needed, that a panic attack, CANNOT and WILL NOT last that long, it peaks, then drops down to anxiety levels.

So, armed with my numbering system, when I hit panic, I found something that would distract me from how I was feeling AND NOTICE, it coming down from its peak Mmm do you know what I mean ????

There where times when I was acute, using this system, I could feel it Mmm what I call bounce, go down to a 6 then jump right back up to my ten, it done this a few times going down then jumping back up to my ten, but this shown me that when I was trying to distract myself things would calm, but when the fear jumped in ooohh boy, up it would go again.

Learning not to fear fear is blinkin hard, instead of trying to learn not to fear, fear, try teaching yourself some reassuring statements,
Learn what works for you for distraction from how you feel...
Learn how to talk to yourself, learn how to comfort yourself..

Fear, is not to be feared, because fear does not exist ANYWHERE except in your mind.

YOU TAKE CARE

LOVE JILL XX

[Brunette]

Your body can only produce adrenaline for 90 seconds. Hours of panic attacks are a myth, sorry. Here's evidence on the 90 second thing.. http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/body-building/5-symptoms-of-an-adrenaline-rush.html

Of course, i've experienced panic for much longer - anything beyond the 90 second mark is us 'fearing the fear' worrying how much worse will it get, what is happening to me, something terrible is going to happen etc. If you stop fearing the fear, you'll stop having '4 hour panic attacks'

Some symptoms can last for some hours, racing heart, dizziness, and so on.. but a full blown attack can not. It might be that you're having one every hour or so.. If you become more accepting of the feelings, and let them wash over you, with a thinking pattern of 'you cannot hurt me, give me all you've got!!' not trying to fight them or worry about them (hard i know), you'll soon find them dissolving away.

Panic is just a dog whose bark is far worse than his bite. Hope that makes sense x

Spot on. I still get the occasional adrenaline rush and fast heartbeat but I don't even call it "panic" - it's just is what it is. Just as you say, it lasts about 90 seconds and it's over.

[GingerFish]

The height of mine last maybe a few minutes but the build up and the drained feeling afterwards can last for hours, this makes it feel as though I am either panicking or suffering from a panic all day long.