new sufferer

[em]

i have only just started having panic attacks. I know the cause of them was my daughter being seriously ill earlier in the year and my doctor said its like post traumatic stress disorder. does anyone have any advice for nipping this in the bud and not letting it start ruling my life?

[Meg]

Dear Emma,

Great that you can identify the cause. It's all about building up coping skills.

Here are a few general suggestions for the moment. If you're having any specific issues do post again with those.
There are several things that you can do to help yourself with these although they are not ‘cures’ in the traditional way as taking an antibiotic and the infection goes away completely.

Medication can help to give you a break from the worst part of panic but unless something else changes within you - when you come off the medication the issues remain and often the panic reoccurs.

Homeopathy can help depending on what is the root of the anxiety.

Other avenues that do help include:

Breathing - Learn to breathe from your diaphragm, your tummy should rise and fall with your breath as well as your chest. Ensure your out breath is longer than the in one. A count of 4 in – 6 out is great. Use this as soon as you feel panic rising. Alternatively, hold your breath for a few seconds

Distraction- As soon as you feel the anxiety soaring and you get afraid – do something different. Change your environment, talk to someone, do something, distract yourself. It’s often enough to dissipate the panic .

Comfort yourself – be totally positive with yourself but do allow yourself to go with it. Keep giving yourself positive messages that this will pass naturally and cannot harm you- breath and distract.

Regular exercise – uses the adrenaline/ noradrenaline and the cortisol that are secreted when panic sets in and enhances endorphine production

Tai’ chi or Yoga – promotes complete relaxation as well as stretching. This has a cumulative effect so try it regularly. The meditation part also helps learn to still the mind and cumulatively is a very effective exercise to learn to use during panic.

Relaxation tapes are extremely useful . Find one you like and stick to it. Play it every day whether you are stressed or not and soon whenever you feel anxious just putting it on will relieve that tension .

Massage- releases the tension that builds up in your tissues. Often with anxiety we store it in major muscle groups apart from the usual chronic shoulders and neck so leg muscles etc can go into spasm. Reaction from the guts is also common, you may find you get wild disturbances.

When you are starting to feel anxious - Bach rescue remedy will take the edge off.. These are flower essences, are completely safe and have no sideeffects. A couple of squirts in a bottle of water and sip liberally all day. Additionally, I used Aspen for fear, Cherry plum for terror and Rock rose for control.

Nutritional supplements – having panic and anxiety is extremely draining on your body resources. A strong 50-100 mg Vit B complex supplement is highly recommended as is extra calcium and magnesium , take this one at night . www.quest.co.uk is a reputable source.

Unless you’re intolerant , warm milk at night contains tryptosan which promotes sleep and relaxation.

Aromatherapy- lavender, clary sage, vetiver oil baths.

If you are really shaky passiflora /lemon balm/ valerian root/ hops tinctures for instant help or tablets regularly.
St Johns Wort can also help but doesn’t kick in for 3 weeks or so
Kava Kava is brilliant for anxiety but is currently withdrawn from the EU whilst investigations go on into possible liver sideeffects complicated by anxiety people often taking to alcohol for relief…
For constant insomnia melatonin is excellent. It’s not available in the UK but widely available in the US where its main use is for jetlag

With all of the herbs above if you are on any other medications at all then you must check it out carefully and ask for professional advice. SJW is a definite No if you’re on the pill, immunosuppressants or anti coagulants.

If you find anxiety is worse in the morning try eating little but often and keep to protein and complex carbohydrates- nuts/seeds are a great choice, it’s recommended to have a breakfast – (not sugar puffs or similar) when you get up a

[nomorepanic]

Radar - I do hope em read this post as there is loads of good advice in it. Shame if she never came back!

Nicola

[kate]

Hi Meg, In your post you state the example of driving over a bridge and in doing this successfully and with nothing negative happening to you it should get easier every time.I also went into this thinking during CBT and what happens to me is the exact opposite. My thinking is "ok, I've done that same thing 20 times with nothing happening to me. Now, this is the 21st time I've done it, and by the law of averages, something WILL happen this time".I unfortuantely think this way over everything I do, even if I have done the same thing over and over for many years. HELP! Kate x

[Laurie28]

i feel excatly the same Kate

i feel i have got off with it for this long something must happen this time!!

Lucky

[Laurie28]

radar,

do you think the emotional freedom technique could help em because of the post traumatic stress disorder
Just a thought

Lucky

[Meg]

Hi Kate and Lucky,

You're not alone with this either. We all do it.
I used to do 65,000 miles a year and my darling (now ex) partner came home and told me that he'd been chatting to the some motoring org that told him the % chance I had of having an accident in the next year.
I dwelled on that for weeks - and could quite happily not have gone out again to do this job. However, it's not happened and I know I'm a low risk driver and am really careful so now I've dismissed it as survey twaddle.

Negative thinking is our self imposed limitor and this is a great example. Think down the ladder of questions -

Whats this 'SOMETHING' that you both refer to ?!?!? I'll bet its diferent for each of us and don't even really know . Try this scenario..

what do I think will happen to me on the bridge? I'll panic
what about ? - being stuck, it collapsing,
what are the chances of those ? High for stuck - pretty nil for collapsing
So what if you do get stuck in traffic ? I'll feel terrible
Yes, you've been there before and it passes without you collapsing, you could use oyur mobile to have a chat with a friend before panic even gets close who will help you breathe through it.. etcetc etce

You get the drift.

Once you've got past the actual terrorizing fear of actually doing it several times then you do have the irrational more minor stuff to deal with in your thoughts. You call the shots and always have the last answer instead of the irrational bit.

Make any sense ?

Re- EFT. Guess it much depends on how Em's daughter is now - whether the situation remains or can start to be faded into the background.


Meg

Watch your thoughts, they become your words...
Watch your words, they become your actions... Watch your actions, they become your habits... Watch your habits, they become your character... Watch your character, it becomes your destiny...

[em]

Thanks for your advice meg. Unfortunately I've already let this panic get the better of me as I've changed departments at work. I was working on a checkout at Asda but found that feeling so shut in made me start thinking about having a panic attack and not being able to just run away. I went back to my Doctor and I've got an appointment in a few weeks with a mental health outreach worker. I have tried rescue remedy but don't really know if it helped. My daughter, Jessica is absolutely fine now and I feel guilty that this is still affecting me while everyone else is back to normal. Jessica's illness still feels very recent even though it was April and May of this year and I get a lot of flashbacks. Anyway, I'll persevere with the breathing and see how I go. Thanks for listening.