anxiety and panic

[brown996]

ive been getting anxiety and panic attacks for the last month and have know. how it started was from going out one night and the next morning waking out and driving to work, 5 minutes down the road i took a heart palpitation and stop the car on the side of the road and took the first panic attack ive ever took in my entire life. i then took my self to the hospital where they listen to my heart and took oxygen levels. they confirmed that it was a panic attack and i just need to relax. from there i felt fine afterward till the next week were i got a small pain in my chest and feel back into a panic attack. from the second i have been convinced in my head that i was going to take a heart attack even thought i had been to the hospital. eventually the anxiety took over and i was no longer looking to do things i liked doing which included going to the gym and training where the main things i have refused to do since getting anxiety. after a while i decided to go see my doctor who then said it might go away in a couple of weeks so call us back then. one night i decided that i needed to see someone now i took myself to a & e they took blood pressure and ecg and said thats all you need for everything we can see from these results your fine. since ive been back to my doctor to get counseling sorted i also refused to take any medicine, as i feel that even though it might help other people greatly but for me only prolong the anxiety. now my physical symptoms have stopped but in my head the thought still lingers on and still prevents me from getting my life back to normal.


*apologies for grammer in advance and also for the long story first time posting here

[emmegee]

Give yourself time to return to normal. Your body needs to recover from the anxiety state. "One day at a time"

[LJDudders]

I've suffered anxiety and panic attacks for 6 years now. It's mind over matter for me as the doctors tried to get me drugs rather that counselling as it's easier for them.
You just have to find something that relaxes you... I try reading and meditating works. Also get into a heathly routine in your day like waking up at a good time and getting enough sleep so you're not rushing around the next day as you've over slept (these are little things of course).
As you have had a panic attack you might now be associating going out with a panic attack (I should know). So take your day little steps at a time, remember to breath if you feel panicked. And try reconnect with your body rather that your head taking over ... for example when I feel panicked in a car I will focus on how my legs feel and my arms torso etc ans before I've realised I'm not panicking anymore as I'm not focusing on what's goi g on in my head ( if that make sense ) . There's an app called headspace which explains it better . It's how I learned / still learning to cope with my anxiety..
also remember a lot of people go through this and we're all human it's okay to feel this way is a normal reaction when we feel anxious ...
sorry for rambling on . Hope this helps :)

[roseanxiety]

I think I had a panic attack in my car today. I actually had to pull over as I thought I was going to pass out. Can you describe yours? I have only ever had what I think is a panic attack a couple of times. I felt kind of removed and very very scared . It came on so suddenly when I wasn't feeling particularly anxious. Can they come on just out of the blue?

[PanickyGuy]

I think I had a panic attack in my car today. I actually had to pull over as I thought I was going to pass out. Can you describe yours? I have only ever had what I think is a panic attack a couple of times. I felt kind of removed and very very scared . It came on so suddenly when I wasn't feeling particularly anxious. Can they come on just out of the blue?

Sure can. Usually you get a adrenaline surge (like a sinking feeling in your upper body or the back of your neck and head) at first along with a fast heart rate and sometimes a rise in blood pressure. Then sometimes you want to hyperventilate along with all that, gasping for gulps of air, because your chest tightens; hence your natural flight or fight response.

And that passing out feeling you get during a panic attack...that is from a fast heart rate while just standing and/or sitting still, but people very rarely pass out from that BTW. Because see, it's your anxiety making you think you should be moving your body (running) and it's wanting you to go, go, go. As in - "Run Forest run!!" :D

But sometimes forcing yourself to breath in through your nose and out your mouth slowly, will help calm you down enough or the 'breath in a paper bag' trick works sometimes too. So try breathing techniques to slow your heart rate down when you feel a panic attack coming on.

[bin tenn]

It does take time (it varies by person) to fully recover from panic attacks. I know. Every time I have a panic attack, I'm on edge and have several smaller ones (aftershocks?) for several days after, sometimes up to a week after.

[brown996]

depends. i know now why am having panic attack and the anxiety now that ive been to the hospital, so i might not have it this time next month. my panic attacks lasted about 2 weeks and then eventually ended up turning into anxiety which is getting better every day

[LJDudders]

Hello with regards to my panic attack symptoms, it's like I feel hot and flustered. my legs go cold and I feel like my stomach is going to drop out my butt (sorry for the crudeness haha) and I feel like I'm going to be sick so i might gag at times. So I feel like I need to run away if I'm surrounded by people. Or there's been times where my vision has gone blurry and I can hear a ringing. But either way the only way I've controlled it is to control my breathing make sure you carry water with you. Do a body scan to bring you back so you are in control of your body and not just your mind taking over without you realising it... so I'd think about how my head feels then my shoulders then my arms , torso then knees then feet... but as you are doing this don't worry or analyse it too much just know that's how you are feeling and don't judge it or try to change it as you are okay and before you know it you should be calm... works for me anyway but everyone's different. It's a type of meditation I guess. So I hope it does help you as it's helped me ( however it's practice I guess) :)