why are my panic attacks lasting so long

[insideout20]

so i have been doing hypnosis on youtube and have felt a lot better for 5 days didnt have a panic attack until this morning when i got to work, i have no idea why as i was feeling really good this morning

anyway i have noticed more so when in work my panic attacks seems to last for ages, sometimes hours but of course its not full blown for hours it comes in waves then goes away and then comes back etc

i am 99.9% sure its panic as i have had many of them

what happens first is my chest feels tight, once i feel that i know its coming on, then comes the tingling on face, stomach etc, then dizziness and fast heart

one thing though i dont feel like i hyperventilate, im not gasping for breath i just feel like i cant get a proper breath

is that normal ?

[PanickyGuy]

Yep that's typical anxiety to eventual panic. It can build like that over long periods of time, all day or even days. They can be mild to moderate and back to mild, then bam! A big one full blown panic attack hits you.

If you're stressed out or worried about something in the back of your mind, you might get small amounts of adrenaline leaking while trying to suppress it, that's the mild to moderate ones. But the stress, tension and worry keeps on building up all day or days and then you might explode because something sets you off or triggers it, like a volcano, with heavy adrenaline release. And of course that's the full blown panic attack.

[insideout20]

Hi,

Yes that makes sense, wehat i cant get my head around though is for 4 days i was feeling good, less stressed and no panic attacks, then just out of nowhere bam i was in a mess all day, went to bed shaking and worst palps ever, i can deal with fluttering but this was like my heart vibrating

[PanickyGuy]

My GAD and panic disorder is much like yours in the same way. But it use to be worse for me, like every other day in the beginning. But over the years it happens less frequently between spells. Now I still get a major panic attack like once every month for me, but between that time little negative things that I might think about (including worrying about eventually having another panic attack) get stored in my subconscious and those negative HA thoughts resurface on occasions, even though I try to suppress them. Then what happens is a trigger that sets it off after being calm and feeling good for so long.

So was it a trigger that set it off for you, just before it all started again? Was it something physical that happened, which was related to a HA worry/fear you had in the past?

I'll use one of my eposides as an example; Tuesday afternoon I had full blown panic attack come out of the blue. But I wasn't feeling stressed or anxious before it happened. I was laid back in my recliner, relaxing watching TV and all of the sudden I feel a strong click or pop inside the back of my head near the left side. Guess what? Bam! Instant panic attack, adrenaline pumping, fast heart rate, high blood pressure, dizziness, wanting to pass out, but never did; like always. And here's why I had the panic attack over it, because in the past with my HA one those worries/fears was having a stroke, aneurysm or blood clot. And that click or pop in my head was the trigger to an old fear that set my panic off. Of course about 15 minutes later I was mostly fine as my heart rate and BP settled down and nothing really ill happened to me. Basically I didn't hit the floor or die from whatever the hell that strange pop was inside my head and I eventually got back to feeling relaxed again. (BTW I think it was from tension in my neck letting go or something, at least I hope it was. Lol)

So you see that was a trigger for me, just before it happened, but it can be any unusual weird symptom I've never felt before like that, which may set my panic disorder off. And sometimes it can be just pure bad thoughts, even thinking about or worrying about having another panic attack after not having one for so long. Even that can be a eventual trigger in the long run as well.

So if you think about what was going on before it started up again, maybe you can make sense from it. In other words, what was the trigger that set it off? Negative thoughts or physical? :)

[insideout20]

hi

thank you for your reply

well 2 years ago I was fine I beat anxiety for 6 years until I had to get a mole biopsy and it freaked me out. I started to become anxious again and getting physical symptoms etc. this went on for a year and a half up until 5 months ago when I was on a date I had a full blown panic attack, my first for 7 years

then I had one a week later then over xmas it was everyday, I have so many physical symptoms it's not true, how can I possibly have so many that feel so real ? can your mind just make you imagine you have them ?

like you mine just come out the blue

to be honest I can handle the panic attacks it's all the other constant symptoms in between 24/7 I can't handle

this week my eyes are blurry and legs so shaky

[PanickyGuy]

hi

thank you for your reply

well 2 years ago I was fine I beat anxiety for 6 years until I had to get a mole biopsy and it freaked me out. I started to become anxious again and getting physical symptoms etc. this went on for a year and a half up until 5 months ago when I was on a date I had a full blown panic attack, my first for 7 years

then I had one a week later then over xmas it was everyday, I have so many physical symptoms it's not true, how can I possibly have so many that feel so real ? can your mind just make you imagine you have them ?

like you mine just come out the blue

to be honest I can handle the panic attacks it's all the other constant symptoms in between 24/7 I can't handle

this week my eyes are blurry and legs so shaky

Well there is an ol' saying; "mind over matter". Although I'm not using that phrase to indicate that we could do superhuman feats with our minds, but I think our minds are powerful enough to screw with our senses and our bodies; especially with a strong enough belief and imagination.

Scientists and doctors sometimes use placebos and the effects those placebos have on people in trials or tests are good examples of how strong the mind is in those cases, believing afterwards that we are much more healthy than before or even cured after whatever sugar pill they gave us. So just the opposite is probably true as well, in which we could make ourselves sick enough with a strong enough belief and imagination to feel physical ailments that are not a real disease or a actual indicator of a real issue.