How do we feel after a panic attack

[purplehaze]

I had the worst panic attack in my life last night. Normally I just have the tension and the feelings of doom but it escalated into a full blown panic attack, and all the old fears came flooding back and they brought along some of their friends as well:sofa:
Even now I feel shattered by the experience, which is due to the panic and the lack of sleep.

I know this is all in my mind and I know that I cant be hurt by an attack and I wont die, yet if you had asked me that last night I would have said "ahhhhhhhhh I am going to die"

There where times during the attack when I could seperate myself from the attack..sounds strange but what I mean is, Part of me could see the logical side ("Hey dont worry you have been here before and you will be ok")
The other panic side of me was running around like a headless chickin with a paper bag in one hand and a phone in the other:w00t2:

There is a great passage in the Bible about st peter leaving the boat and walking on the water and for a moment or two he manages to walk on the water but suddenly fear grips him and he starts to sink and Jesus reaches out and supports him back to the boat. The one thing that changed was peter became fearful. Nothing else changed.

What I draw from this in relation to my own panic is that, nothing around me changes. I could be watching a good movie and wham panic-I could be out walking and wham panic....Our situation has not changed but our mind has invited fear in. (does this make sense?)

How many of us are able to look back with a rational mind after the attacks and pick out the positive or even confront the negative points..Its just something I have been trying to do over the last couple of weeks and maybe some of you are doing this just now. If so what does work for you.

I wish everyone the best of health and never give up hope because one day we will all move forward step by step:hugs:

[PUGLETMUM]

hiya purplehaze,

this is exactly the same for me and i suppose most ppl on here?

my book explains about these voices - or has he calls them 'observers'

the 'part' of you that stayed rational is the 'supportive observer' the part of you that KNOWS that you will not go crazy/die/lose control, which is the part you have to find again in times of crises and also develop ALL of the time

the other voices are the worried, critical and helpless observers which all lead to anxiety and panic.

i hope your getting this?
anyway if your not i am experiencing very strong panics and as a result i am AVOIDING so your not alone. also you can get this book that explains all of the above from amazon i think? its called 'dont panic' by R REID WILSON

all the best emma

[Lindalou64]

To Be Honest With Ya When My Paic Is Over I Just Try And Not Think About It.........but Thats Me I Just Want To Move Forward,i Do Question Myself Why Am I So Bad This Month,sometimes I Have No Idea But There Is A Reason,sometimes We Just Cant Put Our Finger On It,like Me Im A Worry Wort, I Think Of Things 2 Weeks From Now And Get Anxious But When That Day Comes Im Fine,its The Anticapation Of It All I Guess,............best To Ya.......linda Xx

[decker6869]

First off, i love the analogy of Peter on the water. I couldn't agree more with ya there. I too have been having bad panic attacks and it brought on avoidance issues... like avoiding getting up and walking around. But as time goes on and i learned more and more i am steadily improving. Don't feel alone, i am rocking the same boat as you. After i have an attack i try to regroup and immediatly get back up so that the fear doesnt equate with the situation. i think that is where i messed up the first time around when my attacks came back in march, i just laid down and gave up and it took root. Now i try to get up and not let it take hold of me. Feel free to contact me if you ever need anyone to talk to. That goes for everyone on this site! Hope you conquer this faux-disease ASAP!

[happyone]

Hi,
I did not answer the poll as I couldn't figure out what one to go for.

After a panic attack (which I don't really feel I get, more just prolonged anx), I generally feel really really tired. I often go to bed really early on these days (as early as 6pm!)
I am not very rational during these times in terms of reducing my anx, but I do know the physical symptoms I am experiencing are a side effect of anx and nothing more, I don't think I am going to die or anything.
I do frequently deep breathe during states of anx. I have perfected it so that I can do it without too many people knowing I am doing it!

happyone
xx

[belle]

I feel drained, tired, exhausted, frustrated, useless, depressed, fed-up, angry....many things.

[normalwisdom]

I always feel so tired:emot-sleepyhead: I don't know if its me wanting to get away from the world though! Always go to bed for a couple of hours after a panic...when I can:shades:

[zena]

I feel very tired..Go to bed but can't sleep....can also be very snappy...Light headed...feel sick the list is endless.

I talk to myself often during a panic...like you so don't worry your not mad!!!
Half my head is trying to calm down and the other sometimes says no your not...I try and go with the flow now. I tell myself ok I'm having a panic what you gonna do about it!

You have to take control of it not the other way round.

[Nibbles]

Hi everyone,

I feel very tired and drained but try to give myself credit for getting through the attack. It's not always easy to do this of course but I try and bring to mind positive statements such as 'You can learn from bad experiences too and getting through the attack shows strength'.

Take care,

[Zanxiety]

I know what you mean. While Panic Attacks are very unpleasant and you start to have one, sometimes it's best to get one done and over with so then it's out the way with for the next few minutes, hours, or days. For that alone I'd give myself credit for them for making you feel nice and relaxed after having one. Though sometimes, I feel tired and worn out after having one. I think it's pleasing to know you've got through it nevertheless.

I do many distractions such as reading a book, playing video games or doing some gardening or practicing my breathing exercise to lower their severity.


I wish everyone the best of health and never give up hope because one day we will all move forward step by step

Why thank you, and the same goes for you and everyone else too.

[Debs8a]

After a panic attack, i tend to feel like i have swam the channel. Im exhausted but i suppose the extra work the attack puts on your organs and body would do that. As bad as it sounds though, i find the panic attacks a relief sometimes. Its the anxiety and fear before the attack that i suffer with most. I hate the thoughts that enter my head. The feeling i am going mad is terrifying and i think i am going to stop breathing which is extremely unpleasant. I never used to be so negative but all my demons come out during my panic attacks.

[sulmare]

the thing that shakes me is that they come seemingly out of nowhere... once they are over I feel relieved and don't oddly worry about when or where the next one may occur... thankfully I suppose :)

just getting through them is enough...:hugs:

[W.I.F.T.S.]

Hi Purple, long time...no speak. I can totally relate to what you're saying, especially about the only thing changing is fear. A therapist once said to me that the guys who build sky scrapers happily sit there on the scaffolding eating their lunch without harnesses and some of them even sleep there, but they never fall off....they're used to it and it never even occurs to them. Whereas if we were to do something like that we'd be so fearful and we'd obsess about falling. We still wouldn't fall, just as we don't die when we have a panic attack, but we wouldn't be able to go about it with the same ease as the builders. The same is true of life...we struggle to go about it with the same ease as 'normals'.

For me, this illness seems to constantly be metamorphasising, the symptoms are constantly changing. When I first started having full on panic attacks, I felt so paralysed by them that I felt that i couldn't even move to use the phone next to me. I used to wear gloves in the house, because I had strong intrusive thoughts to pull my eye out. But during that same period I was able to drive to London and to Wales from the north west fairly comfortably, which is quite confusing for me.

The way that I reason it is that when I started taking Prozac, my feelings of unreality became really strong. I went from feeling like a human being who was ill with anxiety and depression to not feeling human at all and questioning the nature of existence. The last thing you want to be doing is driving along the motorway and asking "am I really here? Am I really controlling the car? would it matter if I crashed?". I have been feeling a lot better as far as unreality and intrusive thoughts go and last night I tried to push myself to drive down a stretch of road that I find quite scary. I got part way down it and the conflicting thoughts in my mind were "you have an urge to drive really fast or to crash the car, best to drive as slow as possible to stop yourself" and "you have an urge to pull over and get out of the car and run, put your foot down and lets just get through this". It was quite an unpleasant experience to be honest, but it has to be best that I don't avoid anything...although I do feel concerned about retraumatising myself and causing myself further stress.

Generally, I'm doing ok. Work is going really well. I was a bit concerned heading into this week as my football teams had some really big games, a council big wig was coming into school, some people were coming in for a meeting with me, I was recording a primary school class for a radio station, I had an outside band in the studio and I was filming a brass band concert!!!! But it all went really well and I kind of even enjoyed it. I guess that, as anxious people, we tend to avoid challenges. Whilst I'm conscious of trying not to burn myself out (I was at work from 9am- 10pm last night!), I think that it's important for my confidence and sense of purpose that I keep having challenging situations to face.

When I first started my job I used to spend half an hour before I could even start work pacing round the studio, trying to control my breathing. I feel that I can handle it much better now, that I have more faith in my abilities and even that I can start to enjoy the experiences. I've always said to myself "I've just got to get through this and I can enjoy it in retrospect". I really need to change that attitude, so that I can enjoy the moment and so that I don't build things up so that they're overwhelming.

The wierd thing is that at the minute I'm pretty much fine at work because it's a distraction, but I find evenings and weekends really difficult! I suppose the thing that concerns me most is feeling overwhelmed and so frozen by fear that I feel that I can't move geographically or in time...I don't know if that makes sense, but we're never still, are we? We're always moving forward in time.

Anyway, sorry to be so ME ME ME lol But it's just a few things that I've learnt and how I'm dealing with things and hopefully some of them can help you.

hopefully speak soon.

Si x