Who's beaten the Panic Attacks?

[VG30_S12]

well, its 5am now, and i cant sleep as usual. Im way tired, but too anxious(and if im honest, alittle afraid) to actualy close my eyes and sleep... and of course ive got a big day ahead tomarrow as usual too lol

So, i was just kinda wondering on how many of you have "beaten" panic attacks? do they come back ever? do you ever feel like you might have one?
Hows it feel to be freed from these "mental chains of opression?" maybe it'll inspire me and some others to start "kicking butt" on our issues...

oh, and most importantly, how'd ya do it? any good self help books and or treatments you could sugguest from personal experence?

come on, i want success stories :yesyes: Inspire Me:yahoo:

[polly123]

Hiya
i suffer from panic attacks and anxiety, i found books from dr claire weekes very good she explains exactly what is happening to you and how to overcome your problems, Best of luck
POLLY

[Zebedee]

Hello my american friend, yep I also highly recommend my angel Claire Weekes, her books are THE BEST at understanding all types of nervous symptoms. Check out Amazon for good offers. I really hope you can get some sleep soon:yesyes:

Take care Z

[seeker]

I have managed to overcome them! I suffered really badly at uni and in the years immediately afterwards - had panic attacks everywhere, in shops, at concerts, at home, etc etc. Eventually, I found what worked for me - wlkaing and/or exercise while having a pnic attack, to get rid of the adrenaline - even if only in my room! It also regulated my breathing. I found my triggers as well - uncertainty (so, for example, when I was about to move house, couldnt find a job etc - made me much more prone to them), and have tried to lead a more stable life since then! Tiredness, not eating enough and being hung over were also big trgiggers for me. I found them worse while smoking cannabis, too, so stopped that over ten years ago now.

I do still feel panicky sometimes, but manage to control it and stop it becoming a full blown attack by breathing properly and walking round.

It is possible to overcome them, but I do think you have to be brutally honest wiht yourself about your triggers, and about the remedies - of the ones you tried (say, yoga), how often have you actually tried it and practised it?!

I also took beta blockers for a short while, which worked well to break the cycle of panic I was in. Hope this helps - I have muchas sympathy!

[gtrgrl3369]

Sorry to hear you are suffering tonight. I have suffered for a long time and can honestly say I am on the road to recovery. I no longer have multiple panic attacks a day. They are done to about 1 a day or every other day and are not even full blown panic, more like anxiety. I also recommend Claire Weeks books. The library is chock full of self help books that will coach you throught this. I never took meds because of a bad reaction to one, so that turned me off meds. I learned alot of deep breathing helps as well as retraining my brain to where I knew I wouldnt die. That was my biggest problem, that and fainting. I know know that when my body starts to get nervous, its time for a time out to breathe and rethink things. Like you I was afraid to sleep because I knew what the next day would bring. The one thing that has suffered in me is my fears. I have alot of them now. I start a new psych doctor today to get me over those. I do go to work everyday now and am getting stronger everyday by facing life. It was too easy to go to my safe place and lock the door. Running away made it harder. It takes alot of hard work, but you can do it. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or are scared and need some help. I have been where you are at. I know the fear that can grip you so hard you never feel safe. I hope this helps you in some small way. Take care.:hugs:

[VG30_S12]

thanks for the support... still up(well, passed out from about 8 to 10), i feel better-ish now

please keep the stories comming :D

[lilly-lou]

I don't have panic attacks anymore but I used to get them all the time especially at night time, it would get to about 7.30 and regular as clockwork they'd come, all the horrid feelings, I slept with a sick bucket next to my bed for about 2yrs and my weight plummited to 6 3/4 stone as a result of them, but I do have anxiety symptoms still and am on the road to recovering from agoraphobia which I developed when the panic attacks were at there worst. I guess my panic attacks stopped when I became too afraid of going out and developed agoraphobia but I am learning now with exposure therapy that I can control the anxiety, I guess a change in the way we think and a little more self beliefe has helped me.

[trampslikeus]

i'd say i'm pretty close to having them completely gone, what i have now is just a tiny flash of anxiety and then it's gone.

at the start of the year i went from the typical 18 year old party girl to a girl that wouldn't go out, i lost 90% of my friends, any prospect at a future as far as i was concerned, not to mention awful amounts of weight, i was really pretty ill, having panic attacks multiple times a day, not always to a full blown level, but more often than not. i couldn't stand to be alone, was obsessed i was about to die constantly and was hideously jealous of ANYONE who seemed to be functioning healthily, even characters from t.v shows, seriously.

the way i overcame them to this point was to find a reason to want to live, and not just in a breathing surviving kind of way, but a way in which i'm really living, experiencing and growing as a person y'know? a reason or belief strong enough to fight for. basically, i realised that after leaving college because of stress & anxiety i'd spent a year and a half trying to avoid a stressful situation, and had in the process avoided any situation at all, i'd lived the same day over and over again, and i'd bet everything that my panic attacks and anxiety disorder stemed from that, because i felt as though there was no point in living for another 60 years if everyday will be the same, over and over again.
what i did was to break all those boundaries, do everything you'd probably think would make you worse, i figured i was at the bottom, so if i was going to die like i thought, it may as well be doing something decent. i went out when i wanted to stay in, refused to leave whereever i was when i wanted to run home, acted as best as i could as though that problem wasn't there, and ignored that voice in my head that told me i was at the end. i threw out all the junk i'd been living through, cancelled accounts on the internet, disconnected the cable tv, broke up the cds & dvds that i'd watch obsessively when i was having a panic, basically cut out those past 6 months of my life the best i could. all in all i fought against myself everyday, and went back to the things that used to make me happy, when the panic came and i was out, i challenged it, in a very cheesey bring it on fashion haha, and cut out all of the dead wood relationships i was worrying about repairing.
i took that really scary step, and i keep taking them, although sometimes i still feel so scared i could cry, it's more of a 2 minute obsession and then back to my normal day now. my physical symptoms are all but gone, and they were the things i suffered worse with, now all i'm left with is the occasional intrusive thought, foggy brain and jelly legs.
if you learn to take the fear away, you'll take the power away, and you'll beat it, because it really is possible, i'm moving to london to work in fashion PR in early November by myself miles and miles from home, when just a couple of months ago i couldn't even stay at home alone, which just goes to proove anything is possible if you just stay strong.

take care honey, i hope you feel better soon.

[Wenjoy]

Wow - what a lovely post - well done you!!!

I know what you mean - you must face a fear to overcome it - welcome it not run from it or your areas where you can go become smaller.I understand all that and hopefully will be as confident as you - Id say I live my life 70 per cent but dont eat out,cinema,travel etc as it panics me!

Well done
Wenjoy x

[diamonds]

wow thats brilliant news and great way i think of sorting it too.

[heath]

To be honest with you having had these for 7 years on and off. I think by understanding them and getting to understand your symptoms you learn to control them. And when you begin to understand them you do not fear them as much and that results in you not having the attacks as often. I think it is like a circle your fear is of the fear and it is breaking the cycle. Dont get me wrong i still do get them but not as frequent as they used to be.

Does this help?

[Wenjoy]

I agree with you - If we fear having ap anic attack in a certain place then we invite it to happen. If it does happen, we should embrace it and say "im not frightened of you" I know this sounds so easy and when I panic in a supermarket queue - all reason goes out of my head and I panic and fight it not float through it! Wenjoy x

[stacey]

Hi there. Well I am one of the lucky ones on here as I only have mild attacks. My attacks were getting out of hand and I had to do something about them as I have 2 children and a loving husband. After contacting the Doc and being told I would have to pay through the nose for councelling I found this site online and the people that have given me advice have helped me alot. I know this may sound silly, but when I am in town and I know one is coming on, I say to myself (or to the attack) "yeah whatever, do your worse I am going to be fine and blank you)..... it has finally worked! It hasn't cured me, it just helps me? My family are happy to see me better and love going out with me again!!! Hope this helps in some strange way! x

[relic]

I beat them once, and although they're back now, I WILL beat them again :winks:
I think Claire Weekes may have been the author of the book I read too. I remember part of what she said (if indeed it was her) about the 'fear of the fear'. That part always really stuck in my head.

[zippy1711]

yeah i think your way of dealing with anxiety is brave and something that i am trying to do myself

[lorac]

I can't actually say that I have beaten panic yet but I am close to beating it and most of what I have learned was from the Claire Week's books.

Carol