pk
09-11-08, 15:17
hi, I've stumbled across this site just now while in the early stages of a panic attack and since the 'first steps' section has calmed me down so much I thought I'd say hello and say thanks
I'm 25 and have been getting panic attacks of varying strengths for around 5 years now. I've always been a pretty anxious, unassertive bloke but the attacks only really started manifesting themselves after a prolonged period of marijuana smoking (& dabbling in other drugs) at university. Stupid I know.
At first they were simply limited to when I'd been smoking marijuana or the day after drinking and/or taking other drugs. The main symptoms were a thudding heart (and rising heartrate), hyperventilating, nausea etc. As I'm rather unhealthily overweight the heart symptoms really terrified me as I thought I was on the verge of heart attacks every time it happened. This got me worried about my heart when I was sober; I became obsessed with checking my heartrate and any little twinges in my stomach or my chest terrified me.
This has led to me getting panic attacks at any time of the day. They still terrify me, and the fear that I might be about to have one generally triggers one. I don't think I've been genuinely 'calm' for over two years now; there's always uncertainty and a gnawing fear at the back of my mind. I've cut out all narcotics but I still drink occasionally, because when it's only when I'm drunk that I'm genuinely relaxed.
Yesterday I had an attack at work, and looked up 'panic attacks' on wikipedia. To my amazement simply reading about the medical mechanics behind them did wonders calming me down. I suppose knowing the reason behind the physical symptoms allowed me to stop worrying about them. I've just felt the onset of one this morning & went back on wikipedia, which led me to here. Your 'first steps' section has really helped me in the last 30 minutes, so thanks a lot! Hopefully reading & discussing the attacks on here will eventually lead me to getting rid of them for good :)
I'm 25 and have been getting panic attacks of varying strengths for around 5 years now. I've always been a pretty anxious, unassertive bloke but the attacks only really started manifesting themselves after a prolonged period of marijuana smoking (& dabbling in other drugs) at university. Stupid I know.
At first they were simply limited to when I'd been smoking marijuana or the day after drinking and/or taking other drugs. The main symptoms were a thudding heart (and rising heartrate), hyperventilating, nausea etc. As I'm rather unhealthily overweight the heart symptoms really terrified me as I thought I was on the verge of heart attacks every time it happened. This got me worried about my heart when I was sober; I became obsessed with checking my heartrate and any little twinges in my stomach or my chest terrified me.
This has led to me getting panic attacks at any time of the day. They still terrify me, and the fear that I might be about to have one generally triggers one. I don't think I've been genuinely 'calm' for over two years now; there's always uncertainty and a gnawing fear at the back of my mind. I've cut out all narcotics but I still drink occasionally, because when it's only when I'm drunk that I'm genuinely relaxed.
Yesterday I had an attack at work, and looked up 'panic attacks' on wikipedia. To my amazement simply reading about the medical mechanics behind them did wonders calming me down. I suppose knowing the reason behind the physical symptoms allowed me to stop worrying about them. I've just felt the onset of one this morning & went back on wikipedia, which led me to here. Your 'first steps' section has really helped me in the last 30 minutes, so thanks a lot! Hopefully reading & discussing the attacks on here will eventually lead me to getting rid of them for good :)