How bad have your attacks been?

[clairebear10]

So im new to panic disorder by 3 months. It's horrible. I hate the constant feeling like im going to die and on one occasion recently i was close to phoning the ambulance :S

The worst attack i have ever had was on sunday passed. I was sitting chatting to my friend online then i felt as if my heart had stopped, i tried to feel for a pulse and couldnt feel anything which in turn gave me the biggest fright of my life. My jaw went numb then the tremors kicked in. I have only had tremors once before but this was so intense. I shot up and all i could think of was if im going to keel over and die i may aswell do it outside so someone can find me quick so off i went out into the garden. Shaking, whole body numb and my vision went a bit blury i really really really thought that this was it, i was going to die :S My son got really scared to, bless him he is only 2 years old, i hate that he has to see his mum go through this.

I ended up having to go around to a family members to keep my mind at ease knowing i was with relatives and if anything did happen i would be alright.

Im on half inderella again after stopping them 2 weeks ago after reading the leflet and freaking out about it. and waiting on CBT. They stop the full on effects but i get the lingering feeling constantly, like its waiting to happen at any moment.

I am trying desperatly to get over these myself in the mean time but wow they are so intense!.

How are you lot coping? What do you do to relax yourself during an attack?

They are bloody scary at times arent they!

[Thinker08]

Ive recently started 2 get them they are terrible ive found breathing into a paper bag helps . Im trying 2 change my diet as well ive had a couple of bad ones n actually went 2 hospital the 1st time didnt know what was going on had trouble breathing . Its also affecting my sleep . This site has put my mind at ease a little bit i hope you feel better

[anthrokid]

Heya Claire,

My worst panic attacks were in my first couple of months too. In my worst panic attacks I get a pressure feeling in my head, my head and face feels numb, my throat feels like it's swelling, my jaw kind of twitches (freaky) and I feel like I can't feel my heart beating. I prettymuch feel like I'm dying. In my first month I was having these feelings almost constantly as I was having so many panic attacks every day, it was horrible. My worst panic attack I felt like my whole body was numb, now I know it was just that I was so scared that I couldn't move, lol. I'm getting much better now, I haven't had one in a few weeks, yippeeee. You'll get through this :)

[staypositive]

Not too bad recently if I'm honest, considering I had to deal with a cheating girlfriend last April, and an assualt in March.

Positive thinking IS the only way :D

[clairebear10]

After reading some of the posts on this site it has put my mind at ease. With me i think its more fear then i give myself a major fright and it esculates from there. I just cant get over that one sunday past tho.

Im gradually accepting i get them and i think thats a good step forward in overcoming them :) aswell as needing to tackle a few underlying issues i have just put behind me which i shouldnt have :S

Hope every is ok and are full of strenght :)

[staypositive]

Awe Claire I know what you mean, accepting the panic and anxiety I feel is one way of getting better. I guess we need to learn to trust our feelings instead of fighting them, if that makes sense??

Best wishes to you :)

Dan

[clairabella]

The best advice i was given was a breathing technique...it doesnt stop or cure panic attacks but it definatley helps......when you feel an attack coming on you take a breath in and hold for ten seconds or for as long as you can(the holding of the breath is the important bit)and then breath out repeat for a few minutes.....This is apparently called the dive reflex....when it is activated it forces the brain to believe that you are 'under water'; doing so causes the brain to slow the heart rate which then helps to slow and stop the anxiety response.This in turn preserves blood oxygen levels and in turn stops the panic attack from escalating.......xx

[amosxchick]

Hi Claire.

I completely get what you mean in the first 3/4 months of me starting having the attacks I got really racing heart rate and felt like pins and needles up my arms. I actually called an ambulance 3 times as everytime i was convinced i was having a panic attack and I get what you mean about going outside so if it happened someone would be able to see you.

Even now I could be stood in a supermarket and start getting the feeling again and I always think oh my god I'm going to die in here.

It's horrible i have started putting a hairband on my wrist and when i feel it coming on i ping it (gently of course) and it then makes me take my mind off my heart racing or pins and needles.

xx

[AnniePlacebo]

My first attack landed me at the hospital, heh
It sucked too because I was in the states and the emerg at the closest hospital was CLOSED!
I was in the car with my head hanging out the window like a dog because I couldn't breathe.
Upon getting there it took about an hour to calm me down
They gave me what I'm assuming now was lorazepam
I'm starting to get better at shortening the attacks.
Talking and crying if you need to really really helps
writing down how you're feeling at that moment is an excellent distraction.
It doesn't stop it immediately, but what does?
reading slows down and distracts your brain.
Also, stupid internet word games help a lot.
Another game I found good for distraction is called "Bloons"
you're a little monkey shooting darts at balloons and trying to pop a certain number of them.
DISTRACT YOURSELF
It's the best way for you to remember that this is easily calmed down if only you give it the chance.

<3

[jothenurse]

I've read Dr. Weekes books about acceptance and how that helps so much with the anxiety. How have you accepted? Can you give me some hints?
Tips?

[daybyday]

Hi jothenurse,
Seems we have the same heart racing issue. I read the Wiki info on sinus tachycardia and now I'm terrified my node is defective as it mentioned that at the end of the article. It seems to be the heart pacemaker.
Do you think RLR could help us on this one? I can't get online to the other forum site. Don't know if it is my computer or site problems.

[jothenurse]

It's the site. I can't get on it either.
He has helped me a lot by some of the questions he has answered for me. I just need to always remind myself that my heart is fine. I have had several EKG's when my heart has been very rapid - up to 160. They say the EKG looks good, just that I was having a panic and it was fast. They have usually given me some ativan to relax. I now take ativan .5 mg in the morning and .5 mg at noon. This has helped, but I would like to start tapering off of it. I am still very nervous and I still have the fast heart rate at times. They said I was on such a low dose of ativan that it didn't need tapering, but when I do, I think I will cut it back to .25 mg twice a day to start. But, with my anxiety and being back at work now, I probably still need to take it for awhile.

[pd]

My first, I thought I was dying.
My worst, was (stupidly, considering my anxiety) following the consumption of an illegal substance. Funnily enough I don't do that anymore.
They're getting better, or I'm getting better at reigning them in. Cutting caffiene and alcohol to an absolute minimum and masking sure I eat properly, not letting my blood sugar get too low or too high, and trying to get enough sleep has helped. So has making a list of the things that trigger me and doing the upmost to avoid them. Not all of them are avoidable, but hey, that's life.

[Typer]

Hi jothenurse,
Seems we have the same heart racing issue. I read the Wiki info on sinus tachycardia and now I'm terrified my node is defective as it mentioned that at the end of the article. It seems to be the heart pacemaker.
Do you think RLR could help us on this one? I can't get online to the other forum site. Don't know if it is my computer or site problems.


I am not 100% sure, but I am sure my cardiologist said ST would look different on an ECG...something about the electrical impulses. I would like to know the answer too. I assume you don't have to be experiencing the fast heart rate at the time of the ECG.


I have bouts of fast heart rate, especially before an ectopic - its not nice

[jothenurse]

I'm not sure if you are talking about an SVT (supraventricular tachycardia) or not. There was one doctor that thought I had one - they are not dangerous, but your heart really speeds up. But, they never did see this on the EKG - and I have had a few of them. They do need to be caught on an EKG to actually show if you have an SVT.

[clairebear10]

Im still in the process of accepting them. When i feel an attack coming on i say to myself, I have been here before and im still here and will still be here to live thorugh it. It wont harm me in any way (as scary as some of the attacks are) You just have to try your best to set your mind to think this way. I have found my attacks arent as bad when i dont scare myself during them. Some of my attacks i give myself a minor fright depending on the intensity of the attack like tonight, i thought i was having a heart attack for a few mins and scared myself and constantly checked my pulse, which is a bad habbit for me because it just makes me worse but then i do my breathing and tell myself its going to be alright, feel crap for a good half hour then im ok again.

Oh and trying to distract them by reading and playing games is a no no for me, i get paranoid that my heart rate will dip when im concentrating on something other than the speed of my heart during an attack and it makes me worse, they both make me worse :S It's a habbit i need to break and i dont feel i can do that one myself soooo hurry up cbt!!!

[joannap]

i used to suffer anxiety re my heart but what i can tell you is that as long as you remain tuned into it and worry it about all the time - the symptoms will continue because of the fear/adrenalin - you are literally keeping yourselves stuck in the cycle!

in fight and flight - you want your heart to beat fast so that it can supply blood to your muscles - the trouble is you are stuck in flight and fight all the time and keeping yourselves there by worrying about it!

i got to the stage where i did not care how fast my heart raced - i used to get the hoover out and think - if i pass out and die - i pass out and die. it really is ridiculous the way we worry when we could all be run over by a bus tomorrow!!! I got so used to my heart racing that when it started again (it went faster than it had ever done) that i did not worry about it because i was so used to accepting it - i then started to feel really physically ill and was diagnosed with an over active thyroid - boy - that does make your heart race!

the danger is however - that once you have overcome the heart fear - you will probably then focus your fear on another part of your body so it really is the feelings of fear itself you need to deal with x

[Thinkingimmad85]

This is exactly what happened to me a few weeks back.....I had been cleaning the house and felt fine, partner was at work and then all of a sudden i didn't feel well, couldn't put my finger on it but felt weird. Went to the kitchen and got a drink then all of a sudden heart started racing, felt dizzy, trembling all over, could barely breath and I too thought the same that if I was going to die there and then I better be somewhere someone can find me. Text hubby and asked him to come home just said I didn't feel well. It took hours for the feeling to pass totally and to recover, then I went through the whole thing of thinking that maybe there was something wrong with my physically, I now am pretty certain that it was a panic attack as I have had the blood tests and ECG and nothing showed up.

Keep getting smaller panic attacks on a regular basis which can leave me drained for days afterwards, I just pray for the day I learn to deal with them.




So im new to panic disorder by 3 months. It's horrible. I hate the constant feeling like im going to die and on one occasion recently i was close to phoning the ambulance :S

The worst attack i have ever had was on sunday passed. I was sitting chatting to my friend online then i felt as if my heart had stopped, i tried to feel for a pulse and couldnt feel anything which in turn gave me the biggest fright of my life. My jaw went numb then the tremors kicked in. I have only had tremors once before but this was so intense. I shot up and all i could think of was if im going to keel over and die i may aswell do it outside so someone can find me quick so off i went out into the garden. Shaking, whole body numb and my vision went a bit blury i really really really thought that this was it, i was going to die :S My son got really scared to, bless him he is only 2 years old, i hate that he has to see his mum go through this.

I ended up having to go around to a family members to keep my mind at ease knowing i was with relatives and if anything did happen i would be alright.

Im on half inderella again after stopping them 2 weeks ago after reading the leflet and freaking out about it. and waiting on CBT. They stop the full on effects but i get the lingering feeling constantly, like its waiting to happen at any moment.

I am trying desperatly to get over these myself in the mean time but wow they are so intense!.

How are you lot coping? What do you do to relax yourself during an attack?

They are bloody scary at times arent they!