Does anyone else have a panic attack for no reason?

[lucyloulucylou]

I suffer with panic attacks when im not im my comfort zone (my house!) but sometimes even when im doing something and i am at ease such as watching telly i'll suddenly have an attack, then convince myself im dying because i have nothing to be panicked about. Am i the only one??

[nomorepanic]

Perfectly normal - I used to get panic attacks for no reason at all as well.

[paula lynne]

Me too Lucy, washing dishes, sleeping, watching tv......anytime really. I stopped fearing them, and somehow, they gradually reduced. I only get a few mild ones a month now, and I was getting major ones lasting hours every other day before. You can improve with time x

[lucyloulucylou]

thank you guys i will try telling myself that next time it happens. I only joined this website today but it feels soooo good to know im not alone and to be talking to people who actually understand :)

[paula lynne]

Read Dr Claire Weekes, Self-help for your nerves. She talkes about getting to the stage when YOU DONT CARE IF YOU HAVE A PANIC ATTACK.....sounds impossible? Its hard, but possible. When I get bad palpatations etc, I say out loud "oh...I havent got time for you now..." and ignore it...it carries on for a bit but always calms down. The less we worry, the less power it all has over us. Nice to meet you x

[simon68]

Hi Lucy, welcome to NMP. I started having panic attacks at home a couple of years ago. One was so bad I was taken to hospital by ambulance thinking I was having a heart attack. The staff at hospital were great with me and told me it was a panic attack. I couldn't understand why I had one at home, In MY comfort zone. Since that night I still get them but not as bad, so please try to relax and reassure yourself that it is only panic and it will pass. Take care!

[eternally optimistic]

I never worked out if the sub concious mind is working away and we are unaware of our thoughts.

I would love to know if that is the case.

[Dsaundo2010]

Hey,

Please do not worry about this, this happens to myself and I'm sure allot of other suffers around the world! its horrible but your not alone, thats why its great that this site is here so you know your not going to die or your not going mad.

[mtatum4496]

Yes, it happens to me too, seems to come out of the blue. In fact, it happened this morning. Rather than go into details here, I'll start a different thread.

[mtatum4496]

Read Dr Claire Weekes, Self-help for your nerves. She talkes about getting to the stage when YOU DONT CARE IF YOU HAVE A PANIC ATTACK.....sounds impossible? Its hard, but possible. When I get bad palpatations etc, I say out loud "oh...I havent got time for you now..." and ignore it...it carries on for a bit but always calms down. The less we worry, the less power it all has over us. Nice to meet you x

I second this. Dr. Weekes' concept of learning how to float through a panic attack by giving it short shrift instead of trying to fight it has been of some help to me.

[Captain Caveman]

I never worked out if the sub concious mind is working away and we are unaware of our thoughts.

I would love to know if that is the case.

For shizzle I reckon. The other day I was reading something in a book that quoted M.Scott Peck. Peck wrote:

"....we are served notice by our unconscious of our increasing maladjustment. Such notice is served by our unconscious through a variety of means: bad dreams, anxiety attacks, depressions and other symtoms. Although our counscious mind has denied reality, our uncounscious, which is omniscient, knows the true score and attempts to help us by stimulating, through sympton formation, our conscience mind to the awareness that something is wrong. In other words, the painful and unwanted symptms of mental illness are manifestations of grace."

So these unpleasant symptoms are here to help people see that they need to change about how they go about life.

[lucyloulucylou]

that really could be it isnt it? would make sense! i have also ordered the claire weekes book to see if that helps. :) x

[martinsanders]

I get panic attacks for no reason too, normally when I go to bed. I am slowly beginning to control them through certain techniques I was taught at therapy. Just ignore them and laugh at the fact you think you are going to die xx

[Blue Order 1972]

Hi Lucy

Ive just joined today and have panic attacks at home for no reason other than the power of my mind which sets off the atack and caused me to choke yesterday to the point where I thought that was it !

I've tried all herbal and conventional methods such as breathing,distraction, Linden Method and cammimile Tea ! all to no avail and its simply the mind that needs to be altered to stop panic attacks in my opinion.

It seems that those who are deep thinkers are most likely to suffer such attacks.

I've reluctantly been to get the 20mg of Citalopram that the Doc has given me and have not taken any yet due to fear of the side effects

I am 99% going to take them but have posted a thread asking others for advice and will see what replies I get to influence my decision.

Hang in there and you will be fine, as I always say it won't always be like this !!!??!! x

[toni030_10]

Hi, Im Toni & have just been introduced to this website
This is a brief encounter of my life,
I hope to god that this helps me because i am struggling to deal with panic attacks.
About 2 years i was diagnosed with Graves disease - one of the side effects is anxiety & panic attacks. My first attack started 18 months ago, i was having a cigarette on holiday & felt a bit "odd" - dizzy, detached from everyone, sick - i thought it must be the cigarette, i had smoked for some 15 years? Then every time i had a cigarette i felt funny - therefore i quit.
Somehow - totally unaware i managed to convince myself that all of a sudden i must be allergic to smoking!!
A few months later my sister in law came to visit, i spent all morning, cleaning & tidying to make sure my house was immaculate - not really sure why buit i felt it had to be perfect because she would be looking around it for everything (I have no idea why i would think this, she never had before)
While she was here i felt my face get warm, then my heart started racing, i started to feel a bit detactched from everything, my palms sweating and could feel myself twitching & fidgeting. I could not wait for her to leave but had no idea why i was feeling so weird?
Once she had left i thought i would lay down & would be ok - Oh no!!!

It was almost that when i laid down, the intensity of my hear racing became more obvious & all the other classic symptoms of panic were coming, i went pale, freezing cold & strated shivvering uncontrollably from head to foot. I rang my mum & she came over, she said i was ok & just got myself worked up but why? I had never got myself worked up before? After 7 hours of feeling the worst i had ever felt ( the thought of madness had crossed my mind) my mum called an ambulance as i was not getting any bette, the paramedics came, ibstantly i felt better & they were calm. I had a heart monitor put on and nothing seemed wrong - they said i was having a panic attack???
I thought- why? How on earth have i got the ability without even knowing it to bring on something so frightening & powerful;??
Even now & then after i would have like little attacks, ones that i would talk myself out of but then i started asscociating panic attcks with certain situations - i.e, i wont drink any alcohol now because i have managed to convince myself that one drink will make me have a funny turn - even though i know it sounds crazy & im sure nothing will happen - i still manage to convince myself it will - i still wont smoke (although that its probably the only thing positive that has come out of this) I can even take a headache pill because in my mind as its goes into my tummy it might start to breakdown my stomache lining & i will have some reaction ! When im in a normal frame of mind i know this is ridiculous yet i still can seem to get the strange thoughts out of my head.
I wont have my hair coloured as the last time i did, the colour started to tingle on my head - thats it, before you know it i was having a full blown panic attack!
They have started taking over my life - i spend most of my day trying so hard not to think about having panic attacks that they are consumming me. I knowthey are not dangerous & i will be ok but it sure doesnt not stop me being petrified whilst in the middle of one. Sometimes i think to myself, i have felt ok for 2 hours - then bang!! Im thinking about them agin - im going round in cirlces!
I have tried to talk to my doctor who referred me for c.b.t - i just felt that being talked to about panic by someone who does not have them was a waste of time - deep down i know i get myself in a state - i just wish i didnt have the ability to be able to think about them let alone have one! :0(

Thanks for taking the time to read.

[Captain Caveman]

Hi Toni. This article is what helped me with panic attacks:http://www.panicend.com/

Regards feeling detached, have a read of this info to see if it is what you are reffering to: http://www.panicattacks.com.au/anxdis/dissoc.html

[shaggyowen]

i did do but not anymore touch wood

[OliveOil]

Yes, me too. I'm sure there's something that triggers it. It's probably subtle and I'm not aware of it. Smells, sounds... you just never know. And, of coarse, the subconscious.

[Martin Burridge]

All panic attacks are caused by something whether its social anxiety, a phobia etc.
In the case of panic disorder (frequent panic attacks without any apparent trigger) the cause is always the fear of the panic attack.

The one exception to this is the very first panic attack. The first panic attack can be caused by almost anything. Work stress, relationship stress, a phobia or anything. But it is the fear of the second panic attack thats sets off panic disorder.

Keep an eye out on ezine articles as I will be writing an article on panic disorder in the near future

[donnaanderson]

whist relaxing last weekend had massive panic attack for no reason so scared went to doctors for ecg and inhaler so scared

[Freesolo]

Not really, there is always a reason to my panic attacks if i look deep into them, always a fear which will trigger it off.
I can see what people are saying about having them for no reason but i think if you looked really deeply into these attacks there would be a answere to why its happening

[uk23]

Don't forget there are plenty of other physical causes for panic attacks such as too much caffeine, not enough food, too little sugar and the big one; Hyperventilation Syndrome.

HS is perfectly harmless but very easily causes attacks. The cure is to spend 5 minutes a day doing breathing exercises. No more than 5 breaths per minute should be taken, so up to 25 in the 5 minutes.