Length of attacks

[catknickers]

Hi
I've had panic attacks years ago and they went and I was fine for a long time. Then last year they came back when I had a lot of stress at work. I've got quite a bit going on in my private life at the moment so I expected them but at the moment my attacks sometimes last literally all day.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this??? I keep reading that attacks usually last about ten minutes, is it me panicking about the attack that makes it so much more worse??? And last that long???
Any help / comments would be so so much appreciated!!!

[nomorepanic]

I would say that you are suffering anxiety attacks and not panic attacks that last that long to be honest.

[mtatum4496]

Catknickers, what you describe is not unusual at all. Anxiety feeds panic attacks, creating a situation in which you feel as if you are out of sync with everything for every waking moment.

What you are likely experiencing is a continual wave of short bouts of anxiety that sometimes progress to panic attacks before the next wave of anxiety hits.

Think of it like this. Your overworked nerves are already on edge, making you jumpy. The anticipation of an attack only heightens the jumpiness, causing you to develop all sorts of physical symptoms. Once it actually hits, on some level your mind is thinking "I was right, I'm having an attack, what will happen to me next?". What happens is that even as that first wave is subsiding, another wave that is created by what some therapists call the "second fear" is building. To you, it feels like one long anxiety and panic attack that never seems to let up.

The human nervous system is a wonderful thing that has all sorts of built-in protections that include slowing the rush of adrenalin and other neurotransmitters when a perceived danger has passed. Unfortunately, there is nothing for those of us who suffer from a nervous illness to keep us from triggering that fight-or-flight response even as the first attack in the sequence is subsiding.

For many of us, the trick is to find the way to take away the power of that second fear, turn it into a "no big deal" type of event so that our nerves calm down and the anxiety fades a bit. That is easier said than done, but there are a number of therapies that use this basic idea in one form or another. Perhaps they could help you.

[FreeSpirit]

Hi, when I first started with panic attacks my main symptom was a feeling of suffocation..I had that feeling for 3 weeks solid!! I spent the entire time curled up in a chair..honestly.. I only left it to go loo and bed.. then I had to curl up in bed..somehow being curled up tight made me feel like I could breathe better..so I can totally relate to how your feeling..like yourself I used to keep thinking panic attacks are only supposed to last 10-20 mins max...why isn't it ending!! I can't say if your anxiety is prolonging them...I'm sure everyone experiencing a panic attack is going to be anxious..how could you not be?..maybe it's what can happen sometimes? now 4 years on my panic attacks do only last a short while.. anyway I hope you soon feel better : )