I’m almost 34, had panic disorder since 2012. I’m just wondering, if anyone has had panic disorder into their 40s and older, what is it like? Is it pretty much the same? Does it get better with time? Do you still lead a limited lifestyle?
Printable View
I’m almost 34, had panic disorder since 2012. I’m just wondering, if anyone has had panic disorder into their 40s and older, what is it like? Is it pretty much the same? Does it get better with time? Do you still lead a limited lifestyle?
ive had it since 1997, now mid 40's it does ease but due to certain stressful events & covid, mine has came back worse due to age (ie closer to stroke/heart attack age) but try not to worry, a week or so after i realised it was coming back i have organised dr app and a consellor zxxxx
I'm soon 56 and with my 'real' health conditions, panic attacks do have you calling ambulances, especially if they feel a bit 'different' as heart attacks can be different for diabetics. Although infrequent, I'd say they have changed in perception.Quote:
Originally Posted by bluewalls
"Limited lifestyle"? Definitely.
I'm afraid the only time I'll be free of this is when I'm six feet under; I've been like it for over forty years, why will it suddenly change now? There's no magic wands.
I'm 67 and had it since about 19.
You learn to live with it.
I’m 41 and had my first attack at 18. I feel like I have a better handle on it now than I did 5-10 years ago. But it does come in waves so for me it’s never truly gone away. I think you learn the things that help you manage it and then if you get walloped with a big panic attack you deal with it then. I don’t let myself focus on the “waiting” for another big panic to hit me. I’ll deal with it when it comes.
This disorder turned my life upside down when it struck at age 25 out of nowhere. It took me years to realize it’s never going away. Sometimes, I just think about what my life would be and what I would be doing if this thing wasn’t holding me back.
I'm 50. I've had a panic disorder for as long as I can remember at some level, except that I didn't understand that I was having panic attacks as a child. I wasn't able to verbalise what was happening to me, so nobody could tell me what was wrong with me. I wasn't able to understand any of what was happening to me until somebody close to me had a nervous breakdown, and then I recognised myself in what what was happening to them because they were very verbal about symptoms etc.
I know I had health anxiety as a child too. Thing is, I'm naturally an anxious person - an overthinker - a catastrophiser. I fully convinced myself I had run somebody over once as they crossed the road behind my car. There was nothing to suggest I'd done it - no bump or bang - but I got out to look for a body and still couldn't convince myself otherwise. Welcome to my mind, cockers! I now know that it's a form of OCD and it also manifests itself in an urge to check electrics a trillion times before I can leave the house. I know now that I will never overcome anxiety, but I can make it more manageable with therapy and relaxation exercises.
About five years ago my panic attacks became 99% nocturnal - which is fun. I remember that first one which happened at about 3am. I woke up with a strange feeling that something terrible was going to happen, and then my heart started to race. My head went cold. I was sweating. I felt sick. I was utterly convinced I was having a heart attack, so much so, that I tried to rouse my snoring husband, but he was totally oblivious. I crawled into my son's room so that I could see him one last time before I carked it. That was about four years ago now and I've racked up hundreds of the buggers since then, and now I am bored of them so they are mostly like a damp squib, rather than a full on firework.
The best thing I ever did was to learn about the stress response. I keep banging on about this in my replies but it really has been a game changer for me because it means that I am in control of the panic attacks, rather than them controlling me. Fear comes from the unknown, so if we know what is happening, and why, the fear element no longer exists. It's like when Toto reveals the Wizard of Oz to be a small bloke using trickery to 'big himself up'. Fear can make panic attacks very, very scary, but if we remove the fear by educating ourselves about the SNS/PNS (sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems) and suddenly those panic attacks lose their power over us.
I believe that many people will be able to completely overcome panic disorder with knowledge and effort (and meds combined with the other two) but that a percentage of us won't, so we have to settle for management. As I said, I don't know what an anxiety-free life feels like. Even the nice things in life make me ill - like when I went to see Duran Duran in 94 and I threw up in the toilets minutes before they came on. Hold Back The Rain? Hold Back The Sick more like. I came excruciatingly close not to going - like on the NEC carpark refusing to go in - but determination to see the band which got me through some shit-times at school won through - that and my ex husband saying, 'You've had me driving all the way to Birmingham and now you won't go in? I've missed net practice for this!
When it comes to women, many experience their first panic attack preceding and after the menopause - which is a kick in the proverbial flaps - because haven't we been through enough with periods, childbirth and three-yearly cervical scrapes? We think we're going to have a rest, but the reality is that Mother Nature is a total cow. If you're lucky, she will let you start the meno in your 50s - the average. I started mine at 39. I had a baby and WOLLOP - ovarian failure. Get this up ya! Hot flushes, fadge issues, pelvis issues, insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks, intolerance to alcohol (I mean, that's just cruel innit?):scared10:
When recovery isn't an option, we just have to live with it, but I advocate making anxiety our beotch, not the other way around.:shades:
Thank you, NoraB.
36 here, had anxiety since diagnosed at 17 after a horrible panic attack. Had it ever since.
Anxiety feels more like part of the furniture now. With my medications it doesn't control my life. It's there, but just not as bad. I still have panic attacks but I've had thousands over the years so nowadays I just tell myself "Urgh, you're having a bad day. Relax, it will pass.".
I was told that the chances are I will always have anxiety and depression. But was also told that to live a normal life I have to learn to deal with them so they do not control my life. There's many here who will say similar. It's nice to think one day I'll be cured, and for some people that is possible. For vetrans like myself, Blue, Joe, Terry, Mouse etc they'll likely agree that you learn to deal with anxiety better as you get older.
No magic cure here sorry. But, you're not alone :bighug1: Exercise is the one thing the professionals tell you to do that actually works. I can have weeks without anxiety is much less when my exercise and diet is on point. I think it just makes us feel more positive in general and the more positive we think the less negative space for anxiety.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WiredIncorrectly
Mostly yes, but also a little no.
I don't think it's inevitable that once it starts, it never ends.
I'm 99.99% sure that the source of anxiety is stress and only stress, and that modern society is extremely stressful and anxiety provoking, it's just become the norm to us.
Diet, work, financial commitment, school pressure, social pressure, lack of community, not enough sleep.....the list is endless.
You remove the stressors and you remove the anxiety. The question is HOW to remove those stressors, what's the alternative?
Personally I remember my anxiety starting in my 30s and I can literally see the stress timeline and how it happened. It took me 15 years to learn how to cope with it, but I'm now 100% anxiety free, unless I get stressed. Without stress, I have NO anxiety.
Is 40 old?!?! Just kidding.Quote:
Originally Posted by bluewalls
It’s much like it was in my 20’s but I’m often more rational now.
Actually I’m probably not more rational, it’s more likely that my anxiety has just grown with me.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have had mine my entire life. I’m in my mid 40s. Honestly I’m just so tired of always worrying that I find myself getting mad at my own irrationality. I’m on meds and in therapy and I’ve just accepted I’m gonna be like this until whenever God decides. Or whenever I can figure all this crap out. I also have PTSD and childhood abuse that I’m trying to get through and I often ask myself if I didn’t have such trauma as a child, would I be like this now. Either way it’s not an excuse. It is what it is. I try to just take it one day at a time.
When I was 20 I seen it as old. Now I'm approaching it I feel young.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scass
Identical story here too almost. My Dad took me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sal Here
I'm 63 and had mine for as long as I can remember. Mine is always triggered by a health issues (HA) but I do get fairly long breaks in between attacks. My experience is that it's remained the same over the years :shrug:
Hello, I am 72 had my first panic attack about 10yrs ago , just started having them after a break of about two years. Some days I can handle them better than others. I still find the night ones hard to deal with, I try to do my deep breathing to calm myself down sometimes easier than other times, & walking helps me especially if I can walk with someone. Forums like this are a godsend I am new member but have already gained some interesting information & help.