constant panic attacks

[diddler]

Hi everyone I'm just posting to say for the last 9 weeks I've been really struggling. I've developed afear of caffeine. Which I know sounds daft but it started out with a fear of my pain killers which I have to take or I get awful tension headaches. Anyway I Googled the half life of caffeine and it said it basically takes 6 hours for half of it to leave you. This automatically made me panic thinking That's a long time and it made me feel trapped this has then led to a fear of eating chocolate because it has caffeine and theobromine in it which has also a long half life. This is ruining my life at the moment. I'm still taking the tabs because if I stop it will only latch on to something else,but I'm having constant panic attacks of feeling like I want to claw at myself to get it out of my system and then I get more scared thinking nobody can help me and I'm stuck feeling this way and I will constantly panic until it's out of me. I thought by now this fear would have calmed but it's just taking over me. I want to go back to eating chocolate but I've tried and got that scared I made myself throw it back up

[trish1955]

Bless fear is so crippling I began forty yrs ago at age 12 fear of death I have collected so many fears along the way I just about fear everything just started today taking citalopram and scared of the side effects but we are lucky today there is more support like this site docs more aware of it bk in 60s no one new wat was wrong with me. Every panic attack they was looking for some physical wrong with me but not in my head I was so alone with it for yrs we sometimes read to much about things like caffeine choc ect if we took heart at all the stuff we should not eat or do we be sat in a chair frighten to eat of move lol some times a little ignorance is bliss you will be OK you were wen you drank it before and it will subside again take care

[diddler]

Hiya Thanku for replying. And that sounds awful that nobody knew what this was when you first started as it's scary as it is. I know they say knowledge is power but not always. I do try thinking that but when I get that fear and my heart races it's so hard to think rational, my only thought it is I wanna go back and get it out of me which you know you can't do so you feel helpless. Thanks for replying though you take care too x

[trish1955]

Yr welcome and yep once the fear grabs you it so hard I no that feeling only to well everything but the fear goes out the window you feeling any better now hope so x

[cymraig_chris]

Panic is fear of fear. Let it whoosh out of you. Your body has a panic 'attack' as a strategy to remove excess stress. They are a good thing. Accept you body healing itself. That is what panic is. It's the same chemical as excitement. It is possible to just enjoy the rush. People pay good money for this feeling on roller coasters or scary movies. It's 100% safe and beneficial.

[diddler]

Hiya Trish I suffer bad everyday really sorry for late reply I wish there was a notification thing for when someone replies .thanks for being so caring x

Hiya cymraig
That would be a good way to think of it, is it really a way of excitement because I can't move during one

[cymraig_chris]

It is exactly the same chemical process

[diddler]

It's strange because all I think about is caffeine it's like I have a proper phobia of it. This time few months ago I wouldn't have thought twice and now it's just on my mind constantly that it's in my blood. Which is silly because lots of things absorb into blood which I know but it's like my mind wants to use it

[cymraig_chris]

I remember avoiding caffiene for a while ... I became scared of it, I would only drink water or decaf. One day I decided to just drink 15 cups of strong proper coffee and see what happened.

Nothing happened. Ok I got a headache. And it forced my adrenaline up even further. My head was spinning more, I got more lightheaded. Etc etc etc.

I was fine.

This is probably not good advice.

But it didn't do me any harm.

[diddler]

Sorry for late reply. Did it help though when you did it?