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[cindyc]

Hello everyone. I'm Cindy.....a 44 year old female from the USA. I began having panic attacks in July of 2003. The first one was very intense, lasting for hours. The others that followed led me to the emergency room, as I was sure that I was having a heart attack. After numerous EKG's, many vials of blood for testing, an extensive stress test, heart problems were ruled out, and panic attacks were diagnosed. I was started on Paxil CR, ultimately finding that taking it every other day offered the best fix for me. Recently though, the panic attacks have increased, and I've increased the dosage again to every day. In reading many of the postings here, I see that many people have panic attacks when they are exposed to certain situations. Is there anyone here that has them completely out of the blue? My attacks seem to have no correlation to anything in particular...... arriving when I least expect them. Sometimes they are very small in intesnsity and very brief. Other times, they last for hours......coming in waves. I've tried visual imagry, breathing techniques, calling a friend and talking about nonsense, walking, a warm shower..........all of these things seem to break the cycle temporarily, but when I'm in the midst of a 'bad one', nothing seems to help. I'm wide open to suggestions of any kind. Thanks to all for sharing their thoughts, their fears, and suggestions. This is an invaluable site.

Best of luck to all.....
Cindy

[Meg]

Dear Cindy,

Most people would report their first ones came out of the blue and then certain things lead to fear and subsequently triggers emerge.

If they were alcohol, caffiene or drug related then they are likely to be chemical in origin, if it's a consequence of PTSD then subconcious will dictate them, if its due to extreme stress over a period of time you may have adrenal exhaustion, if hypoglycaemic related - anytime but easily sorted and most others may appear to be out of the blue but are actually related to whatever you're thinking and dwelling on at the time which is why distrction helps so much - it diverts yuour thoughts.
If it was truly systemic nothing would break the cycle.

Remember that once the adrenaline and affliated chemicals have pumped then there is nothing you can do - apart from exercising hard or complete relaxation( harder) to help use it up or wait till it works its way out of your system and stop any more building up .

Use the search facility by sticking in key words up at the top of the page to read previous threads or failing that do post again.





Meg

Watch your thoughts, they become your words...
Watch your words, they become your actions... Watch your actions, they become your habits... Watch your habits, they become your character... Watch your character, it becomes your destiny...

[mico]

Hi Cindy

I think Meg explained pretty well, I know my first panic attacks just seemed to come out of nowhere.

It is after time that you develop triggers for your panic attacks then you begin to avoid certain places/situations which is why many people have panic attacks when exposed to certain situations as you said.

The more you avoid these situations the more fearful you can become, so it is a good idea to try not to avoid anything when your panic starts.

It's good that you've been trying technoques to relax and such they would be good to keep up. Apart from that have a look round the site and the message boards and see what else you can find out, there's plenty of useful information here and plenty of friendly people.

good luck

mico

[cindyc]

Thanks Meg and Mico for your words of help. I have tried and tried to find the trigger to these awful episodes, but nothing seems to fall into place. Many times, the attacks occur after a period of extreme calm......I have always taken pride in the fact that I don't internalize my frustrations, I deal with things head on, don't sweat the small stuff, and enjoy the simple things in life. My last attack lasted for 7 hours.......right after I had taken a leisurely candlelit bath, drinking hot tea, reading a book......totally pampering myself......got out of the tub and dove head first into the attack. No rhyme or reason. More than anything, they anger me!! But, I'm sure I'm not alone in that way of thinking. Fortunately, I'm strong and determined, and refuse to allow the attacks to control my life.......at least so far! lol

[mico]

Hi Cindy

Often peoples panic attacks begin after a long period of stress, could be a lot of stress at work, a death in the family, divorce or something equally as stressful.

One of the things that I think was linked with mine, apart from above average stress at time, was the fact that I was reaching adulthood and all the responsibilities that come with it. I think that is probably true of a lot of people are subjected to anxiety when they reach their late teens or early twenties.

You say they often start after intense period of calm. Do you meditate or use any other relaxation technique a lot? And by that I do mean a lot? I ask this because there is evidence to show that too much relaxation can have a negative effect. I don't want to put u off relaxation, I believe it's a very good tool in our situation but too much can have the opposite to the desired effect you want.

You do sound very determined though, my advice is to learn as much as you can about your anxiety so that you know how to tackle it and I'm sure yopu'll get where you want to be.

mico

[Meg]

Hi Cindy,

I'm going to push you here ..What lasted for 7 hours- can you describe it ?

Also thinking back does it have any link at all with when you last ate or unusual feelings of hunger

With the calm thing- when we're calm the mind has the time and space to drift and can settle on a few issues trying to wrestle with them.

With all your bloodwork- do you know what they checked for apart from heart and thyroid usually ? Has your weight changed over the last few months ?



Meg

Watch your thoughts, they become your words...
Watch your words, they become your actions... Watch your actions, they become your habits... Watch your habits, they become your character... Watch your character, it becomes your destiny...

[cindyc]

Meg,
I appreciate your desire to dig a bit deeper. I've done lots of digging myself to try to find some sort of common thread to these attacks, but have come up empty handed.

Let me give you a little bit of background .....I am a single mother (have been for the last 13 years), work full time, have a home and property to maintain, and assist my elderly parents. I know that it sounds as if I have a lot to deal with, and in fact I do, but I've always been someone who just deals with whatever has been dealt to me. I am truly happy, spend very little time worrying, enjoy the simple things in life, have good friends, and live by the 'don't sweat the small stuff' theory. My first attack came last summer, after my daughter had been away for the week. It was one of the best weeks of my life.......I know that sounds bad, but anyone who is a single parent will tell you that time alone is a rare thing. During her week away, I spent the time doing things that I truly loved.....gardening, time with friends, cooked my favorite meals, listened to the music I love.....Then, on my way to pick her up (and I did truly miss her), my first attack began. It lasted off and on for about 2 hours......and basically did not stop into the next day. That's when all of the tests began. The bloodwork they did tested heart enzymes, thyroid, blood sugar, checked for blood clots, and just general testing overall. Everything came back fine.

The thing I can think of for the first attack was that I had not eaten much and had drank several cups of coffee......but at that time, that wasn't unusual for me. I'm now almost caffiene free. I don't do drugs of any sort (except for the Paxil now), so that's out of the picture.

The panic attacks since then seem to be more related to my menstrual cycle than anything. But, never have the attacks been situational.....no one scenario making me fearful. I'm not in denial about worrying about things, but honestly, its just not my nature. I see worrying as a huge waste of energy, and choose instead to try to find solutions.

I've also tried to find links between foods and these attacks. I try to eat a relatively balanced diet.....and feel the best when I eat several very small meals a day. There were no unusual cravings.

My attacks seem to contain most of the symptoms on "the list".....racing heart, chest tightness, numbness and tingling in my fingertips, burning in my chest, lightheadedness, feeling as if I'm choking (lump in my throat), hot/cold, anxiousness, dry mouth, and the desire to "escape" (although I haven't yet figured out where to go....lol). There are times when I get just a few of these symptoms, and they go away quickly. But, some episodes last for hours, and no matter what I do or try, it just seems to need to run its course. Afterwards, I'm completely drained.....physically and emotionally. Although I tried to decrease my medication, it looks as if I'll be taking the full dose and just learn to deal with the side effects.

I'm wide open for suggestions. I take time for myself every day, recently began doing yoga, laugh alot, and basically treat myself well. This has me so confused, but I refuse to let it control me.....at least not full time.

I'm wide open to suggestions......and appreciate your help more than you know!

Cindy

[sadie]

Hi Cindy,

Well although you are experiencing these horrible anxiety symptoms, you do seem to be taking lots of positive steps to conquer them...so well done.

I have very similar symptoms to you..racing heart, pains, tingling in my hands and feet, fear etc... My attacks started after I had a car accident, but to be honest I also had alot of stress in my life prior to the accident which had a large part to play in my anxiety.

I thought at the time that mine too had just appeared out of the blue, but looking back now this is not the case. Sometimes anxiety can raise its ugly head due to hurtful experiences etc that happen years ago which are still festering in our unconscious minds...maybe thats where yours are coming from??

Also, I always find my anxiety is worst at night when I am home relaxing after work and my mind is less busy... it needs something to stimulate it and thats were the anxiety and panic attacks come in.

I have found that it is my 'thoughts' that dictate when and where I will have an attack...what are your thoughts when you experience a symptom? I suspect you are frightened of the symptoms, probably thinking you have some serious illness and therefore these thoughts just cause the anxiety to get worse.

I am no doctor but I suspect that you suffer from low blood sugar and that could be the main source to causing your anxiety, as you speak about feeling better when you eat little meals often. I too feel better when I do this..and I think I suffer this too.

To conquer anxiety, you must totally lose your fear of the symptoms and retrain your thoughts. This is definetly possible with the help of medication and some CBT you will be able to get there.

I hope I have helped a little. Keep in touch.[8D]

Take care



sadie

[Meg]

Hi Cindy,

My suggestions include a Vit B complex to support the CNS system- having PA's is nutritionally very draining. If you're finding the exhaustion is harder to shift add in a mineral and vit supplement too

I would also try for a week having 6 small meals/day- avoiding simple sugars/carbohyfdrates completely and keep a dried fruit and nut mix with you at all times. At the first sign of an attack have a handful of these immediately and see whether that helps you. Hypoglycaemia is getting more common, even though on testing the blood sugar level is 'within clinical norms' . It's a personal thing . Like the opposite of diabetes

There are several books on Glycaemic Index of foods that may guide you as it can be a bit suprising what is high that you may have thought was low !

Charlie has been trying this diet out with some success, so hopefully she'll post here too.

This is enough to sort some people out.

Hormones may be having an effect as well, you could be moving into an early pre menopause and having a shift about.

To try to finish an attack earlier then try some exercise - it uses up stress chemicals and if you've stoppped pumping them it can help get rid earlier than waiting it out.

You haven't been on any antibiotics recently have you ?

Take care


Meg

Watch your thoughts, they become your words...
Watch your words, they become your actions... Watch your actions, they become your habits... Watch your habits, they become your character... Watch your character, it becomes your destiny...

[cindyc]

Hi Sadie and Meg,,,,,

Thanks so much for the advise. Its funny, because the South Beach Diet is very popular right now here in the US and its focus is a low carb/low sugar diet.....and I've been seriously considering it. Perhaps it could help. I do take a multi-vitamin daily, but perhaps I'll also try to pump up the B complex a little more. Exercise seems like a good thing too.....the other day while experiencing the long attack, I went outside to shovel snow, figuring it would be a good determing factor.....if it was my heart, I'd surely collapse from shoveling.....and at least then I'd know....lol

As far as the fear.....I have to admit that there is still a little voice inside my head that tells me that there surely must be something more than anxiety.....all of my 'common sense' steps in telling me all the signs and symptoms of a heart attack, although the greater part of me tells me to just relax and it will be fine. I guess it comes from reading all of those stories about people who just haven't felt right, and although several tests were done, something hidden was wrong. I work hard at shaking those thoughts, but there are times that its so difficult. I do know that the more I focus on it, the worse it seems to be.

You guys are fantastic, and I am so grateful that I have found this site. Thanks again!!

Cindy