Panic Attacks

well if you suffer from panic attacks, you probly have anxiety as well. Depression is something everyone suffers from, its best to speak to a doctor about this. To see what can be done, maybe talking to a counsular will help, I went to a therapist to learn coping tech's for anxiety, and it really helped.

I find deep breathing work, center yourself, deep breath in - hold- release

or I tell myself to relax, its ok. But remember like you I have suffered with this for years, you need to find the right fit for you. I didn't seek proffessional help till I was 28, but it helped. I should of done it when I was younger

Yep I know my mother at least has anxiety - I know I had it when I was younger - was very shy and the thought of meeting new people was very intimidating and scary. Thankfully, I've moved past that part of it, but I'm sure it's still in there! I suppose I should go talk to someone - the only problem will be finding someone that knows holistic type solutions - in a way I feel that I haven't ALWAYS suffered from these things, so it's my own shortcoming - mind over matter. Plus, so many medications these days do more harm than good, that I'd just rather steer clear of them if I can help it.

I need to work on my deep breathing and relaxation. I'm so easily distracted! Rawr RAwr!

I also suffer from Anxiety and panic attacks so I know exactly how you feel. I find that when I feel a panic attack coming on I try and distract myself. For me it usually comes on at night while I'm in bed, so I take my laptop or iphone into bed with me and play games until I can't keep my eyes open any longer. The last panic attack I had, I had to be raced to the hospital as I was certain that I was having a heart attack and going to die. Good Luck

Yeah it's so weird! A lot of the time I can feel them coming, so sometimes I can shake it before hand and sometimes I can't. When I try to explain it to people I just say that it's like this cloud of doom that settles on you. haha. It really does feel like an actual weight sometimes!! But when they sneak up on me or I wake up with them, it's just ARGH! It's such an awful feeling!!! >.< But I'm glad I'm not alone in this! ^.^

I suffer from anxiety and depression. When I have a panic attack my throat hurts like hell and it feels as if I can't breathe! I also get a stabbing chest pain. There is not much you can do whilst having a panic attack except to focus on your breathing - breathe in for 8 seconds, hold it, breathe out for 8 seconds - repeat 5 to 6 times.

I've seen both a psychologist and psychiatrist and am on medication. At first I was a real scaredy cat - I didn't want to go and see either of them but I had an episode (break down), so I was forced to! I must say it's really not so bad seeing them and they really help a lot. And don't think you're the only one! I think there are more people that suffer from depression than people who don't! Most people just don't say anything because they think it's a 'weakness' which in actual fact it it's not.

I've really benefited from doing exercise, about 30 min (3-4 times per week) and by keeping a daily diary in which I reflect on the day and my thoughts and feelings and from seeing a psychologist.

i have multiple panic attacks throughout the day without my medicine. i know medicine isnt for everyone, but its something that does work for some people, so maybe you could ask about it if other methods, like a psychiatrist, don't work for you, or if it's so severe that its interrupting your everyday life EVERY DAY.

I went off my meds, because I could afford them. I do find that I am coping well, but I feel a bit to emotional all the time. So I think I might go back on them, just on a smaller amount

i have anxiety and depression. It really helped me to talk to a therapist. She helped me to find what starts the anxiety attacks, and once i found the triggers, i have not had so many of them. when i do have one my chest feels really tight and heavy and my heart beats very fast. sometimes my face gets very red and hot and i also feel like crying. it also helps to acknowledge that I am having an attack. i will tell my husband and just go be by myself for a little bit.
only you can decide if you want medication, most doctors won't push it on you, although i strongly recommend a therapist. even if you just go a few times. also you might want to look into natural or holistic remedies.
i'm glad that you aren't afraid to talk about it asking for help is a very important step!

I suffer with panic attacks and they can be horrible. You truly do feel like your dying. I also have depression & anxiety and for me they are intermingled. I see a psychiatrist and psychologist and I would say the meds definitely help but it is the talking to someone and unravelling them that can really help. Once you understand them and know the triggers that can help. Mine at the mo are often triggered by my phobia of people being sick. I definitely find distraction helpful, I use my ds and read or meditation cd which I have saved on the mp3 player of my phone. I always carry my ds and headphones for my phone around with me for that reason. I also find having a monthly massage helps, I get really knotty shoulders from the tension of the anxiety and find a massage really helps. I also do yoga (although not as much as i should), meditation and nice deep hot baths with a few drops of rosemary oil or clary sage. I hope some of those give you some ideas. I would definitely go to your doctor though as some kind of counselling can really help. I'm having CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and that really helps my thoughts from escalating and gives me back some control. Good luck. x

I get panic attacks too..usually it's out of the blue, for no reason.. which is the fustrating part. I was on medication for a couple of years and it did not help. I came to realize it's all in the mind, and you need to change your way of thinking to cope with them. If I get one now, I say to myself.." there is no reason to be anxious right now, get over it. And if there is a reason to be anxious, I think about ways to fix the problem.. rather than worrying about it. cause worrying does no good.. we all know that. It still sucks I hate it!

I used to get panic attacks pretty badly. They would range from small ones where I'd find it hard to breathe and got dizzy, to huge ones where I'd just collapse and scream at the top of my lungs, thinking I was going to die - I'd be running out of breath from the screaming, knowing that if I don't breathe soon I'll die, but just carried on screaming, hoping someone would help me.

They're pretty nasty but I would recommend not going on medication for them. I was offered anti-depressants but turned them down because of all the horrible side-effects. There are ways of learning to deal with them - normally breathing exercises do it for me. I was told to breath in for four seconds, hold for four, exhale for four, hold for four. There's another one which is like breathe in for twelve seconds, exhale for seven seconds, making sure you get enough oxygen in.

It's a lot more satisfying if you find a way to deal with them yourself. That doesn't mean you can't go to the doctors or to a counseller but try to resist the "easy-out" of medication.

Also, if you find something that triggers them, do NOT try to avoid that situation, it'll just make them worse. There was a certain place in my school that triggered them because I'd had a huge one there, during which people threw things at me and kicked me (doesn't help the thinking you're gonna die haha.) But unfortunately there is no easy way out - you just have to learn to cope with them your own way. Chances are it's something you'll have to deal with for the rest of your life; I know I still feel them coming on every now and then, but you'll find a way to deal with them and then they won't be so much of a problem.

And as Heather said, it's great that you're talking about it. A lot of people don't, and then the problem gets worse. Also, don't be afraid to tell your parents and your friends - that way it's not a dirty secret of yours, and they'll be able to help you calm down. I was lucky and had one right outside the house of a girl who suffers from them, so she knew to just kneel down and hold my head, tell me everything's going to be okay, stroke my hair etc, which meant I ended up just crying on her lap instead of screaming, then eventually stopped crying. When I got home I had another one, and I was on my own in the house which was quite scary, but she'd given me something of a technique to deal with it.

Its really hard to live with it, the aniexty and depression I mean.

You don't want to let anyone know about it, but if you tell people they might juge you. Its even hard to keep a job, I know legally they can't fire you because you have it, but I am always worried they will not hire me because of it.

My aniexity was due to lack of sleep. My mind would not shut off when it would be time for bed and my insomia would kick in. Soon it got so bad that I would have these attacks out of the blue and feel like I was dying or wanted to die just for it to go away. I went to see the doc and he automaticly said it was depression. I told him I dont like some of the drugs that they have out for depression. I rely on my friends to talk to and my crafting therapy. The doc gave me paxil, something for aniexity and ambien for sleep. After taking paxil for 4 days i got worse. I stop taking the paxil and relied on the ambien to reset my body for sleep. I havent taken ambien in a couple of weeks and I am starting to feel overwhelmed so it takes me forever to sleep and then I am dragging thru out the day. I made an appointment to talk to him about getting something other than ambien for sleep.

Its very hard to go out in crowded places...we went to Ross yesterday and xmas shoppers where everywhere. Lucky for the husband he notice the signs of me going to start with an attack and got me out of there. I am stuborn and like to push myself so I dont look weak. As soon as he saw me walking in circles around him and emma and me not paying attention to anything he pointed out for ppl for xmas he pushed the basket to an aisle, got emma and held my hand till we got out of the store.

I notice if I have a good night's rest I am able to keep my mind focus in situations like that. That is why I took myself off paxil since it literally turned me into a zombie and yelling at Emma. I never took the aniexty medication since I was afraid it would knock me out if it was just me and Emma at home. So I relied on the ambien to shut my mind so I can sleep.

So basicly for me it was the sleep part that got me rested and had less aniexty to worry about.

I can't go near crowded places, with or without meds, full on panic