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Panic Attacks

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Re: Panic Attacks

#101

Post by nicklovescode »

krmmalik wrote: post #91

I'm going to politely disagree here and say solving panic attacks doesn't take years but instead minutes. I suffered many panic attacks in my mate twenties and early thirties and then learned some simple techniques that solved the panic attacks in one fell swoop. The whole process took less than two minutes. I've since helped a few friends with the same and they have positive experiences in the same way. If anyone's…

Most people I know that have read or written on this subject agree it can often be cured in minutes (even after a decade of pain). David Burns has a weekend program that often solves these situations quite quickly.

However, I'm not so sure about The Emotion Code's pushing of "organ energy fields" or Dr Bradley Nelson's "message from above" to go write a book pushing this

Re: Panic Attacks

#102

Post by grasshopperpurp »

I never had panic attacks until the age of about 23. I adopted a dog (a Blackmout Cur) and brought it home for the first time, and it went off like a tornado as soon as it stepped foot in the door. I got it calmed down, and everything was fine. When I went to bed that night, though, the reality of the situation struck me, and I thought I was having a heart attack. The entire night, I hummed 'Rio Grande' by the Great Speckled Bird in my head, because I always found it to be a soothing song, and it just made it worse and worse.

The next few months, I would get panic attacks as soon as my head hit the pillow - nothing to do with the dog at this point. Though, the dog was quite a handful. I'd take it for two hour walks, and after a 5-minute rest, it'd be back to rampaging.

Now, I'll get a panic attack once every few years - still, always in bed. I usually have no idea what sets them off.

Edit: I got my first dog so late, because I'm allergic to dogs, and I was a sick kid. My parents didn't want to exacerbate my allergies. I have dogs do this day, and I just deal with the allergies.

Re: Panic Attacks

#103

Post by m3mpp »

Our western/christian way of seeing the world has a lot to do with this condition. The illusion of control, this permanent struggle for betterment and perfection is a very good recipe for anxiety, depression and mental illnesses. Add to that the loss of faith, and that's it, you get millions of people on antidepressant...

Re: Panic Attacks

#104

Post by merinowool »

tossaway4567 wrote: post #47
tenaciousDaniel wrote: post #32

I suppose my own experience differs from the symptoms of a chronic sufferer, but I used to completely dismiss notions of "panic attacks". My thought was "why can't they just take a breather and calm down?" Then one day I smoked too much marijuana and then had to go to a kids birthday party whose family I didn't know. About 10 minutes in I had what I can only describe as a panic attack. My face turned gray . My heart…

Using a throwaway due to subject matter, but I also learned the hard way that cannabis just doesn't agree with me the way it did in my younger years. I had what I now know to be panic attacks a few times after smoking a bit of weed and it's not worth the risk for me anymore. It's a bummer because I used to occasionally smoke when I was in my 20s with no issue other than maybe feeling a bit groggy in the morning but n…

Depending on cannabinoid profile, intake, strength it can help with or potentiate panic attacks (which sometimes start with omg I comitted a crime. What if someone finds out? Or by the unfamiliarity of the feeling - was my drug laced with something?) For the exact reason it should be legal, so people know what they take. As a sufferer of panic attacks I can attest that cannabis had been a life saver at times, although I don't medicate (with cannabis nor prescription drugs) at all now.

Re: Panic Attacks

#105

Post by howard941 »

jrkatz wrote: post #58

I have periodic trouble with panic attacks at night, when I'm trying to sleep, usually linked to times of external stress. I thought it was insomnia. In the moment, they're miserable - rapid pulse, cold sweat, numb hands, impending doom, the whole shebang. The next day, after just a few hours of sleep, there's hell to pay. The next night, I lay in bed afraid it's going to happen again and that I'll get no sleep again…

> My cat loves the panic attacks though. I stay up later, and I'm petting her the whole time trying to calm down. Great for her.

When I'm away from home I can reduce an anxious feeling by imaging I'm petting one of the cats and feeling its rumbling purr.

Re: Panic Attacks

#106

Post by ghostbrainalpha »

tossaway4567 wrote: post #47
tenaciousDaniel wrote: post #32

I suppose my own experience differs from the symptoms of a chronic sufferer, but I used to completely dismiss notions of "panic attacks". My thought was "why can't they just take a breather and calm down?" Then one day I smoked too much marijuana and then had to go to a kids birthday party whose family I didn't know. About 10 minutes in I had what I can only describe as a panic attack. My face turned gray . My heart…

Using a throwaway due to subject matter, but I also learned the hard way that cannabis just doesn't agree with me the way it did in my younger years. I had what I now know to be panic attacks a few times after smoking a bit of weed and it's not worth the risk for me anymore. It's a bummer because I used to occasionally smoke when I was in my 20s with no issue other than maybe feeling a bit groggy in the morning but n…

I've had the same experience with Cannabis.

I'm convinced I have a mild allergic reaction to it. I think people don't realize that can happen.

Re: Panic Attacks

#107

Post by 13of40 »

timrichard wrote: post #26

From personal experience, years ago : learning to control your breathing is the key. Your fear of the symptoms can turn it into a self-fulfilling prophecy. When you've deeply internalised the assurance that you can defeat the symptoms any time you like by regulated breathing, you might well find like I did that they just stop happening quite naturally. It takes time and practice. Sometimes now when I find myself in s…

Wow, I wish I'd read this thread a year or two ago. I'm in my early 40's, and I had a couple of panic attacks last year for the first time in my life. For the first one I was driving and had to pull over and walk around in a strange neighborhood because I was convinced if I stopped physically moving I'd die. The second time happened at work, and I got a friend to drive me to the emergency room, having tunnel vision and difficulty breathing the entire time.

Here's my epiphany though: When I got to the emergency room, they just laid me down in a bed for monitoring, and after a few minutes (and about $1k) it went away. Since then, in the couple of times I've felt it coming on again I've just told myself that if it happens I'll find a place to lie down and relax until it passes. I haven't had to actually do that, because just the idea that I can is enough to make it go away. (YMMV, but it works for me.)

Re: Panic Attacks

#108

Post by addajones »

homero wrote: post #62
modzu wrote: post #22

so are there really just magic pills you can take that stop panic attacks? this guys carries them around but doesn't say if he's had to use them.

Yes xanax works perfectly but stops working if you use it daily and makes things worse

Exactly, its just a bandaid that keeps ripping the more you use it. Meditation and positive thinking and exercise I think help best.

Re: Panic Attacks

#109

Post by rrmm »

IAmGraydon wrote: post #92

I have always suffered from some level of social anxiety, but never really considered it crippling. Years ago, I brought this up to a doctor who promptly prescribed me a drug of the benzodiazepine class. At first I felt like an idiot. Slightly less anxious I guess, but I became kind of loose of the mouth (like you get when you're drunk), forgot a lot of things, and generally didn't like it. However, I stuck with it a…

As far as I understand (not an MD), benzos are not generally considered a long-term anti-anxiety drug. They treat the immediate symptom for people who need immediate relief from debilitating anxiety attacks and occasional 'flare-ups'.

Generally, you could go on an SNRI or SSRI coupled with some form of cognitive-behavioral therapy to try to treat the root cause of the anxiety.

But I'm not a big fan of GP MDs giving out benzos like that given their long-term effects (anxiety, dependence, tolerance, withdrawal syndromes). GP's don't have the time to spend with you that a psychiatrist or therapist might in order to figure out what's going on.

Re: Panic Attacks

#110

Post by ghostbrainalpha »

chrisfinne wrote: post #90

My son was getting them for a couple years and the frequency was increasing. He was missing school. We tried all sorts of techniques that you can google. Finally took him to a clinical psychologist that focuses on them and I was embarrassed on how few sessions it took this guy to solve them.

Was it just talk therapy that solved it?

Or does your son have to do ongoing treatment like meditation / prescription medication?

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