How do I live with panic?

In My Humble Opinion
21

The Paxil withdrawal I experienced was awful. The docs never told me to start it gradually to begin with. The side effects were serious flushing and sweating, fuzzy eyesight, and more. This is a good ten years ago, so I don’t remember. So instead of calling the docs to find out what to do I just quit taking it. I had more sweats and flushing, the “zapping” mentioned early, extreme fatigue, to the point where I shouldn’t have been driving, though I did.

Jasonh300, you must be one of the lucky ones. Good on you! Glad you are still feeling better.

22

IANAD - but I do have personal experience with panic attacks and anxiety.

For me, alprazolam (aka Xanax) has been a huge help for my full blown panic attacks. I only take it as needed and it works pretty quick. Even knowing that it’s in my purse if I need it helps a bit to calm me down.

If you know what triggers your panic attacks try to find an escape.
I can’t do loud, crowded spaces. I would have moments that I’d feel like I was going to pass out. I’d escape to the bathroom through the panic-haze (everything looked foggy) and run cold water over my hands/wrists and splash some on my face. I’d stay in there until I eventually regained my composure and then return. Once I realized what was causing my panic attacks I started making a few adjustments to make myself more comfortable and to have an easy escape to get some fresh air or just step away for a moment before I get a full-blown panic attack.

Mr J is pretty good at recognizing when I’m starting to panic too. There have been a few times that he’s told me to stop what I’m doing and take a Xanax. It’s not a fix-all but it sure helps.

Overall - I’d say see a doctor (sooner if possible), get some therapy (chances are the therapist will recommend The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook as mentioned by exastris) and don’t be afraid of Xanax if it’s offered/prescribed to you. (For me) it’s not an everyday thing. I only take it when I need it.

23

I am a co-facilitator of a self-help/support group for anxiety sufferers; I’ll give you the same list of books that I give everyone who contacts me for anxiety help:
Self-Coaching: How to Heal Anxiety and Depression – Dr. Joseph J. Luciani, Ph.D.
The Power of Self-Coaching – Dr. Joseph J. Luciani, Ph.D.
From Panic to Power - Lucinda Bassett
The Feeling Good Handbook – Dr. David D. Burns, M.D.
Anxiety and Phobia Workbook – Edmund J. Bourne
Coping with Anxiety: Ten Simple Ways to Relieve Anxiety, Fear, and Worry - Edmund J. Bourne, Lorna Garano
Power over Panic - Bronwyn Fox
Hope and Help for Your Nerves - Dr. Claire Weeks
Worry – Edward M. Hallowell

Most of these books are available at a public library or ordered through a bookstore like Chapters or Amazon.

Most of these authors also have websites that you can visit:
www.stresscenter.com - Lucinda’s site
www.panicattacks.com.au - Bronwyn’s site
www.self-coaching.net - Dr. Luciani’s site

Doctors are getting better at this, but just giving you prescriptions is not the whole story; you should also be working with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to get at the root of your problems, not just treat the symptoms. Anxiety disorders respond beautifully to CBT; a combination of CBT and short-term drugs can be extremely effective.

And meditation. :slight_smile: Seriously, people with anxiety problems need to learn how to relax, and meditation is a very good way to relax. It also teaches you how to stay in the moment and not be worrying about the past or the future or what iffing yourself into a state of panic.

24

Just wanted to pop back in ad second exastris’ advice and recomend The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook.

25

Meditation would be tough for me, since sitting still and acknowledging the panic is what I run from. When I was in a spiral and couldn’t eat or sleep consistently for three weeks, they gave me Ativan to get some sleep so I could productively go into talk therapy. That did help with working on panic stuff, but I still was bugged by it and went on a low dose of a series of things, and am now on Lexapro. It keeps the anxiety to a manageable level, where I can process strong emotions (that’s one of the triggers) and recognize and experience them without panic.

Honestly, if you go into a real spiral, seek out emergency help. They may be able to give you something to tide you over until you see the doc.

Good luck–I know how horrible it is but know you’re not alone. There are many ways to treat this and one will work for you.

26

Thank you for the reading list, featherlou. It helps to know there is something I can do for myself until I see the doctor.

27

As has been mentioned before, deep breathing exercises, and distraction seemed to help me best. With me, it was finding new Star Wars books to read. (Don’t laugh-I’m a SW freak, I could just lose myself in a book, and that seemed to work best.)

I would also suggest NOT talking yourself out of them, but just work on breathing. Just think of “in, out”. Close your eyes. Concentrate on your diaphram (spell?) pushing in and out.

28

Ah! I’ve also found that some classical music can be VERY soothing. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade, or Debussy’s “La Mer” are extremely lush.

29

No problem. :slight_smile: I’ve been where you are, and I know how what it’s like to think that all you are ever going to feel is upset, anxious, nervous, worried, and panicky. You’re not going to. I’ll tell you that right now. You will feel better some day.

30

I’ve had two panic attacks that involved riding in the back of an ambulance. I’ve been dealing with anxiety for a very long time, and unfortunately, I have to carry around enough tranquilizers to kill a water buffalo. My problem is that I always under-medicate myself (because if I become too relaxed, I’ll die – that’s seriously somewhere in my head, refusing to leave), so I’m always just a little too wound up for my own good.

There are many ways to deal with anxiety, and you should try all of them.

However, when you’re at the point where you’ve done the walk, done the meditation, taken the drugs and you’re still just a pile of nerves flashing lightning around the inside of your skull, just accept the fact that this is how it is. Sometimes I have nothing left to do but lie on my bed, close my eyes and say, “This is just me being a nervous wreck.” It’s important (to me, at least) to recognize that whatever I think I’m worrying about probably has nothing to do with anything – I just worry a lot, and I’ll latch onto pretty much anything as an excuse to worry, but really, my brain just likes to worry.

In any case, the thing I’m trying to say is: if you do everything and you’re still a nervous wreck, just let yourself be a nervous wreck for awhile. I’m not sure if other people can go to sleep while simultaneously worrying about dying/being homeless/food riots/hyperinflation/never having a family/being exposed as a fraud/worrying too much, but if I can just get three or four hours, I can probably make it through the next day, and by that night, I’ll just say fuck it, take the prescribed amount of Lorazepam and just go to sleep early.

I won’t try to project or anything, but having severe depression that’s been treated to the point where my secondary problem of anxiety becomes my biggest problem is the way I’m fucked up. Nowadays I just assume that everyone is fucked up, but in ways that may not be apparent to me. In the past, I wasted a lot of time beating myself up for not being able to live like a normal person; nowadays I realize that there are so few normal people that any normal people that actually exist are, by definition, abnormal.

31

Another thumbs-up for this book. It saved my life when I was 21. And again at 24. And again at 39.

It was written quite a while ago, and some of the references are a little dated, but she explains things quite clearly and simply. I consider myself an expert at seeing the faults of every argument designed to help me in some manner, and I could not pick apart her explanations.

Can’t recommend it enough.

HughJ

32

I had a period of a couple of years where panic would come and go. It was all triggered with one panic attack on a tram that actually caused me to black out for a second and wake up splattered on the pavement with a bunch of people helping to get me up. After that incident, I had intermittent panic attacks for about two or three years, with only one as disorienting as that. I tried Xanax, hated the way it made me feel, and got off of it after two weeks.

What did help me was breathing exercises. As soon as I felt that uncomfortable sensation of an attack coming on, I would slowly start inhaling, with the tongue raised to the roof of my mouth, to a count of eight. Hold for another count of eight, and slowly exhale, tongue lowered, to a count of eight. The first breath would usually make me slightly dizzy, but as soon as I repeated it a couple of times, I would be able to hold off the panic attack and return to my senses.

Also, drinking cold water often helped me calm down as well. And minty gum, too.

33

Yes, see the Doc. But having had a few panic attacks, I have now gotten slightly over them by accepting them with the thought of:
"So, I have a panic attack, and panic. So? "

34

This is largely the crux of Dr. Weeke’s approach. It teaches you to identify the feelings as the result of panic and not, say, a heart attack or “losing control of oneself.” She teaches to let yourself feel what you feel and not try to fight it. The fighting the feelings exacerbates things.

35

I’m a freak, so benzodiazepines (Klonopin, Ativan, etc) don’t work for me. I do take a beta blocker called Inderal, which does work, though. It works by blocking some of the physical effects of anxiety. For me, those can start up a vicious cycle of feeling anxious, getting physical effects from that, and feeling more anxious because of those.

If you know you’re going to be in a situation that could trigger a panic attack, skip your morning coffee and other stimulants.

You may have to make allowances for your panic attacks. For example, I get panicky about going to see a doctor or dentist, and it takes me a while to wind down afterward. So I don’t do what some people do, and schedule a dentist appointment for my lunch break- instead, I’ll schedule it so I don’t have to go back to work afterward. Sometimes really simple things like this can really help.

36

I don’t have panic attacks, but I find this to be excellent advice. In fact, I shall start utilizing it now…