General Anxiety and Panic Disorder

For nearly 8 months now I have been suffering with a pretty bad case of Panic Disorder and Anxiety. I'm not entirely sure what caused this to come about but I have been researching into it now for a while to find out what the causes could be. I'm creating this post in an attempt to shed some light into the my disorder and how it effects me in everyday life as well as connect with other people who have encountered the same experiences and discuss methods of control.

It all started one night around 8 months ago when I was hanging out with a couple friends and my girlfriend. This is the night that I encountered my first panic attack, which was the most unsettling, disturbing experience of my life. I remember the night vividly and I will attempt to describe it in as much detail as possible.

It started out like a typical night, me and my girlfriend were just sitting together on my bed listening to music with a few friends and just having the normal discussions friends would have. We were talking about things that have happened recently, current news, personal experiences, school, etc. It was around 8 p.m. I remember at some point I had the urge to sit up to go and get a glass of water. I sat up, and as I did this I thrusted outside of my body. I was suddenly detached from my physical body and was looking down at myself from two different perspectives. This is when I had a huge surge of fear that rushed over my body like a tidal wave. It enveloped every bit of emotion I was experiencing and turned it into dread. I was so overwhelmed by this feeling that I was kind of stunned for a second. All I could really do was mutter the words "oh no, oh my gosh" as it all happened. I immediately started trembling and had the urge to get up and move. My heart started pounding so hard I was shaking, my heart rate was also high, nothing dangerously high, but it was still high. My face flushed red. I had to go somewhere. I had to leave where I was sitting. I got sucked back into my body from that point and proceeded to go and get my water in hopes that maybe a cold glass of water would help me. I got to the sink and everything looked different. The lighting of the room had this eerie dim light operating room type feel and the textures of everything looked different. I grabbed a glass out of the cabinet, filled it with ice and water and attempted to drink some. I was shaking this entire time making very difficult to accomplish this task. My first attempt to swallow a gulp of water was unsuccessful mainly due to the feeling of my throat being closed. I felt as though I could not physically swallow the water and I ended up spitting it out of my mouth into the sink and from that point on being more concerned for this new experience I was having. At this point everyone was extremely worried about me and began to come find me and ask if I was alright. I explained to them what I was feeling and they suggested that I go to the hospital. I told them no and that I would just see if it got any worse and make a decision after that. After that I decided to go outside and try and get some fresh air. I remember going out and sitting on the porch looking down at my feet and the concrete beneath them. The feeling of the cold, brisk air against my skin was comforting and seemed to lull me into a calmer state until I began to focus on my toes. I was just watching them, and to my surprise both of my big toes were tapping up and down in opposite fashion. It did not feel as though I was the one controlling my toes and that I had no way to know what was actually causing my toes to do this. I could stop them from moving upon trying to, but whenever I stopped trying to stop them, they would continue doing this movement again, I was not controlling them to do this. I got up and decided to come back inside to go lay down and try and relax. Once I got inside it started again. The panic. I went to the bathroom first, I walked in, closed the door, put my hands on the sink and looked down into the bowl of it. I looked up at myself in the mirror only to be seriously confused. I was extremely scared at this point because I was unfamiliar with myself. Everything I was seeing did not seem like it was actually me. That I was looking at myself from some kind of outside view. I sat there looking at myself for around 5 minutes and then went back to my room. I laid down on my bed and started watching a movie with my girlfriend. (My toes were still doing this tapping movement during this time.) At random points from then on I would randomly get the rush again. If I was laying down I would instantly sit up and just feel so much fear. This happened around 15 more times throughout the night. Each time it happened it progressively became less and less severe until the point where I was able to go to sleep.

For weeks after this experience I felt as If I was dreaming. Some days I would get the onset of the panic again, but it wouldn't take control. Sometimes it would. It really just depended, on variables that I was not aware of. I noticed that the days that I would wake up with the strongest feelings of (still being asleep/dreaming) that I was more likely to experience anxiety/panic attacks. For the following month I was on a mission to figure out what happened. I was searching all of my symptoms online for a few weeks and came to the conclusion that it was in fact a panic attack. Everything that I had felt seemed to match up with the descriptions and symptoms. I went to the doctor to see if I could get any medication after waiting a good period of time to see if the panic attacks would go away and they never did. The doctor proceeded to put me on buspirone (After being not much of a help in diagnosing anything or even really listening to my problems) which I was supposed to take at increasing dosage until I stabilized at a specific dose. I really did not like the medication at all. It was the nastiest medication that I have ever taken. Whenever I took it, it made me really tired and mopey. I just wanted to blank out and sleep for long periods of time. If I didn't sleep after taking it, it made my brain feel like it was buzzing. I would get these random twitches that seemed to come from the inside of my head. They made me so uncomfortable and I hated them. Not to mention that this medication made it nearly impossible for me to do anything physical as it made me out of breath easily and put strain on my heart for some reason. I stopped taking it after 2 weeks because of the side effects, I figured I would rather deal with it all on my own instead of feel this terrible from the medication that was supposed to help me.

After getting off of buspirone I proceeded to look up any and all methods that could help my conquer my disorder that seemed to spawn out of nothing. I learned about meditations and different kinds of breathing techniques which I tried all of them. They did actually help me, but none of it actually got rid of my anxiety/panic attacks. All they really did was make it subside for a little while. And it wasn't even entirely. I would still have a little bit of anxiety as well as tiny bouts of panic. After a certain point it no longer really helped my problem and I really no longer knew what to do. The panic attacks were still happening, the anxiety was becoming unbearable. I always wished that I could just not be alive so I wouldn't have to suffer with it.

Note: I never wanted to commit suicide or harm myself in anyway, I merely just wished that I was never born so I never would have had to undergo these experiences that seemed to be plauging my life every single day for months at this point.

I remember at one point making a connection between these experiences and something that happened to me when I was a child.

I was around the age of 6 and I used to have this recurring dream that would always terrify me into tears. I woke up in a panic attack once after having this dream. I will try my best to give a description of it. Bear with me as it is very hard to put into words and will try and make proper analogies to give the best possible understanding.

It starts out with a line. It's an infinite 1-D line. Though it's not really set yet, it's being drawn (basically). My point of view was on the end that was expanding outward at an extremely fast pace. This line seemed like a single beam of light in some way. As it was expanding it would encounter these huge rocky, odd shaped boulders. The line would collide with them and pierce right through them. I remember that every time this line collided with these boulders that I would have this huge sense of dread. The best way I can describe these boulders is as being cancerous. This happened dozens of times as the line kept expanding endlessly in this direction. The line would be black while traveling through white backdrops but would turn white when traveling through black backdrops. I have no idea why this dream was so terrifying. It was mainly the impacts that caused me the most fear. The collision with these boulder type objects was what caused my discomfort. I had this dream quite a few times but only awoke from it in a panic attack once. I was a crying my eyes out because I felt like I was dying. I didn't know what to do. I felt terrible. My dad ran over to me upon hearing me and tried to ask me about what I was feeling. He didn't know what was wrong. I didn't know what was wrong. All I knew was that something was wrong with me, I felt like I was dying. My dad asked me if I was hurting anywhere, and I said yes, but I could not figure out where. I had this disassociated pain that didn't seem to have any specific location on my body. I was just in this odd pain. After about 15 minutes I was able to calm down and go back to sleep.

Well, fast forward to my current situation.

I'm experiencing this same panic that I had back then. For seemingly no reason, I was experiencing this traumatic experience almost every single day. This feeling has basically taken over my life.

Note: My anxiety stems from the amount of physics that I studied during high school on my free time. I was very interested in science, physics and quantum mechanics. I studied a bunch of theories about existence and the universe which led me to be quite the philosopher. Basically the act of actually existing is so weird to me that this actually is what causes my anxiety which also contributes to my panic attacks which came about from a completely different reason which I am unaware of.

I wake up every single day with this odd sense that the previous day never actually happened. It's almost like every morning I feel like I am born again. I still remember all of the things that happened to me and what not but for some reason it really just feels like none of it ever happened. This usually leads me to be confused. So a lot of the time when I wake up, I am in a bit of a daze for about a half an hour. On the days where this feeling is most prevelant are the days that I feel like I am dreaming through. These are the days that I am usually most skeptical and wind up focusing on the unknown of my existence and the universe. My mind races about all of these ideas and questions about existing and what all of this actually is. These are what usually cause my anxiety triggered panic attacks. This feeling has continued now for around 4 months.
Now, onto the recent occurences.
Around 2 months ago, towards the end of december, I had this really odd thing happen. I was laying down watching a movie and then I got this feeling in my chest of my heart kind of, gasping for air. It started beating extremely hard and my heart rate all of a sudden jumped up. This triggered a panic attack. Which caused me to freak out and get up and try and move around again. Whenever I have these panic attacks I always look at myself in the mirror and I always feel the same way that I first did. I don't really recognize myself and feel disoriented. Well my heart was beating like this for around 5 or 10 minutes. But this triggered anxiety and Panic. I had panic attacks for the rest of the night.
Note: I have experienced heart palpitations before. They happen kind of randomly actually. I just get this drop feeling in my chest and I get a little light headed and a bit caught off guard but it goes away after about 2 seconds. This experience was different.

2 days later I was having a panic attack so I wanted to go to the ER to see if I could get some kind of medical diagnosis to calm me down. I went in and they took my blood pressure and I was put on an ECG for about 2 hours. My heart rate was high and so was my blood pressure. They said my heart beats sounded fine and there was nothing that seemed to be wrong with my heart. I told them about my history of panic attacks and the nurses just dismissed it as anxiety. They gave me an iv and lined me some ativan. Which helped me a LOT. They gave me a perscription of 30 ativan and recommended that I go to a regular physician to discuss a regular medication that would help me best. I got a bit of peace of mind out of the dismissal of any heart problems. It was a huge relief, but for a couple weeks after this my panic attacks were still controlling my every day activities. I was taking the ativan at 1 mg. as needed, so I would usually only take it upon the onset of panic attacks beginning to kick in. I knew about the High addiction potential of ativan and treaded lightly with this medication. I've never really had an addictive personality so I didn't worry too much about it. All I can really say is that this medicine truly did help me with my panic attacks and it was a wonderful sleep aid. I say sleep aid because alot of my anxiety happens when I go to lay down and sleep. My mind just starts racing about the whole philosophical nature of my existince every single time I try to sleep.

Also, my first panic attack was not triggered by any drugs or narcotics. I was completely sober when I experienced all of that. I know the description fits with a lot of symptoms of a bad trip or psychedelics. But I assure you I was not on anything.

So to this day I am still having these panic attacks. They have kept me from hanging out with my friends and engaging in a lot of activities I used to enjoy like walking/hiking and going to parks and forests. Randomly I will go out in public and be doing things normally and then I will blink at some random point and suddenly realize everything that is going on around me and it kind of catches me off guard. It's not only everything that's going on around me but everything that I am doing as well.

I know that this post is extremely long and I appreciate anyone who bared with me and read through this.

I hope to hear from anyone who may be experiencing anything that I am and maybe we can share some tips and stories to help eachother manage our own panic/anxiety problems.

Thank you for reading.

Well, I did bear with you and read it all and empathize with you and the situation you are in. I'm sorry I don't have any answers but then I'm not a Psychologist and I do think you would benefit from speaking to such a professional. If you ask you GP to refer you I'm sure he will be able to put you on to someone who is able to at least recognize your problem.

In the mean time - you have been prescribed Ativan and yes I am aware of it's addictive nature but under the circumstances I think that getting addicted should not be your priority at this point in time. Take the medication - it clearly helps you and go see your Doctor. You can't deal with this on your own - you've tried and failed so do what is best and talk with a professional.

Good luck and sorry I can't help.

So I read every word. Despite the difficulty.

I have to ask a few questions before I ask more. I do have lots to say so dont think I am being dismissive.

Do you smoke weed. How often do you drink? Whats your food diet like? Honestly, no judgement. These things truly factor in. How is your relationship with your girlfriend. With your parents?

Not trying to play psychologist but I do know quite a bit about panic attacks, pharmacology, and psychiatric disorders. So be honest and I might be able to help in some way.

You mentioned taking Ativan and it helping a lot. How long did you take it? Do you currently?

you have described (in great length) the symptoms of substance abuse disorder (note that the symptoms also mirror other conditions, i'm not saying you are a secret drug user or anything!, they just fit)

regardless of the trigger, the symptoms are psychological. forget drugs to fix it. go and see a mental health doctor and learn some coping mechanisms. once you have them in place (in your head) this will become easier to deal with. If you are smoking weed, stop it for a while. If you must carry on, halve the amount you smoke and don't smoke as much in one hit. If you drink, do the same. Also cut out stimulants such as caffeine. Go for long walks in the fresh air, breathe in deep breaths.

I've suffered from this a lot recently as some major events turned my life upside down a year ago. its horrible. In my case I can randomly get stressed to the point of feeling like i'm going to pass out. not fun. There was a point when driving seemed to set it off, i remember one incident where I was driving down the motorway at 70mph and suddenly felt like the world had ended. Not what you want while driving! Getting some help really assisted with the control of the attacks, but sometimes I'm hit by one and it takes a while to get under control.

I know what causes mine, so I need to keep the use of the trigger substances under close watch.
hope you get it sorted. feel free to PM me if you need to.

reply to post by Lucid Lunacy


Thanks for reading, and I will attempt to answer every question I can.

I currently do not smoke weed or do any other forms of drugs or narcotics. I drink every now and then, but I never really get drunk, just a buzz because it helps mellow out my anxiety and loosens me up a bit.

Now, I used to smoke weed frequently as well as drink quite a bit as well as do some other drugs but I have been sober now for a year.

My relationship with my girlfriend is great, we will have been dating now for a year on the 10th of March actually. We have our spats every now and then, but we don't have constant stress with each other or anything like that.

My relationship with my parents on the other hand is a different story. I've had a rough time with my parents growing up. I'm just now rekindling a relationship with my father after a lot of mean things that he did to me and the rest of the family about a decade ago. My mom and I have had our serious problems though. I have a lot of stress with her mainly because I purchased a car from her with my graduation money for graduation high school. I gave her 750 dollars for the car, which she lied to me about it's condition. I had it for a week and it broke down. The transmission was ruined. So I was out 750 dollars and a car. I had hardly any money left for anything I was screwed. Since then she has been paying me back in small amounts of money. Usually 20-60 dollars here and there but this isn't really a big help to me because I have to buy food and groceries with that money. 20-60 dollars here and there isn't going to help me get back on my feet.

As for ativan, I took it every now and then for about a month and a half. They were .5 mg pills so I took 2 at a time. I do not currently take any medications for my anxiety and panic disorders.

More recently, the panic attacks have been less severe and I have been doing breathing exercises whenever they start to happen which help me get them to not come on. But still, every once in a while I will get a nasty one that ruins my day and truly just shakes me. I'll have lingering effects from it for a few days afterwards.

Caffeine, sugar and cannabis will do this to a person,, Even nicotine has this effect on some people....It is good that you respect the danger of addiction to ativan... Buspar was prescribed to me once and caused me to have the symptoms that you described that you were given it to control which also happens to be the same major symptoms many people with PTSD suffer from.

you added a bit more info now... I mentioned substance abuse disorder, you say u used to smoke. Did you smoke a lot for a long period of time? what age were you?

like i say though, SAD is a collection of triggers which set off standard things like paranoia, fear due to psychological misfires. I still stand by my original advice of speaking to someone, as this is your brain malfunctioning, nothing more. I saw a cognitive therapist, basically they teach you to suck eggs. Things you know you should do but don't.... In my case I had no coping mechanism for anything outside of the norm, so if something unexpected happened (which is generally going to happen in real life) I would just freeze, over-react and over-think, then spin out 300 doom scenarios in my head in a millisecond. Immediately the panic would start. The cognitive therapy enabled me to stop for a split second and evaluate the situation and apply some perspective to it. You learn this by repeating the same thing over and over and writing out lists of positives and negatives about a situation. After doing this over and over,you learn to subconsciously deal with things before they go out of control.

Once you identify the issues, things will improve. It sounds like the situation with your parents could be a major trigger. In the Uk we have very little help for this, but it's starting to be recognised that mental health is a serious issue and many people are suffering with no support. You may find this site helpful, glasgowsteps.com... it has a lot of tips and methods for dealing with the attacks yourself. When I was under the care of a CBT, this type of exercise is all i did, over and over. It seems stupid at first but I stuck with it and was happy with the results, however simplistic the treatment seemed.

best of luck

Thanks for answering my questions And again I am happy to help. One last question.

On a scale of 1 through 10 how much stress and thought have you put towards money this past year? Just this past year.

reply to post by ceetee


I smoked weed and drank from age 14 to age 17. My drinking consisted of hard liquor. I drank everclear mixed with lemonade one day out of the weekend, every weekend for about 2 months. After that It was just seldom, I would have whiskey, vodka, yager, tequila, rum, beer, wine coolers. usually I would have one or 2 nights out of a month to drink. I smoked weed occasionally, it was whenever I could get it. During the times that I did have weed, I would smoke everyday. Usually only when I was writing music or playing video games. I also did dxm for a while as well as doing shrooms a few times. I never really did a whole lot of dxm. I would do usually 300mg at a time. I only went over that once or twice. I know people who have done upwards of 800-900 mg of dxm and they don't have the symptoms I have at all. I had thought for a while that maybe it was the dxm that caused it, but after some research I don't believe that it is.

I do exactly that. Basically if I'm out driving somewhere, If we make a sudden movement or swerve I always imagine the scenario that would play out if we lost control and crashed. I imagine the car flipping numerous times and hitting a telephone pole and dying. Or numerous other scenarios. And then I snap out of it and continue on with the ride.

As for the money stress.

I'd have to say that it is 8.5 out of 10.

reply to post by ceetee


I am checking out that website and I thank you for it. Within my first 5 minutes of reading I was pleasantly surprised with the accuracy of their descriptions and what I was feeling.

a range of feelings anxiety, fear, sadness, panic, guilt, anger and dissatisfied about yourself and your life. You might feel you are easily overwhelmed by life. a range of thoughts thoughts about what could go wrong. Thoughts about the way you believe you have screwed things up in your life. Thoughts about being a failure. You may have low self-esteem. You might feel full of doom and gloom about your life. a range of actions you avoid places in case something bad happens to you. You escape from places when you feel tense. You slow down. You cry a lot. You drink more. You retreat from life. You try to protect yourself against the world. a range of body symptoms you often feel unwell and tense. You lack energy. Your heart races, you get head aches all the time, etc.

reply to post by Erich94


Honestly with 8.5 man that stress is plenty to induce panic attacks. I would say this is the source friend! Truly.

The panic attacks you experienced before are probably unrelated and of different cause.

Now DXM I have lots of knowledge of. Both pharmacology and personal experience. The amount of 300 mg is high. Sure your friends did higher. 300 is high. Its a dangerous chem. I dont recommend it. At thise doses, especially with regular use, it very easily could induce panic attacks among other symptoms in the aftermath. This is just the way it works. Highs usually come at the expense of exhausting certian neuro chemicals.

Hi Erich,

I also have suffered from severe panic and general anxiety disorder. It really sucks, but I have found ways to cope with it and kick its @#%.

The number one thing I would recommend is to know that if you have a panic attack, while it is an extremely unpleasant experience, keep in mind that THIS SENSATION AND EXPERIENCE WILL PASS. It is not possible for the human brain and body to sustain such levels of anxiety for a very long period of time. Panic is nothing other than a very, very extreme level of anxiety.

In your OP, you actually describe this exact phenomenon when describing your first panic attack - you say:

"At random points from then on I would randomly get the rush again. If I was laying down I would instantly sit up and just feel so much fear. This happened around 15 more times throughout the night. Each time it happened it progressively became less and less severe until the point where I was able to go to sleep."

So this shows that it didn't last forever - the panic came back in some "waves", but each was shorter lived and it was finally over. This is normal for a panic attack. I've experienced the same thing many times.

I am not saying I've totally mastered this but the way I look at it is that these really crappy panic attacks aren't much different from getting a really bad case of diarrhea and vomiting from some food poisoning or the flu. It really sucks, it is very unpleasant, but it passes and when it is over you are back to normal. Another way of thinking about it is that it is like a very bad headache or migraine - it will not last forever and goes away on its own. Panic is better than these things actually, as if you set a stopwatch and actually clock how long you are in the state of "full panic", it is not very long at all. Especially compared to a headache or an upset stomach.

So, you can "talk yourself down" from feeling so panicked by telling yourself in your mind (during a panic attack) that this is just a temporary thing and thinking of how good it will feel when it is over and you no longer feel the panic. I always take an extra effort after I've had a panic attack to reflect on how good I feel, in my body and my mind, now that I am no longer so anxious. I do this *immediately* after I first start feeling better, and it is very helpful IMHO to do this.

The thing that was the most helpful thing for me, and is where I learned these invaluable techniques, was going to anxiety/panic group therapy sessions. There probably is one close to where you live. Often these are done at medical foundations and hospitals. The first and best one that I went to was at Kaiser. I had medical insurance with them at that time and they paid for the sessions 100% (no cost to me). The guy they had that was leading these was awesome and totally helpful.

I've been to some other groups as well and it was always very helpful. I'm not sure if 1-on-1 therapy works so well for panic or general anxiety, but the group therapy *definitely* helped me a ton. Also, the great thing about it is that even if you don't have medical insurance or your insurance won't cover it, the group therapy is relatively cheap. You might only need to pay about $35 a session, or so.

Probably one of the most helpful things about the group therapy sessions is you get to hear the experiences and stories of other people suffering from a similar problem, and in a variety of ways this can be very helpful as you can compare this to your own. Also, if you can think of creative ways that other people can overcome this kind of problem, you will also be able to come up with creative ways to overcome your own problem.

There's a bunch more I could say about this - but thought that might be a good start.

You are going to be OK.

reply to post by Erich94


Ive had a similar situation. I got my first panic attack about 7 years ago (Im 25 years old at the moment).

It was the first day of school. Ive been going to this same school the past few years. Before this, Ive never had any anxiety/panic attacks. It was literally just right out of the blue. Less than an hour into the first day, I began getting the shakes, a mix of hot, then cold, then hot again, sweating, unable to focus my vision, dry mouth ect....

I thought I was getting hit very heavily with something like the flu and then some. I brushed this day off as 1 in a million. I went back to school the next day.....and the same thing happened. And the day after, and the day after. And day after day after day.

I eventually got perscribed Prozac. Did it work? Well....yes, as in, it eliminated my anxiety and panic attacks. But...I was not myself anymore. Im not sure how to say it, but it was as if I was in less control of my own thinking/mental process. It caused me to have "blocks" in my normal behavior. I knew I was not myself anymore and didnt want this anymore.

I eventually decided to make a choice. Not be myself on drugs like Prozac, or fight and deal with this anxiety crap by myself. I chose to give up Prozac.

It's been years since Ive taken that stuff. I feel like I actually am myself, not something all drugged up on psychotropic drugs anymore. I have my own self.

Yes I still have anxiety and panic attacks, but I dont use drugs to stop them. I deal with these without chemicals cooked up in a lab. I guess after dealing with these for so long, Ive become accustomed to them. They're not as bad as they used to be, but they're still there. There really isnt "100% perfect" advice I could give someone in how to deal with these attacks/anxiety, everyone's deals with this different. My friends with anxiety have their own ways of dealing with it, and I have my own.

(These are really general suggestions, but it's a start). All I can really suggest is keep telling yourself it will pass. If it's the first day of school, odds are, there's other people around you dealing with the same situation. Dont focus on the pass, or the future, Just deal with what is currently going on. (I mean, taking the first day of school for example, dont start looking around at the other students and wonder what they are thinking of you. Just focus on what the teacher is saying. Then, dont start flipping out over X assignment 3 months down the road. Just tell youself, "This is a new environment. My body is a bit in shock, but from now on, I will get used to this environment."). Im not sure if that all made much sense, but I can try and explain better later.

The key to getting over panic disorder or anxiety attacks is to let go of all the fear next time you have an attack.

I suffered a number of panic attacks after a trip to Thailand where I came the closest to death I'd ever been 3 times in 1 week ( A car crash, a rip tide on a deserted beach and a plane emergency landing- all in one week).

At the height of the attacks I felt completely mentally overpowered by fear.
Unable to rationalise or discuss with those around me I became caught in a random vicious circle of attacks which tended to occur when I was in situations where I knew the attack would cause issues - either social or logistical ( driving, being in a meeting with clients or being in a security line at airports were favourites).

One night, whislt sitting on the toilet, at the height of an attack fearing that I was losing my mind, I just got tired of of the attacks and concentrated on resulting effect.

It didnt seem to get worse, I didnt lose consciosness/have a heart attack and the more I concentrated on whether there were ay detrimental effects; the more the syptoms subsided.


Next attack I just laid back with my hands behind my head and thought "bring it on".
After about 5 minutes the attack ceased.

Next attack I did the same thing and it went within 2 minutes.

Now whenever I get the familiar feeling I picture myslef reclining with a smile knowing nothing is going to happen and the attack never starts.

It's been 8 years snce anything like an attack now and the key thing TLDR: allow the fear to wash over you and see what happens.. you will survive and I guarantee each attack will get better until eventually attacks cease.

Originally posted by Erich94
reply to post by ceetee

 

I am checking out that website and I thank you for it. Within my first 5 minutes of reading I was pleasantly surprised with the accuracy of their descriptions and what I was feeling.

excellent

Wow. I really appreciate everyone's personal advice and their stories. All of your input means a lot to me.

A few things I forgot to mention. I discussed these panic attacks with my mother a while back and she said that she experienced the same thing when she was my age and everything I was describing was almost a flash back for her. So there is a possibility that it could be genetic and was just triggered at a certain age under certain environmental factors.

I always try and talk myself down and it does help. Usually I can control the panic attacks, like I said, but usually I have that one that's kind of nasty and I can still control it, but it turns into anxiety. I basically transform it from a panic attack into anxiety. And than I become moody or a little bit unstable. I know that it isn't a permanent feeling and that it will go away and this really does calm me down. I will look into visiting a group as from your personal experience, it seems to have helped you a lot. I can see If I have the same luck.

A couple things that I noticed also. I noticed that occasionally my panic attacks are triggered by things going on inside my body, like focusing on my heart beat, or muscle spasms. Most of the time it is nausea though. I get a pain in my stomach, or I am gassy and will have a little pocket of gas shift around inside of me and it freaks me out.

Do you smoke weed. How often do you drink? Whats your food diet like? Honestly, no judgement. These things truly factor in. How is your relationship with your girlfriend. With your parents?

reply to post by Lucid Lunacy



these seem like a very few small points in a number of possibilities that could cause these symptoms. I know of a guy that drinks and smokes(in moderation) everyday and generally eats well rounded diet(sometimes), but sometimes drinks to much, smokes too much, and doesnt eat well. he never has these symptoms. if your going to ask specific questions i suggest asking all of them, not just three.

I have been dealing with anxiety and depression for over 40 years due to combat related PTSD but off and on I'd had the same symptoms before going to Vietnam... I have been on meds for 30 years and have reduced my need for them by abstaining from things that are bad for me and cutting back on what I can't do 100% without which is sweets and cigarettes... I have gotten into taking vitamins and organic supplements I order online and they are helping me.... I need to crash or I will have a bad day tomorrow... I'd like to continue following your thread to see if I might be able to offer some suggestions.... I worked in the mental health field for a few years so I have first hand and practical understanding of this topic....