Panic Attacks (1 Viewer)

[Beanstalk]

Anyone here suffer from them?

Do you reckon the cause is chemical or psychological?

Is the cure to be found in drugs, therapy, or books like this...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0954980301/?tag=thumpedcom04-21

 

[Juno]

I used to have them a lot but went to a cognitive behavioural therapist and have been pretty much grand ever since (that was 2001).

http://www.bupaireland.ie/yourhealth/Realfactsheets/cognitive_behavioural_therapy.html

 

[Alan Remorse]

i get them pretty regularly

i dont really know how it is for other people but mine come on pretty much only in situations where i know it would be incredibly embarrassing to get one.. ie meetings in work, large lectures when i was in college etc... i guess it just stems from a lack of confidence.

i often find myself mulling over what might happen if i got a panic attack in a certain situation... for example i often envision a scenario in which i freak out and have to leave the room, and every one is left in the room saying "what the hell was that about?".. which of course sets off the panic immediately.. it's ridiculous but after years and years of thinking along these lines it's hard to just stop...

i went to see a counsellor for a few months at the start of this year, but i was just far too cynical to take anything she said seriously... she actually told me to "make friends" with my panic attacks at one point...

so yeah, i reckon for me the cause is psychological, have no idea about other people though.

 

[The Schnapper]

I've suffered with them for about 5 years now. I used to be a regular down the ER room convinced that I was having a heart attack, collapsed lung and all sorts of things. It was really bad back then and I would have the pain down my left arm and tightness in my chest. They finally admitted me to the psychiatric ward and I was then put on seroxat which is a drug to be avoided as it does more bad than good for most people. When I went off that they put me on cipramil and a tranquiliser to take when needed but looking back I don't think either should have been given to a 17 year so easily.

Two years on and off them drugs and still can't say whether they really helped me or whether I just dealt with the problems that were causing the anxiety attacks. Since then I can brush them off but they do get the better of me sometimes and they cause me stress. I just take a tranquiliser as needed these days and I found books done nothing for me down the line nor did cognitive therapy but each person is different.

What if, what if, what if, what if. The famous two words of anxiety

 

[ponderosa]

I have no poisonal experience but an ex-colleague of mine is a regular sufferer and thinks this book is the business - 'When Panic Attacks' by Aine Tubridy for sale in Easons. Apparently it explains the physiological (yer-wha) processes behind an attack, in this way helping you to control it and it works for her.

[URL="http://images.google.ie/images?q=tbn:FsuL6acUCUwwWM:http://irishshops.ie/upload/smallHU27.jpg"]http://images.google.ie/images?q=tbn:FsuL6acUCUwwWM:http://irishshops.ie/upload/smallHU27.jpg[/URL]

 

[Beanstalk]

I used to be a regular down the ER room convinced that I was having a heart attack, collapsed lung and all sorts of things. It was really bad back then and I would have the pain down my left arm and tightness in my chest.

Politapill, that sounds exactly like what my girlfriend goes through when she gets attacks...heart palpitations, tightness, and a general feeling like she's going to have a heart attack even though she knows logically that she's not.

She is on some medication to deal with them (not sure what they are called...blue tablets), but I'm not sure if they are effective, or just psycological relief/comfort...there is no fixed pattern to when she gets them except she would usually get them the next day after a night of drinking...the fact that she gets them in non-stressful situations like that would lead me to believe that its a chemical reaction, but I also think there may be psychological 'tricks/routines' that may help to diffuse them...that's why I asked about that Linden method book...wondering if it works.

 

[The Schnapper]

Politapill, that sounds exactly like what my girlfriend goes through when she gets attacks...heart palpitations, tightness, and a general feeling like she's going to have a heart attack even though she knows logically that she's not.

Although she knows logically she wont have a heart attack it's still pretty impossible to prevent them by just telling yourself that. The amount of times I could have strangled people for telling me to stop worrying so much when I had anxiety is unreal. The cure for anxiety = don't worry is as good as the cure for world hunger = just give them food

She is on some medication to deal with them (not sure what they are called...blue tablets), but I'm not sure if they are effective, or just psycological relief/comfort...there is no fixed pattern to when she gets them except she would usually get them the next day after a night of drinking...the fact that she gets them in non-stressful situations like that would lead me to believe that its a chemical reaction, but I also think there may be psychological 'tricks/routines' that may help to diffuse them...that's why I asked about that Linden method book...wondering if it works.

Are the tablets to take as needed or to take daily? Drink and drugs will bring them on alot more and I found smoking a joint used to be the worse for it during the height of it because of the paranoia it caused. How long has she been taking the medication and is she aware of the breathing techniques used to calm her during an attack? Alot of the pins and needles in the arms and tightness of the chest is caused from carbon minoxide leaving your body at a rapid rate due to panting and panicing so breathing into a bag can help alot with that.

 

[Lord Damian]

...there is no fixed pattern to when she gets them except she would usually get them the next day after a night of drinking...

you gotta make friends with your hangover.

i got a few of these back in the day after particularly epic sessions. simple solution: stop drinking as much.

 

[Space]

you gotta make friends with your hangover.

i got a few of these back in the day after particularly epic sessions. simple solution: stop drinking as much.

I've made very good friends with my hangovers. These days I enjoy them almost as much as the night out.

 

[P. Littbarski]

i used to suffer from them frequently in my early twenties...really bad ones where, like politapill, I would end up convincing family members and friends that i was dying and that they had to take me to AE. it was very distresing physically and mentally (not only on myself). once that adrenalin kicks in and your mental processes are utterly overwhelmed by the completely illogical yet totally consuming "you ARE going to die now" frame of mind you could forget trying to reason with me...it was quiet a ride.

I don't think i ever conscioulsy worked out why i starting getting them, but thankfully i don't get them anymore. i do get moments of anxiety which i am now able to partly control (and therefore prevent from snowballing into a full blown panic attack). i started reading about panic attacks, what physically happens etc. and this helped enormously, and once i realised that many people (including friends) get panic attacks i was no longer afraid to talk about it.

 

[Beanstalk]

Are the tablets to take as needed or to take daily?

How long has she been taking the medication and is she aware of the breathing techniques used to calm her during an attack?

She takes them everyday whether she needs them or not...I'm not convinced they do anything, and she's not sure either...but she associated taking them with trying to relieve the attacks so its hard to get her to let go of them...but her attacks can go on hours after taking the pills so I'm not convinced that they're effective.

She's been taking the mediaction for about 2 years...longer than is recommended but she's scared of not having them and I understand this...she's addicted to the idea of the pills rather than a chemical need.

 

[The Schnapper]

i used to suffer from them frequently in my early twenties...really bad ones where, like politapill, I would end up convincing family members and friends that i was dying and that they had to take me to AE. it was very distresing physically and mentally (not only on myself). once that adrenalin kicks in and your mental processes are utterly overwhelmed by the completely illogical yet totally consuming "you ARE going to die now" frame of mind you could forget trying to reason with me...it was quiet a ride.

Yeah you go into fight or flight mode and it's very distressing because you genuinely fear that every breath is the last. You look insane to others around you and it can be embaressing afterwards!

 

[krystal]

it's interesting, the auld panic attack thing. I went through a phase in my early 20's of having them too. I've been doing a lot of reading about panic and anxiety recently. There are actually a group of anxiety related disorders, of which panic disorder is one. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is another. I think I possibly have that - it's horrible. I worry and worry and worry about small things for more than a year at a time, above and beyond the amount of 'normal worry' they'd justify. I can't stop the worry, the imagining of doomladen scenarios, I am anxious and on edge, I constantly think something bad is just about to happen and I feel sick with fear. Medication keeps the worst of the heebie jeebies down but I still feel uneasy a lot of the time. Even though experience has taught me the things I worry about the most actually never happen, it's no fun living through an episode of it. And it does go away eventually too, I know that as well.

Panic attacks can be brought on by something as simple as not breating properly - your breathing goes out of whack, you have a panic. Breathing seems to be really key in controlling them. CBT helps with panicking too, but I don't quite know what to do about my suspected GAD because no one will listen to me when I try to articulate it, so I don't feel I'm getting the right help for it currently. I keep being told it's to do with a deep seated issue I have but actually, while that could be part of it, anxiety, depression and panic are things that you can inherit too, or develop for no specific reason.

 

[The Schnapper]

She takes them everyday whether she needs them or not...I'm not convinced they do anything, and she's not sure either...but she associated taking them with trying to relieve the attacks so its hard to get her to let go of them...but her attacks can go on hours after taking the pills so I'm not convinced that they're effective.

She's been taking the mediaction for about 2 years...longer than is recommended but she's scared of not having them and I understand this...she's addicted to the idea of the pills rather than a chemical need.

If it's a tablet to calm her down I would imagine it's diazepam(valium) if it's blue and it's not good to be taking these on such a regular basis. People get stuck on them and they may aswell be drinking to solve the problem. Xanax is a cleaner tranquiliser so she should look at changing over if it is diazepam shes taking.

Encourage her to go to the gym and do something good for her body as this helps alot. When I excercised it allowed me to tell myself im healthy and I couldnt possibly be having a heart attack.

 

[krystal]

Yeah you go into fight or flight mode and it's very distressing because you genuinely fear that every breath is the last. You look insane to others around you and it can be embaressing afterwards!

yeah, absolutely, and the thing about fight or flight is that it's a primeval response our ancestors needed to help them survive. We're not being pursued by sabre toothed tigers and don't really need that level of response, and so it's terrifying to have your body saturated with adrenaline and the associated terror that goes with it. It's an evolutionary ding we could probably do without.

 

[krystal]

Encourage her to go to the gym and do something good for her body as this helps alot. When I excercised it allowed me to tell myself im healthy and I couldnt possibly be having a heart attack.

brilliant idea - I joined a gym too on doctors advice and it's been great. It helps me sleep better and I feel good that I am exercising and doing something positive. I actually can't stress how beneficial it's been.

 

[c0De_n1NjA]

i guess it just stems from a lack of confidence.

Get Confident, stupid!

 

[Lord Damian]

We're not being pursued by sabre toothed tigers...

ahh, but you ARE being pursued by the Celtic Tiger. seriously, modern life, with its fancy doodads and economic worries and whatnot - i think that contributes heavily to this general sense of impending doom that a lot of people have.

 

[c0De_n1NjA]

It's an evolutionary ding we could probably do without.

yeah, lets lose the panic attacks and get back our tails.

 

[P. Littbarski]

She takes them everyday whether she needs them or not...I'm not convinced they do anything, and she's not sure either...but she associated taking them with trying to relieve the attacks so its hard to get her to let go of them...but her attacks can go on hours after taking the pills so I'm not convinced that they're effective.

She's been taking the mediaction for about 2 years...longer than is recommended but she's scared of not having them and I understand this...she's addicted to the idea of the pills rather than a chemical need.

small piece of advice (if you havent already done so) would be to start encouraging her to read up about panic attacks, to understand the different causes and effects, mechanisms of what happens *under the hood* so to speak. i devoured a lot of material on the topic which looked at it from various different viewpoints and it really helped demystify it for me. once i understood what was happening i was no longer as intimidated and scared shitless by them when they were happening...this is going to sound naff but i found i had a weapon (ie. logic and knowledge) to fight the enemy (ie. anxiety which i saw as an unknown/illogical entity)...