Oh I hear ya on that one . I never understood it either but i keep trying to "accept" them......... doubt i ever will.

Try to get some over the counter calming things online. like pure tranquility liquid is good, or some ppl like rescue remedy .....lots you can get online tho !!!

I think everyone approaches this differently. For me I got to the point where I would say "Go ahead and do what you want Panic. Go ahead and kill me if that's what you want to do". It was when I switched my thinking from fighting the panic to letting it do what it wanted to do that it reduced.

Claire Weekes was a pioneer is helping people with anxiety and panic. Her approach was to tell people to FLOAT through the panic. On the AnxietyCoach website http://www.anxietycoach.com/claire-weekes.html he explains this very well by comparing it to floating in water. I believe Claire (or maybe someone else I came across) compared it to floating on clouds.

It really is just a matter of letting go, relaxing all your muscles and allowing panic to do what it wants to do - while remembering that a panic attack has NEVER killed you or hurt you. It is not easy at all and it took me some time to get to a point where I could do it successfully.

Keep practicing it and it will become easier and easier.

Take care

Oh dear, you're fainting? Have you gone to the hospital yet? Do the attacks come suddenly and out of the blue?

Sometimes I get mad at myself for not fighting. I just take my 1mg and go to bed. What is pure tranquility liquid? Also, it's so hard to be real and believe that you won't die of heart failure during a full blown attack. It's so silly. Until you have one. Grrrrrrrrr!

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Sammy do you take the tranquility liquid only when you want to sleep? Because I heard that knocks you out pretty fast. Can you take it when you're having an attack during the day?

Hi Healmetoday. I do faint sometimes, and other times I don't. I don't know why. No, I have not gone to a hospital yet. Yes, these attacks do come completely out of nowhere. It is not like what other people have written, like "I was worrying all day and then at night the attack hit me." I'll be doing something normal like typing on my computer or reading a book and one attack will just hit me.

Yep I have had one a few attacks like that. I have had them typing in my books, which is relaxing and enjoyable. I have had them driving, again something I find relaxing and enjoyable. I have had them visiting with a friend, and I wasn't stressed or anxious at all before it hit.
I do fight mine! I fight them like crazy because the places my brain goes when that fear gripes me is horrible. The feelings and images and thoughts stay with me for days if I let the attack ride out. So, I do not ride them out.
As soon as my very first sign of an attack starts which is almost always tingling in my scalp or warm full ears, I stop what I am doing and begin taking deep breaths to activate the calm center of the brain. I just keep doing the breathing and concentrating on just my breath going in and out till it passes. Sometimes I have to block thoughts. I generally start visualizing an ocean or lake since I love water and find it calming. This is what works for me and everyone has to find what works for them.
Now I haven't had a panic attack past the first sign in awhile. I almost had one the other night, but was able to calm it by just catching it really quick and breathing exercises while talking to a wonderful friend. I am doing a lot of things to help battle my anxiety/depression so maybe those are also helping.
Either way, I do not agree that riding them out is best for everyone. I know the therapists don't all even agree on that. Have you seen anyone for these? Not the hospital but a general practitioner or therapist?

I have panic attacks and nightmares so I know what you're going through. I try reading psalm 23 and i find that gives me temporary relief from my panic and slows down my mind so i can see what's going on around me. when i get into a panic attack it's like im watching a different movie than what's going on around me. a priest was telling me people with anxiety are more creative because of their imagination so they should read, write, draw, decorate, and or design so that they feel in control of their sickness and they get special favours from God because of the cross of illness they bear...i think u get a panic attack when you get really bored with something although that's not what you see when it happens, so i guess being thankful for the present moment is important...my mom always says be more active, so i wonder if lethargy is a trigger...

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll do some of things you all have suggested and see if it does any better than what I normally do. I've found, at least for myself, that fighting it does lessen the severity of them. If I just sit there and let it do what it wants to me, that's when it gets real bad, and I mean real bad.

Crispy I have not gone to a regular doctor for these. I did go to a therapist for a year, but after an entire year of therapy the attacks did not get any better, in fact, they had gotten worse. And since I don't have health insurance it was costing me a fortune to go there, and after a year and no results I just couldn't keep spending that type of money. It really made me mad at myself because I've read that therapy has a 80% improvement rate for panic attacks. So I have to be all difficult and be in that 20% that don't see nothing.