its going to be okay! think good positive thoughts and as soon as u get bad thoughts DELETE them...i understand getting them at work as do i. it sucks but its not permant.

Do you work in a customer service based field?

Try the foot tapping, the fingers pushing against a hard surface, and take a moment to have a drink.

Yes I work at a bank as a member rep. So I am at my desk and helping people all the time. When I get the panic attacks it's hard because I have people at all times here.

Is there anyone at work you can confide in who can talk you down from the trees when you need it? I had a period of time when I was having panic at work and I wouldn't have made it without the help of a co-worker. I told him when I was having a panic attack and would have him tell me everything was going to be okay and he was there for me. I also started using prayer beads and would either pray in my mind or just hold and squeeze them (more helpful if you're not the praying kind). They're my security blanket even now. By the way, my panic attacks are like yours, I feel like I'm going crazy, like I'm losing control and I just want to RUN! Literally a flight response. :) Anyway, I hope you have a better day tomorrow! Have a relaxing evening.

Danimommy

I've had anxiety attacks at work too, I work at the bakery section at the grocery store and I'm always there talking to people and taking their cake orders. Then out of nowhere I would have difficulty breathing and I'd start to feel like I'm suffocating because I cant seem to take a big enough breath. But I can't cant take big breaths in front of the customers because it'll look rude, as if I'm sighing because I'm fed up with them or something, but I'm not. I've noticed though, rude customers sometimes trigger my attacks, also feeling like I can't perform a particular task well enough would trigger it too. Not living up to how people (like my boss) view me would trigger it too. Theres just too many triggers.

I hope my story helps you feel like you're not alone. I hope my story will comfort you too because maybe we're in the same situation. God bless.

Hi

I think the more you fear them the worse they get. Try to accept your going to having one and tell yourself im going to wait this out, your not going to upset me, I have felt this all before its nothing new, i'm ok and I will be ok.

Your not going crazy. Your having a very normal body reaction to fear however its at the wrong place at the wrong time and try to tell your body this.

X

As someone else said, having someone talk to you during this time helps. If you are a music lover, maybe going to the bathroom to listen to favorite songs on your MP3 player can help. I am going to place my favorite spiritual quotes and words of encouragement on index cards, and place them in a convenient place. God bless you as you're going through.

If your attacks are this consistent, I would see about getting meds. You have never mentioned anything about medications that I can recall in your posts. If you can get a low dose Rx for Xanax or some other mild tranquilizer, then you might feel a lot more comfortable at work. As you proceed to find out your trigger and take steps to change it, you can probably wean yourself off of the meds. In my experience, this is all a change in brain chemistry and there is not much short of hyperventilating in paper bags and such to give immediate relief, and that does not sound like something you can do in a bank!

THANK YOU ALL !!! FOR THE RESPONSES

@ mideyebrow thank you for the advice. i have tried tapping my legfoot but that sometimes makes it worse.

@danimommy I do have someone here at work that I can confide ina nd she has been VERY HELPFUL when I get my panic attacks. She is not always here though. She is a lead teller so she tends to be a meetings from time to time but she is definitely the one that i most feel comfortable with. I also try and call my husband everytime I get one so he can talk me down but he is in sales and on the floor most of the time.

@Davis88 after I read your post i noticed that my panic attack yesterday came right after i had to handle a very rude memebr. He was being really nasty and trying to belittle me and that was getting me upset. 10 minutes after he left was when i experienced my panic attack. Maybe that is a trigger.

@RoshQ thanks for the post. i will try my hardest to think that way. i am taking advice from all you guys and my psychologist to try different ways to be able to cope with all this.

@serinity7 I do love music and I use that when i am at home or in a car and have a panic attack. my mother in law said to just blast the music and sing along to it to try and get my mind of the panic attack.

@travisbickle Hey thanks for the post. i do take meds. they started me on 50 mg of Zoloft and .5 of Klonopin. the Zoloft did nothing for me unfortunately. i took it for almost 1 month and my anxiety was worse. i did not sleep AT ALL. In 1 whole weel I would get maybe a total of 25 hours of sleep. So they just recently swithced my meds. I am now taking Lexapro and Klonopin 1mg. I know the meds will help, but i am taking meds at this point because i am desperate not because i wanted them. i try and hold off on the Klonopin as long as possible because i want to be able to not depend on meds.

Well, as I had posted on the site elsewhere, Zoloft did exactly the same for me, nothing. I think there are some people it just doesn't metabolize the desired effect in. I have a script for Xanax (1mg dosages 2x daily), and I only take them when I absolutely need them, but it does help immensely in social situations. I know if I worked with the publicI would take a full dose before I even got in the door. That is how much I suffer from PA, at present, anyway.
I think the trick is to avoid stress and caffeine as much as possible. Those are my triggers into Panic states.
Good luck, and I hope you can get it sorted out. It is a real bugger this Panic stuff, isn't it?