Panic Attacks Support Group
A panic attack is a period of intense fear or discomfort, typically with an abrupt onset and usually lasting no more than thirty minutes. Symptoms include trembling, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, sweating, nausea, dizziness, hyperventilation, and sensations of choking or smothering. Panic attacks can be very sudden, appear to be unprovoked, and are often...
I am at rock bottom. My anxiety and panics are worse now then they ever have been. Existing is just getting to be too much for me to do. All I am doing every second, and even in my sleep, is obsessing and panicking. My mind races constantly with worries. I just don't think I can last like this for much longer. Even though it was bad before I had my good days or at least I would have good hours, but now it is constant and never ending. This is not living, this is just existing to be miserable and in pain. There is no joy or relief anymore.
I am constantly worried about my health. You name it I worry about it. My two major things are the constant feeling of not being able to get enough air in or like I am suffocating. I am also constantly worrying about my heart. I even dream of it. There is no relief ever! I just want my brain to stop! I want to stop worrying, to stop panicking, to stop obsessing, but it will not let me even get a moment of relief. I am so tired.I am so scared. I have nowhere to turn and nowhere to go.
I have just gone through a scare with a bowel infection and went through lots of test with that and even though I had all sorts of test and they knew exactly what my problem is a little voice in the back is always saying "what if they were wrong?", " what if they missed something?". I have the constant feeling of doom. Like any moment I am going to drop dead from a undiagnosed heart condition or that they missed cancer somewhere and by the time they find it , it will be too late. Oh my God it's too much. I just can't do this anymore.
I am constantly worried about my health. You name it I worry about it. My two major things are the constant feeling of not being able to get enough air in or like I am suffocating. I am also constantly worrying about my heart. I even dream of it. There is no relief ever! I just want my brain to stop! I want to stop worrying, to stop panicking, to stop obsessing, but it will not let me even get a moment of relief. I am so tired.I am so scared. I have nowhere to turn and nowhere to go.
I have just gone through a scare with a bowel infection and went through lots of test with that and even though I had all sorts of test and they knew exactly what my problem is a little voice in the back is always saying "what if they were wrong?", " what if they missed something?". I have the constant feeling of doom. Like any moment I am going to drop dead from a undiagnosed heart condition or that they missed cancer somewhere and by the time they find it , it will be too late. Oh my God it's too much. I just can't do this anymore.
I am so sorry to read your words. I know that this can be hell on earth and you seem to be right in the middle of it.
What do you need?
Are you seeing a good doctor?
Have you had any success with medication?
Are you doing deep breathing exercises?
Are you getting emotional support from family and friends?
I truly hope that you experience some relief, that you can sleep well, move well, breathe well and begin to discover the peace that innately part of your self.
i'm sorry to hear your going through a rough time. I know how much it sucks. I've had panic attacks and PTSD for seven years now. Just know you are never alone. All of us, at some point have hit rock bottom. But I can tell your a strong woman and you will get through this.
Have you tried any medication? I am currently taking medication but I am also trying Neuro and bio-feedback, Bach flowers, and hypnosis through a neuro-psychologist. I don't know if that would be of any help. In addition to going into her office, I can also do the treatments virtual on my computer, so If you did not want to leave your house you wouldn't have to. I hope your feeling better today. If you have any questions feel free to message me.
*always have hope*
-Kristin
Try deep breathing for the lack of air / chest... trust if the doctor says that your heart is ok that it is. TRY to reason with yourself, "if the doctor says it's fine, it is. This is going to pass. OBVIOUSLY I am going to feel suffacted and like my heart is wiggling out of my chest if I focus on it all the time." When I couldn't sleep because I thought my heart was broke, I'd recite something or count (pick a high #). Good luck! Let us know what's up. I am still working on my panic, I have that constant nag that somethng bad is happening but I am trying to work through it (without drugs) so I can feel like me again:)
I feel more then ever like I just can't cope with this. It feels like my fear and worries are like a thousand bees just rampaging around my brain. I take clonazepam but I am reluctant to take it even though if I take enough I can find some relief.
if you've had any antibiotic treatment or recently gave birth and then your anxiety got worse then this is VERY indicative of a candida infection, which is very similar to the symptoms of panic disorder.
when i first started getting panic attacks i had severe agoraphobia and penetrating thought obsessions that left me house bound for a week. i sought alprazolam, but this only made me feel really depressed while suppressing the panic. went to see a doctor and nothing came up abnormal. i ordered an anti anxiety nutritional formula (b vitamins, amino acids, etc) and this IMMEDIATELY made me feel like myself again, but only temporarily. while the obsessions, panic attacks were alleviated upon administering this formula i still had extreme shortness of breath all the time, chest pain, and parasthesia, dizziness, weakness, aches and pains. i recently had seen a nutritionist, he conducted some tests and found out that i suffer from a candida/ parasite infection, heavy metal build up, severe hypoglycemia, and severe out-of-balance hormonal rhythm, all of which could account for all of my symptoms by themselves. Considering the copious amounts of research i have done, these symptoms are being caused by toxins, especially neurotoxins, giving you the panic and obsessions. as far as shortness of breath is concerned this can be caused by toxins invading pulmonary tissue and causing inflammation. the fact that you feel these sensations is because something is causing them. I am not like everyone else here. i am dedicated to finding the underlying cause to these peculiar symptomatic manifestations. It's not all in your head! At this point doctors have done all they can do to help, it's time to go the nutritional route. You WILL find relief if you correct imbalances that are found through nutritional testing. I recommend starting by reading the book: "Depression Free Naturally" written by a doctor in nutrition and contains many symptomatic questionnaires that point you in the right direction for proper testing. and it also contains nutritional formulas for correcting these various imbalances.
i am being treated right now for a severe candida overgrowth and its been a tough journey considering ive been getting really bad die off reactions (symptoms worsen before getting better) as i slowly rid the years of candida build up in my intestines. symptoms come and go but the most severe are gone (agoraphobia, obsessions, severe panic). i also suggest this website which contains the complete list of symptoms of candida: www.candidafree.net
candida and "intestinal dysbiosis" are one of the most underdiagnosed causes of diseases and mental problems. and doctors disregard it even exists! I joined this support group because i feel i might offer a completely different perspective on how to get better and even eliminate panic. the funny thing is, is that most people i talk to that have panic/ anxiety/ and depression problems also have IBS, IBD, celiacs, recurring skin eruptions (ie psoriasis, eczema, athletes foot, acne), hypoglycemia, diabetes, ADD, fybromyalgia, food allergies, MCS syndrome, and one or more, if even, all of theses problems mentioned, all of which are caused by an underlying chronic infection.
sure, cognitive and behavioral therapy could help, but this only gave me the tools to learn how to cope with panic attacks/ anxiety. it wasn't until i started treating it nutritionally that things started to become easier and i began to have hope.
i don't believe everyone in this support group has exactly what i have but i DO believe they have something very similar.
by all means do not take drugs to treat this if you can. only use them to alleviate symptoms when they become unbearable, mean while, do your research to find out the underlying problem, which there is!
in good health,
L1
-Victoria
Last year, I really thought I was going crazy. I had such terrible panic attacks, I didn't sleep for 3 days. Then, I got so desperate, I took 2 benadryls to sleep then I freaked out bc I felt like I couldn't breathe. That night, I drive to 3 different emergency rooms begging someone to help me. The last doctor just got annoyed and told me to go home and take an ambien and Xanax. I did and finally slept a little. Following that, I literally stayed at home for a month having waves of panic for a month. I was praying, sleeping with my bible and listening to meditation CDs all day. I was going to take a leave from work. I teach Kindergarten and I was such a zombie. My son was also only 3 at the time. Finally, I saw how depressed and sad my husband and son were and after trying to manage this on my own for 5 years, I decided to take meds for me and my family. I never wanted to take it bc I was so afraid it would make it worse, side effects... but then I was sooo desperate! When I first started taking meds (lexapro) I called my psychiatrist everyday thinking I was going crazy from the side effects. I was also taking Xanax while my body adjusted. I had great support from a couple of co-workers that havebeen through the same thing. I couldn't of done it without them and my husband. Anyways, I did slowly start to feel better and increased the dose. I still have panic attacks but not as bad and not as frequently. My panic attacks are all related to health issues.
I also tried acupuncture and meditation and have been in therapy and praying.
It really sucks and is terrible but you can and will get through it!
It's a daily choice to try! I hope my story helps you to truely know you are not alone!
i have them too,going on almost 5 years every night just about based on the little bit of info ive been able to gather the panic or anxiety attacks are at least partly, due to addrenaline being out of whack and trigger addrenaline and the" fight or flight response"wikipedia could explain it better than me but just a thought
the fight or flight response is "designed" to signal to your brain or the brain signals to the body however that works
that you are in a life or death situational though in our case(people with this disorder)it can go off when we are not even in danger,but the effect is the same anyway my point i was hopeing made sense was
your sense of being in danger,of these being signs of a more serious illness exc could whell be just panic attacks(ofcoarse im not a doctor)just based on my expieriance they can be extremely intense and cause all kindsof bizarre and very real pains in the body ive been to the emergency room twice thinking i was having a heart attack and gotten a chest x-ray,none of those found anything i have begun drinking frozen fruit smoothies i try to drink them every day it seems to help i sincerely hope you feel better
take care
There is much good advice here, including getting a thorough medical check-up (especially to rule-out hypoglycemia and thyroid problems) and relying on God. I learned so much about leaning on God from my panic attacks.
I also want to let you know that, although I had constant panic attacks for two decades, and for the first six months of having them, could not even sit down, they were so severe - there was nothing medically wrong with me besides hypoglycemia and a hormonal inbalance, which are not life-threatening conditions. So please do not add to your panic by worrying about medical conditions you may have. Someone mentioned Claire Weekes' book - she is good to read concerning this - about how worrying about the panic can make the panic escalate, and it's like an endless cycle of panic - she teaches you how to short-circuit the attacks with mental imagery - I found it worked to some extent for me, but was not the ultimate answer. The solution, for me, came with medication - namely, klonopin. But everyone has their own path to recovery from this.
Best wishes, Janet