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...
Currently I am getting sick and everytime I feel a sharp pain or get woozy I think I am going to die. Nothing fun like getting the flu and feeling horrible and then getting a panic attack on top of it. My normal response to strange ill feelings should be to ignore it and know it won't hurt me because it is just getting sick. But my problem is I have battled many nasty medical conditions and sometimes my health is really in danger so I cannot distinguish between the two.
How does one figure out if they are really ill and if they are only having a panic attack?
The reason I am this way is the following:
1. 8 years of severe pain from Ulcerative Colitis
2. Almost died from UC, doctors removed my large intestine just in time before it ruptured. Told me if I didn't have the surgery I would die in 24 hours.
3. After the surgery, doctors messed up the pain meds after taking out my large intestine and I had NO pain meds after I woke up from surgery. Woke up screaming and passed out from pain.
4. Had 2 blood clots hit my lungs and almost kill me. Found out I have factor V genetic mutation and have to be on life time blood thinners.
5. After that my small intestine burst through my abdominal wall and twisted in a knot, forcing me into another emergency surgery.
6. Doctors messed the pain meds again and I woke up with my chest on fire, passed out from pain again.
7. Went home, got worse, went back to hospital. Nurse game me blood plasma too fast and I had a bad reaction where throat closed and I couldn't breath and I started to black out. All I remember is a doctor rushing in yelling for me to stay with them.
During all of this family didn't believe me, girlfriends dumped me, doctors gave me the run around. Boss threatened to fire me if I didn't come to work and that he would take my medical insurance away. Lost my job eventually, dropped out of school and failed a ton of classes. Applied for Social Security twice and have gotten rejected both times, even with help of a lawyer.
I take Celexa but is causes my muscles to shake and spasm anything over 20 miligrams a day and I can't breath right, tried going off of it and I lose touch with reality. If i go back on it I can kinda function. I take Xanax rarely as my doctor thinks I will abuse it, even though I never have. She at least gives me .5 miligram 1 time a day for emergency use.
The last 13 years of my life have been a living hell, and eveytime I think I have finally broken through, I get another medical condition and a set back. I am amazed after reading all of this I just wrote that I am still here. I know others have been through worse, but I have no idea how they deal with it. I just keep trying and trying and hope there is a light at the end of all this.
How does one figure out if they are really ill and if they are only having a panic attack?
The reason I am this way is the following:
1. 8 years of severe pain from Ulcerative Colitis
2. Almost died from UC, doctors removed my large intestine just in time before it ruptured. Told me if I didn't have the surgery I would die in 24 hours.
3. After the surgery, doctors messed up the pain meds after taking out my large intestine and I had NO pain meds after I woke up from surgery. Woke up screaming and passed out from pain.
4. Had 2 blood clots hit my lungs and almost kill me. Found out I have factor V genetic mutation and have to be on life time blood thinners.
5. After that my small intestine burst through my abdominal wall and twisted in a knot, forcing me into another emergency surgery.
6. Doctors messed the pain meds again and I woke up with my chest on fire, passed out from pain again.
7. Went home, got worse, went back to hospital. Nurse game me blood plasma too fast and I had a bad reaction where throat closed and I couldn't breath and I started to black out. All I remember is a doctor rushing in yelling for me to stay with them.
During all of this family didn't believe me, girlfriends dumped me, doctors gave me the run around. Boss threatened to fire me if I didn't come to work and that he would take my medical insurance away. Lost my job eventually, dropped out of school and failed a ton of classes. Applied for Social Security twice and have gotten rejected both times, even with help of a lawyer.
I take Celexa but is causes my muscles to shake and spasm anything over 20 miligrams a day and I can't breath right, tried going off of it and I lose touch with reality. If i go back on it I can kinda function. I take Xanax rarely as my doctor thinks I will abuse it, even though I never have. She at least gives me .5 miligram 1 time a day for emergency use.
The last 13 years of my life have been a living hell, and eveytime I think I have finally broken through, I get another medical condition and a set back. I am amazed after reading all of this I just wrote that I am still here. I know others have been through worse, but I have no idea how they deal with it. I just keep trying and trying and hope there is a light at the end of all this.
After reading all you have been through I am not left wondering why you have anxiety and panic. Anxiety is the fight or flight reaction in the body. A reaction that kicks in when we find our lives are in danger and your life was definitely in danger.
I also had a difficult time trying to convince myself that the scary sensations in my body were not a real medical problem. I had a medical issue when I was 11/12 that went untreated and I was very sick. I could not tell anyone that I was so sick though, and it much pain, because then I would have had to tell that I was being sexually abused. It took me a few years of therapy to work on this issue. Now, when I get a scary sensation in my body (i.e. I can't breath, my tongue is swelling, throat closing) I tell myself that I can breath and that I am a very healthy person. Now, I realize this will not work for everyone, but seeing a therapist may help you find what WILL work for you.
Here is a website I used during my healing process www.anxietycoach.com. Hopefully it helps you with the anxiety.
Sending you healing energy.
Take care
You are far from alone my friend.
many of us are helped by deep slow breathing as it calms us
I never went to a real EMDR person because the brochure I got looked like BS, but I did research it and since it is helping our vets with PTSD it might be worth a shot. Those soldiers have been through hell and back, if it can help them with PTSD maybe it can help me. I have tried the EMDR free videos on youtube, they were relaxing and distracting at least.
I am a little more hopeful today as sometimes I can get through the day and feel semi normal. A lot of the panic is coming on because I am doing too much right now. School overload, poor health, poor lifestyle (not sleeping properly or too much), not nearly enough relaxation,
Time to focus on making those changes that help, and cut out the stuff that I take too seriously that causes stress. The difference between an A and B in school at this point doesn't really matter, its college. I get a degree and it doesn't have the C+ I got in Stats II stapled to the front of my degree LOL. Just have to keep going and enjoy the times when I feel good.
I have been attempting the panic away program and it really has done wonders, but as soon as I relax and stop practicing it the panic comes back. Also for anyone that googles the panic away program I do not recommend "buying" it or do I have anything to do with them. I was just pulling out my hair one night and stumbled upon the sales pitch. I didn't buy it because I thought it was another company trying to take advantage of us people that have panic attacks so they can make a profit. So I went and "borrowed" a copy from a "friend" and read the short book. It was worth the read. Honestly for alot of us anything is worth a shot just to get some peace.
always remember that a largish dose of any valium type pills dissolved under tongue when a panic attack starts will reduce or stop it
some refuse to do this , raising the question of do they enjoy their panic attacks?
Right now I am working on the approach to panic attacks where one actually wills them to be worse and ask for more. When the panic attack happens I ask it to do its worst, cause my heart to race faster and my throat to get tighter. I demand it to try and crush me. I picture the panic as a goof large footed cartoon character and I jump on its back and ride it around while it tries to throw me off. If I fall I get right back on. I go with the panic attack because the painc attack cannot hurt me. These are just sensations not real threats. Instead of fighting the river everyday, I am swimming along with it. Panic attacks spiral out of control based on our thinking things are going to happen. Fighting them and using techniques to battle them do help but are just that "fighting" I don't want to fight them everyday. When they happen I want them to carry me to the destination of them being over and get back to what I was doing.
An example I can use is long ago I put myself into a situation that people are normally very sensitive to. Lots of people would be shocked to happy to be in that situation. I kept putting myself in that situation over and over. I went along with everything it had to offer and eventually it no longer effected me like it did other people. It became common place and my mind adapted on its own. I experienced it and accepted it and the shock from it went away.
Another example is the first day of work at a new job. People like us, will be ON EDGE. We want to get it all right. We have a new environment and new people and possible new triggers and it is scarey. But getting through the first day, week, month... makes that job less scarey. The people become common place. The problems of the day eventually become common and have simple solutions. We adapt and make new homes and friendships.
What I am getting it is there really is something to be said for going with the flow of things. We are all on the fiver that is life and the river has its rapids and calms. Instead of paddling up stream against the currents, I wish to let the river take me to the calms and I paddle along with it to get there faster.