I spent over 400 dollars on all that lucinda bassette stuff and I am no better today then when I bought it.

I am so sorry you spent all that money. There are too many people out there trying to make a buck on other people's suffering. I will never buy anything that is that costly. If there was an easy fix we would all know about it. These people are despicable praying on the unfortunates. And they shouldn't be able to push any of that kinda stuff on any forum but what can you do. Buyer beware. I also have wondered about hypno on here. Has any 1 ever used him and has he asked for money?

I'm going to offer you a hard piece of advice...take control.

I understand it's a lot easier said than done but there comes a point where you'll just have to get a grip and take control of your anxiety/panic. Bank on the possibility that you will be okay (I promise you will be...no matter how intense the heart palps and fear are).

Here's a good tip I read: When you feel like you're starting to lose it...challenge your symptoms. Give them to the count of 20. Say things like, "Okay, heart. If you're going to explode you have 20 seconds to do so. If my lungs are going to collapse...you have 20 seconds." Then start counting. Take control. I can guarantee after those 20 seconds are up you'll start to realize you'll be okay after all. Your heart won't explode. Your lungs won't collapse. You'll be okay.

Courtney I appreciate that you feel that we can just take control but it's obviously a problem or none of us would be panicking and everyone would just take control. easier said than done. Do you just take control and your panic goes away? If so then you are not in a panic attack. That's the whole point. We can't control it. Would be so much easier if we could:)

I've had panic attacks that landed me in the ER. I know how it feels to lose control...but I think if you train your mind you can get a better grasp on handling the panic attacks. Nothing is physically wrong with your body...you can't die from a panic attack. There are multiple things you can do to take control though...like breathing exercises and changing your thought process.

steph is right!! im going threw mine right now and we need to remember it always goes away!! we will always think this is the one that will push us over the edge into a loony home but were still here!! you posted this awhile ago so i hope you are better now. and please pray for us all lol.

All the responses here have been excellent - I'm impressed with how much all of us have learned and worked on our problem (panic) to try to improve the symptoms - I also feel as if I have made a full-time career out of learning how to change my mindset - breathing, music "therapy", etc., etc., etc.

Courtney, I think that there are all different levels of panic attacks, and breathing through them or telling yourself you have control over them can absolutely work for some people - but my experience of a panic attack was the adrenaline rush you feel when you walk into the street and a car comes rushing at you - so there is no way I could breathe myself through this, or tell myself I am in control over it, when I am in what feels like survival mode - and when this feeling lasts for an hour or more, you are so depleted that it exhausts you when it is finally over -


There is a psychiatrist, Dr. Claire Weekes, who wrote a lot of books about panic attacks, and she used to write about imagining yourself "floating on a cloud" and letting go of bodily tension completely when you are experiencing panic. I never understood how she expected me to do this. Although I fully understood that the panic attacks were not going to hurt me, it FELT like they were - so it was very difficult to follow her suggestions. But I know these techniques can work for some people.

I want to say also, to Rachel, that I recently had a routine medical check-up, and the MD found some mild heart palpatations when she listened to my breathing. She was very unconcerned about it, although she did give me an EKG, which turned out normal - and she said that heart palpatations can be caused by so many factors, including a food you ate which you may have an allergic reaction to - especially something with caffeine in it. I had use some raw cacao powder the night before, to make hot chocolate, because I had heard it was a very healthy food - but apparently it contained too much caffeine for me to tolerate, which caused the palpatations. So you absolutely do not have to have a heart disease for there to be palpatations. She didn't hear any palps after I stopped consuming the cacao powder (cocoa.)

Rachel, you will learn so much about yourself and about life through this very agonizing process, as all of these members have shown, and as I have experienced myself. I know it's hard to take this in now, while you are suffering so much - but there will be an end to it.

I have to agree with the members who urged you to try medication. Valium took the "edge" of my attacks, but did not stop them, nor did antidepressants, although I know that both meds can help panic sufferers a great deal. I use klonopin on a regular basis, and that was the only med that knocked out the attacks.

Best wishes, Janet

Courtney if I could take control I would. They take control of me. I wake up from sleeping deep in panic attacks with my heart pounding out of control and found myself standing straight up. How I am supposed to take control of myself when I am asleep I don't know.


Anyway it's been awhile since I first posted this and had up and down times. I just found out that I have some problem with my thyroid so that could be what has made it so much worse all this time. I am also having some real health issues elsewhere in my body.I know that if it's bad new that not only do I not have the strength to hear it, but I don't have the strength to go through any treatments.

I've had palp for almost two years now and its really scary. As of right now all my face is tingling and i guess am having an attack right now even my body just got so cold and i can't stop panicking am saying in my mind that everything is goin to be okay but my heart says otherwise. Am getting fed up of this and i dont know what to do each time it happens i just sit and cry till it stops.

Great discussion. I really appreciate the honesty and rawness of the original post. I too am tormented by heart palpitations (diagnosed as PACs after a holter monitor). They had been largely absent for over a year but just kicked in a few days ago.

My plan was to just ride them out KNOWING that they are benign, but then last night I was overwhelmed. It seems as though I have the ability to trigger a palpitation just by thinking about it and last night I just got into a stream of palpitations and felt totally out of control - it felt as if I was just DROWNING in palpitations and panic. I ended up taking 1mg of Lorazepam and a beta blocker and that eventually calmed me down. First time I've taken the meds in months.

I agree with previous posters that these symptoms are our body's way of trying to tell us something. I believe I know the source of stress in my life that is causing this episode and this panic is going to force me to deal with it rather than avoiding it (as I had been).

Anyway, best of luck to everyone who has to endure these awful experiences.

"get a grip" irks the hell out of me...control maybe.. I have been in panic mode for several days now and I cannot get a grip. I too have the heart palps and everything else that goes along with panic and anxiety.....I do however practice deep breathing and distraction. Sometimes it works and then again it does not. Right now I am a bit calmer than I have been in days....the weather threw me into a panic attack. I was even waking up in the middle of the night and having to take my meds they were so bad....so now I think I will "get a grip"..oh BTW, my Therapist gave me a couple of books to read over the weekend to help take my mind off the panic....

If you drink coffee , even the smallest amount, it adds to the palpitations. I love coffee but had to give it up just to get some relief. If I drink coffee guaranteed I will get a panic attack at the slightest provocation. I've had panic attacks now for 1 year. It is the craziest thing that has ever happened to me. Who would of thought that you could cause such havoc with your mind. There should be a way to control those adrenaline surges. I have tried beta blockers but you can't take them all the time and the FDA has not approved them for anxiety. I wish there was a real expert out there to help. I've read most authors and very few have any medical background and big surprise, their programs cost huge bucks. So far I've tried Lucinda Bassett, Charles Linden, Claire Weeks and a few others. Nothing has helped.

i know exactly how u feel...but u have to stay positive and try reading...u have to keep ur mind off of it...u have to control it...or it will control u...stay strong...panic attacks are awful...but please stay strong.

additionally, anything with caffeine in it such as coffee, chocolate, certain soda soft drinks that has caffeine in it, and ice tea, should be avoided and not part of a dietary intake.