The only thing that worked for me was low dose Xanax. It really helped me feel better and get my life back. I only took them as needed. Eventually, I carried them around with me saying "they are there if I need them." I was finally able to "talk myself down" and calm myself down and I was panic attack free for almost a year! Stress kicked in and hormones and I had a few panic attacks recently, but they were short and I did not have to take a Xanax. There is a generic form of Xanax which is relatively inexpensive. Good luck!

Therapy out of pocket had to be expensive and honestly it depends on the therapist you get, but mostly they are just reciting information from other books. They cannot cure you, they are only sounding boards trying to get you to discover your triggers or teach meditation or distraction methods to combat panic. (I am sure you have already discovered this by now)

First, I would suggest getting the Panic Attack workbook by David Carbonell.

http://www.amazon.com/Panic-Attacks-Workbook-Program-Beating/dp/1569754152/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412074768&sr=1-1&keywords=david+carbonell

Just a link to amazon, feel free to go grab it at your local book store.

This book deals with exposure therapy and is basically a paper version of a good therapist. It is Under 20 bucks and a lot cheaper than therapy.

Next, I want to say I am damn proud of you for still holding onto your job AND school while dealing with this. Many of us have not been able to do so. Personally I could not find help fast enough or at least good help until LONG after I lost years of my life to panic. So again I want to say GOOD JOB for doing something so hard. I am serious about the praise, something many of us do not get from our loved ones, friends, or anyone. IF they had to live with this affliction each day, only then would they understand.

Next, you said you have no medical insurance. The first thing I always advise people to do is get blood tests to see if you are lacking in some area that could be causing the instability of panic. Suggestion, Obamacare (which I won't rant about here) has opened up a market through the government where you can buy health insurance on your own. Yes it is expensive, but if you can gather together enough to get basic blood work done and see a psychiatrist (with a sliding scale) you may be able to get some type of benzo like valium or xanax. These drugs are not cures but will take some of the pressure off while you look for your triggers (what is casing the attacks) and give you some breathing room.

Now if you cannot afford medical insurance don't stop there, keep going.

I use the following youtube video to sleep to, it is 8 hours long and after I wake up from it I feel better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqLzR7gLQmw

Sleep hypnosis is not for everyone and this one deals with depression and anxiety so don't let the title fool you.

Next, EMDR videos or therapy. These sessions run 100-150 dollars a session. I have not gotten to go to one yet, BUT this is a STRONG treatment used for PTSD soldiers returning from war that the government and US service men and women have been having success with. Basically it is designed (this is my understanding of it) to use rapid eye movement to replace triggers for panic with different thoughts. You can find these videos online and even find ways to put them on your smartphone for outside use for free. The people that offer this treatment are professionals, with masters degrees, and are licensed by the international board for EMDR. (I thought this was all BS the first time I picked up a EMDR brochure, but the research is out there and seems legit.) I will be doing this as soon as I am finished getting 2 more tests out of the way.

Next, weight and diet, exercise, nutrition. I personally allowed panic to shut me down and my own personal coping method was to shovel food at it, this only made it worse in the end. Advice only, cut all the fast foods and high sugar products. I personally believe a lot of the added chemicals to our food supply contribute to many of our health conditions and panic. Now I am not saying go all new age, organic, and grow hippie hair, I am just saying cleaning up diet can help. Cutting nicotine, caffeine, and high amounts of sugar may weaken panic attacks. BUT do not cut them all at once or you shock the system and have more panic. Gradual reduction ONLY.

I am again only offering advice and ideas, trying to give you ones that you can do now and some that do cost money, but might be worth a try.

Below is a link to FREE EMDR "like" video on youtube that might help. It is different than meditation, the eye movement and focus seems to help in a different way than meditation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5IRwMqZSMg

Another free idea is to look for a panic attack support group. Sharing and expression what is going on inside of us and how it effects our lives is important to recovery. GET OUT THE EMOTIONS, just like you do here. If there is not one near you, just keep coming on here and express yourself. Rant away if you need to, and ignore the trolls. We live the same day to day you are living when it comes to panic attacks, we are here for you and understand you. You are not alone.

I have only been having panic attacks for 8 years now, some days are better than others. Some days I take valium, other days I am fine. Some days I need to pull over to the side of the road while driving and just stop. Some days I cannot be in a crowd, but some days I can. Some days I cannot set a single foot outside my house and feel like I am going to die, other days I can jump in my car alone and go do whatever I need to get done panic free. WHY NOT EVERYDAY ??? There is nothing chemically wrong with me that doctors have found, I know I am not insane and I am still very intelligent (though my grammar is bad LOL and I just used LOL)... but seriously panic attacks are in our heads due to events and triggers from our life.

Examples: My triggers

1. Embarrassment, I feel like I am going to vomit when I am stuck some place like a crowd or a meeting. The FEAR of that embarrassment triggers the panic attack and increases the nausea, which makes me feel even worse and makes my fight or FLIGHT response kick in. I RUN. I get out of that room as fast as I can and feel ill until I know the situation is over. OR I HIDE and avoid those situations all together.

I have had these feelings for eight years and NOT once vomited in public, but the fear of doing so has crippled me.

Now what happens if I do throw up in public, like say a mall? Well, someone is going to clean it up, people that see me will either ignore me, help me and ask if I am ok, or probably go for help. Kids might point and laugh or say ewwww, but really what does that matter.

My fear has no foundation, no real meaning, but I still feel it and until I actually force myself into those situations over and over I cannot FACE my FEAR and eliminate it.

2. My next trigger is medical conditions I have and the pain I have felt. I have almost really died twice. Once from blood clots, and the other due to a disease that caused me to bleed internally. The doctors messed up alot and after surgery, after being cut open I woke without pain meds screaming until I passed out from shock. (This has only added to my panic attacks and suffering)

I FEAR that something else will go wrong with me, that every leg cramp is another blood clot and I might die. Or every stomach pain is more internal bleeding. (Honestly those fears are real and COULD happen). What I MUST accept is I cannot control what is going to happen inside my body. I do not have a magic wand to do that. I am on blood thinners, so more than likely no blood clot will form. The main cause of the internal bleeding was removed, so that cannot happen again. Only through knowing that I fear these things and accepting they are out of my control will I ever get passed them. (Still trying)

3. I fear I will die alone and that everyone will abandon me. Since my panic started I have shut myself away. Friends moved on with their lives and stopped calling because I never wanted to go out and LIVE my life anymore. I literally trapped myself inside my own fear while time passes for everyone else I feel they left me behind. BUT they did not leave me behind, I chose because of my fear to remove myself. They didn't do anything wrong, they just LIVED their lives. If I don't want to be alone I need to face my fears and go back into the world and rebuild. Is it going to be hard and filled with panic attacks.... yes. can I do it......I sure can, one step at a time.

Now enough about me... back to you and the rest of us.

I shared this because these are the types of things many of us have dealt with or are dealing with. We must isolate our triggers in order to understand where our panic attacks come from and then face them. (Actually do what we fear most over and over) This is exposure therapy and through repeatedly seeing that nothing bad happens, panic attacks weaken and sometimes stop. Is it a pill that cures all.... nope, if there was one we wouldn't be having this discussion.


Try out what you can from the ideas above if you want to, take only what works for you and leave the rest behind. Keep looking for other ideas and read more on panic attacks, learn everything you can about them. Knowledge is the first step, only then can we take a second step towards finding relief from our panic attacks.

I personally wish you well, and hope you find peace and your end to panic attacks. Stay strong, I believe in you.

;">panic attacks , also
called anxiety attacks are a false triggering of the fight or flight
response, google fight or flight response for all the possible effects of
it. panic attacks often are inherited. they cant harm anyone so should not
be feared. when feeling stressed or panicky simply relax and breathe deep
and slow. dont tense up or fight back against it. do disolve any mid range
valium type pill under tongue for fastest help, google sublingually.
agoraphobia is avoiding or fearing places or situations likely to cause a
panic attack. Ive found that the best advice in overcoming both is in
cheap self help books from internet bookstores, order a few to be
delivered to you by mail. therapists, especially psychiatrists often give
little advice and consider the panic attacks as unimportant. they waste
time and are often expensive, also their advice is hard to remember as
most patients are very nervous. valium type meds are still the best for
reducing or stopping a panic attack, if taken to hospital, the usual
treatment is an injection of valium. antidepressant meds help some a lot
but sufferers can have severe early side effects so start at much less than
the min dose range and slowly work dose up, google the antidepressant dose
range for guidance. valium reduces early side effects. antidepressants
take from 2 to 6 weeks to start working and occasionally never help. the
prozac or SSRI type are popular but other types also help and so can be
tried. older sedating antihistamines calm some. valium type must be used
sensibly but its been my long experience that few sufferers have addictive
type personalitys,t he main problem being to get them to take a large
enough dose rather than stopping them from taking too high a dose the
fight or flight response can become a strong addiction, people activate it
with dangerous sports, downhill skiing, bungee jumping, parachute jumping,
etc so some panic attack sufferers refuse to make any attempt to recover
or to take helpful meds. panic attack and agoraphobia sufferers dont
usually lead very stressfull lives. they become expert at seeming calm and
relaxed whan actually panicky I had panic attacks and severe agoraphobia
for 20 years before diagnosing myself and am now completely recovered

Thank you everyone for their support and advice, especially darksky who wrote such a long comment! =) I will start doing the things you listed, and thank you for telling me about yourself so I can better understand what's happening with me.

often anxiety is actually depression, so do things that fill your heart with joy....

tell yourself you won't be anxious until the end of five minutes and then when the five minutes runs out, renew your intention, u might be surprised at your self-control...

Just a thought. I kept a journal, writing down various things about my panic attacks. What was I doing before it hit? What was I thinking about? did I get a good night's sleep the night before? I am sure everyone is different. For me, I found a pattern! I am 50 and perimenopausal and the worst of the panic attacks happened around my TOM. I talked it over with my OB/GYN and my hormones (along with stress, diet, lack of exercise) were all big contributing factors to getting panic attacks. Like i said before, the Xanax helped take the edge off. But once I figured out the triggers, I actually felt better and not crazy. so when I did get a panic attack, I realized I was "OK" and didn't let it get the best of me. That really helped me to control it better. Does that make sense?

Hi Kahlua,

Yes, it does make sense. I have been keeping a journal of sorts, and you're right, it does help you understand more about what exactly is happening to you. I've found that my attacks always happen at night, and they last much much longer than what the average time is. But I haven't been able to find any patterns to help me control it. I'm always doing something different, so it's not like there is an action that I can pinpoint as being the trigger.
Maybe if I keep at it, I'll find a pattern or something. Thanks for the advice.