Today....July 10th.

I had 3 panic attacks in one day. Keep in mind though i knew they were a syptom of my dissorder I had never expierenced an anxiety attack until today. I woke up having a normal day and than out of no where i start feeling really sick, dizzy, hard to breathe, my body tingling so i put my son down for a nap sat down for a little bit and it went away. Than my husband comes home around 3:30 and than i try to pick my son up and walk to the kitchen, before i even got to the kitchen my legs went completely numb i almost fell and dropped my son. So i sat down for a couple minutes and that went away. About an hour later i start doing the dishes and my husband says "It's about time you do something today..." I guess taking care of the baby and cleaning the rest of the house is nothing but thats not the point. So i blow it off dont even say anything, normally i would SCREAM at him. Another one of my problems sudden outbursts. But anyway i just blew it off went down stairs started a load of laundery by the time i got back up stairs i felt like i was going to puke, than dizzy, like i was going to faint, than my whole body got hot, than i couldnt breather, my chest got really tight like an elephant was sitting on it and than my whole boddy got tingly finally i had him call an ambulance and than once i got to the hospital i had another one. Pretty much they ruled out anything the dr's consider serious and said it was probably just an anxiety attack. "Just an anxiety attack?" Easy for them to see huh??

Anyway i need to know what you do to avoid this???

Sorry to tell you this....You DON'T/CAN'T avoid them........They are here and until you deal with your trauma, your feelings, your anger, they may continue to be around.....

They are not pleasant, they can scare the crap out of you, you can sometimes feel like you are dying and at other times wish that you were. I had them for yrs, as some of us here do, but for the most part mine are gone. I do have a slight level of anxiety on a daily basis, but nothing compared to what I used to go through.

So you can get better, but it will take time and work. There are drugs that can help, but in the long run they just cover up the anxiety. Working on your trauma is the way to truly help yourself. Deep breathing, self talk, and grounding will also help...

I have anxiety attacks,. They are a self feeding cycle. They take away your confidence and increase the levels of anxiety. Horrible. What i am trying to do is build in deep relaxation exercises into every day. I find it difficult cos i am so up tight. And the tighter i am wound up, the harder it is to concentrate on the exercises. I start with deep breathing.

I find the more relaxed i am the less chance of anxiety.

I always put the KLF "chill out" album on and by the time Elvis starts singing I am usually relatively normal.

Hi,

"Avoiding it" might not be a possibility, especially if right now you are not aware of what your triggers are. I don't want to sound pessimistic, but I do not know what all of my triggers are and I'm not sure I will ever know all of them.

Shecat is right in that therapy and working on the trauma is the first step. Hopefully, your T will get to know you and offer you suggestions for relaxation techniques. There's also anti-anxiety meds to aid in the process.

I have horrible panic attacks, so I understand what you're going through. Mine usually feel like I'm dying, like I'm having a heart attack - the numbness/tingling sensation definitely scares me the most.

Good luck.

Best,
Rachel

I've been having those since I was a teenager and used to make a lot of trips to the emergency room. It was embarrassing and costly.

Eventually my doctor prescribed Valium which saved me tons of money and embarrassment. Now when I get them the best thing for me to do is talk to someone. I usually try to talk to my husband about 'anything'. It doesn't matter as long as I can get my mind off of it. If I can call a friend or talk to any human being I feel better.

My husband knows me well enough to remind me I'm not dying (I never believe him at the time) but the talking and keeping my mind occupied really helps me until the attack subsides or the medication kicks in.

If your not taking meds try these other things that were suggested first, because being dependent on medication makes me feel toxic and I hate it. Most people seem to feel the same way so please consider that a last resort.

Take care and take deep breaths when you have these panic attacks.

I had one of these for the first time a few weeks ago and faught it and faught it. First I was told i was hyperventilating - then Migraines. I had an MRI of my brain and cervical spine and got checked by a neurosurgeon. All that said these things were most likley caused by the stress. It still scares me but it has stemmed into other numbness due to stress, I'm afraid to go to sleep as I almost always wake up with something numb.

I am having an anxiety attack right now. It's like everything hits me at once and I feel overwhelmed and angry too. The bills, the housework, my husband not home for a few more days and nobody to talk to. I feel better already just typing this but I have not even been able to shower for days. I just feel frozen to the sofa.
bustedflat

I went to the therapist today and she gave me pretty much the same advice as you all did. I am going to try all of those things. I am going to the Dr. tommorow to speed up the medication process it takes my Therapist office months to be able to actually put me on meds. So she suggested me to go to my primary dr. because i need something to help me now. So i am going tommorow hopefully whatever they prescirbe helps.

Thanks for all your suggestions they are very appreciated and needed.
Thanks again...
-Dezi

Dezi,

I've had panic attacks, and struggled with anxiety in general, for about 15 years now.

Panic and anxiety aren't just a part of PTSD, they are stand-alone issues for some people too.

I went on Paxil for both anxiety and depression (years before my trauma), and it had cut down on the incidence of full-blown panic attacks, as well as just my general level of anxiety, for many years. Paxil kept me at a level of function that I was content with.

And then came my trauma & PTSD, which totally turned flipped the whole anxiety/panic thing on its ear. O-M-G. It's like 20x worse than it ever was... I never knew such levels of anxiety were even possible, before PTSD. So I totally understand what you're saying.

I guess I would say this. Panic and anxiety are a function of brain chemistry (to put it very simply). Whatever it is that you've been through, has changed your brain, so now it is firing off like nuts with anxiety and panic.

Rescue meds (something you take reactively when you feel a panic attack coming on, like Valium) might not be the best approach for you. You and your doctor need to talk about this openly and honestly. You might be surprised; some GPs have a decent amount of experience with anxiety and panic. A daily prophylactic med, like an anti-depressant, might be a better fit for you. Some of them are considered better than others, for anxiety.

Not every anti-dep works the same, and there are going to be some that don't work well for you. Just because one doesn't work, doesn't mean they all don't work. It just means you haven't tried the right one for your brain chemistry yet. Don't rule out the whole class of drugs just because one or two of them didn't work.

The reason I bring this up is because if you are home alone with the baby, taking a sedative like valium might not be a viable option. You need to have your "A-game" on, to take care of the baby.


As for acute panic attacks... what has always worked for me (although it might take hours!), is controlled breathing and reassuring self-talk. I learned it originally in police school :) it is a controlled breathing exercise they teach police officers to do every time they shoot their guns. Apparently when cops are involved in a shooting, they hold their breath. So they are taught to BREATHE (slow, deep, controlled breaths) and re-assess their surroundings. Since panic attacks feel like a threat to my personal safety I used the firearms breathing thing to get through them. I slow down my breathing, and keep telling myself simply, "I am okay." Over and over and over again ... the key is CONTROL ... every second that I am not physically hurt by anything (magically falling ceiling, meteorite, spontaneous combustion of the carpeting, poltergeist, nuclear bomb going off in my backyard, etc.) I use that as evidence... "see? I'm still okay. I made it another second and I'm still okay. I - am - okay." And I keep paddling through it with I - am - okay until the attack subsides.

I used to spend hours in my college library's bathroom, in the throes of panic attacks. I would run up to the 5th floor, which I knew was really quiet ;) and it would be 2 or 3 hours before I could even leave the stall. It took a helluva lot of breathing and self-talk to get to that point.


I hope that you're able to find a technique and maybe even meds that will help you. :)

Bailey

My apologies for yesterday's melodramatic post. I will seriously watch it in the future.
I pried my butt off the sofa and started cleaning. Running a bath now. I need to kick myself to do things is all. Sitting on the sofa consumed by fear is not cutting it. It has been 3 months. Enough's enough. I can thank my teenage daughter for this.