Anxiety attack - quick fixes?

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I've woken up today with awful anxiety, and I'm a bag of nerves. I can't seem get anything done that I need to do. There are a few stressors long-term but I can't fix them today. What's a good quick solution? This is really horrible.

Someone once told me to think of it like this...you were at the station and you got on the wrong train.

You've got to get off that train, go back to the station you started at and get on the right train.

Do this by starting again...sort of. Have a bath or a shower...put on some lovely music...practice breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth whilst lying down on the bed or floor. (after your bath)

Put something nice on...have a nice drink...hot chocolate...something without caffeine. xxxx

Thank you BHNW
I have had some food and it's helped but the heart-light anxiety is still flitting about in my chest.

Having to give up on the work day, too light-headed and spaced out. I hope this is temporary.

My new tactic when I am overwhelmed by the things I have to do: say to myself I am just going to do 5 tiny things e.g the room is a tip, tidying the whole room feels massively overwhelming and I don't know where to start so I say I am going to put 5 things away, that feels manageable and I do it and another 5 feels doable, after a few turns of that I retreat back to not being able to but I have achieved something at least and after a bit I feel able to go back and do another 5. It's slow and I don't finish the entire room but at least I am doing something other than sitting crying about not being able to cope with it. If your tasks are different, maybe telling yourself you will just spend 5 minutes doing it would work too and then see if another 5minutes feels manageable.

I find doing something physical maybe ironing, cleaning the bath or sorting stuff out helps me to calm down. I think it’s something to do with burning off the Adrenalin

Breathing techniques work well for me. Look up square breathing.

I also find repeating to myself that this situation is only temporary. I learned a lot about the mechanics of anxiety which helped me really understand why I felt that way.

If you have a chance, get out in the fresh air (Dennis allowing!). PPs give good advice about doing something small. When my anxiety was at its worst I had three goals for the day, sometimes it was as simple as having a shower. Good luck op

I've never had it before, I couldn't understand why people couldn't just shove their worries somewhere and get on with life. What an idiot. It's physically destabilising.

Thank you for all the ideas, I appreciate it.

Go out and give your heart a reason to race, full on stomp of a walk with headphones on. Get it so you're breathless, run if you're a runner. Power walk if not.

Or, and this works for me sometimes, full on panic attacks can only last a few minutes, your body can't sustain it longer than that, so try and bring it on, try your best to have that attack, worry and stress and do your upmost to bring it full on.

Bet you can't

OP, I feel your situation so much. I've had occasional mild anxiety, easy to managed but the last few days it's hit me like a tornado.

I've tried breathing, in for slow count of 7 out for 11.

Made some easy, plain, fairly nutricous meals that I like: porridge with chocolate chips and peanut butter, jacket potato and cheese, yoghurt.

Bath because putting your head in water can lower your blood pressure

I went for a walk, had to sit down on a bench with my hood up while I had a little cry but it was nice to get out

Did nonnogram/match 3 game on my phone, it's absorbing enough to distract me but no danger that it will be triggering

Like pp I tried to do a bit of washing up, didn't get it all done but at least I've made a start and feel better than if I'd have just done nothing

I've been drinking tea but I'm going to switch to hot chocolate as pp suggested

Good luck getting through today

Some great advice here. Moving, and preferably getting outside helps. Also:

Try looking in your body for it. I’m very “cerebral” and it was a revelation to discover that most emotional states have an accompanying sensation in the body- tight chest/headache/ racing heart/ stomach ache etc.
I look for the physical sensation and closely examine it, with a “what’s all this about then?” attitude.
It’s weirdly effective as it tends to vanish with a bit of close attention. But it also shuts off the negative story that rattles round in my brain (I’m so lonely...I’m such a failure.... I’m a terrible person....I can’t handle this) which rarely has any real validity.

It took me ages to realise that my brain unhelpfully plays this soundtrack in response to the physical symptoms in my body. I always assumed that my body was responding to my brain, and that my brain didn’t lie.

Singing is good for regulating the breathing. I'm going through a bad spell just now, hope things improve soon .

@Auldspinster's tip reminded me of this video as well:

www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z4qphbk

My anxiety has been bad today too. Not helped by my teen having an unprovoked go at me tonight.

I have some short videos on my phone of my younger dc that make me smile when I watch them. I find that a good distraction plus headspace app.

Breathe in for the count of 4, hold for 7, out for 8, (repeat three times) or sing, it's important for the out breath to be longer than the in breath

Colour by numbers apps helped me

belly breathing.

breathe in to a count of 4 hold for 2 then breathe out for 4 hold for 2.

do this for 30 seconds to a minute (or more)

Thanks for this thread OP, I suffer too. Some great tips here.

Ive heard it said that breathing in to a paper bag calms your anxiety

I've had horrible bouts of anxiety too. The most effective thing I have found over the years is to try to remember that being anxious about feeling anxious and becoming overly fixed on 'getting rid' of it is the surest way to make your body continue to produce adrenaline! So...

@TheReef and @Barbararara are getting at the same idea - try to 'go with' and examine the physical sensations you are having. Try to make them them worse . Then observe how you feel!

This might feel a bit much... So a recommendation for a book which for me was life changing as it explains to you really simply why anxiety has taken root in your body, and how to create the conditions to calm yourself down is 'Self-help for Your Nerves' by Dr Claire Weekes. Just amazing.

The breathing tips too - apparently when you breathe out for longer than the in breath then your body will automatically lower adrenaline.

Lots of other great tips too. IME they may work better when the anxiety has not taken hold so much hold physically. You need to focus on calming the body down first.

Lastly, i was far more prone to anxiety when I was low in iron (not necessarily full on anaemic but when iron stores were dipping).

Hope the day went OK and good luck tomorrow!

Thanks all. Much better today so far. I wrote yesterday off but did get three things done as someone suggested, and felt it wasn’t a total disaster.
Let’s hope today continues smoothly for us all

On days like this, I just let it be. Experience has shown me these days are only good for self-care, I mustn't do anything that requires a decision.

When it's slightly better I watch TV but get up and do one little thing every ad break. So, I may make a cup of tea or find some washing. Next break, cup in the sink or put the washing on. Nothing that needs thinking about, nothing that can't be broken down into little tasks. At the end of these days, I can look back and see I achieved something, no matter how small.

I hope you're feeling better today, anxiety is awful.

Hope today continues to go better for you OP. The weather is a bit brighter today where I am. It feels a bit like spring is coming. Getting out and about always makes me feel happier although I know that is easier said than done.

I need to het out in the fresh air when it's bad. I would say write down everything in your head on a piece of paper, acknowledge it then ho for a walk. Focus on being in the moment so slow deep breathing, smell the air, look for colours and patterns, feel cold/ wind on your skin etc

So strange. Monday was a real low point. Every day better and better since. I feel really confused about what set it off.

Strength to everyone who deals with this

@Sweetnessandfight thanks so much for recommending the Dr Claire Weekes book. I read it in a morning. Really helpful to understand anxiety.

I’m feeling much calmer today after a shocking week. Got a tricky situation tomorrow which usually sets of my anxiety. Can’t avoid it but planning on using tips from this thread and book.