Panic attack - can't breathe

[Sparklfairy]

Not an aibu at all but I need some mimsnet support. My family have abandoned me and my only friend is on holiday. I'm having a panic attack and I'm by myself

I'm here. Do you know any coping techniques

Paramedic told me slow breathing but it's hard as fuck when you're in this state!

You know it’s a panic attack, that is the first step. Focus on your breathing

Try to take big slow breaths OP

Keep posting - there will always be someone on mumsnet.

Why have your family abandoned you? Are you safe (apart from the panicking?).

Take deep controlled breaths, listen to your breathing and ignore your heart beat

We are here

Try the grounding technique
5 things you can see
4 things you can touch
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste

Hope it passes soon

I'm here too OP. I have had panic attacks too.
Slooow breathing, keep trying. Cry if you need to.

Are you safe? Can you tell us why they have abandoned you?

Spread your finger out like a star. With the other hand, trace a finger up and down each finger - starting at the outside and working in.
Breathe in on the up finger, and out on the down finger.

worst case scenario it will be finished in 20 mins. Your body can't sustain that lvl of panic for a long period of time.
So it will be over soon
Breathe in for 4 hold for 2 out for 6

My friend uses this technique:

Look for 5 things you can see
4 things you can feel/touch
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste

I'm also here to listen.

Ah, I'm slow at typing

I hope you feel calmer soon

Cup your hands around your mouth & breath into them.

I’ve suffered recently and I know how scary it is

We are here if you need to get something off your chest

My mum is a narcissist and my brother, dad and sister have ignored me when she put me on the street. I knew she was like this but I never thought they were. Just typing this is making me breathless and giving me chest pains

Don’t think about it now, just concentrate on your breathing and calming down.

Family can be shit, I’m NC with mine, I understand

I know I'm not rational. They've all told me it's my fault and that's all I can think about. But I try and be a good person and help people but if all my family hate me then they must be right

Distract yourself. You're obviously functional if you're posting here so you CAN breathe. Rationalise things. You can breathe or you'd be passed out by now. Turn on the sensory feedback on your phone if you know how. That thing that makes the keypad vibrate slightly when you touch it. It's very grounding. Do you have matching games like candy crush? Play it. Try to think strategy. Do it in as few moves as possible. The trick is to get your mind off the panic and it will die off.

If you're stuck on the can't breathe thought, do you have a Samsung phone? If so use the health app, it's built in and will tell you your oxygen saturation and prove to you that it's fine. I use it to determine whether my tight chest is anxiety or the start of an asthma attack. It's not accurate as a proper one but it does the job.

Unlace and relace A pair of shoes. Do something repetitive but that requires your attention. I'm really sorry you suffer from this too.

Whatever happens, you will survive this. I am not in touch with my family either because of what they did to me. I have learned that almost everything I have experienced, someone else on this planet has experienced and have got through it and become stronger. It made me stronger, it made me treat my child well, it made me value the family I have now.
Breathe for now, try the above techniques - you're not alone. You are not alone.

Ah, sweetheart.

Remember, it WILL pass and you are doing ok.

Try and relax your hands and feet. Try to ‘ground’ yourself into the ground. Relax your jaw.

If you can (and even if you can’t!) put some music on and sing - the concentration on singing distracts the mind and allows the adrenaline to reduce.

Remember, what is happening is a physical reaction to a mental ‘what if’. Whilst the symptoms are real, you are not in danger.

Zombae that's exactly how I feel

I will try all of that didyouseetheflaresinthesky

Thank you all. You've made me feel I'm not alone

Actually, don't focus on your breathing. It just makes you worry about it more. Get up, wash dishes, bounce up and down, shake your arms, sweep the floor, whatever, but do something that will use your focus. Right now you have surges of cortisol (stress hormone) coursing through your body and you need to burn it off. You will get through this. You are not going to choke or suffocate or have a heart attack. I know how awful it feels but I also know how to deal with it, and laying down and not moving isn't the way out of a panic attack.

When you have a panic attack, it's important to remember, you don't try to take big/deep breaths as is often advised. All this does is engage your already over active accessory respiratory muscles. Instead, try concentrate on slow, gentle, small, quiet breaths. This helps calm those overactive muscles and gently engage your diaphragm, our normal, main breathing muscle. You will see this as your tummy moving rather than your chest moving with your breaths