Please help. Panic attacks are ruining my life.

[BettyInc]

Four months ago they arrived and now I can hardly function. I never want to leave the house- I can't even go to a supermarket.

I'm having CBT four times a week which has been helpful but hasn't helped the panic attacks. I'm on Fluanxol which hasn't made any difference.

I've tried grounding - mindfulness (doesn't work for me) - distraction. I'm terrified all the time. I often feel the panic starting before I even leave the house which means I'm dooming myself to fail cos it's like once the panic starts, it can't be stopped.

I'm terrified of being out in public- of being alone with my son in case I have one- of being stuck in traffic- of life generally.

Please help.

Claire Weeks! It wasThe lovely ladies of MN who helped me find her and she's been brilliant. I still get them but they're down to maybe 2 a month in 6 weeks of doing what she says!

Also make sure your getting sleep, rest, eating well, cut out caffeine, massively reduce refined sugar, I've stopped alcohol all together.

It's a book btw.

thanks. which one? there's two on amazon @rinkydinkypink

Bump x

Yes - lifestyle changes worked for me.

Caffeine is a huge trigger, comes on immediately and lasts half a day if I drink coffee

Exercise helps enormously, if you drive, substitute one regular car journey for a good walk if you can, every day

Lack of sleep another huge trigger, try to get to bed by 10pm every night

Try to eat well, sugar and alcohol don't make a big difference for me when consumed in moderation

Occasionally take a paracetamol if you feel any pains coming on, stops your mind playing tricks on you (not too many though)

Go back to your doctor if you are on meds you think aren't working. There are lots of different things they can try and some work for some people-others for others.

My trick for dealing with panic attacks is to count them down- I will give the panic I'm feeling a number 1-10 with 10 being the worst I have ever felt. Usually after repeating this every few seconds I can feel the panic lessening and I give it a lower number, until I get down to about 3 which is an amount of anxiety I can function with. It sometimes builds again but it seems the act of categorising it helps reduce it.

I hope you find something that helps you very soon.

It might help to think what is your ' bottom line' as in what are you afraid of- of dying, of having a heart attack, of collapsing. And what are your other sources of anxiety. Have things built up, is it to do with work, with a specific fear etc?
In panic disorder people also become frightened of the onset of another panic attack, and this then can trigger it again. Panic attacks are episodes of severe anxiety and all the symptoms are caused by adrenaline, they are frightening because of the anxiety, but they aren't dangerous in themselves to your health.
Try and think what is your ' bottom line' and they are very treatable with CBT, I hope you feel better soon.

Try the Anxiety Guy on you tube. He has his own channel.

I was suffering from severe health anxiety to the point I was having about 3 panic attacks a day and kept going to the hospital thinking I was having a heart attack (I've had 3 ecgs!) I had been on meds from the gp and cbt therapy etc but none of it really helped. For some reason the Anxiety Guys videos really helped me. I'm not over it by any means but it's made me think about things differently and is definitely worth a try.

@Aintgotnosoapbox it's sickness- I think i'm going to be sick in public. Which is my worst fear.

Things built up over six months til I had a complete breakdown and just quit life. Stayed home for weeks and weeks til eventually my OH got me into treatment.

Thanks for these- so helpful- please keep the suggestions coming.

EMDR might help if CBT not making much difference. Expensive if you can't get on NHS but good evidence base.

I think the CBT therapist might consider trying to enable you to test out the idea that even if you left the house etc, it wouldn't cause sickness.
Often panic attacks are kept going by a fear of the panic symptoms causing physical illness , which doesn't happen.
I hope your therapist can help you. Have you seen the various websites such as Nopanic, getselfhelp, MIND , mood juice.

I'm on duloxetine, works a treat no more panic attacks but it takes ages to work. You have to give the meds 3 months.

Hi BettyInc

One thing that helped me was understanding the physiology of panic attacks. Do you think that might help you?

I do not consider EMDR to have a good evidence base. For me, benzodiazepines break the cycle and kill an incoming panic attack dead, but they have high addictive potential so are not a good fit if substance abuse might be an issue for you - it is not for me. Benzodiazepines are also not typically used as a longer term solution as they are habit forming and one typically needs to increase the dose over time. As a short term solution, though, they work when nothing else does. I know other people who find propanalol similarly helpful for short-term relief of anxiety symptoms.

As I mentioned on your other thread, fluanxol seems an odd choice given your symptoms, but I am not a prescribing professional.

erin

^ this is amazing to me @erinaceus that there could be a pill I could take when the panic attack is coming and it'll stop it in its tracks. I am absolutely exhausted all the time from these panic attacks so don't know why they've never been suggested to me before.

Definitely going to see my psych this week and ask for an on the spot medication. I get that it's short term but I feel like if I could break the cycle it would really help.

I had panic attacks really bad for 10 years 😢
I got put on escitalopram and it's worked. 15 years later I still take them.
When I've tried to reduce come off them I relapse but on the mess life is fine.
Get your med's reviewed xxx

I was prescribed diazepam for short time use to help me get out of the house so I could see it would be ok, would this be worth asking your go about? It really helped me.

I've also had diazepam for a short time and it did help a little but with me I had to tackle the underlying issues of why I became so anxious in the first place. For me it helped to think about the worst case scenarios and how I might cope. It won't help everyone but for example for me I was terrified of fainting / collapsing in public and I wrote a list of emergency numbers that I carried about with me and I made sure that wherever I went that I knew the nearest doctors surgery and hospital in some ways I was feeding the anxiety but just allowing myself to work through it in that way gave me "permission" to try new scenarios and gradually things became easier the more I did things. (I was at the point I used to walk round the house clutching my phone incase I needed to ring 999!)

In your case maybe doing something like packing a "sick kit" along with some diazepam might help? E.g.,- a bag with some wet wipes, some mints to take any sicky feeling away, a bag that you could actually be sick into if worst came to the worst etc etc. Anything that can help you to feel more in control.

Something I have learned from the anxiety guy on you tube is that when you are feeling anxious stay away from the Internet - focus on something "real" (what you can feel, touch, see and hear) as it helps to keep you grounded and drown out the internal chatter (the anxious voice) and I've found it helps to stop me having a panic attack.

^ this is a good idea. I don't need a sick kit, but I do need an anxiety kit! there's plenty of things that could help. Thank you.

@fairlea what does diazepam feel like- is it intense, like lorezapam? I've had that a few times when I've been an absolute state and been so spaced out, almost drunk, couldn't drive or do anything like look after kids!

BettyInc, diazepam is similar to lorazepam but generally taken in lower doses and slightly longer lasting in its effects. I believe driving is not recommended when you take any benzodiazepines because they will slow your reaction times. They operate with a mechanism of action that is not that far off that of alcohol.

Propranolol were a life saver for me to break the cycle. I can now calm myself just knowing I have them in my bag.

To put in perspective I started panic attacks over 15 years ago, took propranolol when I felt anxiety coming on (I used to do big presentations) and then just found over time I didn't need it as much. So psychologically better for me than being on a daily medication as I would be worried about stopping it in case it comes back. Knowing I have it and it works is a great soother

^ this sounds like a good solution @Ridingthegravytrain how quickly do they work?

I'm reluctant to try the diazepam then as I hate the doozy out of control woozy/drunk feeling. I just want to feel like myself, only without my body going into panic attack mode!

Seeing the psych tomorrow.

They work within an hour. I take 40mg an hour before a stressful event. They don't stop you being anxious. It they stop your body physiologically reacting to the anxiety so there is no racing heart or freaking out. It's weird but very reassuring. And they last a good few hours

Well that would do- at least I could go to a supermarket without going into panic mode and leaving mid shop!

The diazepam didn't make me feel out of it, I was prescribed 5mg and I took them in halves - so I'd take 2.5mg and I was still perfectly fine to drive etc etc. The first time I took one I made sure I was at home and dh was about just incase. It's a very strange feeling, it's just like a happy pill. I can't explain it more than that... I can see why people get addicted to them. It's very pleasant!