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Original poster

Does anyone know of any techniques to stop panic attacks

50 replies

Pinkchampagne · 07/12/2006 17:37

I have been under quite a bit of stress recently & in the last few months I have started to suffer from panic attacks, which are really horrible.
I suffered the first one while in a car on my way to somewhere I didn't want to go. I know that it was triggered because I didn't want to be going to where I was going, but am now linking the car journey itself to the attack & get quite panicky about car journeys in general.
I have experienced a couple more panic attacks during car journeys & much as I know I cannot let them stop me travelling, I have begun to feel fearful everytime I know I have to go somewhere in a car.
I hate them so much & really want to get over them, but I don't know how to. I bought some Kalms, but they don't seem to be making the slightest bit of difference atm.
Does anyone know of anything I can do to ease them, as they are beginning to take over my life.

OP posts:
Original poster
Pinkchampagne · 10/12/2006 11:15

I hadn't thought of anything like that, papillon. I was at a total loss as to what to do to ease them tbh! Thank you for the links.

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Original poster
Pinkchampagne · 10/12/2006 11:16

Thanks, WJWD, I will try my best!

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whatwouldjesusdo · 10/12/2006 11:16

just read Peachy's relax and make yourself do things post, and agree, this is a really good way to get in control of yourself.

whatwouldjesusdo · 10/12/2006 11:17

posts xed. good luck.

Papillon · 10/12/2006 11:21

I have experienced panic attacks recently and have found joining a class which gives me time to relax, have me time and reconnect to a more peaceful side has really helped on a daily basis.

Have also had energy work done on clearing negative energy (abit like EFT) and the woman gave me Bach flower remedies specific to my energy has also been helpful.

Original poster
Pinkchampagne · 10/12/2006 11:24

Thanks, WWJD.
I managed a car journey yesterday without feeling any panic rising, & I was being yelled at for half of the journey too!
I tried to focus on remaining calm & breathing properly and it seemed to work.

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Original poster
Pinkchampagne · 10/12/2006 11:26

That sounds intersting, papillon.

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Monkeytrousers · 10/12/2006 16:18

Well whatever you choose please don't rule out ad's. I really don't get why they are the last resort for some. If you find they don't work after 6 weeks talk to your doctor and stop taking them, but if you low mood as caused by a chemical imbalance you'll know soon enough as they will help very quickly.

Sorry to hear you've been having panic attacks too Paps. I know you are into alternative therapies but again, for your own sake, if they don't stop or come back please just consider ad's. They really do save lives and families.

JINGLEBELLgianbun · 10/12/2006 16:45

I think one of the biggest things for me in overcoming PA's was accepting them. Sounds weird but for so many years I just wanted to be 'normal' and i didn't know anyone who had them. I finally came to accept that PA's are normal - a perfectly normal and common reaction to stress and anxiety. I needed a lot of counselling to get to that point but now I am more or less there I don't get them very often at all.

Have you considered counselling to get to the root of them?

Know that the worst that could happen to you during a PA is already happening iyswim. Nothing else will happen - it is just a PA, horrible though it is and it will NOT last forever. When you begin to think like that they become less scary and then happen less often. Good luck - they are nasty things but you can overcome them!

Original poster
Pinkchampagne · 10/12/2006 18:19

I have had counselling in the past, but not for PAs. I am on the waiting list for more counselling now.
I have only recently started having them again (used to get them a lot when I was around 18) & one of the occasions I felt one rising was actually in the counsellors room!
I think I have held off starting the ADs because I didn't feel I had true depression, just intense stress!

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Monkeytrousers · 10/12/2006 18:21

I know..trouble is being in denial only makes things worse, for you and everyone around you.

expatinscotland · 10/12/2006 18:31

I suffer from frequent panic attacks.

Lustral had been helping me cope w/them, but is becoming less effective, so I'm going back to try another medication.

I have severe PND - for the 2nd time.

Original poster
Pinkchampagne · 10/12/2006 18:31

There is a fine line between stress & depression isn't there?
I have been on ADs in the past, I took them when I had PND & was cautious about taking them then, but I felt so horribly low that I had to.
They did help me through a very low period, but I don't feel I should take them unless I am really suffering from proper depression. Actually if I'm honest, I am kind of scared of the side effects too, as I have been prescribed a different kind of AD.
I thought I might be able to get through on things like Kalms alone, but they haven't really helped at all.

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YuletidePaps · 10/12/2006 18:33

Would never consider taking AD´s - it is not my path. The bach flower remedies and energy work has done the world of good. As has facing some issues I have been ignoring. Basically it would bring me down the thought of having to take something medicalised like that. There has been such an increase in people taking AD´s - I don´t for me personally find it to be the answer. My reasons for feeling down are because of my present situation, so I make awareness and refuse to sit in what could make me depressed. As someone who can dwell in negative mindstates, making my mind and body strong is the more long term positive pathway.

Thanks for thinking of me MT, I hope you are well x

Original poster
Pinkchampagne · 10/12/2006 18:41

What's Lustral, expat? Is it an AD?

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Original poster
Pinkchampagne · 11/12/2006 22:26

My reasons for feeling like this are because of my present situation too, paps.
I got through the last two days without a panic attack, so I am feeling quite positive.
I hate them so much & will do anything to try & avoid them.

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dizietsma · 12/12/2006 00:14

Cognitive behavioural therapy is very effective for anxiety.

Monkeytrousers · 12/12/2006 00:18

It is, all I'm saying is don't reject other solutions. Give everything 6 weeks, if it's not working move on..

missymoosal · 12/12/2006 00:39

Had panic attacks this year after being ventilated for a severe asthma attack I was only given a 25% chance of survival so feel very grateful to be alive but was unable to lie down flat for weeks as I felt I would die if I didn't stay upright.
It is the most dreadful feeling I would become hysterical and cry so badly that I would become breathless which in turn made the fear worse.
My GP had recently attended a study day re panic attacks and the most recent thinking is to do nothing.
Accept that the anxiety exists and don't worry about it. Do your best to control breathing (paper bag does work) and try to find something that works for you to help combat the anxiety.
I have found the meditation C.D's from the centrepoint institute very helpful.
They use technology that interacts with the theta waves in the brain which induces a deep form of meditation without even trying. You start with half an hour and work up to an hour once a day. They have been sanity savers for me. www.centerpointe.com if interested.

mummypig · 12/12/2006 00:59

hi I think CBT is very good in the medium to long term in helping you to understand, recognise and deal with the underlying patterns in your anxiety and the situations leading up to your panic attacks. There's a good self-help workbook (Mind over Mood) you can work through, although of course it helps more to go through things together with someone skilled in this area. I had several sessions with a behavioural psychologist myself (privately, because the NHS waiting list is really long and my GP was awful, refused to believe I had anything wrong with me at all ).

If you're interested in CBT there's a newspaper article which mentions it here and a bit on the OU Open2 website here which I think must have been linked to a programme although I didn't see the programme.

There's more comprehensive information here on the Mind website and you can look for a therapist here on the BABCP website .

I also agree that breathing and relaxation techniques and aromatherapy can all help.

herbgarden · 12/12/2006 08:11

I tried everything under the sun on the "natural" route, but in the end the only thing which has helped me is Citalopram for 6 months and 2 years of therapy. Now I am not "cured" - I have learnt to accept that they are part of me and occasionally I get them but can deal with them even if they are very very frightening. My mantra was always that the worst thing that could happen was that I might pass out - I'd could never die from a panic attack. My worst one happened on holiday, so like you with the association with the car I associate holidays with panic attacks. I dread going on holiday which is a time to unwind and relax (my mother was exactly the same). I really think sometimes you have to get through to the root of the problem to deal with it and accept it- I'm not convinced that any drug, natural or otherwise, which just puts a lid on the problem, can effectively deal in the long term. That's just my personal view though and many (most probably!) will disagree...
Let us know how you get on and keep posting - talking about it is a great relief and its amazing how many you find are in the same boat when you admit what's going on in your life.

jencroc · 12/12/2006 11:24

Hi new here but interested in this thread. I have had panic attacks for years. They started when my youngest child was a baby. They got really bad and I had to take a significant amount of time off work, I was in a very high pressured newsroom job and couldn't speak while I was having them. One of the biggest turning points for me was admitting to other people that I had them and when I was having one and making it very clear that I would never sit in meetings with doors closed or where I was hemmed in, which is what often pushes me over the edge. I did Cog behaviour therapy and it helped me to get off the massive amount of valium I had been taken, but then my husband died and I found I was having them again. I now do a mixture of CBT and do take Xanor slow release which is a benzo once a day and more if I am going to be in a very stressful situation. I know it's not ideal and would like not to take any drugs but I have a therapist who believes, as I do, that if I have found a way of taking a low dosage of drugs and coping in other ways and it works that I should stick with that. Must say I always have rescue remedy in my bag. Worst for me would be in cars when other people are driving. When I have them my throat closes up and I can't swallow. I also often have trouble swallowing hot liquid think it is a case of expecting it to happen and so it does, so drink water at work and keep the coffee and tea for home ... one thing I have learned is that you can keep on going even with them, I find it very stressful to have to be in meetings and I often am, and going to plays and movies but as long as I have my bottle of water and can count from 20 backwards I am surviving.

Dophus · 12/12/2006 11:27

I taught myself to deal with them

I used to talk myself down. Essentially I would feel my heart racing, breathing etc and think I was having a heart attack. I would tell myself well if you are having a heart attack then you should call an ambulance. My rational mind would kick and say you can't call an ambulance you're having a panic attack.

It worked - I would make myself calm down or call an ambulance. I never went for the latter.

jencroc · 12/12/2006 11:33

Dophus I think that is a brilliant way to get things into perspective and am going to remind myself of it, the funny thing is though in the past I have called out the medics for panic attacks .... although now that I am more aware of them I probably wouldn't. The one downside to it all is that I have got very used to explaining any physical symptoms as being panic and last year I nearly ended up dead because I had in fact developed a huge infection in the site of my spinal fusion and I kept thinking that I felt breathless and sick because of panic and it was actually physical I felt a bit of a fool on that day ...

Original poster
Pinkchampagne · 12/12/2006 17:22

Thanks for all the tips. I have managed to bring myself out of a panic attack by talking myself down too. When I suffered my PA in the car, I felt I was going to have to get H to pull over, but I then thought to myself "What are you going to do if he does pull over? You can't walk home from here, so what will it solve?"
I then calmed down a bit!
I have recently experienced the start of a PA while doing very normal things like walking into town.
A lot of it is very much mind over matter I guess.
I have now bought myself some Rescue Remedy & have been panic free for the last few days!

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