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Original poster

Panic Attacks in Kids

34 replies

Beetroot · 17/11/2007 17:30

My ds who is 13 nearly 14 Confident child, dare deveil - travelled on a olane alone at the age of 12. Very musical, very busy - and went into a bit of a melt down last week cue to high presure and over load (on another thread) Had a panic attack and now has had a couple more. This one during choir.

I used ot have them very very badly

I need to help him now, he must not go through what I went through.

What can I do?

OP posts:
TheApprentice · 17/11/2007 17:37

What did you do to help prevent your own panic attacks? I would have thought you would be in a very good position to offer advice/coping strategies/ distraction techniques etc. Am sure there must be some good books out there too.

Original poster
Beetroot · 17/11/2007 17:43

i was puton medication whihc relaly screwed me for years

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Original poster
Beetroot · 17/11/2007 18:26

?

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snorkle · 17/11/2007 20:58

What age did yours start beetroot? If it was a similar age do you think it might be a bit hormone related and/or genetic but triggered by the stress?

snorkle · 17/11/2007 21:00

Might be grasping at straws, but just wondered if it was a puberty thing & might also mean a voice change was immenent, which in turn would lead to a reduced amount of stress.

Ds's voice has changed by the way - he's the same age (but I'm guessing you don't really want it to happen until after xmas?).

Original poster
Beetroot · 17/11/2007 21:39

first day of next term would be good!!

My panic attacks started a bit later.

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milfAKAmonkeymonkeymoomoo · 17/11/2007 21:50

Mine started at about 12, started with the onset of puberty and a change of schools because we moved house. I was eventually referred to a clinical psychologist who showed me various breathing techniques and other coping methods such as sucking a sweet. Also told my teachers so that they were aware, this reduced the stress a lot and meant I had someone to confide in if it all went wrong.

CloudAtlas · 17/11/2007 21:54

Oh goodness, this sounds like a nightmare for you to deal with. CBT is supposed to help LOADS for this, I wish I'd had this when I suffered. Beta blockers were a huge help for me, and no psyche effect, just the confidence that you will not actually lose it physically. Good luck

Original poster
Beetroot · 17/11/2007 21:55

sucking a sweet is interesting.

the 7/11 breathing is good I think - 7 in 11 out.

and concentrating on your peripheral vision.

He is determined to go to choir tomorrow and get through it. My feelings are that he really has to confront them head on, straight away

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Original poster
Beetroot · 17/11/2007 21:56

he has only had 3 so far and they may just go away.

I really don't want him to have medication. I had ativan and that was a huge problem for me your years

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CloudAtlas · 17/11/2007 22:00

What a brave boy, I bet you're really proud of him. I agree that if he can actually get through it then fantastic, face the fear etc, but the problem with panic attacks imo is that they feed on fear, and eventually the panic is just brought about by the fear of the fear iykwim. I really hope it works for him.

snorkle · 17/11/2007 22:00

I really hope he gets past it soon. I'd have thought it most likely that once the stress is over they will stop. Keep him home as much as needed next week.

Original poster
Beetroot · 17/11/2007 22:03

cloudatlas - yes the problem is the fear of them happening creates a cycle. So if we try and break it my making him face the fear straight away - perhaps he will deal with the issue and in the future he will always know that he can deal with it. iykwim.

snorkle - agreed about the stress being a huge factor

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CloudAtlas · 17/11/2007 22:29

I definitely agree with you, but if this doesn't work then i'd be tempted to react really quickly and try to get any other help you can. They can become the expected norm so quickly. My only advice is (as an ex sufferer myself, but with no experience of dealing with the same problem in dc, touch wood etc etc) to act quickly , very quickly before he feels like his natural reaction is panic. I felt like it became part of my being so soon after my first one and it was hard to move on.
Having said all that, I did move on, I only suffered badly for a year, although they knocked my confidence for longer, but I haven't had an attack for over ten years now. I'm saying that in the hope it is reassuring, not showing off!

Original poster
Beetroot · 18/11/2007 08:05

CA - thank you - yes as an X suffering I am absolulty with you. I will act quickly and find him teh best person. Am already researching

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Original poster
Beetroot · 18/11/2007 10:10

well he is there. has been gone over an hour.

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systemsaddict · 18/11/2007 10:24

He's lucky he has you to help him deal with them. From family experience with this - I had a few, my brother suffered very severely with them - I would definitely say to get professional help for coping techniques asap, to give him confidence he has a battery of strategies for handling them, but also to try hard to be really calm yourself and show you have confidence in his ability to learn to handle them and get through them and be fine. My mum still gets really anxious whenever my brother shows any sign of stress - 'oh no, I can hear his voice sounding high and tense, is he going to be ill again?' - this is really counter-productive as it just adds to the anxiety levels in the house and didn't help him to learn he could cope with them.

stillaslowreader · 18/11/2007 10:24

My ds (14) had them very badly last summer term, after 3 years free of them (had them at Primary school too). They have stopped again now thanks to:

  1. Excellent paediatrician who talked him through low blood pressure/low blood sugar symptons that went with them.
  2. Liasing with school who agree to glucose tabs and water in class whenever he felt he needed them (they always happened at school). Also got him sitting near doors and windows- he seems to be claustrophobic too.

They are definitely stress related- SATS + music exams +thinking too much (ds also musical, bright etc) + general growing up triggered them here. I think the glucose/water think worked so well because he felt he was more in control (which he was). Also knowing for sure that he was no going to faint (he is terrified of fainting- did it a lot when he was little)- hospital explained this very well. I had tried but got nowhere.

Good luck, it is no fun but I think we are on the way out. I've had them too, so I know what it's like.

foxinsocks · 18/11/2007 10:40

oh he is very brave Beetroot. I agree with CA and everyone - I think it's important that you get help for him now because you know what it is like if this hangs over your head.

I think one of the problems that comes with having them as a child is that everything around you is changing so much all the time (different, more challenging work, friends change, being given more responsibilities) that if they don't get the knack of learning how to cope with new stresses, it can haunt them for years.

Is he at boarding school? Has he got a mentor he can talk to freely?

Original poster
Beetroot · 18/11/2007 10:44

He is not at boarding school

he is close to both of us and will speak to his athr particularly

explain the glucose tablet thing to me.

If he is fine today shouldI still seek help?

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foxinsocks · 18/11/2007 10:48

personally I would - well, I'd ask him what he thought too (because he'd have to be willing). I think they are very frightening at that age because it's hard to understand what's happening to you!

stillaslowreader · 18/11/2007 11:04

I would get him some help. For one thing it is reassuring to know there are things you can do to control them, also good to talk to an 'outsider' sometimes. DS was very glad to go- they frightened him but I think he had them worse than your son- we went through a stage of 2 or 3 a day at one point. Now I wish we had got help more quickly.

Original poster
Beetroot · 18/11/2007 11:08

thanks for that.

I think maybe you are right.

I am not sureif I shoud go down the GP route ( i don't want drugs) or the counselling route. there are some great NLP people around.

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Original poster
Beetroot · 18/11/2007 11:09

slow reader - the glusocs tablets why are they good?

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stillaslowreader · 18/11/2007 11:22

I suppose because 1.they give a very quick sugar boost which counteracts the faint and dizzy feelings.
2.You feel you are doing something to help and control the situation, and also, permission for them having to be given by school, you feel other people understand and are on your side.

  1. the act of sucking is soothing! (Sorry if that sounds facile).