Stress Center Peer Support

I've been dealing with panic attacks on and off for about eight years, so I'm well versed in the how and why and what, etc.

But what concerns me are days like today, where I woke up in a full blown panic attack around 9 am, and now it's 2 am and nothing has let up. I always read about how a panic attack can only last 15-30 minutes, so what it is when this happens? All day long I've felt spacey, I'm shaking, hot and cold, everything feels wrong; I've only been able to force down a few bites of food - everything tastes weird. It makes me terrified because I think, how much longer can I endure this? I'm afraid of what I might do.

I actually know exactly how you feel. Sometimes i would have full blown panic attacks back to back for hours. The only thing i would suggest is to try and relax the best you can. I know this is very difficult but you can do it. Tell yourself that this will pass and it always does. I usually drink sleepy time tea and tension tamer tea with chamomile in it. Another thing i do is lay down and watch my favorite tv show...pillow blanket and all. You can add a teddy bear too if you want. LOL So when i get ready to lay down i also take a cold wash cloth (to help with the hot flashes) and sprinkle some lavendar bath salts on it (since its a naturally calming scent) and finally relax. Are you taking any meds for this right now?

Hey,

You may not feel like doing anything,but sometimes it helps just to do something,anything to help keep you moving,it might not take away the thoughts,but it helps keep you going.That's if as above the relaxation technique does not work right know for you !

My therapist told me the difference between a panick attack and a anxiety attack is that a panic attack only lasts for a few minutes where as an anxiety attack lasts for longer. Don't worry it will go away it is just that your nerves got turned on. Try to relax and refocus your mind. You will be just fine and you need to remember that. Remember it is just anxiety.

Oh how well I remember my first anxiety attack like the one your describing!!
I woke up with it, like you and it went on all day. At 7;:45 pm it was worse, I called my doctor's office as they were open till 8 pm that night and was told to get to the hospital or a walk in clinic and they would give be something to help. I fought going as I was really in no condition I felt to even leave my house. I could not compose myself, was crying, rocking back and forth, thinking I'm going to lose it anytime..my husband somehow talked me into going after he called the clinic to see if they were busy..they weren't and assured him I would not have to wait as that was a huge concern for me that I would be in front of all these people and freaking out. The doctor said I was indeed having a full blown anxiety attack and wrote me a script for Lorazapam..told me to take 2 when I got them and it would help me to calm down. Thank God it did help!!

Since then I am able to control how bad I get by knowing the first signs, puting up that STOP sign in my mind and just breathing deeply, and telling myself it will pass if I can just not allow it to scare me.

The feelings are so overwhelming that it's very easy to just keep that cycle going and feeding it. Like everyone else said if you can just talk to yourself and calm yourself down..telling YOURSELF IT'S JUST AN ANXIETY ATTACK AND CALMING YOURSELF IN ANY WAY YOU CAN, IT WILL END.

Hang in there and remember how it felt as it hit and learn to stop it by not becoming frightened by the symptoms. Practise putting up that stop sign..it does work.

My best to you!!

I know everyone is different, but for me it helps to do a simple task like laundry. Something where I have to move around a little but it's not too complex. That's what I did a few nights ago. Sometimes laying down helps, but other times that just makes my mind go more.

Welcome! I'm glad you are here. It appears this is your first posting and I'd like to say the new person is the most important person here-right now. For me, when I am making any change to make myself "weller" my head really tries to mess with me and the issue I'm addressing to overcome exerts itself even harder than before. I was a bad drunk for years (about 20) and getting sober was horribly challenging. I have a few years sober, now, and I know that with help from each other we can overcome any problem and become the best people we can be. It's OK to feel REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE because change is hard to accept. I was told in my early sobriety that my head was out to kill me. So don't believe everything you think, trust the process and keep coming back. You are wanted and needed here. If nothing changes, nothing changes. If we do what we've always done we'll get what we always got. Hang in there.

That's so true. I was reading a book about OCD and it said that when you try to overcome it, you will have more triggers than ever. But if you stick with it you can do it.

I can so relate to you!! When I get a full on anxiety attack (I've never actually had a "panic" attack, where I feel like I'm going to die), it lasts for days. Then sometimes (like now) it comes back and bites me again. Not trying to make you feel worse, just want you to know that you are not alone. I started my last one on Nov. 9. The crying jags, anxious feelings, everything lasted until the 12th. I have been off Celexa for 2 months today, but I went ahead and took one pill on the 12th, thinking that I had to go back on it (everytime I went off, the same thing would happen and I would have to go back on). Amazingly enough, I felt better and didn't take anymore. However, the day after I took that one pill is when my stomach issues started. For the whole past week, I have been barely eating, I was constantly feeling bloated and having what I thought were gas pains. So, I did what we tend to do and started obsessing about my body symptoms. I had initially thought it was a stomach bug, but now was it appendicitis? Withdrawal from SSRIs? IBS? etc. etc. Last night I started a crying jag when I got home from work, but was able to stop and go for a really cold walk with my friend and her dog, and I felt a lot better. Until I woke up around 2:30ish with my stomach all up in knots and spent the next hour or so awake, trying to walk around, trying to do anything to make myself feel better b/c I could not relax or go back to sleep. This morning I had a revelation. It is none of those things, it is my anxiety causing body symptoms and me freaking out about them (why won't they go away? how much longer will they last? what if I still feel like this on Thanksgiving at my boyfriend's sisters house?)So, I am trying really hard to just calm down and let this pass. I know it will (thanks to this program, before this I would worry that I was never going to feel "normal") and be optimistic about the 5 lbs I lost this week My point is that even though we know that we are doing this to ourselves, it is really hard to stop the emotional stuff and the rush of hormones that are going through us. I think we just have to take the attitude that it will stop eventually (stop worrying when) and it will make us stronger because we got through it. I know that once I finally make it through this one, it will be huge that I did it without going back on the Celexa. This will eventually tire you out and you will be done. And then you know you got through it and can get through it again and hopefully over time, the frequency and duration of these anxiety attacks will diminish because we will stop giving it the power over us. At least that is what I keep telling myself, and even though I am still feelins anxiety, at least I am feeling better. My thoughts are with you and you're not alone!!!

Everyones response was really kind, and I appreciate how much time and effort was put in to their comments. That day was so frustrating because I tried doing so many things to get my mind off the 17 hour long anxiety attack - I did laundry, baked a pie, went grocery shopping, cleaned my apartment, took a total of four walks totaling eight miles throughout the day, watched tv, journaled my thoughts - all these countless things that usually work and end the attack, but it just kept going. That was what freaked me out, how nothing was working. I was exhausted, but my sense of self was overridden by this thing that wouldn't let me sleep, wouldn't turn off. I finally went to the emergency room around 4 am, and they gave me a xanax. I took it and then walked another two miles home, and finally fell asleep. But then I woke up the next day, right back into where the anxiety attack left off. It was so nerve racking, because the last time things were this bad was about six years ago, when I'd fall asleep to all day long anxiety attacks and wake up to them and it just kept going on like that, and while I had no plans of suicide, I knew I'd have to have some breaking point where I wouldn't be able to hang on any longer so I checked myself into a hospital. I was there for about four days, and they put me on an anti-depressant (I don't remember which, I've pretty much been on all of them at one point or another). This past year has been progressively getting worse, to how things were in my post from Thursday night. For the past three months I've been seeing a therapist four times a week, and I'm sure I need to get back on meds, but I'm freaked out because even though I've been on them before, everywhere online it is nothing but postings from people talking about their horrible side effects and their anxiety and depression getting worse. I'm concerned about thanksgiving and christmas - my anxiety will most likely keep me from being able to spend it with anyone, but then being alone will totally depress me to no end. No idea what to do, but trying to remain optimistic...