can any one please help me understand

[mayra1420]

About 3 weeks ago I had a savere panic attack I never knew what they were until now , since then I have been so anxiouse every day scared of what might happen my mind has racing thoughts every single day I'm sick of these " what ifs " but I see my biggest fear is of loosing control and going crazy and hurting my self ... is this weird I would like to know I'm not the only one I hate waking up every day thinking something bad is going to happen if anyone out there is going threw this can u please tell me your story I feel like I'm alone in this help !!!

[ryansgirl04]

i took a lot of medications. they put me on lexapro (didnt work) then on zoloft (didnt work, made it worse actually) then they gave me klonopin and ativan to be the "quick acting" stuff. ativan works and the klonopin didnt. but u have to find what is right for YOU.

i felt the same way about 'needing' to be strong for someone else. my counselor had to teach me that i cant be strong all the time and sometimes we are weak. worry about YOU and helping YOU. im not saying to ignore your family but you need to focus on yourself too :)

i agree with cuddles56 about acknowledging that youre having a panic attack. i had to work on saying the same thing "this is just a panic attack. my mind is telling my body to run, i know its just my mind telling me something untrue" once you recognize that its panic, its easier to ignore....  of course easier said than done.

i tried reading books about panic and phobias and every time i would read it, it reminded me that i had panic and would make me have a panic attack just from reading something about panic. so be careful.

good luck, youre not alone :)

[mayra1420]

Thank you I will deff look for the book wow 25 years is a long time how do u do it ? Hearing that gives me so much hope .. I go see a phycietrist on mondy so ill see how that gose .. also do u take meds ?

[cuddles56]

Your not alone,many of us have Anxiety and panic attacks. 1 thing I learned about panic attacks is it won't kill you, when it comes on just say to yourself I'm not going to die I'm not going to go crazy so I'm going to ignore you now. I know it's very scary. Anxiety can be explained as the fight or flight syndrome, flight means you run when you feel the feelings and fight means you stay right where you are and go right through the fear. Trust me it's very hard but you can do it, it takes a lot of practise but I know you can do it. Please get a book called FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAYS read it if you don't understand it read it again and again cause it's a worth while book to buy.  I have had anxiety for 25 years and I just take each day as it comes. It's hard work but I know you can do it. Find a good counseller to talk to.

Good Luck I'm rooting for you.    

[mayra1420]

Thank u so much.. it makes me feel a lot better I hate waking up every day like this I feel like these past 3 weeks I have missed out on so much I know I need to be strong for my husband and son but it so hard with all these thought rush and try to get the best of u ... thanks for your story

[ryansgirl04]

the same thign happened to me. i had never had a panic attack until one day out of the blue i felt like i couldnt breathe and i was losign control. i felt crazy like no one understood why i was "scared" even though i knew nothing was going to get me, etc, i was still upset that no one understood. i know about the "what ifs" i had to see a counselor to help me through the process of getting back on track. basically i had to come up with a mantra. and that (for me) was "i can breathe, i can talk, i can swallow" because my panic revolved around not being able to breathe or that my throat was closing off (I had an allergic reaction a few months before where my throat did close off and i almost died but the panic from this almost dying continued). i would wake up every morning, sobbing because i was too paniced that something bad was going to happen to me. my poor husband had no clue what to do about it. to be honest, i used a lot of distraction techniques. i went out and bought a nintendo DS and every time i was getting a little panicky i would start playing those mind games where you have to solve puzzles quickly and move objects, or racing games. it quickly got my mind off of the panic because my mind was busy doing brain age :) just an idea. i still 2 years later have to go to my DS as a distraction. (my husband figured buying a DS was cheaper than paying a counselor to tell me to distract myself). hope that helps. you are NOT alone!!