can someone help me understand why this is happening?

What causes panic attacks? I've had anxiety for 6 years. 5 months ago I quit taking my medicine because I thought I finally had it under control and I don't want to be on medicine the rest of my life. Now I'm starting to have panic attacks again but I refuse to get back on regular medication. The side effects of stopping the medicine were so awful, and when I was taking it, I felt tired and not who I really was anymore. Is there any way I can control these seemingly irrational attacks with minimal medicine and side effects?

[hmf099]

What meds were u on?

[M4Y0U]

Hello there,

I will give you all the information you need to be off medications and control your panic attacks.

There is one thing i suggest to everyone tho and it is physical activity and healthy diet. When doing physical activity your body will produce a lot of hormones that are proven to be essential for a healthy mind-body. One of those hormones is endorphin. It is an endogenous opioid from the pituitary gland that blocks pain, decreases appetite, creates a feeling of euphoria, and reduces tension and anxiety. A healthy diet is also suggested since our body was made to move and to eat bio. Quick fact: Our body is made from the same 22 minerals that you can find on the earth. The iron in our blood the calcium in our bones are good examples... So keep in mind that healthy diet and physical activity is crucial.

I would suggest going to a natural food store or supplements food store and try to find some GABA and Melatonin. I found GABA ( ok i know it's a receptor's name too ) today when i went to the store and i didn't know about it. I didn't do any research yet on the product but it seems to be good for anxiety and a good stress releiver.

Also i would suggest Melatonin before you go to bed to promote better and refreshing sleep which can help regulate your serotonin.

Eat: Various kinds of fruit ( stawberry&wild berries,cheery, cranberry ), greens, root vegetables,sweet potatoes instead of patatoes, salads, fish ( wild salmon etc but you are better with smaller fish since they contain smaller amount of mercury ), peas, beans, lentils, brown rice, porridge, small amount of olive oil and low fat dairy products ( try replacing milk by soy milk tho ), grape tomatoes, broccoli, try filtering your water, use olive oil, algas ( nori, kombu, wakame, arame ), decaffeined green tea ( especially those from japan like sencha, gyokuro, matcha ) nuts and peanuts, bio eggs, bio meat, cranberry juice, vegetable juice everyday, Keyword is BIO. Look for a healthy food indicator when buying food.

Avoid Junk food like food which contains sugar or too much saturated fat, soft drinks, alcohol, most sausages, chips, sweets, cakes, buns and white bread. They have not enough nutrients for the intake of junk they give you.

Oh and here are something about diet and serotonin.

Serotonin is synthesized from the amino acid tryptophan.  Thus to produce serotonin, you need tryptophan.  Tryptophan is an amino acid that you can only obtain by consumption.  Therefore you want to consider eating foods containing sufficient levels of tryptophan to help replenish your serotonin levels each day.  The following is a list:

   1. Cottage cheese.
   2. Brown rice.
   3. Avocados.
   4. Bananas.
   5. Walnuts.
   6. Tomatoes.
   7. Soy protein.
   8. Meat.
   9. Turkey is probably the highest serotonin containing food.  Eat turkey to help increase serotonin levels.

But a really good combo would be light therapy during the day to promote serotonin production and Melatonin 1 to 3 hours before bedtime to use this serotonin to a good refreshing sleep.

I'm not a doctor and you should consult a doctor or therapist since i am only giving you suggestions. If you intend to to physical activity i suggest you consult a doctor or cardiologist prior engaging any hard cardiovascular workout just in case.

There you go all meds free options you can safely try!

Best regards,
M4

[Julie359]

You can also try a herbal supplement called 5-HTP, it naturally raises the level of serotonin within the brain, but it is highly recommended not to take other med's such as anti-d's as this can have a serious reaction.  

As for the reason as to why panic attacks happen, yes it can be because of a low level of serotonin in the brain but also it is because of bad habits learnt with negative thinking in certain situations, you may have issues that u haven't dealt with.  The issues u had prior to going onto the med's may still be lurking around causing u to continue to have these attacks.  Maybe therapy of some kind would be a good way to sort these attacks out....... CBT would be a good one as the therapist will enable you to re-train ur brain not to panic and get to the root of it.... However with CBT u really need to face ur fears and this can be extremely difficult as i found out.

Good-luck x

[cj29]

Are you in talk therapy?  While medications, exercise, diet can help tremendously in my opinion, actually confronting and understanding it can give you long term relief.  Anxiety/Panic can come and go just like many other problems.  Gaining the long term knowledge of why you think the way you do can really help you get over this in my experience...keep us posted!

[jo929]

one has to know what causes the panic attacks and then work on a solution, do you have any idea why you have an attack

[Crispy83]

I don't have an explanation for why this started happening 6 years ago but recently I believe the attacks could be from stress. I've been under a lot of stress lately in my relationship with my husband. The doctor put me on Effexor XR which actually helped after a bunch of other ones failed. But like I said, it made me tired and not my usual self. So I took it for 5 years cause I thought I didn't have a choice. And then 5 months ago I quit taking it and started to feel normal again until now. Once I have a panic attack, the next one comes from thinking about the previous attack, and it's like a spiraling effect. I don't know how to make it stop. But I thank you all for taking the time to help me by sharing the information you have. I will talk with my doctor to try and get to the root of what may be causing these attacks. Also, talk to him about natural ways to deal with it as you have suggested and let you know how it goes. Thank you again.