PANIC ATTACKS

[guypjfreak]

my daughter brought me a diary last year and ive kept it up ever since ..i think it helps but it really seems to make the weeks past fast lol

i take celtalipran or wot how ever its spelt every day loads of pain killers and a aunty val every night .....it helps

[Spindles]

I've given up on citalopram (again) a few months ago. I find that SSRI's give you a step up at first, but once you level out you are taking these things and still having the same experience as if you weren't, so why bother?

Obviously I can't speak for everyone, many find them beneficial.

[Mr.Tease]

I used to have them when I was younger, but now seem to have spread the anxiety out into more manageable, lower level, longer spells (no idea how that happened!).

As well as meds and CBT, there is also the option of Person-centred counselling- I am biased as I'm a counsellor myself! But it can give you the chance to explore the issue and maybe find out if there's any underlying stuff that's contributing to it. There's lots of different options, so really it's just a case of finding ones that are right for you.

Panic attacks are very normal and natural (though they don't seem that way when you're in the midst of one!), and without them we would probably have died off hundreds of thousands of years ago. Your body just feels that it's in danger and is just trying to keep you safe. The problem is that it sometimes misjudges the level of danger, and then you start panicking about the panic attack, and it can all spiral quickly- and then a lot of people don't really understand what they are, so it can be a bit alienating and frustrating.

[guypjfreak]

panic about panicking i know that one well lol

[bsolxiv]

Quick bump for this one as I've started getting panicky again, gone against my own advice and got some SSRI's from the GP. Want to get sorted before glasto. Any tips on drinking with these?

[brightyoungthing]

Feel your pain! Last year I had a full blown panic attack for an hour and found 'telling myself' that it was a panic attack and i wasn't actually dying really worked.

Quiet place, chill out, on my hands and knees trying to breathe as deep as possible (slowly). Just try to remember it's all in your head... I usually stay away from medication as I think my body takes enough at glasto

[scaryclaireyfairy]

yup, another sufferer here. my mate is invaluable cos she can read when i'm getting a bit edgy and will escort me to somewhere quiet if i need it. mostly i just give her 'the look', get the thumbs up and scarper. i find power-walking the adrenaline off helps, though essentially that's kind of giving in to the flight response, i suppose. better than getting aggro though! i never go into a crowd i can't get out of quickly, particularly after dark, and try to take comfort in the fact i'm never further than a good brisk walk from a 'safe place' (my tent). the peace garden up near the stones is good for getting yourself together (festival medical services not far away too, as i recall, if you need some outside help). permaculture is another haunt of mine.

if i'm going to panic, i'd rather it be at glasto than pretty much anywhere else. even if i have the hissy, screaming habdabs, i won't be the most unusual thing any witnesses have seen in the last 10 minutes, there are quiet places to run to without really compromising my personal safety and there are stewards all over the place who will try to help if i ask. compared to being in a city centre in the same sort of state, it's kind of ideal.

[eviepeach]

Quick bump for this one as I've started getting panicky again, gone against my own advice and got some SSRI's from the GP. Want to get sorted before glasto. Any tips on drinking with these?

[guypjfreak]

had to leave pulse festi couple of weeks back cos id woken up in bad way ....no reason it just hit me lol been a bit wobbly since but ok now glad im not alone in this shit ...im just gonna treat glasto as it comes and bring it on lol

[dexydexy]

the best advice i can give is to tell people. there's no shame in it and panic attacks are super common. tell your groups of friends before you go, let them know what (irrational) fear you have eg. can't breathe / going to choke, heart problems, going to wet yourself etc and let them know the warning signs and what they can do to help - mostly just take you somewhere quiet and remind you that it's just a panic attack.

i found cutting out caffeine and exercising helped.

you could also ask you doctor to refer you for cbt.

[Ruby77]

Has anyone ever taken drugs on ssri's?

I am particularly interested in what would happen if you took mdma with them?

[scaryclaireyfairy]

that sounds like asking for trouble tbh.

[frostypaw]

I think mdma and ssri's is a known bad thing

When I was on them - sertraline? - i found drinking heavily was different and unappealing, and hangovers long and dull. I wouldn't get too bent, it was all a bit different and unpredictable

[neilloggie]

every year [and at most festis] i suffer real bad panic attacks which i have to fight through or drink through to relax and enjoy the festi.

i know wot you may be thinking [why go] but if i didnt go then i think id just get worse ...i know theres nothing to be apprehensive about but it just hits me ....funny enough im ok first few days then it can start lol..

does any one else suffer like this and if so wot do you do to get over it .

not an old son insite HA HA

[eoJ]

Learn the symptoms of a heart attack so you don't waste medical time claiming you're having one. (For people that haven't previously experienced panic attacks)

[eviepeach]

Has anyone ever taken drugs on ssri's?

I am particularly interested in what would happen if you took mdma with them?

[bsolxiv]

Learn the symptoms of a heart attack so you don't waste medical time claiming you're having one. (For people that haven't previously experienced panic attacks)

[acidstorm523]

Years ago I had about 18 months of horrific crippling panic attacks..several a day after having one during a bad trip. I had no idea what was happening to me and thought I was certainly dying.

Finally ended up going for CBT, and it sorted me out within a few sessions. Firstly explained the mechanism of the adrenaline and your sympathetic nervous system reacting before you even have a conscious realisation. Then the method taught to me was one of no avoidance. The exercises I was given were to basically "sit with it" when an attack came on , and rather than try and repress it, let it happen, and at the same time observe that nothing really bad like passing out ever actually happened. The first few times were horrendous, and then the magic happened ..the attacks got shorter and shorter, and pretty soon was panic attack free. And I have been ever since thankfully. I've had a few edgy moments, but can see them for what they are more clearly now. This was all about 18 years ago

I had tried some of the medical routes, but I didn't like any sort of Mongy feeling, so spent my whole time trying to fight it.

Here is a also an amazing book ..Isaac Marks was head of department where I had my CBT

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Fear-Isaac-M-Marks/dp/0077109821/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1402240039&sr=1-1&keywords=living+with+fear

Good luck

Edited June 8, 2014 by acidpod23

[eoJ]

Sorry, what?

[bsolxiv]

Yeah, I knew that'd get downvoted, but as the son of a doctor, there've been more times than I can count when:

Someone thinks they're having a heart attack, stewards don't know shit, better call an ambulance. By the time the ambulance gets there, the person's fine, but now an ambulance has been diverted away from helping someone who could be having an actual serious medical emergency. Meanwhile, you have the bystander effect, where thousands of people walk past not giving a shit, 99% of the stewards don't give a shit, while the person helping has to just get them to do deep breathing while waiting for something that they know will just go away the moment it gets there.

Obviously, you should always err on the side of caution. But knowing the difference between a heart attack and a panic attack, bringing valium if you know you're prone to them, as well as having friends with you who do as well (who'll generally be able to provide just as much assistance as a doctor would), could save an ambulance visit, allowing them to attend to someone who's having a medical emergency. The South Central Ambulance Service recommends waiting 20 minutes before calling an ambulance, and this is a good resource for telling the difference between the two: http://www.sharecare.com/health/heart-attack/what-difference-panic-heart-attack

How many people have lost their lives because an ambulance couldn't make it to them in time? I don't mean to downplay how scary panic attacks can be (particularly for people having their first panic attack), or how much they can affect you, but just to point out that so so much ambulance time could be saved by people understanding the symptoms. That's all.

[eoJ]

Well, I'll be sure to look at that site while I'm having chest pains and wondering whether to bother phoning an ambulance in fear that my problem may not be as important as another's. I seem to remember they have operators manning the 999 phones who have the skills to differentiate between a panic attack and a MI.

If you're worried that something abnormal is happening, get help. That's all.

[bsolxiv]

Yeah, understanding symptoms beforehand is stupid, isn't it?

[eoJ]

No not at all, and I'm sure as the son of a doctor you're well qualified to dole out medical advice. 999 is for emergencies - things must seem pretty bad if you have to dial it is all I'm saying. And imagine you're that steward who says to someone in trouble - "let's see how these symptoms develop before we get help" - who then dies.

[bsolxiv]

Well let me give you a quote:

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Just because 2 different medical conditions have similar symptoms doesn't mean people should go diagnosing themselves. Gastroenteritis and appendicitis may be similar but I'm not about to start giving a load of symptoms of each so that people can make up their own mind before they visit a doctor or call an ambulance.

Also, in your previous post you say If for example, you're a fit & healthy 20 year old with good blood pressure..

How do you know if you've got good blood pressure? 20 year olds have dropped dead from heart attacks, and obese 50 year olds could be fit and healthy for all you know. Please don't sit there with someone who could be having a heart attack saying "listen, I read this article on the internet from the son of a doctor and I think we should wait 5 or 10 minutes to see how things pan out" Those minutes could be crucial. I would be interested to see if your parent would condone your giving of advice in this way?

[eoJ]

Well let me give you a quote:

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Edited June 9, 2014 by eoJ