Have you ever had a panic/anxiety attack. How often do you experience them?

Question

Have you ever had a panic attack, anxiety attack, or both.

Tell your personal experience, when, where, and why?

How did you overcome it. What did you do?

Answer 1

Frequently, especially when I am worried or overwhelmed. Lots of things help, but I first have to remind myself that it is a panic attack and not to get overwhelmed. To avoid them, exercise helps a lot. Meditation works to build your faith. Having a doctor with whom you can talk is important. I also take 0.5 mg. of clonazepam. Good luck! They can be controlled, it just takes a lot of work and faith.

Answer 2

I used to get them when I flew. Interestingly enough, they didn't begin until after I got married and progressively got much worse as my long-term (more than 10 years) marrige went on.

They would make me feel like I had trouble breathing, heart raced, some nausea too. There were times I felt like rushing out the hatch before the plane left! All of this was strange considering I used to love to fly.

Well, the last vacation my husband and I took I was totally fed up with him. It was a 6 hour flight and the entire time I was cool, calm and read a book! Funny, I realized that my anxiety was directly tied into my lousy marriage. So were other things like my dwindling confidence and confusion all caused by his emotional abuse.

If you have an anxiety, look at your life. See what happened before the anxiety started, anything stand out? It may surprise you.

Answer 3

I get horrible anxiety attacks when I have to deal with my son's dad who filed a horrible lawsuit against me.

They first started when he decided to get married to a very troubled person who he had just met and who has children older than my son. The oldest was charged with drug possession at school and they left my son in her care. They went on vacation and left the children ages 6 and 8 with this 14 or 15 year old. Since she was bringing children into the marriage, he wanted to bring my son into the marriage, even though I raised him single-handedly except that he did some visitation. My son was given a gold wedding ring. They had the older boy pay a lot of attention to my son to make him want to live with them and he didn't like coming home. They filed a lawsuit seeking joint custody but moved to California. The day I won the lawsuit, the older boy was no longer required to talk to my son and he didn't.

My son's dad had never paid child support and so I faced a tough economic time when he filed the lawsuit. He lied throughout the various hearings and in the various filings and I was concerned that he'd get away with it, but I was able to document the perjury and find fraudulently transferred assets. He tried his best to avoid paying the award. He filed to have child support cut by 40%, but it was only cut by 10%. I am court ordered to consult with him on various matters and I find that I have difficulty opening up his e-mails.

On these occasions, there is some surge in some chemical that shoots throughout my body. I can feel it and I know that I will not sleep for a few days and then it will take me the rest of the week to be able to sleep well. I have to take the rest of the day off. It is very uncomfortable. I have two children to care for, so I can't take anxiety medication because it makes me sleepy.

I think I'll try the exercise idea mentioned above.

Answer 4

Yes I have had many panic attacks. I truely dont rember when i first had one. At the begginning my way of coping was avoiding anything that gave me an anxiety/panic attack. Later I came to realize I needed professional help. Saw a doctor and am now on medications.

Answer 5

I get awful anxiety. When I get panic attacks I'll usually start crying and shaking. I feel like I'm crashing and I can't do anything. It's worst when I get anxiety in public settings, and I feel like I'm going to burst into tears in a large group of people. I talk to my close friend every time it happens and he helps me deal with it.

Answer 6

Ive only had one in my life so far but it was really bad.I'm the one that is always in control ,never gets flustered or upset......but my husband and I were on vacation and traveling thru Kentucky on our way west ,I was driving when we came to a very very tall narrow bridge,you had to go up a sharp small hill to be able to get on the bridge. As I topped the hill and could see the bridge and how narrow it was for my Chevy Tahoe I got this awful frightening feeling I felt as tho I couldn't breath ,I could feel my fingers tighten on the steering wheel,my heart was beating fast ,then half way across this narrow high bridge a large semi was coming across the bridge from the other direction, we passed each other with only inches to spare ,as soon as I cleared the bridge I pulled over on the side of the road and I was shaking and crying and breathing hard as if I had just ran a foot race. My husband held me in his arms and talked me "down"from this emotional roller coaster. As we talked I realized that I had just had my first and so far last panic attack. You see I have always loved to drive, I drive in cart races so I had no fear of the possibility of an accident it was something else . I hope I never have that feeling again .Strong reliable me was shaken to my core .

Answer 7

I started getting panic attacks once I found out my uncle died--but it was the circumstances that triggered it.

he was driving on the freeway and had a heart attack and pulled over on the side on the road. No one stopped for over 20 minutes and when he was taken to the hospital, he was pronounced brain dead. He eventually passed away a few days later.

I started getting panic attacks about a year after that--spirred by mostly car-related siutations (no one finding me, feeling stuck and feeling no one will help me, just like my uncle's situation). Sometimes I get them when I'm stuck in traffic and I can't get out of my car, other times its when its raining and the sky is almost the same color as the highway (grey) (not sure why). But most of the time its when I feel "stuck".

I'm an avid flyer and I have started to get panic attacks on long flights. But I have to quickly divert my attention to get my mind of it.

When I get my panic attacks, my Dr said to do *anything* to get your mind off the feelings (fear you will die, hot, sweaty, feel like you are in a dream, etc). In the car, I turn on the radio (talk radio) and it seems to help. Or, I call my boyfriend (who is very understanding) and he talks to me about silly things that make me laugh.

I still get the car-related attacks, and it really is mind over matter. They are getting fewer in number and shorter, but they are not gone. I'm not sure if I will ever get over them completely, but I sure hope so.

Answer 8

yes i get panic attacks and anxiety attacks
i experience them when i am in a crowd, a small room, or anything that will make me claustriphobic
i also get them when i am really stressed out, especially when people are pressuring me to do something that wont happen.
i once got one in a bathroom (yeah its a strange story)
i was in a bathroom washing my hands
and out of no where i noticed how small the bathroom was
and i just started freaking out
and it was horrible
my friend had to get me out of it
and sit me down
and get me something to drink.
after she left to get me a drink i fainted.
i never have been able to overcome panic/anxiety attacks
and i probably never will
because they come out of no where sometimes.

Answer 9

Yes. I get them a lot. The worst was when I had every symptom of a heart attack (both parents had attacks by 52) When I got to the hospital I got an EKG & an IV with who knows what. Then they got rude, like I was faking & wasting their time. So I complained to the hospital board, refused to pay the bill & won.

Answer 10

I always get them when I am in a crowded store or dr.'s office & have to wait & my nerves start to get on edge & always there's some kid screaming & it gets worse &worse until I think I'm going completely nuts & have to get out of there like right now !
If I feel like I just can't calm down once I get out in the car I take a half of tranquilizer & that does the trick.