i am having trouble with panic attacks, can someone tell me how to control them when they start coming on?

Question

I CAN'T LEARN TO CONTROL MY PANIC ATTACKS WHEN THEY START COMING ON I LET THEM GO ON AND ON UNTIL I AM REALLY HAVING A SEVERE PANIC ATTACK. PLEASE SOMEONE WHO HAS HAD THIS PROBLEM LET ME KNOW HOW TO CONTROL THEM NATURALLY..........

Answer 1

I use to suffer from them to the point of having agoraphobia. I am happy to say that I no longer have them anymore. That is without any types of drugs too. If you need any help please email me at [e-mail] in the subject line put panic attack so I will know what it is. I have helped alot of people.
First know that just being afraid of them, makes them worse. The chemical that goes through your body at the time you have these is called epinephrine. This same chemical that is produced in the fear state is what triggers panic attacks. This is why they seem to get worse. When you you have a panic attack you become afraid, so you are adding "fuel to the fire" so to say. By adding more epinephrine to your body by being afraid along with the epinephrine that is going on with your panic attack. Normally our body's only produce this during needed times. Its called the flight or fight response (sympathetic nervous reasons). This chemical helps us when we need to flee something as if in a dangerous situation. But some of us have this chemical appear out of the blue in all types of settings. Even waking up with them out of sleep. Then we start to associate that situation we are in to causing the panic attack which makes us want to avoid that type of situation. When this becomes repetitive we may tend to avoid those situations. This is what can lead to agoraphobia, where you are afraid to even leave the house. Panic attacks are very common to type A personality's. It is our bodies way of saying "okay you wont slow down well I'm going to make you". I am not a doctor, but just a person who went through this just like you. The first step is to educate yourself where you can become dominant over the panic attacks. By doing this you learn not to fear the panic attacks which reduces the "fuel" on the fire. By eliminating the extra epinephrine your adding to your body you minimize the panic attack. After being able to learn to conquer them you will become free of them. And I was taught by taking the opposite of a sympathetic nervous response is a para sympathetic response to help cure my panic attacks. I know these are some strange words but email and I can elaborate But until then know you are NOT going to die from them, although you feel sure that you are when your having them. And do know that you can be cured. Its just a matter of knowing how they are caused and whats happening to you while your having them is the first step in becoming free of them. Relaxation music and muscle exercises help until you can reach this point. There is hope and I can tell you more if you need to get additional information I tried to be brief but with still enough information to try to help right now. Take care! Email me if you need to. It helps to talk to someone who has been there.

Answer 2

From what you say it sounds more like you had a bad attack of nerves, rather than a panic attack which is a very specific physiological response. If you are doing a course which entails a lot of presentation work, you might consider spending a bit of money seeing a hypnotherapist. They can teach you techniques for mind relaxation to counteract this anxiety. Alternatively, I would suggest a strategy of: 1. Learn deep breathing techniques. This means breathing using your abdomen rather than your ribcage and is very good for controlling anxiety. Put your hand on your belly button, and pull in the air through your nose so that your abdo inflates like a balloon. You should feel your hand move. Exhale through your mouth and practice getting a nice regular rhythm. 2. Whilst doing the deep breathing, make up some positive thought mantras to tell yourself about how good your presentations are. 3. Practice presenting as often as you can - use your parents, brothers, sisters, friends, even the dog - it all helps! Good luck

Answer 3

I've been having panic attacks myself lately. I've found the best thing, aside from breathing and rational self-talk, is to exercise.

Yesterday I didn't exercise, and last night I had the worst panic attack so far. I woke up this morning and began feeling the fear again (my blood feels like it runs cold). Then I went to a CPR class that was pretty physical and vigorous, and I felt great! I realized that only physical activity will ward off the attacks.

If you're not used to exercising, take it slow. An elevated heart rate can make you nervous and set them off. Take a walk or lift some weights. Yoga is like magic too.

Herbs can also help. Drink some chamomile tea (but not if you are allergic to ragweed or if you are pregnant, as it is a uterine stimulant). Kava Kava is helpful as well.

Answer 4

I have had panic attacks along with severe depression and anxiety problems the last decade. The only way I have ever been able to deal with panic attacks is with medication, otherwise if I can't get it it seems like the panic attack never completely goes away, which is like torture. But I would see a shrink and let him help as much as possible

Answer 5

Bringing Phobias Under Control
- Tormented by Phobias
- When All Eyes Seem to Be Upon You
- Controlling Social Phobia
*> Watch Your Breathing!
*> When Fear Leads to Panic
http://watchtower.org/library/g/1998/7/22/article_01.htm

Coping With Post-traumatic Stress
*> When Terror Strikes
- PTSD--What Is It?
- Traumatic Stress Will End!
- Symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress
http://watchtower.org/library/g/2001/8/22/article_01.htm

There are also some effective homeopathic, & herbal 'remedies'.

Answer 6

I don't have panic attacks, but I know some relaxation techniques that might help:

One is called "change the channel". Literally, when a thought that causes anxiety comes into your mind, just start thinking about something else.

Another one is called "quiet the mind". With this relaxation technique, start counting backwards from a number like 20, 19, 18, etc. Inhale once for each number and count on the exhalation. Try not to think about anything except counting and breathing. By the time you have reached one you are usually a lot more relaxed.

One that really helps me is called "train tracks". This is using the metaphor of a train to help us to know how to react to anxiety-causing thoughts in our minds. Imagine that you are standing on a train platform and the train comes in. You don't automatically have to get on the train. If you don't get on the train, it just moves out of your field of view. Likewise, when an anxiety-producing thought comes into your mind, you don't have to "get on board". Just let it pass through.

In many cases, anxiety will just pass on its own after a couple of minutes if we don't reinforce it with more anxiety-causing thoughts. Hopefully these relaxation techniques will be helpful, if not to remove the anxiety, then at least to distract you while you're waiting for the anxiety to go away. I recommend that you see a mental health professional to help you find long-term strategies to manage anxiety.

Answer 7

Accept - float with the body feelings, don't fight them. It's just anxiety, it will pass.

Permission - give yourself permission to feel anxious for a while - "I know what this is, it will pass."

Breathe - focus on your breathing. Inhale through your nose slowly for two-seconds, mentally counting, one-one thousand, two-one thousand. Then exhale through your mouth to a mental count of four-seconds. Do this for about one minute.

Inner Dialogue - use positive, comforting dialogue instead of scaring yourself further. "I'm OK, it won't hurt me and it will go away. I can function perfectly well even if I'm feeling a bit spacey."

Distract - get busy and do something active to burn off some of this self-induced stimulation. Go for a walk, clean out a closet - DO something and distract yourself from the way you are feeling.

Let Time Pass - again, there's no emergency, it's no big deal, and this discomfort WILL pass.

In short, there is no need to avoid or fight these feelings.

GOOD LUCK!

Answer 8

I have read some litterature about panic attacks. But they allways seem to have a more scientific approach and that is nothing I need in my struggle to survive those horrible panic attacks. This is a "hand on" and very practical book. I felt it was written to me. I am sure that you are going to feel the same.

Joe Barry writes exactly how I think. The examples are perfectly described. And the method is genius. I recommend this book and thanks Joe Barry for writing it. It changes your life

Answer 9

when you're feeling an attack coming on - remind yourself that you are about to have one and that you are not going to die - i've had them before and thought that i was going to have a heart attack or something. I told myself that this is just a panic attack and it will pass soon....everything will be ok. Then i would take myself to a place (either outdoors with some air or into another room) until i had calmed down.

everything will be ok - trust me on this one.

Answer 10

I hate to say it, but you might want to get some professional help. I had some really rough times - and I went on meds for a while, but was able to get off them too. I went to therapy and had desensitizing treatments - they seemed to help.

While you are in them, it is very difficult to do anything. When I used to feel them coming on, I could call a friend who was very supportive and have them talk to me. Sometimes short walks would help me burn off the energy too (but sometimes I didn't want to go out so I'd walk around my house.)

Hope that helps.