I would love that, but I have to finish up helping the guy who has helped me with a job for the past few weeks. I'm still amazed how much this forum has helped me on this issue. Thanks again. Just being able to chat about it has helped immensely.
I would love that, but I have to finish up helping the guy who has helped me with a job for the past few weeks. I'm still amazed how much this forum has helped me on this issue. Thanks again. Just being able to chat about it has helped immensely.
I hope you continue getting better. I've tried all kinds of techniques, but once the attack gets ahold of me there's no stopping it and I have to ride it out. The first meds I was on was Lexapro. I'll never touch that again. Multiple side effects beat me into the ground. They put me on Prozac now. Would you tell me why you wouldn't touch that again? Since that's what I'm on now.
Heck, I'm not that far from Lawton but I do have to work in the morning. Did you mean Sat. morning?
No, sorry. The LFGST eats on Fridays. Let me see how the weekend is shaping up, though. Maybe Saturday would work.
Just checkin in, you guys doing ok?
Slept last night, not a bad day....
Went to walk the dog just now and theres two hunting owls in the alley..whooo Whooin like crazy
Now wheres my sniper gun.....LOL....jus kiddin
Prayers...Love Ya
Slept last night, not a bad day....
Went to walk the dog just now and theres two hunting owls in the alley..whooo Whooin like crazy
Now wheres my sniper gun.....LOL....jus kiddin
Prayers...Love Ya
Amen...and...This Too Shall Pass....
So did things work out with the job?
I don't know how much my experience with this will help, since it is so much less serious than yours, but I'll throw it out there FWIW. I had no idea a panic attack could be as bad as what you describe. I started having panic attacks some time last year, just out of the blue. I have a very low stress life, no personal problems or tragedies or anything, no problems with the old lady, work was going great and I really enjoyed it, no spiritual problems or self esteem issues whatsoever, liked my self a lot... I honestly have no idea what caused them.
I would only get them at night in bed while trying to sleep. I would wake up either with my heart beating fast, or thinking my heart wasn't beating at all. My arm(s) would be numb and tingling (what you say about the body shutting down extremities makes a lot of sense), and I would feel cold. My chest muscles and sometimes arms would tighten and have pains. The first time it happened, I didn't know what it was and I thought I was having a heart attack. I told the old lady to call 911. She realized I was just freaking out, and got me to calm down and go back to sleep. After that I realized it probably wasn't a heart attack, but was still worried about it because I knew chest pain, arm pain, irregular heartbeat, etc. are all symptoms of heart attack.
The next time it happened I got up and looked up my symptoms on WebMD and boom, panic attack was at the top of the list. I thought for sure it was going to tell me to go to the ER immediately because you're having a heart attack, lol. I am probably stupid for not going to the hospital if I even thought I was having heart trouble, but I digress. So I read up on panic attacks and sure enough, that's what I was having. It really surprised me, because I pride myself on being mentally tough, cool headed, and calm under pressure. I guess I thought panic attacks only happened to weenies and chronic worriers (which I am decidedly not... I have one of the most "f*ck it" attitudes of anyone I know). Turns out they are largely subconscious. Anyway, once I knew what they were and that they really weren't any kind of threat to my life, they weren't near as bad. One thing I did notice is that panic attacks always occurred on nights when I had drank caffeine during the day. It seemed even getting a few refills of iced tea would do it. So I cut out caffeine altogether, and it pretty much eliminated the problem.
When I did have them, one of the things that helped most was to put my hand on my carotid and feel my own pulse. It would always be there even when I felt like my heart had stopped or wasn't pumping right, and when I thought my heart was about to beat out of my chest, it would make me realize that it wasn't really beating as fast as I thought. It gave me a little handle on reality I suppose. The other thing that helped most was breathing. I would concentrate on breathing slowly, deeply, and at a uniform pace. Just concentrating my whole mind on taking that next breath helped get it off worrying about whether I was going to die. Counting sheep, like you do when you have a distracted mind and are trying to go to sleep, helped with getting back to normal and going to sleep after an attack started to subside. Also, like Adam Sandler said, go to your happy place, haha. Seriously, thinking about good and positive things, like my happiest memories, favorite places and people, etc. helped with the panic attacks. Drinking a glass of Scotch seemed to help one time (probably not a healthy way of handling it if you have them all the time though)... and may have had more to do with "going to a happy place" than any depressant effect.
I really think breathing is huge. Your pace and depth of breath has a big influence on your heart rate and state of mind. There is something I do on days when I am going to do something stressful, like a trial or hearing, that might help you... when I first wake up in the morning, I take a series of real deep, slow breaths and relax. It puts my mind in a good, relaxed state right from the start. If I think about it later in the day I'll stop and do the same thing, and then again right before I do whatever it is I'm going to do. If I catch myself stressed in the middle of an activity, I make a point to slow down and breathe.
Hope this helps -- congrats and good luck on the new job.
I would only get them at night in bed while trying to sleep. I would wake up either with my heart beating fast, or thinking my heart wasn't beating at all. My arm(s) would be numb and tingling (what you say about the body shutting down extremities makes a lot of sense), and I would feel cold. My chest muscles and sometimes arms would tighten and have pains. The first time it happened, I didn't know what it was and I thought I was having a heart attack. I told the old lady to call 911. She realized I was just freaking out, and got me to calm down and go back to sleep. After that I realized it probably wasn't a heart attack, but was still worried about it because I knew chest pain, arm pain, irregular heartbeat, etc. are all symptoms of heart attack.
The next time it happened I got up and looked up my symptoms on WebMD and boom, panic attack was at the top of the list. I thought for sure it was going to tell me to go to the ER immediately because you're having a heart attack, lol. I am probably stupid for not going to the hospital if I even thought I was having heart trouble, but I digress. So I read up on panic attacks and sure enough, that's what I was having. It really surprised me, because I pride myself on being mentally tough, cool headed, and calm under pressure. I guess I thought panic attacks only happened to weenies and chronic worriers (which I am decidedly not... I have one of the most "f*ck it" attitudes of anyone I know). Turns out they are largely subconscious. Anyway, once I knew what they were and that they really weren't any kind of threat to my life, they weren't near as bad. One thing I did notice is that panic attacks always occurred on nights when I had drank caffeine during the day. It seemed even getting a few refills of iced tea would do it. So I cut out caffeine altogether, and it pretty much eliminated the problem.
When I did have them, one of the things that helped most was to put my hand on my carotid and feel my own pulse. It would always be there even when I felt like my heart had stopped or wasn't pumping right, and when I thought my heart was about to beat out of my chest, it would make me realize that it wasn't really beating as fast as I thought. It gave me a little handle on reality I suppose. The other thing that helped most was breathing. I would concentrate on breathing slowly, deeply, and at a uniform pace. Just concentrating my whole mind on taking that next breath helped get it off worrying about whether I was going to die. Counting sheep, like you do when you have a distracted mind and are trying to go to sleep, helped with getting back to normal and going to sleep after an attack started to subside. Also, like Adam Sandler said, go to your happy place, haha. Seriously, thinking about good and positive things, like my happiest memories, favorite places and people, etc. helped with the panic attacks. Drinking a glass of Scotch seemed to help one time (probably not a healthy way of handling it if you have them all the time though)... and may have had more to do with "going to a happy place" than any depressant effect.
I really think breathing is huge. Your pace and depth of breath has a big influence on your heart rate and state of mind. There is something I do on days when I am going to do something stressful, like a trial or hearing, that might help you... when I first wake up in the morning, I take a series of real deep, slow breaths and relax. It puts my mind in a good, relaxed state right from the start. If I think about it later in the day I'll stop and do the same thing, and then again right before I do whatever it is I'm going to do. If I catch myself stressed in the middle of an activity, I make a point to slow down and breathe.
Hope this helps -- congrats and good luck on the new job.
