Effective relief for anxiety and panic attacks

R

Rose65

Well-known Member
Location
United Kingdom
I'm getting panic and anxiety attacks especially at night when I find it hard to sleep. I wake with pounding pulse, sweating, short of breath and frightened. All my worries seem to have become a one big dread.

I have tried all sorts of other ways to cope, avoiding medication so far, due to my fear of side effects and addiction.

I know I must at last go and see my doctor. I wondered if anyone here has found medication has been effective, safe and worth any side effects?
 

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Based on the title of your thread I was hoping that you found effective relief and that you were sharing it. Oh well.

Xanax at night can help you, IMO.
 
It most definitely calls for a trip to the doctor. Sometimes therapy and medications can help. I have done both many times. I still have the anxiety and panic attacks. I do have the skills to work thru it but there are times I must resort to medication. It is even worse now that I live alone. Once your brain gets going on fear it is hard to stop. As crazy as it sounds, my dogs help me get through the hard times. It is like they know what is happening and pile up on me to keep me grounded.
 

Most RX medications have side effects, depending on the dose and how your body deals with them. Marijuana helps some people, but it also can cause some to feel more anxious. When ever I become anxious and panicky I practice relaxing. I concentrate on my breathing. I inhale slowly then breath out slowly until I begin to relax. Most panic attacks will last about 10 minutes if I don't make it worse. I "ground" myself. Walking helps. I also focus my attention on real objects. I look and focus on about 5 different objects for a minute or two each. I listen and identify sounds, you can use your sense of smell to focus also. Some say that smelling Lavender is helpful. I try not to think of the future or the past and try to avoid catastrophic thinking.

There are web sites that help with anxiety and panic attacks that might be useful. I have also found a search on YouTube has provided some fairly short and helpful videos.

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I wonder if the cause of such over-anxiety is really a chemical imbalance which must be restored by the right medication?
 
Did you see my reply to you in the other thread? It helps me although I have also used medicine. Ativan, Valium and Klonopin have helped significantly.
 
I tell people that many young men have reported for active duty and for many of them, itā€™s their first time away from home and away from mom and dad. It doesnā€™t surprise the DI (Drill Instructor) anymore when he hears a new recruit whimper a bit on his first night on the Island. You wonā€™t see it or hear them cry during the day, but at night when they are in their racks is when itā€™s mostly likely to happen. I would say on some occasions, we have had over 50% of new recruits at least whimper during the first few nights. The best thing to do is to just turn a deaf ear and let them rid themselves of the pain. We used to embarrass the crap out of them, but found that to be counterproductive. We werenā€™t achieving anything. Our DIā€™s are tough guys, but when it comes to missing mom and dad, they kind of lighten up. This is all part of the ā€œNew Marines.ā€

I have heard that prisoners are the same way, right @Nathan? A lot of them cry being away from home for the first, especially the young bucks. Women Marines, I donā€™t know much about them. They must have a secret code. They donā€™t give up much. I will say that for women. They know how to keep a lid on what goes on from their side. Guys like to rat on each other.

We will from time to time hand out a low dose of Xanax if the fellow is a bit out of hand. You may want to ask your PCP for a script of low dose Xanax. It is addictive, so please be careful. Nathan, do they hand out Xanax in jails? It does work very well.
 
My suggestion is FIRST see a qualified physician. Everyone can make their suggestions but in reality we are all different. Most important of all is to understand that you're human and this is one of those human things that happen. Don't blame yourself etc. Go see the best doc you can. Listen to their advice and then decide for yourself what path you want to follow. It is true that most drugs have side effects based upon the dosage level but don't let that dissuade you. You and the doctor can work through what works best for you.
 
Been There said:
I have heard that prisoners are the same way, right @Nathan? A lot of them cry being away from home for the first, especially the young bucks.
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The thing with being in either jail or prison is, especially for males is it's a bad place to show any kind of vulnerability. Females are expected to be emotional, plus they tend to be less violent and less of a physical threat, generally.
I recall seeing my former inmate-worker who had been previously been released, coming back into custody in jail after a few weeks of being "on the outs". An officer had just brought him into Intake as I was passing through. I spoke to him briefly, prior to his release he lamented that the terms of his probation would likely be violated, as his wife, family and friends were all drug abusers. He was right, when his Probation Officer showed up to check on him, he was in the company of known felons and drug offenders(his family). He was in tears.
 
Nathan said:
The thing with being in either jail or prison is, especially for males is it's a bad place to show any kind of vulnerability. Females are expected to be emotional, plus they tend to be less violent and less of a physical threat, generally.
I recall seeing my former inmate-worker who had been previously been released, coming back into custody in jail after a few weeks of being "on the outs". An officer had just brought him into Intake as I was passing through. I spoke to him briefly, prior to his release he lamented that the terms of his probation would likely be violated, as his wife, family and friends were all drug abusers. He was right, when his Probation Officer showed up to check on him, he was in the company of known felons and drug offenders(his family). He was in tears.
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That's interesting. The felon would like to be clean and sober, but being that he is so vulnerable because his relatives were close to him almost made it impossible for him to stay clean. I guess it's one of those "guilt by association," even though he wasn't a user himself part of his parole agreement is that he stays clear of anyone who is?
 
I donā€™t think enough money is spent on mental health and I donā€™t think enough time is spent discussing MH issues. I just read an article that stated there are more younger people seeking treatment today than ever before. The article also stated that there arenā€™t enough Counselors to go around.
 
911 said:
Isnā€™t that usually done using groups? I have heard of this, but never explored it.
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Not sure, I've self taught from some online sources and materials that a friend who is a therapist gave me. I would like to get some professional training, but Kaiser Permanente just wants to do phone "appointments" , which I think is garbage. I need to go see what the VA offers.
 
I can tell you what helped me when I was getting over my husband's death: drawing mandalas.

I don't know if they were "proper" mandalas, but I'd start with a shape (circle, square, triangle) and start drawing around it, always keeping both sides the same. There was something intensely calming about concentrating on keeping the drawing going. If I was careful, everything came out OK, which is more than the "outside" world was doing. It comforted me. I'd spend hours drawing, shutting out what in the world was bothering me. I'd come out of a session feeling, "Well, that went well! Let's see what I can cope with today."

It doesn't take any real amount of artistic ability. You can make them rounded or geometrical. I invested in some good paper and some good drawing pens and pencils.

I still enjoy doing it. It still calms me. It's as if no matter how chaotic the world is, my mandalas always come out "making sense".
 
I knew a woman that would get a panic attack if she got stuck in the back of a big department store or would be upstairs in a department store with no access to an escalator or an elevator. She would start crying and asking for help to get out of the store.
 
Valarian is mildly helpful.

As soon as I stop working completely, I'm heading to the nearest dispensary if you know what I mean. Legal here.
 
I think it's also helpful to determine whether anyone around you is contributing to your anxiety/panic attacks. Life is best without having those around.
 

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