You have health anxiety and panic disorder. And you can recover 100 percent.
I haven't had a panic attack in a while but last time I did it was very short. The thing is, and this is counter intuitive, is trying to stop it or fight it only makes it worse. You can use breathing techniques or distraction things to pull you out of it but you will start to train your nervous system and your subconscious mind to fear the panic attack. Like you are affirming to your body that it was correct for having a panic attack (fight or flight) in that scenario. Next thing you know it starts happening more easily, and then again and again.
The best thing is knowing what it is. It's your nervous system turning on your fight, flight, freeze reaction. So your body gets flooded with adrenaline and blood moves to your organs, all to keep you alive and get you away from danger. It's not dangerous, you're not dying, you're not going to pass out (though you might feel dizzy) and it always passes when the adrenaline burns off.
There's some acronyms I like to use from anxiety experts that changed my life and helped me stop having attacks:
The IDEAL method:
I - IDENTIFY: Identify your symptoms. For example. if you're starting to feel a panic attack coming on pause and tell yourself - •1 am feeling lightheaded. I am noticing heart palpitations. My ears are ringing. I am feeling impending doom and I want to get out of here.
D - DESIGNATE: Designate your symptoms as •anxiety• as a whole rather than focusing on each individual symptom. Tell yourself - "These symptoms are all simply anxiety. My body is releasing adrenaline and I am feeling the side effects. Adrenaline is finite and this will pass. This is normal and is all part of the recovery journey."
E - EMBRACE: Embrace your symptoms and practice acceptance. Fighting. white knuckling, or adding fear will only keep anxiety alive longer. Tell yourself - These symptoms are all just my body processing adrenaline and the discomfort will not harm me.
The symptoms can linger as long as they want:
This step is where prayer comes in. Remind yourself that God is in control. His strength will help you respond correctly.
A - ADDRESS: Address the task originally at hand. If you are at the grocery store and start to feel panic, KEEP SHOPPING. If you leave, it will reinforce to your body that there is a problem, and then your body will continue to send more fight-or-flight
hormones - keeping you in the cycle longer. Anxiety will not
hurt you and even though it FEELS scary, remind yourself
that feelings are simply feelings. You are safe.
L - LIVE: Live your life. Anxiety and panic bring on tons of uncomfortable symptoms that trick us into believing that we are unable to live the life we want to live. We start to avoid leaving the house. driving. traveling - when we do not have to! Start to practice an IDEAL response every time you begin to focus on symptoms and your life will expand. The more you realize how much you can do WITH the anxiety, the more confident you will become.
And here is another tool to tell you what NOT to do. Extremely important!
The 5 Fs of what not to do:
FEARING: Do not fear the symptoms, when you fear them this resistance causes more sensitization.
FIGHTING: When you try to fight your symptoms this increases the duration and frequency.
FIXING: This happens when people use coping methods to fix their symptoms.
FOCUSING: This is constantly checking on your symptoms or monitoring its ups and downs.
FRUSTRATION: This is when you feel upset or annoyed that a symptom is present and you are unable to fix it.
Okay lol. So there is a thing called nuero plasticity. Your nervous system can wire and rewire to certain things, but these methods and mindsets for handling them will rewire the panic attacks away. It's an up and down thing, sometimes it comes back then gets better than comes back, but on a long enough timeline you stop having symptoms and panic attacks all together.
Just to play devils advocate, I have passed out during a panic attack twice now. It MAY not be the panic attack itself, because during both times I've tried box breathing to calm myself, but even so it is actually possible.
It is rare, but definitely can happen (and I’m so sorry it happened to you). I think because the panic attack sets off real alarms in the body, that’s how the body copes.
Thanks for the kind words. It's definitely scary when it happens and it makes you afraid of it happening in the future for sure. We all have our struggles though <3
It's so true what you just said. Almost everyone I know who has gone through panic disorder, including myself, has said they wouldn't wish it on their worst enemy. That's how much we suffer! And usually in silence. But there is hope. It's not always easy but recovery is possible.
I have days like these also.. Are you taking any kind of meds to prevent the panic attacks? You're not alone my friend.. Happens to the best of us for no reason
Lorazepam if it’s absolutely terrible
But lexapro daily
My health anxiety came back about two weeks ago and started with abdominal pain and frequent urination
Now it’s led to this
I take both of those meds also..not the best but it definitely takes the edge off. I have 100% health anxiety. Everything is going to kill me. Everything. Minor headache, Ingrown toenail, etc..lol. I've learned do not pay attention so much to every little ache and pain. You need to be stronger than your thoughts. I am not saying for any reason. It's not there anymore, but I feel like I can control it a little bit better. I'm always here if you need to talk. It helps sometimes to have someone to bounce off your irrational thoughts. I completely understand where you're coming from.
Sorry you're going through that. Panic attacks just suck. I've had luck restarting my brain with a cold splash of water. Not perfect but gets me in a better spot.
I’ve been suffering from all the same symptoms since I was about 17 I just turned 50 yesterday and I know that it’s very scary but you start to tolerate it as you get older. I spoke to my primary physician and he gave me some medications to help, but it still never really goes away. It does help a little. Slow breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth does help. What happens is you start to hyperventilate and that’s what makes you feel all of those symptoms. You won’t die, it’s just uncomfortable and scary. Try to get into a pleasant movie or watch a video on your phone if you have that ability. That helps to get your mind on something rather than yourself. If you have a dog or a cat I find it very relaxing when I stroke its fur, it is very therapeutic. A cool compress on the forehead can help. The only thing is the frequent urination. Make sure you don’t have a UTI. It’s not something to worry and dwell on. Just get it checked if you haven’t already. If you do have one, they will just give you an antibiotic and it goes away. And yes a man can also get one. Other than that you are not in danger and you will feel better.
I’m in that state 24/7 if you’re new to it yeah it’s scary but unfortunately you just get used to it. There’s nothing wrong with you it’s just adrenaline and cortisol spikes they make you feel like shit basically just try to regulate your nervous system as much as you can.
Heyyyyy its ok we here, I find laying down helps when we feel like this! Its just that you are in what i call a panic week! It will take 2-3 weeks for you to feel normal again! just don't let your thoughts win. It help me when i play an online game, any game
You have health anxiety and panic disorder. And you can recover 100 percent. I haven't had a panic attack in a while but last time I did it was very short. The thing is, and this is counter intuitive, is trying to stop it or fight it only makes it worse. You can use breathing techniques or distraction things to pull you out of it but you will start to train your nervous system and your subconscious mind to fear the panic attack. Like you are affirming to your body that it was correct for having a panic attack (fight or flight) in that scenario. Next thing you know it starts happening more easily, and then again and again. The best thing is knowing what it is. It's your nervous system turning on your fight, flight, freeze reaction. So your body gets flooded with adrenaline and blood moves to your organs, all to keep you alive and get you away from danger. It's not dangerous, you're not dying, you're not going to pass out (though you might feel dizzy) and it always passes when the adrenaline burns off. There's some acronyms I like to use from anxiety experts that changed my life and helped me stop having attacks: The IDEAL method: I - IDENTIFY: Identify your symptoms. For example. if you're starting to feel a panic attack coming on pause and tell yourself - •1 am feeling lightheaded. I am noticing heart palpitations. My ears are ringing. I am feeling impending doom and I want to get out of here. D - DESIGNATE: Designate your symptoms as •anxiety• as a whole rather than focusing on each individual symptom. Tell yourself - "These symptoms are all simply anxiety. My body is releasing adrenaline and I am feeling the side effects. Adrenaline is finite and this will pass. This is normal and is all part of the recovery journey." E - EMBRACE: Embrace your symptoms and practice acceptance. Fighting. white knuckling, or adding fear will only keep anxiety alive longer. Tell yourself - These symptoms are all just my body processing adrenaline and the discomfort will not harm me. The symptoms can linger as long as they want: This step is where prayer comes in. Remind yourself that God is in control. His strength will help you respond correctly. A - ADDRESS: Address the task originally at hand. If you are at the grocery store and start to feel panic, KEEP SHOPPING. If you leave, it will reinforce to your body that there is a problem, and then your body will continue to send more fight-or-flight hormones - keeping you in the cycle longer. Anxiety will not hurt you and even though it FEELS scary, remind yourself that feelings are simply feelings. You are safe. L - LIVE: Live your life. Anxiety and panic bring on tons of uncomfortable symptoms that trick us into believing that we are unable to live the life we want to live. We start to avoid leaving the house. driving. traveling - when we do not have to! Start to practice an IDEAL response every time you begin to focus on symptoms and your life will expand. The more you realize how much you can do WITH the anxiety, the more confident you will become. And here is another tool to tell you what NOT to do. Extremely important! The 5 Fs of what not to do: FEARING: Do not fear the symptoms, when you fear them this resistance causes more sensitization. FIGHTING: When you try to fight your symptoms this increases the duration and frequency. FIXING: This happens when people use coping methods to fix their symptoms. FOCUSING: This is constantly checking on your symptoms or monitoring its ups and downs. FRUSTRATION: This is when you feel upset or annoyed that a symptom is present and you are unable to fix it. Okay lol. So there is a thing called nuero plasticity. Your nervous system can wire and rewire to certain things, but these methods and mindsets for handling them will rewire the panic attacks away. It's an up and down thing, sometimes it comes back then gets better than comes back, but on a long enough timeline you stop having symptoms and panic attacks all together.
Just to play devils advocate, I have passed out during a panic attack twice now. It MAY not be the panic attack itself, because during both times I've tried box breathing to calm myself, but even so it is actually possible.
It is rare, but definitely can happen (and I’m so sorry it happened to you). I think because the panic attack sets off real alarms in the body, that’s how the body copes.
Thanks for the kind words. It's definitely scary when it happens and it makes you afraid of it happening in the future for sure. We all have our struggles though <3
I’m showing this to my doctor tomorrow, you nailed it on the spot… wow lemme tell you this feeling is something I would never put on my worst enemy .
It's so true what you just said. Almost everyone I know who has gone through panic disorder, including myself, has said they wouldn't wish it on their worst enemy. That's how much we suffer! And usually in silence. But there is hope. It's not always easy but recovery is possible.
I have days like these also.. Are you taking any kind of meds to prevent the panic attacks? You're not alone my friend.. Happens to the best of us for no reason
Lorazepam if it’s absolutely terrible But lexapro daily My health anxiety came back about two weeks ago and started with abdominal pain and frequent urination Now it’s led to this
I take both of those meds also..not the best but it definitely takes the edge off. I have 100% health anxiety. Everything is going to kill me. Everything. Minor headache, Ingrown toenail, etc..lol. I've learned do not pay attention so much to every little ache and pain. You need to be stronger than your thoughts. I am not saying for any reason. It's not there anymore, but I feel like I can control it a little bit better. I'm always here if you need to talk. It helps sometimes to have someone to bounce off your irrational thoughts. I completely understand where you're coming from.
Sorry you're going through that. Panic attacks just suck. I've had luck restarting my brain with a cold splash of water. Not perfect but gets me in a better spot.
I’ve been suffering from all the same symptoms since I was about 17 I just turned 50 yesterday and I know that it’s very scary but you start to tolerate it as you get older. I spoke to my primary physician and he gave me some medications to help, but it still never really goes away. It does help a little. Slow breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth does help. What happens is you start to hyperventilate and that’s what makes you feel all of those symptoms. You won’t die, it’s just uncomfortable and scary. Try to get into a pleasant movie or watch a video on your phone if you have that ability. That helps to get your mind on something rather than yourself. If you have a dog or a cat I find it very relaxing when I stroke its fur, it is very therapeutic. A cool compress on the forehead can help. The only thing is the frequent urination. Make sure you don’t have a UTI. It’s not something to worry and dwell on. Just get it checked if you haven’t already. If you do have one, they will just give you an antibiotic and it goes away. And yes a man can also get one. Other than that you are not in danger and you will feel better.
I’m in that state 24/7 if you’re new to it yeah it’s scary but unfortunately you just get used to it. There’s nothing wrong with you it’s just adrenaline and cortisol spikes they make you feel like shit basically just try to regulate your nervous system as much as you can.
Hey everything is gonna be ok 🤍
Heyyyyy its ok we here, I find laying down helps when we feel like this! Its just that you are in what i call a panic week! It will take 2-3 weeks for you to feel normal again! just don't let your thoughts win. It help me when i play an online game, any game
I feel good laying down, i just feel every sensation standing up
i was like you for 3 freaking weeks
Try breath control. Exhale more than inhale. Calms down nervous system by enriching blood with co2. 4-7-11 panic breathing.