I'm a worrier by nature but as time has gone by it has escalated from being neurotic and having the occasional chest pain to full blown panic attacks. My first panic attack happened when I was 19. I was studying in the library and suddenly I felt dizzy, hot and my chest felt tight. I had a meeting with one of my extra-curricular clubs a few minutes later so I went... the guy I told my friends I liked two months before was leading the meeting, which caused a spike, and then at the end, he suggested that the group hang out and have dinner together, which caused another spike. I felt like I couldn't breathe and as soon as the meeting finished I rushed out, held it together on my way home and then began hyperventilating and crying as soon as I got in. This carried on almost weekly from that day. To make things worse, it was around this time that I started questioning whether my thoughts that I was a lesbian when I was younger and my fantasies about women during my earlier teenage years were more than "just a phase". I know my triggers because my panic attacks since that day generally have had the same themes: 1) study/work stress; 2) men; and 3) social situations. I saw a therapist and we talked through my anxiety, amongst other things, and yet it's still there, albeit in less intense bursts and more prolonged periods of random symptoms instead. I am exhausted, I shake uncontrollably without reason or warning, my chest and left arm often ache, my mind races, I struggle to breathe sometimes, I get dizzy and tearful and blank, my heart races, my abdomen and groin clench and I have intense headaches. Some days I can brush it off, others it makes me feel like life is a burden. Last Friday I found myself mumbling "no more" as I woke up with more chest pain. Half an hour later I had my first panic attack since March. I had felt it coming for weeks but I still couldn't prevent it :/ It's making everything confusing and complicated and it's ruining my life. Does anybody have any tips on what I can do to stop the anxiety?
Full blown panic attacks are SERIOUS BUSINESS. I have suffered from them and you can pass out, greatly injuring yourself in the process. It can even kill you. Please seek treatment from a physician. There are a lot of options. I've used diff ones, including both SSRIs and SSRNIs as well as my preferred emergency options of Xanax et al. If you want specific info, please pm me because I just don't have time to knock out 5 or 6 full pghs here for you.
Panic attacks won't kill you, and passing out from them is exceedingly rare. Medications are not the only option, there are a lot of cognitive-behavioral tools that can help, but ultimately, the options to best address the situation you're experiencing are to work with a therapist who is deeply experienced with anxiety and CBT approaches to it. (It sounds like your therapist might have been more of a generalist.) If recommended by the therapist, a psychiatrist will prescribe medication. Medications can often be helpful but are imperfect and can have side effects and downsides so you're smart to look at other options rather than medication as a first choice. This is a very solvable problem, it's just a matter of having the right professionals to help you understand what's going on and choose the best option for you.
Serious panic attacks most often do merit medication. If you're having them like I was, you could pass out, smack your head and kaboom, she's done.
I know they won't kill me or make me pass out. The closest I've ever come to passing out was simply because I was in the shower at the time and the combination of the steam, heat and my hyperventilating made me feel lightheaded. Thanks for that, Chip. My therapist was an integrative therapist so a combination of techniques were used and I suppose that's why the intensity lessened but the problems haven't completely gone away. I will speak to my GP and see if she can recommend someone or something. I have tuition fees to pay soon so I will have to rely on what the NHS has to offer before I move out in October. And I would prefer to use medication as a last resort. I know it is a necessity for some people but I would like to tackle the issue at its root with the hope of having a future that is anxiety free. CBT sounds good. I've read that often with anxiety it's about changing the reaction and re-wiring the brain or something
