right now i am having an intense panic attack.

i mean this is one of the worst ive had in a while.

i took a WHOLE clonazepam to battle this
(im used to 1/2 of one)

6/20/2010 9:20:46 AM

I'll post in your thread.

I don't know much about panic attacks, but just know you'll get through it

6/20/2010 9:24:52 AM

eat some ice cream

6/20/2010 9:26:10 AM

i know i will too.

right now i just want a distraction

6/20/2010 9:26:29 AM

My husband does a great job talking me down from a panic attack. He tells me that if I still feel the same way in blah blah minutes that he'll take me to the ER. I never do. It's just getting through that half hour or so til the meds kick in.

6/20/2010 9:27:06 AM

Maybe she got freaked out by this guy

6/20/2010 9:28:45 AM

bottombaby you are completely right.

this is seriously one of the worst ones iv ever had (coming in 2nd to the time i fell in target-ha!)
this is the first time ive ever felt nauseated because of it

i'm a bout to take a shower per your (bottombaby's) request, i think/hope this will help.

6/20/2010 9:33:46 AM

Even if showering doesn't help, you've made it another ten or fifteen minutes and the end is just that much closer.

6/20/2010 9:35:16 AM

the first morning sickness is always the worst

congratulations though!

6/20/2010 9:37:50 AM

you are right. i can feel my heart slowing down a bit.

my dr has offered to write me a script for beta blockers to go along with my clonazepam but i've been a little too scared to accept.
i think i may soon

[Edited on June 20, 2010 at 9:38 AM. Reason : ^hahahah ]

6/20/2010 9:38:29 AM

I haven't tried beta blockers, but they would be worth a shot. I take Zoloft daily to control them and Ativan for actual attacks. I've also had to reduce my alcohol consumption because hangovers triggered like 75% of my attacks.

6/20/2010 9:44:13 AM

smoke something and relax baby girl

6/20/2010 9:47:41 AM

I obviously know nothing about panic attacks. because seeing the posts make me think "how do panic attacks work if you can post during them?

I may need education on this.

6/20/2010 9:49:29 AM

how do i put this

i understand the anxiety that i can cure by burning a dutch on the back porch
i don't understand the anxiety that requires pharmies

6/20/2010 9:51:20 AM

Most people who are in the midst of a panic attack and are aware of it will do anything to take their attention away from the attack.

My heart starts to pound, I feel like I cannot breathe, I start to have cold sweats, my skin tingles, my vision goes blurry, everything feels unreal, and I become convinced that I'm going to die. In reality, I'm in the middle of a positive feedback loop. I panic, so I breathe differently, breathing differently creates these physical symptoms, the physical symptoms convince me that I'm dying, and I panic, so I breathe differently....

Lots of different things can trigger an attack. It's your fight or flight system going off when there's nothing to fight or run away from.

[Edited on June 20, 2010 at 9:56 AM. Reason : .]

6/20/2010 9:54:57 AM

What causes this condition? Is it an identifiable cognitive defect or something that's diagnosed exclusively behaviorally?

6/20/2010 9:58:01 AM

Beta blockers are pretty awesome. Confidence and smoothness all in one pill.

6/20/2010 10:01:57 AM

Read the Wiki on it. It can be caused by everything from a cardiac condition to a vitamin deficiency to post traumatic stress.

I know that the physical symptoms are real and measurable. I went to the ER for my first panic attack and they took me back right away because my resting heart rate was a little crazy.

6/20/2010 10:03:14 AM

I read the wiki on it before I posted, didn't want to be saying something stupid before I tried helping


In case of a panic attack, remain calm and comfort the person.

[Edited on June 20, 2010 at 10:09 AM. Reason : lkj]

6/20/2010 10:08:20 AM

Quote :

"I know that the physical symptoms are real and measurable. I went to the ER for my first panic attack and they took me back right away because my resting heart rate was a little crazy."

of course this is true but if something can't be diagnosed with a physical test (and behavior is relied upon to make a diagnosis) then you run the risk of giving people really hardcore drugs just because they never learned to chill the fuck out and take a deep breath

some people probably need this medication but can't you reduce the strength and frequency of your symptoms by meditating, taking walks, relaxing in general, etc? i don't know. i'm not saying this range of conditions isn't real or anything like that it's just that whenever i see these threads and people discussing these conditions i wonder how much of the symptoms could be treated with a little perspective

6/20/2010 10:15:09 AM

sometimes when my asthma acts up I have small panic attacks. I try to control my breathing and tell myself that I'm not going to die.

6/20/2010 10:15:20 AM

Most people with panic disorders use a combination of therapeutic strategies and drugs. Medical intervention alone will not "cure" someone who has a panic disorder because of the cognitive piece.

I participated in several modules of dialectical behavior therapy in conjunction with 100 mg of Zoloft a day and .5-1 mg of Ativan as needed for attacks. I went from having clusters of attacks on a weekly basis to having one every couple of months. I couldn't have done that without BOTH the therapy and the medication.

6/20/2010 10:25:56 AM

But do you know what causes the condition to begin with?

I'm having a hard time believing this isn't a cultural problem given the covariates but I'll accept an alternative hypothesis if there is one

6/20/2010 10:26:56 AM

bottombaby is on point.

although i haven't been tested my doctor is pretty sure i have a slight adrenaline problem.

my body likes to go into fight-or-flight response at certain triggers. and sometimes randomly.

i was originally put on antidepressants because my dr thought it was stress induced, but now he is fairly certain it's a biological thing :/

i mean hell. i was waken up having one

there is a reason this started, however i'm not comfortable discussing this on tdub....

Quote :

"how do panic attacks work if you can post during them?"

before i would have never been able to.
the first one i ever had i was in target.
i remember it vividly...i was looking for tampons (lol) and all of a sudden my heart rate skyrocketed. i freaked out which made it worse and before i knew it i was on the floor.
it took me all of my might not to have them call an ambulance.
now i know whats happening.
i know im not going to die....but that still doesnt help the symptoms.
the best way is for me to relax and great way of doing that is by occupying my mind with something else

[Edited on June 20, 2010 at 10:30 AM. Reason : ncxm]

6/20/2010 10:28:50 AM

I need somebody

6/20/2010 10:32:59 AM

not just anybody.........

6/20/2010 10:33:34 AM

Most of the time when people are having panic attacks the people around them don't know.

A lot of the big fear when having a panic attack is the embarrassment of fainting in public or drawing attention to yourself, etc... so it just piles it on while the person tries to hide that something is happening to them.

6/20/2010 10:36:11 AM

bake a cake!

for some reason, baking (i'll wait for the inevitable pot reference) is really calming for me

i just made two cakes and a cheesecake while listening to jack johnson's entire discography

6/20/2010 10:38:38 AM

Quote :

"But do you know what causes the condition to begin with? "

In my case, it is hereditary. My mother suffers from panic attacks. And now we know that there is a genetic abnormality in my family that causes a constellation of congenital differences including cardiac abnormalities which are related to panic attacks. An arrhythmia can trigger a panic attack and my first panic attack was triggered by the sensation of my heart "skipping a beat." And once I had my first panic attack, I was afraid of having another panic attack and constantly aware, and it just snowballed.

I mentioned reading the Wiki. While there are a number of psychological reasons for panic disorder, there are also a number of biological/medical conditions that are related to panic attacks.

[Edited on June 20, 2010 at 10:42 AM. Reason : .]

6/20/2010 10:40:03 AM

i feel much much better now


thanks yall

6/20/2010 10:41:39 AM

The one and only time I know I had a panic attack was in CH201. I was taking the first exam and regardless of the fact I studied my ass off, I was so freaked out that the exam might as well have been written in Icelandic or something. I literally thgouht I was going to die in that lecture hall.

6/20/2010 10:48:13 AM

I never put much stock into panic attacks

then as i was driving down to south carolina to make a court date where i could get FUCKED and lose all financial aid because of it, as soon as I saw the exit for the city I freaked out and had to pull my car off the road for 10 minutes to calm down.

i'm a believer now

[Edited on June 20, 2010 at 10:58 AM. Reason : .]

6/20/2010 10:58:31 AM

I was the same until I had mine.

6/20/2010 11:11:15 AM

Sometimes I wonder how much of our inability to cope with things is the accumulation of cultural failures or somethin

fake edit: smoke weed every day

6/20/2010 11:14:26 AM

You could just be like me. You could be having a mild seizure. In that case, do what I do: go to sleep.

6/20/2010 11:17:15 AM

Beta blockers are weird shit. I had to take atenolol for something not related to panic attacks and they always made me feel terrible. I'll never forget the name since it had LOL in it lol.

6/20/2010 11:31:50 AM

^i have actually thought of that.

my grandmother has epilepsy and she says that this is how hers started in her 20's.

6/20/2010 11:32:30 AM

proponoLOL

6/20/2010 11:33:39 AM

^^ Yeah I had superventricular tachycardia. That shit sucked. But then one day it went away with no explanation. The cardiologist said most likely it was induced by stress and then went away on its own once I was able to manage my stress.

6/20/2010 11:35:31 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supraventricular_tachycardia

6/20/2010 11:36:16 AM

thats awesome it went away!!!

my doctors are actually 100% sure mine is not stress induced.
which sucks in a way :/

6/20/2010 11:36:53 AM

yeah they were talking surgery for awhile which was kind of scary. But then one day I decided to stop taking the meds because I really hated how it made me feel and it just kind of stopped happening. Now I just hope that it doesn't decide to start back up again some day

6/20/2010 11:39:53 AM

i imagine!

lucily my meds do NOT have that effect.
they make me feel normal when im having an episode.
which is why i know they are good.

6/20/2010 11:46:01 AM

it is absolutely amazing how much better i feel.

however i feel like i just ran a marathon b/c of how hard/fast my heart was beating.

6/20/2010 11:54:29 AM

hope you feel better

6/20/2010 11:55:18 AM

I agree with McDanger. "Psychological disease" and "mental illness" are misnomers. Sure there exists dis-ease, but there's no actual physical disease -- it's all in your head. Think of it as being cognitively maladaptive. There is no such thing as the "mind". The word "mind" should only be used as a verb, as in, to mind something... to be on guard.

Not to be insulting or insensitive, but those who suffer from so-called "mental illness" are basically doing it to themselves -- by improper thinking. This of course suggests that there's always some way of thinking that can leave one free of "mental illness" under any circumstances -- but sadly, I don't believe this to be the case. In the same way physically weak people will never be able to achieve some things physically, (be an Olympic athlete, do 10 pull-ups, give your kid a piggy-back ride, etc.,) mentally weak people will never be able to achieve some things mentally (cope with our crazy world, be an efficient and productive worker, deal with the intense emotions associated with trauma, loss, etc.)

Our expectation for everyone to be mentally well is unrealistic -- as unrealistic as an expectation for everyone to be super-athletes. Not being physically capable to do everything is not a disease, and neither is not being mentally capable to cope/adapt to everything.

I'm not saying "don't take the clonazepam". I'm just saying to realize that it's merely a drug and not a medicine.

[Edited on June 20, 2010 at 12:04 PM. Reason : ]

6/20/2010 12:02:45 PM

paging doctor faggot

6/20/2010 12:05:38 PM

^^mine isn't as simple as that. its a biological thing

like i said earlier...i have a reason this started but im not comfortable talking about it publicly.

my body goes into fight-or-flight response for no real reason.
i get a huge rush of adrenaline.

[Edited on June 20, 2010 at 12:10 PM. Reason : this is joie]

6/20/2010 12:09:22 PM

indy, are you saying that you believe that all mental illness is not of an organic nature, but simply maladaptive thought processes without biological origin?

6/20/2010 12:18:08 PM

someone doesn't know anything about amino acids

6/20/2010 12:20:14 PM