New to panic attacks, getting confused

I never got on Benzos for anxiety attacks...I never even got on them for anxiey...I understand this is can happen-- but WOW. How do I NOT panic when I'm having one, especially when, for a long time, I don't even know what it is...I talk fast and uncontrollably at my sister on the phone...adreneline rushes, pacing, everything, heart pounding.....the adreneline rushes are the worst because it makes me feel truly manic. And it takes me FOREVER to figure out its a panic attack, This time I almost called a mental hospital thinking it was a nervous breakdown.

Then I realized it was a panic attack, and calmed down a bit.

I'm not so concerned about ending them, at least not at this point....seeing it for what it is usually is the beginning of the end. What do you feel like before an attack hits? Are they're warning signs? I noticed I was obsessing alot before it happened. Are there triggers?

Hi martian,

You might want to take a look at this thread, many have found it helpful.  I'd never suffered from them before either, so when I had my first and only one in benzo withdrawal, I was pretty freaked out.

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=13001.0

good that you can recognise them now- and when you do, as i did about 2 hours ago, i breathed into it really deeply and "went into it" said do your worst etc. amazingly it lessened and does so each time i do this.

didn't get hem b4!! either.

Hi,

When I first began tapering I would wake up with the worst anxiety. I would start the cycle of panic attack after panic attack as soon as I would wake up in the morning. It got sooo bad that I had to take a month off of work.

I DREADED waking up in the morning. I would sit there heart racing, sweat pouring off of me, thoughts racing..this would last for HOURS and HOURS every morning. Finally I said to myself "I can't let this beat me down every day".  So I started forcing myself to go work out or go for a walk as SOON as I woke up. Sure, it was soo hard to get up and move while feeling that way. But you know what, within about 3 or 4 weeks I had broken the cycle!! I noticed the panic attacks were not there as soon as I opened my eyes.  They were getting fewer and farther between. I kept walking daily, and within a month or two they were gone!

I finally figured out, I was "feeding" the anxiety in the morning by sitting there and fighting it as it ashed over me. Instead you just have to get out of your head and live your life like the anxiety is not even there. It's one of the hardest things I did (pretending like its not there)  but it worked to break that cycle.

That's exactly what I was I doing, just "feeding" it until it was out of control. I haven't started excersizing yet, that's what I was thinking about starting to, I understand it can help with so many symptoms.

I've been trying so hard to "relax" I've been less and less active. Great advice guys, Thanks for the tips.

Essentially, besides the physical symptoms, panic attacks come in 3 flavours: fear of dying, fear of loosing your mind and fear of hurting others or yourself (which is a variation of fear of loosing your mind). And although it may seem very real, it's impossible to loose your mind that way. As you mentioned, recognizing that what you feeling is a panick attack is half of the battle. Try to stick with that until it passes. Yes, time seems distorted, so each  minute may seem a very long time.

On a more pratical side, anything that affects you from the outside usually helps. For example, if it's cold, open a window and wait until you start freezing a bit. There are more examples, but probably you can figure it out for yourself what works for you.

Hope this helps

Essentially, besides the physical symptoms, panic attacks come in 3 flavours: fear of dying, fear of loosing your mind and fear of hurting others or yourself (which is a variation of fear of loosing your mind). And although it may seem very real, it's impossible to loose your mind that way. As you mentioned, recognizing that what you feeling is a panick attack is half of the battle. Try to stick with that until it passes. Yes, time seems distorted, so each  minute may seem a very long time.

You are absolutely right! I have experienced all 3 of those panic attacks.  The fear of dying for me was the easiest one to overcome for some reason.  Whenever I got physical symptoms of an attack like rapid heartbeat and flushed face, hearing loss... I was always able to recognize it as an attack and get it under control.  The other two kinds were not easy for me because I don't like anything that challenges my belief in my sanity.

And I do agree that no matter how many panic attacks you have, it is still hard to always recognize them all as panic attacks.  Each one still feels different than the one before... and our anxiety creates the "what if this isn't a panic attack and this is serious" in our heads... which further intensifies the attack, which in turns makes us believe that it is way too strong to be a panic attack and thus the spiral leads us to the ER.

Good news is that the less you fight the panic attacks the less powerful they are.  I concur that you should give in and tell the panic to do its worst. That has helped me out tremendously, when I can always get myself to believe it is just a panic episode.

As far as I know there has never been 1 documented case of someone ever being harmed by a panic attack. So that is always good to know. Although many people have "harmed" themselves emotionally and physically with benzo use because of panic attacks.

I'm sorry you're having panic attacks. I've had them several times. Before any Benzo I would have numerous ones all day, and it started to go away until I was put on the Benzo. I had attacks, it felt like shocks hitting MY HEART and BRAIN.. and this was before any Benzo. They slowly became a part of me, and from there I just started to learn to cope with them. No, they won't kill you, or I wouldn't be here, but they are scary. I have never heard of anyone dieing of an attack. Just hang in there, HOPEFULLY they will fade.

Keryn.

I think the circumstances are different for everyone, but I'd be willing to wager that the majority of people who have panic attacks have them due to some kind of fear.  For me, I know this is the case.  I would have a symptom of anxiety (chest pain for example) and worry about it being a heart attack.  This fear would would then add to my anxiety and all of the sudden I would have shortness of breath, which reinforced my fears.  Next thing I knew, I would be in a state of panic.

I had panic attacks almost daily for about a month until I realized it was my own fear and destructive "Inner Talk" that was allowing them to occur.  I was able to eliminate them completely by letting go of my fears.  This was a very hard thing to do, and I wasn't able to do it overnight.  It takes a lot of determination, let me tell you.

This is something you can just exercise off, trust me, I tried.  It's a battle in your mind.

-Erik

Before any Benzo's. I had a lot of panic attacks. As I stated above what they felt like.. I also had jerks with them, not seizures, but jolts.

I wonder if the panic will leave after healing. I hope so.. I know they will pop up again.

No, they can't kill you, but they are horrible.

My worse case of them broke out in 2002 it was June 17, 2002 and they started to fade around January 2003, I don't recall the date, but that was my worse outbreak.

Keryn.

I think the circumstances are different for everyone, but I'd be willing to wager that the majority of people who have panic attacks have them due to some kind of fear.  For me, I know this is the case.  I would have a symptom of anxiety (chest pain for example) and worry about it being a heart attack.  This fear would would then add to my anxiety and all of the sudden I would have shortness of breath, which reinforced my fears.  Next thing I knew, I would be in a state of panic.

 

I had panic attacks almost daily for about a month until I realized it was my own fear and destructive "Inner Talk" that was allowing them to occur.  I was able to eliminate them completely by letting go of my fears.  This was a very hard thing to do, and I wasn't able to do it overnight.  It takes a lot of determination, let me tell you.

 

This is something you can just exercise off, trust me, I tried.  It's a battle in your mind.

 

-Erik

This is absolutely true....I was constantly afraid of losing my mind....although I was never diagnosed as Bipolar (I just stopped taking these things once and ended up in the hospital and told THEM I must be Bipolar.....that fear has ruled my life....I was even afraid of HAPPINESS for fear

of having that ever happen again (whether I am Bipolar or not is so irrelevent to me right now)....and now, sometimes....I'm not afraid of anything....sometimes I think now that all my fears have come true...what is left to fear? Sometimes....