Question:
I am beginning to wonder if I'm suffering a very prolonged panic attack. I
am a 36-year-old non-smoking male, and not long before Christmas I spent the
night in the emergency room because I had chest pains, shortness of breath,
and was easily exhausted merely by walking across a room.
I'm wondering if the chest-pain
thing could be a prolonged panic attack. Any thoughts?
Answer:
im 14 years old and have had panic attacks for 5 years and had a
attack last for a week but i think what yours is, is anxeity that is
prolonged and you stay nervous all day what you should do is take a cold
shower or have someone hold u and tell u it is ok when it gets bad or
break your train of thought. When your in public and having an attack
stop it by walking up to someone u dont know and say u r having an
attack and the humililty will snap u out of it write me back if u
have more trouble. and remember i have been through it and am still
batttling it each day good luck and dont give up.
How long can a panic attack last? They can be as short as a few
minutes to a prolonged living hell lasting for days. That's not the
important part, though. The important part is asking yourself what
you're going to do about it. I suffered from panic attacks for a few
years before I finally took them seriously. First, realize that you're
not alone. You are not abnormal. Believe this and accept this as fact.
Second, start exercising. Cut out the beer, caffeine filled products,
sugar, etc. Clean out your body. Third, drop the shrink. "What!!??" you
say? My experience with the several shrinks that I went to was that I
saw no improvement. They were getting my money, and I was getting worse
because I wasn't seeing progress with my well earned money. (Besides, I
was a grad student at the time and didn't have money to burn). I would
suggest picking up the Attacking Anxiety tape series from the Midwest
Center for Stress and Anxiety. You can find them on the web. This was
the best money I ever spent. Yeah, everyone can scoff at their
infomercials, but the bottom line is that it works. It's a solid
product. If you have more questions about it, respond to this post.
Other than that, all I can say is that these attacks WILL stop. It's
just a matter of time and retraining your thought patterns.
you might get flamed for your unequivocable insistance on dropping
a shrink (not really a good idea or piece of advise since you are making a
broad generalization to someone who may be having a great deal of beneifit from
their shrink or if not may from another) Lucinda's program is comprehensive and
very well done albeit expensive. It can work and it frequently does however, a
tailored made program is best for most as it ain't a one size fits all world.
There are wonderful shrinks and horrid ones. They do this for a living and have
variable charges ranging from low to useureous. Caveat emptor is the rule of
our society unfortunately. But please don't give advise that may not be in many
peoples best interest-to fire ones shrink sounds very assertive and proactive
and cool-but it may be like cutting off ones nose to spite your face as
well.This is your experience and it is to be respected-but anxiety is a
multidimensional problem with many roads to recovery.
As for the real important part of answering these questions as to how long the
anxiety attacks last it is variable-however, there are managment techniques,
coping skills, cognitive therapy, and medications that all help quite
reasonably and getting yourself in person to a professional is the best advise
anyone can offer-self help programs are ancillary adjunctive and highly
effective in tandem with a personal allie.
A good psychiatrist is worth a lot and they *do* exist. The standard
combination for treatment for PAD is meds (which I would rather have
monitored by a pdoc specialized in anxiety disorders than by a GP who
generally isn;t very familiar with it) and CBT = Corgnitive Behavioural
Therapy. Some pdocs do this but mostly it's done by a clinical
psychologist.
The Midwest tapes are very expensive and there is nothing in them that you
can't also find (and better) in Bourne's Anxiety & Phobias Workbook,
probably the best manual around. Basically, the Midwestern tapes offer some
CBT-like stuff. If this helps, you will be helped beyond belief by a proper
CBT course.
Anxiety or panic attacks can last for hours or days,
so this is a possibility. Chest pain associated with
anxiety is typically due to Gastro-Esophegial Reflux
Disorder (GERD); a chronic and painful form of heart
burn resulting from disturbances of neurotransmitters
and hormones related to anxiety. In other words, such
chest pain has more to do with your stomach than your
heart.
You should discuss this with your medical doctor. If
you aren't already discussing Cognitive-Behavioral
Therapy (CBT) with your psychiatrist, then you should
ask about this. CBT can be conducted with a trained
therapist, or you can even teach yourself the basic
techniques from a good book on the subject.
