Question:
When I first began suffering panic attacks I had no idea what they
were or what was happening to me. Of course, I went through the
standard +I must be having a heart attack+ routine along with being
convinced that I was suffering from myraid other ailments. Although I
was clueless about what was happening to me, I was determined to find
out and to overcome my predicament. Well, I did overcome it and I did
it with LITTLE OR NO HELP. I broke down once and drove myself to the
local hospital but the doctor there misdiagnosed me with Depression.
Also, I did see a county therapist briefly (for about 4 months) and
during that time he had me on Propranolol (inderal) which seemed to
help a little bit. I come from a family of mostly men (I have 5
brothers) and we don't really discuss emotional issues when we get
together so seeking help from my family was out. Also, the few
friends with which I brought up the subject looked at me like I was
crazy. So I decided to button my mouth and wage my own quiet war
against anxiety. I read everything I could get my hands on and came
to learn quite a bit about the nature of anxiety disorders. Also, I
experimented with different techniques/methods, diets, etc. until I
started getting results.
Answer:
I wish I would have known about this NG 4 yrs ago when I was
struggling with my bouts of panic attacks and severe anxiety.
However, I only recently gained access to the Internet and so I am new
to this. In any case, since I've already been through my nightmare
experience with panic attacks/anxiety and have stepped through to the
daylight at the far end of the tunnel, you can benefit from what I've
learned.
So, after having fulfilled my obligitory lurking period in this NG,
I'd like to offer the following suggestions. But first, let me say
that it takes a strong desire and COMMITMENT to overcome this. You
can't do it by just taking medication. That's not good enough. You
have to actively work on overcoming this situation. Also, don't get
discouraged and give up if you try this for a week and get no results.
As you already know or suspect, you will not overcome this overnight.
There is no miracle cure (not even Xanax). It takes hard work and,
again, COMMITMENT. Here's what worked for me:
EXERCISE. You have to exercise. Period. Do it regularly and
vigorously. This is the singlemost effective method I found to burn
off excess anxiety/stress and simultaneously build your
self-esteem/confidence.
ATTITUDE: As many of you already know, the more you fight anxiety or
resist the onset of a panic attack, the more agitated it becomes.
Resisting only makes it worse. Accept it as something you are going
to have to experience at this point in your life and learn to flow
with it. Once you accept anxiety/panic you will start to become less
afraid of it. This is the key to diffusing the strangle hold that
anxeity/panic has over you.
DIET: Eliminate caffiene, cigarettes and foods with excessive sugars
(especially sodas) from your life. I also found it necessary to give
up alcohol (which created some sort of severe biochemical imbalance
within my body that caused me to feel extremely anxious and depressed
for days afterwards) and also any illicit drugs.
RELAXATION: Learn to meditate or some other form of deep relaxation.
This did wonders to help focus my racing mind and to instill a general
sense of calmness and well-being.
