I just want everone to know,I too suffered for a long time with anxiety attacks. It came on in an instant,and im not ashamed to say, i too have gone to the emergency room a couple of times. I got to a point i was afraid to leave the house. I have rode home in the floor board.Ive come along way since then. I remember,how i associated anything i was doing at the time i swore that is what made me have it, so i avoided the situation. I was so bad at one point,i thought even if i saw someone take meds id feel the effects, and it wouldnt be a good one. Anxiety can be very disabling. THANK -GOD literally we have sites like this now. When i was allowing it to control me, you know 15 years ago nobody even knew what it was,so naturally you go with the flow and just know your crazy and dying. Thats what you think anyway!! But if you can just clear your head long enough, PLEASE know you are not alone in this.
My tip to you and anyone who reads this; Please go ahead and tell all of yor loved ones all of your co-workers, anyone you come in contact with, Tell them you have panic attacks. I promise they will understand, if they themselves dont have them they know someone who has, alot of the panic comes from thinking your gonna have another one, you can eliminate so much stress by just telling them.Then if you feel you need to leave the situation you can,and not add to the anxiety by wandering what they are thinking.. This helped me so much.. My second tip that truly worked for me, this may sound crazy,but at this point im sure we can all agree you will try anything when you are in a full blown panic attack. Keep baby powder in your purse,or in your car,some in your house and if you will smell it. It truly helped me.Years later when i spoke to my doc about it,He said the reason it worked for me is because my mind actually,could only associate good thoughts and feelings with that product,so i guess it basically tricked my brain long enough to recover,from all the panic. 15 years later, i still keep it around. The weird thing is i never had kids,so who knows it may go all the way back to when i was a child.
Im not gonna say ive never had problems since,But i can handle it now,just knowing they have meds and knowing so many people are in the same boat..
That said, just know we can get through this.. With gods help all things are possible... my love and prayers to all who read this
I too am going through anxiety attacks daily right now. Been put on Prozac, but the bit hwere you said tell people around you about the attacks has ben stressful for me. I have tried to hide it from a quite unsympathetic Husband, but i found there have been situations when i have been feeling really anxious and ive been sitting at a dinner table with him, and he stares at me and says why are you so quiet? you seem spaced out!
I finally sat down and told him how ive been feeling, it didnt fall on deaf ears, but i dont think he took me too seriously, but at least i told him, and hes aware im suffering. I also told my Mother, who was similiar to my husband, my Father was more sympatetic as he had suffered panic attacks in his thirties. I havent told my Father about the Prozac though!!
Every day its a struggle right now, i wake in the morning and thats probably my worst time, i wake and my mind is racing from the moment i open my eyes. The Doctor said the Prozac may make me feel worse before i feel better, its been 3 weeks now, i seem to feel more down than before i started taking it. The panic attacks still happen, i dont know if Prozac is helping it or not, but im due to see my Doc this week for more pills. The one thing i feel is positive though is, that before when i felt an attack coming on, i would reach straight for a Valium which in the beginning took th eedge off, but along the last didnt touch them. Now i ride the panic through as i feel its no worse than when i took the Valium. So im not so reliant on those anymore, and im getting through these shortness of breath attacks, and not dying, i know that now, so i suppose that is a step forward. Time will tell. Thanks for the encouraging post though. Best wishes for the future
