I've been having panic attacks off and on for the past 10 years. I've been med. free now for about six months. I want to learn to handle it on my own. I've gone through all the health issues you guys are talking about. I read what you've gone through and think, Hey! I've had that!! It's nice to know that I'm not the only one to feel this way. Sometimes I think I am.:wave:

Ive only just found this site too , and can use it now to relate to all the symptoms I have had which have been going on with me for the past 15 years , Im sure someone can give you advise on here about dealing with it without meds but I havent a clue as Ive only just found out that anxiety is the cause of my symptoms .

Good luck xxx

Welcome to the board ladies! Hopefully you will find support here, and be able to give support to others. This board is full of wonderful people.

Hi Stacey and welcome! What med(s) were you on and how are you faring without them?

A lot of what I've read points towards Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)...
I keep reading and hearing that it's one of the most effective ways to deal with this in the short and long term...
I just had my 1st appointment with a psychologist that's going to use CBT to try and help me...
*crosses fingers*... :-)

Thanks to the all the people that responded to my first note. To: 808Lion, wish you luck with your CTB thearpy. I hope it goes well for you.:)
To: anxiousagain, I was taking Paxil for the past 3 years. I got off of it about five and a half months ago. Went through some pretty nasty withdrawl symptoms. Anxiety seemed worse than when I initially had it. I'm slowly learning to control the attacks through physical and mental exercise. I was looking at another board today and one person had wrote this...hopefully it'll help others as I hope it'll help me.
Worry
Worry is never positive. It never does any good. Worry always exaggerates. It always blows things out of proportion and consumes my life. It leaves a trail of anxiety and depression behind it. Worrying only leads to more worry. Worrying never solves a thing. I must catch myself when I start to worry and throw off these thoughts because they are poison. Say to myself, "Worry never does me any good. It's only going to hurt me." Then go and do something to distract myself.
Say this every day to reteach your mind into believing it.:)