Has anybody been diagnosed with antispatory panic. I was put on medication for this but was wondering if anybody had other ideas. At this point I do count on my meds but I would really like to live without them.

Thanks for any imput.

Noni, Like you, my problem has also been the anticipatory panic, which included a lot of intrusive thoughts and images, as well as situations, that were triggering the anticipatory response. I could go into a lot of detail here, but instead, take a look at my thread titled "My Suggestions For ...", especially my last post. Others have some useful suggestions there also. Hang tough and you can get things under control. Steve

I used to have panic attacks about 2 or so years ago and never took medication for them. Since you said you would like to live without meds, I would like to suggest the book that helped me: The Panic Attack Recovery Book by Shirley Swede and Seymour Jaffe.

I am not a big fans of meds for anything (unless absolutely necessary), so when I first began having panic attacks, I turned to books to see what I could learn. I learned in general why I was panicking, ideas for how to deal with it, and most importantly for me-not to fear them.

You asked specifically about anticipatory panic, and I don't have that per se, but I have lots of anticipatory anxiety. And, in the past, that could have lead to panic for me before I learned how to keep it from getting to that point.

Also, do you practice breathing exercises when you feel panicky? That also helped me a lot.

Learning to counter your thoughts in a tea form will prevent this. Look into learning cbt I think it will help you a lot.

Thanks for all your suggestions. Appreciate them. Aileen what is tea form.

Thanks again

Noni

Steve, Went back and read your thread. Very interesting, never thought about those two magic words "just be" make more sense to me than all the therapy I have had. I am going back to your thread print it out and read it again. I have to say you know your stuff. I did ask Aileen about the tea form, do you know what that is.

Thanks again,

Noni

Noni, Glad I could be of help to you. I haven't specifically looked into the tea form or any other CBT form, but from what I've heard on this forum, it certainly has helped a lot of people. I occasionally would use my own form of self talk that could possibly be considered as CBT.

As an example, I would occasionally feel the need to remind myself that I wasn't put on this Earth to think about a lot of nonsense that could create anxiety and panic for myself. Saying something such as that would make it easier for me to get back to what I was doing, instead of heading down the road of anxiety and panic. Other times, I might say something to myself in order to get back to the present moment such as "this is my life....right here, right now", then I would return my attention to "just being" in the present moment.