Hello I Just Started Having Panic Attacks

Hi Jerry and welcome. :)

I am sorry to hear of your recent anxiety increase. It is understandable considering the loss of your friend, and the stress in regards to your job!

What you described certainly does sound like panic...and it is not unusual to have an episode such as you described while out, and waiting in a busy line at a store.

The natural avoidance of repeating these unwanted feelings however, can cause more anxiety when going out of the house, and in severe cases, lead to agoraphobia.

Therefore you will want to treat this as early as possible. You can do this in a couple of ways...

You can talk to your doctor concerning therapy, medication or a combination of both.

You could also try self-help and see how that works to relieve your fears.

We have an awesome Resource Guide here on our main page (1st post) The breathing and relaxation exercises (video links) are really effective in breaking the panic process, and managing anxiety.

Practice these at home when you are relaxed...so that if you start to feel the same symptoms while out, you will be prepared with how to breathe and relax your body and mind to avoid an attack.

Keep posting with us as well if you find it helpful! We are here to understand and listen anytime.;)

Talk to you soon,

Scaredy Cat

Hi Jerry,

Nice to meet you! Sorry you're here for the same reasons as the rest of us, but I hope you take S.C.'s advice and are soon on the path to recovery. It's worth the effort and you deserve the effort!

I'm not sure how temperature effects everyone else, but I also have more trouble with panic when I'm too warm.

Hang in there!

Ah, the thought=panic cycle! I am glad that you were able to recognize it for what it was, and recover quickly...that is good!

Please give the breathing exercises a try for relief of the dizzyness. A lot of times this symptom can be attributed to hyperventilating...which we are not even conscious of doing, when we are anxious.

You can find some video instruction links for these in our Resources...practice for 10 min., 3x a day and see how you feel in a week or so.;)

S.C.

Strange thing but I noticed that since this all started with me last week that right now at 8pm up until I go to bed around 12am my anxiety actually goes down. You would think that anxiety would increase at night?

Hello!

Just my 2 cents: Everyone's panic/anxiety attacks look a little different then everyone elses. There are commonalities but what trips yours off may be different than what trips mine off. My muscles freeze up and I feel like my head is about 2 feet above from my body.

I can not yell YES loud enough for the breathing exercises. I found that if I caught it early enough and I could force myself to take a slow and deep breath and then slowly release it that it seemed to break the tension for my body. If I didn't catch it soon enough then when I felt like it was ending then I could take that huge breath and recover faster.

I have to tell you, the sooner you get to the point of thinking, "this is not a heart attack, I'm not going to die, no one even knows something is going on in my head" it takes a lot of the immediate pressure off of you. I have talked several people down and their biggest thought in that moment was, "what if someone thinks I'm crazy?" and that just added to the pressure in their head. 99% of what is going on is internal and no one knows there is a problem so take that off your worry list.

The big thing is finding what is causing you to get to this point. Obviously, you know what those concerns are since you listed several. You will also notice that it is unlikely that you have attacks at those times. It's usually when your brain is left idle to ponder things . . . like standing in a long line. The difference is between being aware and being afraid. Always be aware as it gives you courage when you feel the fear. When I have attacks now I wait til my head clears and then start thinking about stress items that I'm not dealing with. The answer usually lays in there. I may be terrified to deal with those items (usually interpersonal relationships with my family) but actively engaging the situation helps me feel more in control and less likely to have another attack.

You can do this! This is not beyond you! My condolences for your loss =(

Post Edited (CJGirl72) : 7/18/2013 8:57:45 AM (GMT-6)

Kind of wierd today. I feel pretty good. No off balance feeling. Maybe a twinge or two of dizziness but nothing major. It almost feels as though something inside of me shifted in a good way. Almost like a weight was lifted from my mind. I'm not taking any medication. I have been taking it very easy. I followed someones advice here and started repeating the same word over and over to myself to help focus my thoughts. Who knows if it really works but I won't stop now.

That's okay...the fact that you had some reprieve from your symptoms is progress...

Healing and recovery are not always a linear path...there are detours along the way, and even some setbacks...

...but keep working on your coping skills, they will help.:)

S.C.