constant panic attacks

Hi Welder, Welcome to Healing Well! Just wanted to say I, for one, always have some symptoms of panic, either shortness of breath, restlessness, the whole feeling of doom thing...I was diagnosed with panic disorder. Mine has been off and on for about 7 years now. It comes and goes in streaks, I'll have it nonstop for months, and then it will vanish for months.

One thing I would like to suggest though, if you're always thinking of the symptoms you have, or worrying about how long they'll last, when they'll come back or if it'll happen again, that kind of makes it all worse and aggravates it even more. A good thing to try is to maybe keep busy, maybe try some speed walking with music? Long as your mind can become focused on other things, like a good book, maybe a computer game...it should help alleviate it all.

I know this type of thing is hard to deal with and frustrating. But the more one tends to dwell on it, the worst it does become. A very vicious cycle. Might help to figure out why you have feelings of doom or why you're afraid? Or if you have no rational reason you can think off the top of your head, maybe try something like Moodgym? It's helped me try to retrain my thoughts somewhat and my line of thinking that typically leads me into panic. It's a free online sort of workshop. No hassle and that got my mind on thinking about how to help with the emotions and the thoughts as well.

I wish you luck in feeling better soon. :)

I've also gone through all of these. I developed this health anxiety thing out of it which made my panic attacks worse. I lost too much weight from not eating much cause I wanted to cut down on my weight to prevent myself having a stroke. i thought i was already dying and I was also completely sure im not going to reach 2014, but here i am and it made me realize I'm more healthy and strong than i thought i was back in feb last year. Back in February my mind was filled with thoughts of possibly having cancer, aneurysm, stroke, heart attack, brain damage, kidney failure and other types of organ failure and I was so glad I found this site because people made me feel a lot better. I want to do the same thing for you, you're not alone and you're not going to die soon. We really can't tell when we are going to die so it's better not to waste time in dwelling on negative thoughts and feeling down and scared all the time. You'll have your good times ahead. In this site you're going to learn a lot on how to deal with all of these.

I think one reason that contributed to my panic attacks and anxiety is that I started to eat less and my blood sugar became low. We should also keep our blood sugar in check. i feel a lot better now than I was last feb to may. They still come back sometimes but I'm able to make it through all of it. You should just learn how not to fear from it.

i'm sorry you are going through this, it's awful. In 2010, i went through this as well. i was having EXTREME panic attacks to where i had to call hotlines, 911, or anyone that would listen to calm me down. When they got worse, I'd get numb, tingly sensations and feel like i was going to pass out. My heart would beat extremely fast to where i couldn't keep track of all the beats. My body would ache so bad from all the stress. I couldn't even sleep! It was awful. After a few months, toward the end of the year, after going through this all year long, it let up because i made changes in my life. I started taking an as needed medicine, and started confiding in people I trusted. It will get better, it can go away. I posted, because I wanted to show you that I used to have daily, horrible panic attacks that i thought were going to kill me, and now, I only have panic attacks every now and then. Usually over really dumb stuff like being alone, or someone intentionally aggravating me or something.

It will go away! Just take deep breaths, count backwards, skipping a few numbers because your brain will direct its attention toward counting rather than panicking. Tell yourself that "It's just a panic attack, it can't hurt me" tell yourself, "why am I panicking? I'm in no danger." It's a flight or fight response and adrenaline. The sooner you start taking calming breaths, or assuring yourself that everything will be okay, the sooner the terrible feeling will go away. And that's all it is, "A terrible feeling".

Hugs and support:
Christi