I’ve had 7+ panic attacks today

[Icewall42]

Tell me this isn’t normal. I feel wretched and want to die. I’m already on Cymbalta and seeing a therapist and a psychiatrist. What more can I possibly do? These are happening despite slow breathing and grounding exercises. How could anyone want to live through this? Nothing even triggered any of it. In fact I had fun this morning. So why? What can I possibly do?

[Adamj]

I’m trying to figure out what to do about it myself. Know you’re not alone with that many panic attacks in the day. Could you figure out if something you ate could’ve caused them? Or maybe stressors. Sometimes they happen for no reason. Mine all started again and I feel like complete garbage because I stressed myself out so much and also left my job.

[Icewall42 in reply to Adamj]

I really wondered if I was the only one. I’m glad I’m not alone. It’s strange because I didn’t eat until later in the afternoon so wondered if it could be blood sugar, but should have rectified that by now. I went fishing this morning which could count as positive stress maybe. Right now the attacks are manifesting as shaking extremities and severe depression/crying episodes.

[Adamj in reply to Icewall42]

I know me personally I have to make sure I keep food in me well enough to keep my body with energy if I mess up and go to long without eating I feel like poop

[Icewall42 in reply to Adamj]

Could be part of it. Maybe I also had too much caffeine.

[Adamj in reply to Icewall42]

For me I can’t have any caffeine

[Ggreen9518 in reply to Adamj]

I quit caffeine about a year and a half ago.

[Agora1]

Hi Icewall42, it's a horrible uncontrollable feeling when you go from one panic to another.I totally understand because I went through this myself at one time. There is the granddaddy of them all called the Panic Attack. Once we have one, we tend to fear it happening again and so our adrenaline levels never quite go down. They stay on like a

pilot light just waiting for the next thought or issue to explode into another attack.

The thing is not each and every one of these attacks is Panic but more like free floating

anxiety attacks. Those are the ones that tend to keep us in a state of fight or flight.

A Panic Attack is super powerful but doesn't last as long. The answers to either of these

is the same though.

These never happen or start for no reason because Anxiety is prompted by a thought, a

negative one at that. Whatever brought on that thought whether an issue, a situation,

a post traumatic trauma or just plain old stress, it must be addressed. We can't just attack

it when it comes on. It's a matter of bringing down your stress/fear levels through daily

acceptance that it will not kill you. The thoughts of harm do nothing but build up the fear

making it come more often and harder to get rid of.

You mentioned that you do breathing and grounding exercises. That's Excellent. However,

when in the throws of an attack it's pretty hard for this to be effective w/o having prepared

'your mental state in advance. I have learned for myself that Meditation/Breathing, Grounding, Self-Hypnosis, Mindfulness, Relaxation Techniques etc can work if you practice this on a daily basis. I give myself "me time" upon awakening...midafternoon and before bed.

By doing this when I'm not anxious, it builds a reserve of peace and calm as well as acceptance in my mind. so even with a breakthough, it doesn't go into an attack but more like a roller coaster feeling for a moment and then it's gone.

I call it breathing it away. Accepting that I have control over my mind and body and not anxiety. It's all a matter of retraining the brain by substituting positive thoughts for our subconscious mind. I need to stop not but know that there are answers and once you find what works for you, practice it daily. Hopefully my response helps answer your question WHY?? My best to you xx

[RandyM in reply to Agora1]

Excellent advice! Your post is very meaningful that "Anxiety is prompted by a thought, a negative one at that." A negative thought can enter my mind in a split second and I taught myself to quickly turn it around into a positive. I actually yelled to myself and let my anger out on the neg. thought which was usually a bad experience in my life that haunts me. It made me feel better. I liked watching Bob Proctor's advice on changing your "paradigm". It helped me, and I still work on it. Thanks for sharing your knowledge about what helps you.

[Agora1 in reply to RandyM]

Randy, I can't tell you how many times I raised my voice to anxietyand told it off so I could get out of the house lol

Whatever works for all of us is shared on this amazing site, making it

a helpful tool in itself. May you have a wonderful day xx

[RandyM in reply to Agora1]

Hoping you have a wonderful day as well Agora1. Stay strong! 👍

[Willow2022]

Great advice. I have slowly been working on not being in that panic state constantly and it is difficult. I never feel settled or calm even if nothing is triggering me. Anxiety and panic attacks are truly mysterious. I wish I had studied human behavior a lot more when I was in college.

[Agora1 in reply to Willow2022]

Hi Willow, let me just say it is never too late to learn. I study the Mind/Body Connectionon YouTube as well as Medical Sites. When we learn about our issues, it helps calm our

fear of it. I'm always learning something new as physical and emotional science evolves xx

[BahamaPirate]

Hang in there Icewall42. The fact that you have gotten through 7plus attacks in one day, and I venture to guess this is a regular occurence, this shows how strong you are and will get through this. About 10 years ago, I was where you are. I was diagnosed with depression and panic disorder. I had crippling panic attacks, with depersonalization, derealization, hallucinations, and psychosis thrown in. I had sleep paralysis. I would see the dark shadows with the red eyes. I constantly felt like a force was trying to knock me over, or kept shaking my bed. I did not leave my house for a year, not even to put out the garbage or get the mail. I almost went broke paying psychiatrists and therapists to come to my home since I could not leave. My "normal" heart rate was 140 beats per minute. I cried constantly. I was on various medications, NONE of which worked. The deep breathing, grounding exercises, completely useless. I tried to commit suicide twice, only to fail, which only made worse. Then one day I had an epiphany...Why am I fighting this? I thought of my days as a scuba diver and ocean swimmer. The worse thing you can do when encountering a current or rip tide, is try to fight it. You only frustrate, tire yourself out, become discouraged, and drown. Same thing in life. Stop fighting it. Relax. Just roll with it. Go with the current. Concentrate on going parallell the current, or in this case, parallel to all the panic attacks. Ignore it. Obviously this will take some time. It took me five years to get to this point, some will take much shorter, some will take longer. But eventually you get through the storm, you get through the riptide, there is always a calm path, which you get to.

I still get panic attacks ever so often but not not near as intense or frequent as it used to be. I just look at it as an annoying bully or a mosquito, just swat it and go on. Through all this, I realize how strong I really am. And you are strong too. 7 plus attacks in one day??? Damn my friend, most people could not handle that, but you did.

You will get through this.

[Icewall42 in reply to BahamaPirate]

Thank you for this. Maybe there is hope for someone like me.

[AlexFlorida]

I’m having numerous panic and anxiety attacks every single day for the last 40 days or so! My day to day is a nightmare! Worst part if I feel and think I actually have something physical health related that is the actual cause of me feeing so bad!

[Icewall42 in reply to AlexFlorida]

I’ve thought the same for me since these attacks and episodes aren’t triggered by thoughts. They come on out of the blue, gradually with an attack or two a day, then many in the next few days. It takes 3-4 weeks for them to calm down. I went to urgent care because my legs wouldn’t stop shaking for hours. They sent me to the ER which just gave me two Xanax (which didn’t stop the shaking) and sent me home without any blood work. So here I am still shaking. Now my psychiatrist and therapist want me in an intensive outpatient program but where am I going to find space?!

Maybe my GP can do something for me tomorrow. Or not since no one seems to know what’s wrong. Is it seriously just anxiety when I’m shaking like this for so long but I’m not actually feeling anxious?

I just keep shaking in my legs, and flushing hot. Just keeps going and going and going. Only stops when I take Seroquel at night. Then it’s back when I wake up.

[Ggreen9518]

I take ashwagandha, magnesium, b complex, rosemary, holy basil, a multivitamin, and others. They do help me with anxiety/depression, and they also help me to keep calm. Something to consider.

[Icewall42]

I take a multi and occasionally a magnesium but lately my magnesium levels have been good. My B12 is on the very low end of normal so I need to figure out how to tolerate a supplement.

[Ggreen9518 in reply to Icewall42]

You can get a sublingual B12 (place under the tongue and let it dissolve). This could work for you.

[Icewall42 in reply to Ggreen9518]

Oh wow, really? I'll look that up. That should be easier to take. The regular ones give me stomach aches.

[Ggreen9518 in reply to Icewall42]

Yes, there are several brands that offer it. Generally speaking, swansonvitamins.com has a large selection of supplements with reasonable prices.

[loveletters]

Did you try meditation? There is an app called calm, which is very good. I also like reading Joyce Meyer books.

[Icewall42 in reply to loveletters]

I’ve tried a bit, found I wasn’t very good at it. I might try the books as I read a lot.

[Icewall42]

Turns out B12 deficiency could be part of the problem. Had an injection, and the shaking in my legs is much reduced. Other part of the problem might be my Cymbalta dosage is too high and thus too activating. Anyone else have off experiences with SNRIs?