Panic attacks that come outta nowhere

[Brightfuture22]

Guys I am shaking writing this. I was doing okay and then all of a sudden I starting feeling lightheaded which sparked my anxiety. Now I am in full blown panic attack mode. Shaking, sweaty, cold, but also hot, lightheaded and dizzy, feeling like I cannot take a deep breathe. Now I’m just crying and scared somethings wrong and I’m gonna pass out. :((

[Laniben]

Hi, sit down try to do some slow deep breathing if you can, just think Calm, calm , calm. xx

[Brightfuture22 in reply to Laniben]

Thank you Laniben, I had to close my eyes and pray while trying to slow my breathing down. I appreciate your kind words! ❤️

[Agora1]

Brightfuture22, let's step back a moment. Nothing is going to happen to you.

I'm glad you reached out to us. You are safe. Adrenaline is just going a little crazy

right now but you can put it back into place by slowing down your breathing.

I know how difficult that is once the cycle is started. Breathe, blow out your breathe

long and slow. That's it...Deep Breathing the best you can is the greatest way to

stop the symptoms in their track as well as reduce the adrenaline. Breathe

If you can get yourself to You Tube, I recommend listening to these 2 short videos.

Only 1 minute long because I don't think you can handle anything longer right now.

"1 minute Breathing Meditation/Let Go of Stress & Anxiety" by Jason Stephenson

"1 minute Meditation to Release Fear" by Jason Stephenson

He has a calming mellow voice. Listen to his words. You are going to be okay.

We are all here to support you through this. Only a message away. xx Agora1

[Laniben in reply to Agora1]

I’m going to look those up as well Angora, thank you. Hope you feel a lot easier soon brightfuture22 x

[Brightfuture22 in reply to Agora1]

Thank you Agora, I am going to check the videos out right now. Thank you for always being there and providing wisdom for so many of us on here. I appreciate your kind and thoughtful words! ❤️

[Agora1 in reply to Brightfuture22]

Feel better soon xx

[Agora1 in reply to Brightfuture22]

Brightfuture, these videos or any other ones dealing with mind/body connection

are only as good as using them on a daily basis. The idea is being able to retrain

the mind to accept anxiety/fear and not respond to the symptoms it throws at you.

It is not a magic wand but a magic key to your mind that eventually will allow you

to disregard the sensation and be able to go on.

Once you find what works for you, practice it until it comes automatically.

It can be an amazing feeling of control once you master this tool. xx

[Brightfuture22 in reply to Agora1]

Thank you Agora1, I listened to them and it did help control my breathing. I appreciate your help! I think I’m gonna try meditating when I wake in the morning and then again if needed throughout the day.

[Agora1 in reply to Brightfuture22]

Great idea. I do first thing in the morning, mid afternoon and before bed. xx

[Brightfuture22 in reply to Agora1]

So I took .5mg of Ativan at 10:22am when the panic attack come on. But here it is an hour and 20 minutes later and my anxiety is still flaring up and down. I’ll be okay breathing deeply for 10 minute and then I’ll feel the lightheaded feeling and it shoots my anxiety back up. I thought the Ativan was supposed to squash the anxiety. At least for a short amount of time. Now I’m worried something might really be wrong because the dizziness, head pressure and anxiety are still here after taking the med.

On another note, my birthday is next week and I’ve been asked what I want. My response has been: Either to be mentally healthy and/or to never feel dizzy/lightheaded again. 🤣

[Agora1 in reply to Brightfuture22]

Sorry dear, I just got in. Oh I hear you in what you wish for. That dizzy/lightheaded feeling was right up there at the top of the list.

Besides doing the deep breathing and meditation, feeling like that

can come from shallow breathing, over breathing and holding our breath.

We may not even know that we are holding our breathe while going up steps,

doing something physical such as walking and I will tell you that will produce

that uncomfortable feeling in your head. Another thing that is super important

is to Hydrate. When I sometimes get that feeling now, I stop and realize that I haven't had any water that day except for the little bit to take my medication.

Ativan and many other meds dehydrate and make your mouth dry. I usually can

turn around that feeling by just drinking a glass of water. It's all about finding what

works for us as well as the cause behind our symptoms.

Do not fear the feeling, it only makes it worse. Accept that this is anxiety at it's finest trying to scare you. Once you start ignoring the symptoms, it will dwindle down and leave you alone. xx

[Dolphin14 in reply to Brightfuture22]

I love to meditate. It's so calming.

[rebecca3455 in reply to Brightfuture22]

Also look up grounding techniques. They help with keeping you in the present moment. Also remember each feeling you have, is just a feeling it’s not a fact. So if your heart is racing, notice the feeling, do some deep breathing techniques and then realize it is just a feeling ( you are not having a heart attack ect) also while we are breathing and counting at the same time, there is no way to focus on what you are feeling if you are counting at the same time. I use the breethe app almost daily

[Capt_Tom_Bunn_LCSW]

You have to train a part of your mind (unconscious procedural memory) to step in and down-regulate you.

We are supposed to automatically regulate ourselves emotionally. When something unexpected happens, a part of the brain called the amygdala releases stress hormones to both alert us of a possible threat and ready us to take action by putting us in the “fight or flight” mode.

Most unexpected happenings are not a threat. Yet, many of us react as though they are. Why? When stress hormones are released, we are supposed to have an automatic program that lets the feeling of alarm that grabs out attention down-regulate to curiosity. We need to figure out whether the unexpected event is or is not a threat. We can’t do that effectively if we stay alarmed because the feeling of alarm - if not downregulated to curiosity - colors our assessment. The feeling of alarm can make a non-threat, or unlikely threat, appear to be a real threat.

Something similar happens when a person thinks. Thoughts can trigger alarm. If so, we need to downregulate to curiosity. If we don’t, we stay anxious.

You probably already know that breathing techniques are inadequate. CBT is also inadequate because when we start to panic, we are so overwhelmed we can't do anything to helps ourselves.

This means the most effective way to prevent panic out of nowhere is to develop automatic down-regulation that kicks in every time you start to get too revved up.

Here is an excerpt from my book: Panic Free: The 10-DAY Program to End Panic, Anxiety, and Claustrophobia

To produce completely automatic alarm attenuation, we train the mind to activate the parasympathetic nervous system automatically. Because the amygdala releases stress hormones every time it senses anything nonroutine or unexpected, we experience arousal several times a day. Link your actual feelings of arousal to your friend’s face, voice, and touch. When feeling relief, we sometimes say, “ahh.” Let those three letters remind you:

1. the letter “a” of their attuned face,

2. the first letter “h” of hearing their voice, and

3. the second letter “h” of getting a hug

Every time you sense arousal, imagine you see your friend walk into the room, come over to you, and give you a hug (or whatever form of touch is appropriate for your relationship). By imagining this in response to arousal or alarm, you cause the three elements that activate the parasympathetic nervous system — face, voice, and touch — to come immediately to mind.

Let your friend’s presence linger in your mind for a minute or two. You could imagine your friend sitting down with you. You might imagine talking over what triggered you. Hanging out with your friend in this imagined way keeps the parasympathetic nervous system active until whatever stress hormones are present burn off.

In just a few days, bringing your friend’s face, voice, and touch to mind each time you feel arousal will establish automatic alarm attenuation.

[Brightfuture22 in reply to Capt_Tom_Bunn_LCSW]

Wow, thank you for such a thorough and hopefully helpful response. I am going through a lightheaded episode right now that set off my panic. I was getting my hair dyed and didn’t want to freak out in front of my hair dresser so I took .5mg of Ativan, praying it would control it. It’s been an hour since taking it but I’m still feeling anxious. This leads me to feel that it’s something more. I’m trying to tell myself it’s just Anxiety, but when you feel like you’re gonna pass out, that’s scary af.

I will try your technique, it makes a lot of sense. I pray it helps. I currently am working on the “ride it out” method.

Thank you again.

Ash

[Capt_Tom_Bunn_LCSW]

There is something to that feelings of passing out. When hyperarousal takes place, some of us have a sort of bounce-back reaction that causes shut-down or heads toward shut-down.

The whole think can be prevented by getting automatic down-regulation working, so that every time you start to get too revved up, you automatically calm down enough to stay balanced.