Help - Full Blown PANIC!!!

[Kilpleztim]

Woke up into a full blown panic attack. Racing thoughts, paranoia , over whelming sence of impending doom.
I went to sleep at 11pm so I got whats been my normal 5ish hours of sleep and just felt this dread. I don't know why but I'm flipping out.

[Kilpleztim]

I feel like I can't breath. My heart is poundin so hard. My head is dizzy. My vision seems off. Sensitive to light and sound too.
It's 5 weeks and 5 days today that I had to up-dose. I was hoping I would have felt more normal by now. I guess I do but this is just horrible.

[texgirl]

A panic attack is fear feeding fear. You have to do something to break the cycle. Sit and breathe deeply to calm your breathing. If you can, go outside and walk. Or play a game on the computer--anything to distract yourself. And all the time, repeat to yourself it's no big deal, it can't hurt you, you're strong and you can manage this, and it will pass.

Focusing on how scary it is is just fueling the fire. The goal is to remove the fuel by removing the fear.

[Kilpleztim]

Ty texgirl, breathing a little more normal now. Telling myself everything will be OK. I'm not going to die or anything.
To wake up to that kinda panic attack is not fun. I was a mess 50 mins ago. Dry heaving and such. Sometimes it's so hard to regain control once I have lost it.Ugh ...

[julieannboo]

nothing bad will happen to you - remember that.

it will pass xx

[scotty]

Originally Posted by Kilpleztim

Ty texgirl, breathing a little more normal now. Telling myself everything will be OK.

And you did it! Remember, most panic attacks last just minutes and pass on their own. Don't feed that fear, distract the brain....it doesn't like doing more than one thing at a time.

[Kilpleztim]

Writing about it seems to have almost the same effect of talking about it, for me. It's very therapeutic and helps me reach the calming I need. I have calmed down a little, from full blown panic at a 10 to more of a 6 now.

[Kilpleztim]

my heart is still beating hard, far from normal. This sucks cause I have no reason to be in a panic. Trying to breath. I hate this because every time it happens I question myself if I need to up-dose more and I totally don't want that. I feel like a failure enough as it is from my last up-dose. I just want to stablize so I can re-continue my taper.

[texgirl]

Originally Posted by Kilpleztim

my heart is still beating hard, far from normal. This sucks cause I have no reason to be in a panic. Trying to breath. I hate this because every time it happens I question myself if I need to up-dose more and I totally don't want that. I feel like a failure enough as it is from my last up-dose. I just want to stablize so I can re-continue my taper.

All of these sfx are harmless. Worrying about them only fuels them. Instead of asking yourself what this might mean and how long it might last, tell yourself that you're dealing with it and getting stronger every time it happens.

The only way to diffuse the power of a PA is to change how you think and react to it. It truly is all about how you spin it.

[Kilpleztim]

I went for a morning walk to clear my mind. I still feel a little strange though. It's gonna be a long day.

[texgirl]

Originally Posted by Kilpleztim

I still feel a little strange though. It's gonna be a long day.

See, that's what I'm talking about, right there. Instead of telling yourself you feel strange and it's gonna be a long day, tell yourself that you handled things great and you're prepared for whatever comes next.

The anatomy of a panic attack is this: Body symptoms (rapid heartbeat, sweating, racing thoughts, etc.) appear, either in response to a fearful situation or seemingly out of nowhere. You get scared. This is what Dr. Claire Weekes calls "second fear," the fear you add to the initial symptoms, causing things to escalate and then spiral out of control.

Honestly, I can't emphasize enough how important it is to stop "second fear" by challenging how you talk to yourself when it happens. The cause of the PA doesn't matter, and neither do the symptoms. If you can convince yourself that they're annoying but harmless, they lose their power and you can eventually learn to diffuse them before they even start.

[Kilpleztim]

Originally Posted by texgirl

See, that's what I'm talking about, right there. Instead of telling yourself you feel strange and it's gonna be a long day, tell yourself that you handled things great and you're prepared for whatever comes next.

The anatomy of a panic attack is this: Body symptoms (rapid heartbeat, sweating, racing thoughts, etc.) appear, either in response to a fearful situation or seemingly out of nowhere. You get scared. This is what Dr. Claire Weekes calls "second fear," the fear you add to the initial symptoms, causing things to escalate and then spiral out of control.

Honestly, I can't emphasize enough how important it is to stop "second fear" by challenging how you talk to yourself when it happens. The cause of the PA doesn't matter, and neither do the symptoms. If you can convince yourself that they're annoying but harmless, they lose their power and you can eventually learn to diffuse them before they even start.

I am my worst enemy once PA sets in. I'm still having issues but am telling myself it's just wd and almost time for meds...
Everythings gonna be ok, Everythings gonna be ok, Everythings gonna be ok...

[texgirl]

Originally Posted by Kilpleztim

I am my worst enemy once PA sets in. I'm still having issues but am telling myself it's just wd and almost time for meds...

I know I'm being a pain the *** now, but let me ask you this: What happens when it's no longer w/d? What happens when you can no longer look to meds for relief?

Like I said above, the cause of the PA doesn't matter. What matters is that you work on convincing yourself that, whatever happens,

Originally Posted by Kilpleztim

Everythings gonna be ok, Everythings gonna be ok, Everythings gonna be ok...

[Kilpleztim]

The Pa are the paxil. So when I'm done with my taper and fully stabilized I shouldn't have anymore Pa. I don't have pa for no good reason, it's cause is directly linked to my paxil addiction. Because thats what it is, we are all addicted to one thing or another. Thats why we are tapering to get relief, because we are all poisoned and in some sort of hell... I know I'm not crazy. I don't need the paxil anymore. You think my Dr's are the ones telling me to taper? Hell no. The Dr's are telling me not to taper and to keep poisoning myself.

[texgirl]

You seem to have it all figured out. Best of luck.

[Kilpleztim]

Do you only come here to ridicule people? Cause thats how you left me feeling. Like your a troll or something...

[kathleen2]

No need to get angry. The good news is that the same techniques work with panic attacks whether they happen pre-SSRIs, while taking them, while withdrawing, or after.

[scotty]

Originally Posted by Kilpleztim

Do you only come here to ridicule people? Cause thats how you left me feeling. Like your a troll or something...

When one asks for "help" that is what you are going to get.If you want to keep doing what you are doing, then you don't need help. Texgirl is giving you solid advice having lived with panic attacks herself. Calling someone a troll is offensive, especially a long time member of this site who is trying to help you. Panic is panic, regardless of the cause and learning everything one can about living with it is crucial to recovery.

[Kilpleztim]

sorry for my mania. sometimes i get hyper sensitive. I am very sorry. Thank you for the good advice at such a critical time in my life. sometimes facing your demons is easier said the done.

[Songbird]

One thing that has helped me a lot - when you feel like the wave of doom is hitting you, go into each part of your body one at a time and identify the sensations there, like you are a scientist studying what is happening. For example "tight feeling in throat, dizzy feeling in head, buzzing feeling in tummy" and so on. I've found this helps to change the feeling from one overwhelming wave of doom feeling into just a bunch of physical sensations in various parts of the body. Sometimes I even tell myself things like "this isn't fear, it is just a bunch of physical sensations" and "this is just the way the body responds to adrenaline". It makes it a much less scary thing.