Hi guys, how are you?
First of all, I don't like to victimize myself. If I ask you, it is because this is something very personal to me, and I count on the fingers of my hand with whom I talk about this.

Although I have always suffered from panic attacks in my life, I have learned to handle them, and they have always lasted only a few minutes, except when I was a child when I did not know how to control them.
Ten years ago I was given clonagin 2 mg, but it started screwing with my brain, and in pandemic (after ten years of taking it). I decided to start tapering it down, to the point where I got to taking 1/4, that is 0.50, and was about to go down. I had been taking 1/4 for a month now and was about to dissolve it completely. But today I felt a fire that wouldn't go away, and my heart wouldn't stop beating, I'm sure it got to 200 beats, I didn't want to measure it, because I got even more scared, everything went white and I thought I was going to drop dry right here next to my dog, and this went on for two hours, yes, well now my heart rate is down, I still have 100 a minute, and the craziest thing is I took two 2mg clonagin and it looks like I drank water.
I know you guys are not doctors and I don't expect medical advice. But I once read here, that some fellows were suffering from anxiety attacks like me. And I would like some advice, and above all, have you had so many palpitations? 180 to 200?

Another detail is that when I was a child my blood pressure would rise to 21/10, something that always scares me, and I would go to the guard very scared, but the doctors told me that this blood pressure for a young person was not alarming.

Anyway, if you can give me some advice because the same thing happens to you, and you know what to do or whatever, it will be welcome.

And once again, if I tell you this, it is because I have a lot of confidence and a lot of appreciation.

As always, thanks Oly for giving me the space, I love you very much, and you too tiger, and although I don't know Saint very well, I also thank him for his good vibes.

PS: I don't want this to harm the forum, if the Staff thinks this post can compromise the forum, no problem and they will delete it.

Well, I love you all very much, I'm a little sensitive, but I really love you very much. I always defend this site and the sister site with my heart. And not only because of the vst, because with
all the vst I have thanks to the site brother, I can make music for the rest of my life, if not, for the nice people here.

 

Try to write down some of the feelings and thoughts that come in your mind while you listen to some music that would confort you. It's a way you can find some reflection and try to not focus on your heartbeats and focus on your breath, instead. Slow breathes. Anyway, more than drugs, i think you need psychological support from professionals, not doctors, but therapists, to talk about your current situation. Always try to find some love from people you can trust, if none, you can handle this yourself knowing that in the end, everybody dies alone anyway

 

Last edited: Dec 17, 2022

i think you need more or better professional help if you adress your medical questions on a musicians forum and not to your doctor where you should adress them to

 

Sorry you had to go through that seems awful. We are all different and I can not even imagine something like that happening. My brain deals with stress differently and there are advantages and pitfalls to all edge chemistries that best dealt with the aid of a psychiatrist.

Mediation can help but only in that brain plasticity and environmental decoupling can insulate you from a chemical cascade or train you to care less, a point though brain chemistry is what it is. Mediation is a regiment though and it can only help if you buy into it as tool and practice it regularly. Pragmatically your goal is to encourage sociopathic and idiopathic tendencies by rationalizing an animal response into a intellectual construct. It has it's limits and it helps if you have sociopathic tendencies to begin with. I am using those words in the medical sense in which there are no negative connotations, they just a description of empathy and idopathy and nothing more. There are many ways to meditate, from playing a musical instrument transcendentally to Zen paradox studies. It requires work and time. Strenuous exercise and very physical forms of Yoga also help as they are meditative.

Chemical help through drugs is the most direct route and the administration of such remedies is best left to physician psychiatrists ( not therapists, or sociologists imo.)

The best path it to use all the tools available if you can and that includes medical help from medical proffesionals, the hard part is actually doing it rather than just thinking about it though.

Good luck and best wishes.

 

Last edited: Dec 17, 2022

For acute panic attacks, sadly only drugs work (for me).
For mild ones, breathing exercises can do wonders.
Daily meditation also helps.
Best wishes.

 

i had concurrent panick attacks for a couple months and only thing that helped me was to rebuild my nervous system back up. i built it back up by running about 1 mile everyday or every other day along with other random cardio exercises. it changes the chemicals in your brain that trigger the panic attacks and also your body doesnt react badly to the rapid heart rate because it becomes used to it from the cardio exercises. Well thats how i got over it and i hope you can try it for a month if you are able to it takes about 2 weeks to start seeing the results but its well worth it. When i stop doing the exercises and i feel like they are close to coming back i start again and sure enough those feelings go away. Start slow if you want , maybe half a mile but work your way up. I didnt want to take the drugs they were giving me either. Also research how to lower the cortisol levels in your blood because it has alot to do with it aswell.

 

Last edited: Dec 17, 2022

sorry about your problems with anxiety. you might try a little sport like jogging. it's free and good for you. If you don't jog yet, it can be hard to start, but just start slow by jogging 10 meter s then walk then another ten meters. every day and soon you'll be doing 20m then more.
washing the dishes keeps me sane too.
jogging is easy for me because I have a dog. he has to go out even right now so here goes another kilometer...

 

Coming off anti-anxiety meds is a bad situation.
It might seem as though you are almost at baseline... but that is while you are still affected by the drug.
It is not the ABSOLUTE value of how you feel, but the COMPARATIVE value that matters.

When you are standing straight up and you get a little bump it is no big deal.
But when you are leaning on something and get a little bump, you may end up on your face.

I think one thing you might so is to put that energy to use.
When you are worn out from exercise you don't have the energy left for your heart to beat so fast.
What you also might look into is a course in martial arts under a good instructor.
Pushing yourself physically (and feeling pain / being hurt) can help lessen many various manifestations of anxiety.

Caution is advised if one is a victim of physical abuse or in poor physical condition, and hence the need for a good instructor who understands your situation and the purpose of the training, be it martial or actually ANY sort of training or treatment.
Often a martial arts instructor ignorant of your situation might be more appropriate than a psychologist ignorant out of arrogance.

The first is providing a widely-applicable methodology and the second is experimenting with drugs that often operate in ways that even those who manufacture them do not understand. Those who prescribe them can rarely know more.

Good luck.

 

Hey dude, there may be something really bothering you on a sub-conscious level, like a change in your life that you may not be really focused on. Then there's depression which is usually somewhere in the mix of anxiety. A therapist could help you focus on what's bothering you and perhaps aid in some insights that will help you in the future and with meds that may help as well. It's what works for most people, a mix of therapy and meds.

 

What is your weight?
What do you eat every day?
When you are in your room, is it fresh?
Do you have IBS?

I corrected myself and so far no more PA, have had a few before.
Now I try to not ingest oils or fat (some cheese though), if my room is hot I turn on the fan, specially when going to bed.
Also found out certain wheat products aren't that great for my metabolism (but not all of them).
Also, corn, I had to leave it.
Don't get me wrong, I love wheat and corn, but I rather feel well.

 

Last edited: Dec 17, 2022

I highly recommend looking into the Acceptance method by Dr Claire Weekes.
It's the only thing that has actually helped me (and thousands of others) after trying almost everything else that's currently available for anxiety and panic attacks.
You can find a full treatment course based on this method online for free at cbt4panic.org
You can either read the workbooks or watch the videos that are available for free there.

There are several other courses that are based on this same method as well.
Another great resource with lots of free information is The Anxious Truth podcast and website (theanxioustruth.com) by Drew Linsalata.
You can check his Youtube channel (The Anxious Truth) as well.
Another great Youtube channel with lots of free info based on the Acceptance method is "Vacate Fear".

It's important to put everything that you'll learn from these resources into practice (i suggest you start with cbt4panic.org) and stick with it and be patient as it will take some time until you start seeing some results, but if you do the practice required you should start seeing results pretty soon.

I also think that physical exercise can help as well, but you should do this in addition to the Acceptance method for best and more permanent results.

Good luck and remember that it's really important to put in the effort and be patient with the method (do not reject it and give up before practicing it for at least a few months) as it will take some time until you start seeing results.

If you have any questions about the method feel free to let me know.

 

Have you ever considered the possibility that the drugs you are taking to suppress your anxieties are actually amplifying these? Have you ever tried to face your fears without these drugs?

A friend of mine had a subscription to anti-depressives for years. But after 20 years or so she started to get more and more depressed. They increased the dosage but it wouldn't help. She got more and more depressed to the point that she got suicidal. After getting admitted to a mental institution a doctor there committed to get her off the anti-depressives. After 3 months she already was a completely different person. After a lot of help and learning how to deal with life without these drugs she now enjoys life without having to take any anti-depressives.

Doctors prescribed medicine that they think will fit your diagnosis. But they are also human and don't know everything. They also make mistakes.

Try to get a second opinion on the drugs you are taking now. One things we can be sure of...these drugs mess with your mind!
So maybe these drugs are just making your panic attacks worse? Who knows?

Best of luck. I hope you can find a way to get better like my friend did!

 

I'm not a doctor and this isn't medical advice, just my personal opinion.

You need to talk with a professional about this. When you got off the meds, was that your own decision or did you clear that with a doctor first? Because doing this on your own can be a big mistake.

With that said, as often with mental health related problems, symptoms like these can be an expression of something else that is hidden from your consciousness. So in the long term, you only have two options which can go hand in hand: Find ways to deal and cope with it so that you don't suffer as much as you try to live with it, and tackle the real issue and try to resolve it.

I've heard from other people who had anxiety related problems that meditation helped them. Don't underestimate stuff like meditation, it might seem like stupidly sitting down for 20 minutes and doing nothing, but if you do it consistently and with the right method, there are long term changes in your brain that happen, so I would think that alone might ease the suffering. The other thing is that, the way you think and act before and during such attacks, greatly influences how those attacks go. Therapists can give you tools to try to defuse a situation before it even starts, or at least make it better.

Other obvious things to begin changing would be, eating more healthily, working out, losing weight if you're overweight (and if you've taken meds then you likely are, as a result of some of their side effects), improving your sleep, living in a peaceful and calm environment.

Also, maybe you could try a different drug, but also, this has to be done with the help of a professional. The most important thing is, seek out a doctor who is specialized in treating mental health related problems ASAP. Good luck.

 

I also went through this when I was younger (20 years ago I simply could not get out of home for two whole years, except to see the doctor). In my case, all the above helped a lot (breathing exercises, professional psychological help, walking etc), but what made a big big difference was going to a heart doctor who gave me a prescription for a beta blocker (medicine for hgh blood pressure, migraine and anxiety). My panic attacks were closely related to the way my heart and organism responded not only to emotional but also physical stimulus. Some substances and even some food could worsen the problem: I had to totally cut alcohol and coffee from my life, and even cut down on chocolate (you know, caffeine and the like can make your heart rate jump). No smoking, and good enough sleeping is also important.
Also, try to do something you like - in my case, music and art in general - on a weekly basis, and avoid stressful situations.
Professional help - psychological and also physical - is crucial, as it will help you know your body, its limitations and particularities better.
Hope you get better soon!

 

Last edited: Dec 17, 2022

Yep, get professional help, don't wait.

I've had some kind of weird "general/social anxiety", for lack of better description because I don't actually fear being judged or humiliated ect, and panic attacks most of my life. I've tried everything to get rid of it, drugs, therapy/psychologist and all their tactics, and still this chronic condition persist 35ish (lost count) years later. I cant even figure out what causes it and neither can anyone else so far.

Anyways, by trial and error I figured out what does help me: a very structured routine. A healthy whole foods diet (+low salt, only water to drink, no refined sugar, no junk food of any kind whatsoever, ever), exercising/lifting weights, yoga (mainly the deep breathing/stretching stuff because it relaxes all my muscles and clears my mind) and disappearing into my music training/creation process, among other things you do to live/survive + a little entertainment.

Literally I do the same thing everyday at the same time like clock work. The good news is that the panic attacks are rare now and I'm uber-healthy, drug/alcohol free and I get things done. Also, I never ever get sick. Decades, not even the sniffles. The bad news, I keep have to myself the majority of the time. Gone are my spontaneous social butterfly days and the anxiety is always gnawing at me, right at the edge, ever-present but at least controlled for the most part. Of course occasionally I have to deviate from my routine and the anxiety comes like an avalanche. I just have to get through it, get whatever I'm doing done, and then right back to my routine.

Thankfully I'm very good at entertaining myself, I love my own company, and I think that's why I've managed to avoid depression. My boring ass (to others) even managed to have long term relationships and kids too.

Maybe one day it will go away like it came, just out of nowhere. That would be nice, but regardless I just gotta keep living, keep it positive, and make the best of it.

I don't know why I shared all that but sincerely, good luck to you, whoever you are.

 

Hello @Ryk,
the following article can be very useful for you to gain more knowledge and understanding about it:

Anxiety, panic and hyperventilation
Simple cool-down exercises

https://www-doctors-today.translate...l=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Original link in German Language:
www.doctors.today/cme/a/angst-panik-und-hyperventilation-einfache-übungen-zum-cooldown-1562831

The best thing you can do is visit the website and bookmark it, and then I would copy the text and print it out.
Learn or study your disease pattern. And read through it more often. So put somewhere where you also pass by.
You know that, out of sight out of mind.

Get enough sleep, drink enough fluids, go for a walk, maybe do some sports or exercise, Tai Chi or Yoga.
If possible, don't take drugs. Give yourself enough breaks and turn off your smartphone more often.

13. the breathing does not calm down with the previous procedure.

If hyperventilation does not subside despite the above measures, the hyperventilating person should be given a paper (!) bag to inhale and exhale (a cardboard cup, mug, or arched hands in front of the nose and mouth will do the trick if necessary). The person should exhale (inflate) and inhale into the bag for about ten breaths (Fig. 7).
After that, the person should breathe without the bag for about 15 seconds, then again with the bag until breathing returns to normal.

 

I tried many things but here are some tips :

*Edit I've never took regular prescription so this advice are not related to coming off any drug but simply general advice for lowering panic attacks ask phisician or a good psychologist/counselor for interactions before mixing any substance!!

Here we go:

Watch only uplifting funny movies for at least two months, no other form of home entertainment allowed.. Aside of ASMR ! Find the ASMR videos that trigger your comfort and listen regularly!

Drink a lot of Strong camomile tea daily! (Try different brands till you find the good ones).

Avoid friends or people that make you feel uncomfortable for a while.
Avoid whatever makes you feel uncomfortable for a few weeks for the matter! Kind of like a vacation from anything that triggers the feeling of being "under pressure"! and then, after this couple weeks, restart diving into doing things "slowly".

The supplement "ashwaganda" might help, I've used the one from bulk.com but just find the best variety you can.

Talk openly to people about the fact that you are suffering of panic attacks so they (usually) treat you a bit gently during your worst times, and so you don't have to put on a show of being in a "doing great thanks" mood.

If you drink or do similar activities, plan accordingly: that means knowing already that there will be a "down" moment the morning after so be prepared and so something that helps your hangover.

In my particular case the panic attacks were also in (some weird way) partially related to hartburn acid stomach symptoms, so.. curing those symptoms with medication also helped a lot.

Last advice I can remember from that dark moment of my life (I understand you) is :
read some quality self help books! My favourite is Eckhart Tolle the power of now!
I red the book 5 times and listened the audiobook about 60 times over the years and it kind of overwritten some of my wrong beliefs.

Also the audiobook/PDF "mc2 method" is REALLY good.

All this said, some of us find comfort in some things some in other like yoga or meditation. Give yourself time to experiment different things and be alert to anything that makes a big or small difference in your daily feelings.

 

Last edited: Dec 17, 2022

I have had them too. Just a few times..There are ways to handle it. Mindfullness is one thing that can really really help. Mindfullness helps to focus on something trivial, to take your mind out of the "loop". To be just in the "now". You can become more objective towards the symptoms and it is easier to come out of it.

There are many free tutorials online, choose one from a real educated source, but you should not try to self medicate... My honest opinion. If you live in a country with free health care, you can get help without needing huge amounts of money...

Don't buy any medicines or "alternative medicines".
If you have severe panic attacks all the time, go see a real good professional shrink. You might get some medicine that can actually help, but they will probably suggest other methods as a start (the serious professionals anyways). Do not use drugs like sleeping pills as they will get you addicted.
Weed and alcohol often worsen the things in the long run. Don't self medicate.

Get real professional help right now. It's a common thing and everybody I know that has lived with these things always say they wished they asked for help sooner.

 

Last edited: Dec 17, 2022

Im so sorry to hear about struggles with anxiety.

Ive also struggled with life long anxiety as well and my panic attacks have been pretty brutal, even to the point at one time I woke up thinking I was having a stroke because the left side of my body was completely numb. I went to the emergency room and after running tests they prescribed anti-anxiety medication to control my stress levels. I took them for a short while but I never liked the way I felt when I was on them, so my solution has been to be proactive by doing things like making sure I get enough exercise, sleep, and try to eat as healthy as I can. Ive always been very physical so rigorous exercise has always helped me control my stress, although these days I manage it with less strenuous things like walking regularly and calisthenics. I also try to control what I consume as much as possible as I tend to over indulge if Im not careful. Specifically with alcohol which can easily trigger anxiety for me, more so now than in the past.

For me its been about balance, just trying to maintain stress to manageable levels and controlling the things I know will cause it. I agree with what @tnc wrote. Unless its an absolute emergency, self medicating is putting on a temporary band-aid and not treating the root of the problem. Seeking a therapist can help tremendously, especially in helping you identify the root of your stress and finding ways to help you manage it.

 

Last edited: Dec 17, 2022

Feel sorry for you Bro! I also had severe and heavy Panic attacks everyday for 9 years so i know how it feels. I also searched for professional help, but never found a solution with that. Untill i started to see patterns after 5 years or so, and because my nature is to analize everything i have found out in my case that eating Pork was a serious Cause to the attacks! after that i found out that i had a "Histamine" intollerance build up from mainly pork and all other products having high Histamine's in them. 6 Months of avoiding all foods containing lots of Histamine got rid of the intollerance. After Few days stop eating Pork, back then reduced Panic Attacks after 2 weeks for 80%! So always seek help from Professionals! but keep in mind that they wont always search for the main cause and you can do lots yourself. Deep Fear is in all of us!!!! Please find out for yourself what is triggering the Attacks! And then Solve those issues! Mine were Pork, Lamb, Coffee, Tuna and all not other fresh fish, Wine, Alcohol, Chocolate, Nuts and the list goes on and on. I dont say in your case you have a food "thing" causing it, but you will have Triggers for Sure! And Again find and solve them!

Goodluck to you man.............