please help..panic attacks

ality

prob not the place for this but iam having daily panic attacks on diazepam but not much help very scary 4 just me just me and my son at home any help or ideas to help or stop them ..thank you

northy

There's a program on channel 4 in the evening I think its on about 11oclock it is about a woman who is trying to come off diazepam after being on it for 30 years, you might find that watching this could be helpful.

I suffer with depression and panic attacks myself so I know how your feeling please try to be strong. I am sorry that I don't have any answers for you.
I'll be thinking off you. I am hopeing that time is a good healer.

Spirit_2

Speak to your GP. Ask for advice to overcome these attacks and a referral to your mental health team for therapeutic help.

Best Wishes
Spirit

feelinggood_2

There are two online courses you could try:
http://www.moodgym.anu.edu.au/
and
http://www.livinglifetothefull.com/index.php

They are both based on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and they are both free.

I've not tried Moodgym, but I have used the Living Life to the Full site, and I found it very helpful for my depression and anxiety.

How long have you been on diazepam, and have you been refered for any therapy or to see a specialist?

mae

On my way out now but just a quick bit of advice is to slow your breathing down which in turn will calm you. There is a technique called the 7-11 technique which basically means you breath in for the count of 7 and then breath out for the count of 11. The importance is that the out breath is LONGER than the in breath.
7-11 is easy to remember and you can do it wherever you are without much fuss or people noticing (if that bothers you).

It is improtant to know that you cannot die from having a panic attacks (some people think they will) and you are not having a heart attack (although it is best to always have a check up to make sure there is nothing medical going on and then when you know the facts about panic attacks you can start tackling it head on).

During a panic attack while you are practising the breathing you need to tell yourself that this always passes and you just have to ride it through again. That way you are taking a little of the panic away if that makes sense.

I did a presentation on panic attacks so if you would like me to dig and some of the info then I will, just let me know.

Good luck.

ality

that would be good thanx need all the help i can get.i have been on diazepam for 4 weeks and the doctor wont prescribe anymore.it gets so bad my sons woke my neighbour up in the night and they ended up calling an ambulance cause i was in sucha state.they have refered me to have a brain scan only cause i go to the docs or hospital daily and i dont think they no what to do with me.

mae

ality wrote: »

that would be good thanx need all the help i can get.i have been on diazepam for 4 weeks and the doctor wont prescribe anymore.it gets so bad my sons woke my neighbour up in the night and they ended up calling an ambulance cause i was in sucha state.they have refered me to have a brain scan only cause i go to the docs or hospital daily and i dont think they no what to do with me.

I'll try and dig any info that will be relevant to you when I get chance. Its not unusual for people to go to the docs and casualty thinking they are suffering a heart attack etc so don't be hard on yourself.

Personally I think one of the keys to panic attacks is education. Understanding what is happening to your body, the physical and psychological symtoms, is very important as it takes some of the fear away if that makes sense.

BigMummaF

One thing that helps is to imagine your ideal place. It can be somewhere real or a place you have invented. I found it most useful to jot down different things as they came into my head, then made a 'story' to help me remember them.

As an example, let's say you like snow scenes on christmas cards....just looking at them makes you feel good so your ideal place would be in a log cabin on a mountain. Now you:-

• have to look at the snow; is it smooth or rough; pure white or shaded; drifted against the trees or nothing but snow.
• decide if you're inside the cabin or out; warm or chilled; skiing or sledding.
• notice the clothes you are wearing; colour; texture; smell.
• recognise the smells of food/drink being prepared in the cabin; hear the birdsong/ fire crackle/ footsteps in the snow.

Build your own paradise & when you feel a panic attack begin, try to breathe slowly & 'go' to your special place. You can use this method anywhere; pick up a packet of whatever in the supermarket & people will think you're reading the label; look in a shop window; study the bus timetable.

I hope this helps in some way & I wish you well.

Terrylw1

Sorry to hear that, I know what you mean.

1 thing on top of what Mae has said, make sure you continue with any asthma medication. Whilst panic attacks cannot kill you, they can cause asthma attacks in asthmatics so make sure you have discussed how you should treat your asthma medication...if you do suffer from that.

You need to address the root of the problem here. The information Mae is providing is excellent for those suffering with them.

I would say that it may be possible they are a symptom of something else such as depression. If thats the case, there may come a time when techniques may seem to not work. If thats the case, speak to your GP as you may need treatment for the depression. Once you are on that, the techniques will definately start to work again for you.

You need to find out what causes them and build coping strategies.

The internet is a good place to start for this as there are lots of sites with advice.

It would also be worth getting something off your GP's CPN.

GP's don't like prescribing over 30 days as they are "habit forming" and you don't need that. However, if you only use them on and off say a few days aprt, your GP may be more obliging as he/she knows you are not on them daily.

They also tend to last a limited time so Mae's advice is best as it will help you not depend on a fix from the pill and start to build your own confidence.

Try and find out what causes them, then you can build a oping strategy.

Also, don't think you are being silly at all. Doesn't matter how big & bad you think you may be, we all have our breaking points and panic attacks are very common. People don't realise they are having them if they are slight, tey do when thet reach your stage though.

ality

thank you all for all your advice and replys going back to the doctord tomorrow to see what else they can do .thank you again .

random456

it may be worth asking about beta blockers which slow the heart rate and adrenaline flow if the pa's come from nowhere, if they have a 'cause' then i'd agree with the cbt route, the problem is with valium is that although in most people it works really well to start with, you get tolerant to it really quickly and gp's are under guidance not to prescribe it these days for longer than a month.