Anybody here have panic attacks>? I think I have been having these for years withgout really adressing them (down to recreational substance mis-use I think). After todays episode I have come to realise I need to get this under control. Apparently they are more common than you would think but I am curious if anyone else suffers or knows anyone who has and what was done about them?

Yes, I have a very good friend who has suffered for a long time. She has tried hypnotherapy, NLP etc etc and family life has been very much affected. I strongly suspect that if it had been dealt with as soon as the warning signs appeared, her quality of life would have improved dramatically.

It was not down to substance misuse but it has been extremely sad to see a person’s life change over the years.

Please deal with it now and good luck to you.

My mum had them for years, generally when she had to sign something (cheque/credit card slip etc). For years she paid everything by cash. Then chip and pin and internet/phone banking came along. It is common. Well done for acknowledging it and good luck.

Maybe start here?

One interesting thing about general practice is that you get to see how common many illnesses are, in particular mental health problems.

psychosis, depression, anxiety, phobias, PTSD, stress etc etc.

stress, anxiety and panic attacks are pretty common, of the top of my head some element in about 15-20% of visits. And it’s anyone and everyone that gets it.
It’s almost just a variation of the norm, so don’t panic 🙂

see your GP, try and get some CBT or such like.
Medication wise if you get racing heart, sweats etc you could try and get some beta blockers prescribed.
Some of the prozac like drugs are licensed for anxiety and panic, but i don’t think i’d be reaching for them unless your symptoms we’re really bad.

All IMHO of course.
Go and see a doctor.
good luck

good stuff here:
nomorepanic

I’ve not but I have a few friends who have experienced them and they don’t look nice by any stretch of the imagination…

i had them for 3-4 years , made a mess of my life for a while. but i had cognitive psychotherapy on the nhs and i can now handle them….pm me if you need more info, happy to help.

Yep, had them several times a day for about 6 weeks as part of a nervous breakdown – utterly horrendous nightmare period of my life.

Citalopram stopped them dead in 3 days – can’t rate the stuff highly enough, although not everyone gets on with SSRIs.

With you mate, pm me if you like.

I suffered with them briefly for a month or two a few years ago but only when I was suffering from pretty severe depression. I was initially prescribed prozac for the depression but that made me even more anxious and agitated and led to even more frequent and acute panic attacks – to the point a became acutely agoraphobic. A change of meds seemed to do the trick.

Currently off work again with stress/depression – 5 weeks so far but thankfully no full on panic attacks this time – the anxiety that accompanies my depression is more of just a chronically stressed out feeling.

Those two months with panic attacks were without doubt the most miserable time of my life – especially the nocturnal attacks when I would wake up abruptly in the middle of night with a racing heart, sweating and hyperventilating.

Yep me too, was made redundant, lost sight of what I wanted to do, floated around not really looking for a job then started flapping. Didnt get treatment, got through it but came back when I actually started a job (go figure).

Go see your GP, that was enough for me, lovely lady put me on Valium for a short while, sorted me right out. I think I had been having them on and off for a long time so glad I went and talked to someone, I now know the symptoms and what triggers them. Sleeping better than ever.

First stop, go see the doc, have a good long chinwag, pour it all out.