I'm only taking 10mg of Propranolol once a day usually, but these attacks started before I was prescribed that.
It does seem like that attacks are further apart than they were before, and I'm generally enjoying my time in between. It's just when one happens now I get shaken up and I feel like I lost a little progress.
The unexpected ones that seem to come out of nowhere are very difficult for me. I have had a few that I knew I was in a stessful situation and the attack wasn't altogether unexpected. But when I feel fine and then I get these feelings it's very shocking for me.
I will try your anger suggestion to replace the fear next time this happens; I know that the fear makes it worse.
The relaxation strategies do help me sleep at night, so I'm glad I learned them. The good thing is my symptoms don't last very long, only a few seconds usually, and I do seem to get over it faster every time. I wish there was a way to prevent them in the first place, but it's probably better for me to focus on not overreacting to the physical symptoms and breaking that cycle.
I'm of a similar age experiencing panic and anxiety and I completely understand what you're going though. The forums here are very supportive and friendly, more so than I have seen from other forums, so keep posting.
I've been reading a lot lately and I was wondering if anyone read books that they feel really helped them or continue to help them.
The first book I read when I started getting panic was When Panic Attacks: The New, Drug-Free Anxiety Therapy That Can Change Your Life by David Burns. I liked it so much I got his Feeling Good Workbook as well.
I'm also reading The Depression Cure by Stephen Ilardi which is good but depression isn't my primary problem so this doesn't help me as much.
I just started reading Hope and Help For Your Nerves by by Claire Weekes and even though it's an older book I'm really enjoying it. I also got her audio CD Pass Through Panic.
Has anybody read any other good ones or have warnings about books to stay away from?
You're not alone Maggie, I have also gotten severe feelings of despair during panic. It's gotten better for me lately though. Whenever I do get one now I just tell myself it doesn't reflect how I really feel, it's the anxiety and panic, and it'll pass.
I know that distraction is not always the best method of coping, but I do find that playing a game or watching a TV show I like often cheers me up quite a bit.
Just wanted to check in. I'm actually struggling with some despair tonight myself; I seem to have trouble on Sunday evenings in particular. But my boyfriend said to me, "You don't have to be happy every second of every day. Just take it one step at a time", and he's right.
Also, if I need to cry I cry. Crying helps relieve stress because the tears release stress-related chemicals.
Hi poobear101. This is a tough feeling for me lately too. The program has some worksheets that help you fight thoughts like this and chapter 3 has these questions to help fight thoughts like that:
10 Questions that Help Fight Anxious Thoughts 1. Is it "true"? 2. How do I know it’s true? 3. Is the anxious thought 100% true? (Something less than 100% true is not true) 4. What's the evidence for it being true? 5. What's the evidence against it being true? 6. Has it ever happened before? 7. What's different now? 8. How bad would it really be? 9. What's the worst thing that could happen? 10. If the worst thing happened, how bad would it really be?
I know sometimes it's really hard to believe that there's nothing wrong with you, and I'm struggling with that myself. But I go over these questions and do a worksheet and do some breathing exercises when it becomes overwhelming. In my case, I know I'm psyching myself out and obsessing and that's contributing to the feeling. Just accepting that what I'm experiencing is anxiety and panic helps me.
I know that being tired can really make things worse so hopefully you feel better after you get a lot of sleep. Lately when I'm fatigued I find my head gets fuzzy.
I know my panic attacks seem to come out of nowhere like described but when I think back to the event sometimes I can see how it could have got started. For instance, I remember the first one I was thinking "I think I had too much coffee and not enough to eat because I feel jittery" and I started to panic and overreact. Also sometimes in stressful situations just thinking something like "This is probably going to give me an attack" is enough to start one.
There have been very few attacks that I haven't been able to trace it back to a thought or an overreaction to a bodily feeling. Since I've been working on biofeedback with a therapist I have been more aware of when I'm tense or not breathing well and it's definitely when my body is in a tense state that I tend to be prone to attacks, so this is helping me.
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