Panic Attacks-My story.

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I thought I would jump in on the subject of Panic Attacks. I got my

first one at 25 (I'm 44 now) with the help of half a bottle of

Robitussin DM. I was really sick and started chugging the stuff

straight out of the bottle. I was not accustomed to being sick or

knowing what to do about it and followed the advice of a friend to

take this crap. Well, the " DM " part of that stuff is

Dextromethoriphan. This stuff in high doses causes hallucinations

and an unreal state of being and tossed me smack into 6 years of

panic attacks. If you are taking cold medications or allergy

medications that have this in it, it may well contribute to your

panic attacks. It was only until I learned about this stuff that I

was able to understand what happened to me that night.

The other thing that I realized is that there were deeper issues to

deal with within myself. Fears are the most common causes of panic

attacks and mine was death. I had a HUGE fear of death! Some people

are afraid of spiders and heights and clowns, etc. Fear of losing a

job or fear of inadequacy are enough to trigger them. What happens

is we start paying way too much attention to the physical feelings

within our bodies and that causes fear. We dread the next " spell "

and that causes fear. When we get them, we get scared and our " fight

or flight " mechanism kicks in and the adrenaline starts pumping

through our system and next thing you know, you are in this viscious

cycle of " fear, adrenaline, fear, adrenaline, fear " . Imagine you are

walking past a dark alley and someone jumps out at you. That is

exactly how you feel while having a panic attack but there is no

person jumping out at you and it does not go away immediately.

Food allergies may cause them but that was not my case. We are so

eager to find a cause and cure to stop them that we grasp at

anything. I thought it was natural gas heat that was doing it to me.

I had one so bad one time that I fell flat on my face!! I had tunnel

vision so bad from the tons of adrenaline pumping through my system

that I spun myself right to the ground!! I laugh about it now but at

the time I was terrified.

What helped me the most was a book called Hope and Help For Your

Nerves by Dr Weekes. You can get it on eBay really cheap and

Amazon has it, too. I carried it around like a bible and it gave me

the knowledge that I needed to heal myself. (I REFUSED to treat it

with drugs of any kind.) I haven't had a panic attack in 14 years.

Basically, I got over myself. I stopped paying attention to those

sensations that would trigger the attack. I ignored them completely

and focused on something outside of my body. That is what worked for

me. I simply denied myself and didn't allow it to happen. It is hard

to explain and maybe equally hard to understand what I am saying but

it worked. I willed it away.

Try the book. Quit paying attention to the sensations when they

first start. Quit smoking. Quit caffeine. Look forward to something.

Get excited about something. Watch funny movies and laugh laugh

laugh. Laughter is really the best medicine!!! Follow the BTD but

forgive yourself if you eat something you are supposed to avoid.

Life is meant to be enjoyed and participated in...not to just exist

in. And I wish you speedy healing. I did it and I know you can as

well.

With much love,

Coryn in Tacoma

[Guest guest]

I was hit w/ panic attacks in my mid 20's too.. scary heart palpitations, I

thought I was having a heart attack. Turns out it was from too much coffee

!! I cut way down and they went away,,, and of course now I rarely do

coffee,, mainly green tea!

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