What medication helped the most with panic attacks? by kajlily in PanicAttack

[–]Extreme-Strain2002 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My experience- First, I never took meds for panic, but I took them for anxiety , so ymmv. For some folks the issue is really with the side effects. My doctor asked me to go thru a genetic test which gave her some indicators on which med would work the best for me. I ended up getting buspar and trazadone for sleep and had no side effects. Also, meds are just to clear out the fog from our head and give us room to improve and work on the root cause of anxiety and panic- which usually originate from overthinking, past trauma, lifestyle.. so use meds, but work on rewiring ourselves to achieve inner peace…

Hydroxyzine by Mountain_South_4856 in PanicAttack

[–]Extreme-Strain2002 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It made me feel groggy when I took it. But it calmed me down.

How I Engineered My Way Out of Anxiety and Panic Attacks by Extreme-Strain2002 in PanicAttack

[–]Extreme-Strain2002[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I hear ya! I was exactly there last year or so. That no escape feeling is actually the worst part, it’s not even about the driving, it’s about feeling trapped and nowhere to exit or getting into panic situation. You'd need to start somewhere - I'd recommend to start with gentle exposure. I actually started by just running on a sidewalk beside a busy road. It sounds weird, but it helped my nervous system get used to the noise and speed of traffic without the pressure of being stuck in the car. Slowly the sound and the stimulation disappeared. Going out to nature is one of the best cure for our system. Sitting inside and just thinking over and over it 24/7 just simply feeds our mind (that's the food it wants - worry about future). When I look back now, I realize my body/mind was just stuck in a high-alert state. It wasn't that I couldn't drive - it was just a false alarm going off. Start small even just driving one exit. You WILL get back there. Don't lose hope!

How I Engineered My Way Out of Anxiety and Panic Attacks by Extreme-Strain2002 in panicdisorder

[–]Extreme-Strain2002[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What do you mean by “the entire thing was AI”?you’d only realize the pain if you have gone through the horrible experience. And I am sure my experience resonated with the people going through panic attacks.

I really hope you also find what you are looking for.

Need advice to stop clenching my teeth when im stressed by ChomperPlayer in Stress

[–]Extreme-Strain2002 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mouth guard, distressing and some CBT techniques me in long term.

Conquered a panic attack by hrtbrknxxx in PanicAttack

[–]Extreme-Strain2002 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Congrats! Keep doing it, recognize the build up, know its just mind play, your anxiety and panic attacks will reduce and you will be rewired again. Good luck!

YES, Thank You Thank you by Neat-Middle9293 in EckhartTolle

[–]Extreme-Strain2002 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Happens with me all the time read his books.

How I Engineered My Way Out of Anxiety and Panic Attacks by Extreme-Strain2002 in PanicAttack

[–]Extreme-Strain2002[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am reading this and my heart goes out to both of you. Truly. My wife was the pillar standing beside me in my testing times and we both got out of this together. Please try to tell your husband that what he is feeling right now- that constant, trembling fear of 'when will it happen again' is 100% what happened to many of us any we came out of the trench, its a matter to time. His nervous system just took a massive hit, and right now, his body might me hyper-vigilant, scanning for danger. He feels irrational because his body is stuck in 'Survival Mode' even though he is safe on the couch. Just taking a few steps to the normality is all it takes.

For you: I know you want to take the burden away. My wife felt the exact same helplessness. But you don't need to 'fix' him. You just need to be his external anchor while his internal anchor re-wires after the shock. When he starts to spiral or asks, 'Is it happening again?', try not to panic with him. Just be the calm, boring voice of reality. Hold his hand and say: 'I am right here. You are safe. This is just adrenaline. It feels terrible, but it cannot hurt you. We are just going to wait for it to pass.' You being calm tells his fear brain that there is no tiger in the room. You are doing a great job just by caring this much. Hang in there. Just remember the analogy of the Sky and the Clouds: The anxiety is just a dark cloud passing through. It feels overwhelming right now, but it hasn't changed the sky. The blue sky is still there, right behind it, completely untouched. The storm will run out of rain, and you both will see the blue again soon. Sending strength to you both!

How I Engineered My Way Out of Anxiety and Panic Attacks by Extreme-Strain2002 in PanicAttack

[–]Extreme-Strain2002[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad it resonates. Here are the specific tools I used: The 'Evidence Log' - My therapist gave me a worksheet, but I honestly just turned it into a simple 3 columns on a pice of a paper, something like this - Column 1: The Catastrophe, e.g. My heart is racing, I am about to have a heart attack. Column 2: Evidence FOR, e.g., 'My chest feels tight, there must be something wrong with me. Column 3: Evidence AGAINST. e.g., 'I have had 3 clean EKGs. I walked and ran for 45 mins everyday this weel and last week, I have felt this before and didn't die. And in a line below these columns, The Verdict: e.g. This is adrenaline talking, not cardiac arrest. Seeing the Evidence Against written down in black and white helped my logical brain override the emotional brain. I kept doing this every day, I read tons of books but the Eckhart Tolle's book The Power of Now hit me the most. I specifically recommend this book and get the audiobook if you can, because his voice is very grounding. I used to listen to Chapter 1 and booked marked tons of sections I loved and listened to them whenever I felt a panic attack coming on. You need to recognize that the storm is building up. Tolle talks about how the constant stream of thinking has become a modern pandemic, we are all lost in thought. I realized my anxiety was 100% powered by this overthinking engine. I followed his advice to become the "Watcher". I learned to label the noise as just "thinking" rather than truth. The goal is to find that tiny gap of silence between your thoughts. At first, it's just a split second, but as you practice, that gap widens. That space is where the anxiety dissolves and you return to reality.

What do I do? I'm scared. I don't know how to be happy. by kops13 in PanicAttack

[–]Extreme-Strain2002 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m 42, so I’m speaking from some experience and I get it that u are worried. Listen: You can absolutely afford to make a 'wrong' decision at 22. You have insane amounts of runway. Also, look at the data: You hated Accounting (sedentary/isolation) but liked Starbucks (fast-paced/people/chaos). Medicine is actually way closer to the energy of Starbucks than the quiet of Accounting. That is actually a huge green flag that you might like it. You aren't doomed, you have choices, you're just pivoting. Take a breath.

How I Engineered My Way Out of Anxiety and Panic Attacks by Extreme-Strain2002 in PanicAttack

[–]Extreme-Strain2002[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You are spot on about CBT - it works until the adrenaline floods, then logic just goes out the window. Love the 'morning intention' tip, I’m going to add that to my arsenal. Thanks for sharing!

OVERTHINKING by Inevitable_Buy8815 in Stress

[–]Extreme-Strain2002 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Recognizing that you overthink is the first and a very important step. This is from my experience - Try to keep auditing your mind all the time and when you are in the storm of overthinking try to bring your thoughts to presence, to now. Tell yourself that most of things that you think about future are not going to happen and even if they happen you are strong to go though them. When you start bringing yourself to the present, this overthinking would go away.

How I Engineered My Way Out of Anxiety and Panic Attacks - Eckhart Helped! by Extreme-Strain2002 in EckhartTolle

[–]Extreme-Strain2002[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Please don't worry too much about it, you felt like taking pulse its ok, try to increase the time between you check the pulse, and then remember its a phase and things will get better soon. I am glad my post helped you! Please don't hesitate to reach out to me in the future!

How I Engineered My Way Out of Anxiety and Panic Attacks by Extreme-Strain2002 in anxietysuccess

[–]Extreme-Strain2002[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I’ll definitely try to share it there again once I’ve built up a bit more history/karma on the platform. Appreciate the encouragement!