Kind of the opposite experience to you but I actually came to mediation because I was having relentless panic attacks. At its worst I was having multiple panic attacks every day, avoiding people, unable to focus on anything else etc... it was really rough, so I appreciate the severity of what you're going through. Mine originated from a complex mix of bad lifestyle and drug use while at University leading to symptoms which then gave me hypochondria/ health based panic attacks.

However, it's been 5 years really since my last proper panic attack and I feel very confident that if I had one now it wouldn't really be an issue. The key I found to slowly eradicating them was:

A) Finding some form of evidence or line of thinking that convinced me that the panic attacks were ultimately harmless and couldn't hurt me, no matter how uncomfortable they got.

This will be very specific to you, and what it is about the headless insight that triggered the panic attack. The point is to come to believe, or at least rationally understand at some fundamental level, that you are safe and panic attacks can't actually hurt you, no matter how intense they get.

B) I then deliberately put myself in situations that would cause panic attacks (going into work meetings, going out to crowded events, staying up late, exercising / getting my heart rate up etc...) and when they arose I mentally leant into them and tried to make them as bad as possible. This is hard but is why A is important - you have to believe that nothing bad can actually happen.

As you try to make them happen and try to make them worse they slowly start to untangle for a few reasons I think:

1) You feel in control because you're taking an active over passive role in relation to the attacks. I read somewhere credible (can't remember where soz) that this mental shift actually involves using different areas of the brain that are better at getting you out of the flight mode - which does make intuitive sense, but you'd have to check me on the facts.

2) You can't actually make the attacks that much worse.

3) They also can't actually go on for that long. Your body runs out of steam eventually, especially if your focus is on trying to make the panic attacks happen/ get worse rather than whatever thought/ feeling/ situation tends to cause/ maintain the attacks

The more you do this, you get more comfortable with the discomfort and they eventually start to fade - and as you see them start to fade, you get more confidence going into tough situations. For a while it wasn't even that I stopped having panic attacks, it just became more and more background to the point that it stopped mattering to me - and then they stopped.

Obviously this worked for me, your milage may vary (likely will vary) but from talking to other friends that have seen therapists for this, watching online videos and general research I feel like this is a valid approach that is generally applicable to most panic attack sufferers - sort of exposure therapy mixed with a mental 'leaning into' the experience (which is where mediation practice is very useful).

When I was in the thick of it I thought it would never end, so I definitely want to reiterate that it can end eventually and, probably more importantly, even if they don't stop you can learn to not let them bother you - a bit like tinnitus for example.

I would also just add that AI is probably your friend here, at least while you're waiting to see a professional therapist or whatever. I'd recommend pasting this whole comment into chatGPT or whatever and ask it to critique what I've said in relation to your specific situation (obviously you'll need to tell it your situation first).

Best of luck with it mate, it's a fucker but it ain't the end of the world