Wow I dont feel so alone anymore. I have heard for years that Im a hypocondriac. The panic attacks came one day out of the blue and my german shepherd has picked up on them and alerts me.
I know my inlaws and some friends think that my medical problems are made up. How many 29 year olds do you know that have a gastric pacemaker, they dont give them to fakers. I also have something called gastroparesis, I also have fibromyalgia. I had a hard time getting this diagnosed because I had the opposite effect when I got sick, I gained weight. Just about everyone with this disease looses weight and here I was gaining weight.
I have to say since I have gotten this pacemaker my life has turned around so much, Im not nauseas all the time and I can live my life and I can eat again. You dont realize how much food is a big part of being social until you cant eat it. I still have my limitations on what I can and cant eat but I can eat and look somewhat normal :thumbup:
I have had a pretty good grasp on my attacks until something big has set them off.
Its funny how much of us are actually alike and its all because of the yorkies we are all here together

Please delete this second posting, I dont know how it posted twice

I havent taken the time to read all the posts but I am sure by the amount of pages ALOT of people deal with panic attacks.

I have suffered for about 8 years with them...TERRIBLY!! I have never taken any prescription meds for them for personal reasons. I read and read and learned lots of breathing techniques and they went away for a couple of years. Recently for some unknown reason they came back...fast and furious!! I can hardly drive anywhere and driving in the dark is impossible!!! So far driving has been the only thing to bring them on...and when it happens I feel like Im going to drive right into traffic or off an overpass...its BIZARRE!! I have to pull over and pull myself back together before I can drive any further...sometimes pulling over 10 times in an hour. I used to get them when I was just sleeping and luckily they havent come back when I am at home as that was even worse...its so scary and my husband has no clue what I am going through...I try to explain it the best I can but he still doesnt get it...wants me to get help...but I REFUSE medication for it and hope and pray it goes away once more...

Dawn

Now I do take meds to help it but its not just for that. I havent had to take any meds to help bring one down for a really long time. Im VERY nervous driving in the rain. I hydroplanned once on a main highway during a storm, I got lucky and nothing happened except me being scared to death and had one right there on the side of the road. All I remember is tractor trailers comming right at me and every single one of them missed me. I wont drive in the rain unless I really have to

I think you can have your dog become a certified therapy dog/service dog if you suffer from panic and they help you. I was reading about this on another forum. Maybe it was here. http://www.affluent.net/sara/index.htm
I have also suffered with them for years.They are no fun at all. I have never taken meds for them although I know they would help me.

It is amazing how many of us suffer from this. You feel so alone when having these attacks. I found family and friends cannot understand how terrible they are. After many years of suffering random panic attacks and going to the Er and using Ativan as neded, my dr said he thought it was time to go on something longer term. Even though I did not have depression they put me on Zoloft for panic attacks and it has changed my life. Some for the better and some not so much. But mostly for the better. Every time I try to go off I last a day or so and start feeling bad. It helps to know we're not alone!

I also suffer from anxiety/panic attacks.Mine started when i was put on an antibiotic for a nasal infection and i ended up being allergic to it.My infection wouldn't clear up and i felt worse and worse as the day's went on.I ended up taking this antibiotic for almost 1 month before the found out what was the problem.By then i was convinced that i was never going to feel better and begin having panic attacks.That was about 6 years ago.I never took any medication for it as i was paranoid of taking anything prescription.I have continued having attacks here and there.My anxiety level seem's to be worse in the winter as i have no friends and my husband works all day with our only car and i tend to be mostly inside all day with our kid's because of the michigan weather.About 2 months ago i started having trouble sleeping and i finally broke down and started taking something for my anxiety and it is called trazidone It has worked wonders for me and i am curious to see how the winter goes now.I have decided to join a group here it is called MOP'S (Mothers of preschool children)and i am so despritaly hoping to make at least one friend.I also see a counselor when i am having really troubled times but that is almost never but it does help to go and spill your gut's to someone.I find that if i am having a panic attack deep breathing exercises and just in general thinking that i have to be strong for my family and my dog's it really help's.

I too have suffered with panic attacks now for 4 years. They are awful but they DO NOT harm you.

Mine started after a serious car accident i had in sep 2002, i had hyponsis and it really helped me, i also got some beta blocker tablets, but they were very addictive and i didnt want to become dependant on them so i stopped taking them.

Suffering from panic attacks does in NO WAY mean you are a whack job, it is such a common disorder and doesnt come under mental health.

I dont get panic attacks much anymore, but when i do i have a elastic band around my wrist, so when the first sensation comes on, i ping the band really hard on my wrist, your mind then concentrates on the pain and not the panic attack, it really works.

In order to get rid of panic attacks, you need cognitive thinking therapy, its just in order to teach you think differently.

With the world like it is nowadays so many people get stress related disorders, and i bet that if you are having a panic attack in the super market, at leat 5 other people are, you just dont see it!

You will rid them one day, they are nasty but just remember they cause you know harm, its just your brain trying to protect you from fearful situations :)

Where in Michigan are you? I can be your friend:D , Chloe and Sissy never have to many friends, and we get together with other Yorkies too. Join us:)

Well thats nice of you!!! I live in a small town called Tekonsha.It's about 20 mins away from Indiana and about 1hr and 45 mins away from deerborn.I would love to join you when you guy's meet up.I dont get my Lil'girl till Nov 26.Ugghhh it seem's so long away!!How often do you guy's meet up?And do you do it in deerborn?Me and my 8 year old daughter are always up for a road trip.

*steps up to the podium*

My name is Cheska, and I'm suffering from panic/anxiety attacks, OCD, pmsd, and depression.

I've had OCD since I was seven. I can vividly remember as a young child lining up my stuffed animals on my bed the same way, everyday, or I wouldn't go to sleep. It only got worse as I got older, and in my early twenties, it would take me up to 2 1/2 hours to go to bed (once I decided that it was "time to go to bed") because I had check and re-check door, stoves, windows, closets, etc. I was depressed and had panic/anxiety attacks on a daily basis. Not to mention that fact that I was always irritable. Sooooo irritable. I was never in a good mood and grouchy was my middle name.

Finally, after screaming at my daughter (for having done absolutely NOTHING) I decided I really needed to go get help. My doctor prescribed me Zoloft and it was like the dark cloud that was always over my head vanished. Well, not vanished... I still have my bad days but I attribute those to that certain time of the month. ;)

I'm so much happier now and although I still have obsessive thoughts (and some compulsions) I don't really have the attacks anymore.

I wish I would have started taking something sooner. There were so many days that I would lay in bed all day, emotionally neglecting my daughter. :( Alot of failed relationships too...

I read some of the posts and like some of you, I've tried to wean myself off the Zoloft hoping I can be "normal" on my own, but within days, I'm angry and miserable again.

I'm just scared that they'll release some warning that Zoloft causes brain cancer or something!!!

Necee... Don't ever be embarassed, when I was in my thirties, I had a lot of stress in my life. Raising young children ,caring for elderly parents. etc. I use to get aniexty and panic attacks. I never went for counseling, for I am a pretty strong person. I watched Oprah one day and they had this topic on, and the advice of drs. were worth its weight in gold. From that point on I told myself there was nothing wrong with me and it passed.
It is not easy to do and I do believe if you need medication its fine but should be temporary for medication is not the solution. You have to get to the root of the problem.Necee when you have this feeling coming on, like you have done concentrate on something pleasant. That usually works. If you need to speak to someone, do it, don't be scared. They will help you.

As I approached my 40's it got so much better , so hang in there sometimes its just like you said something we go through in our late 20's 30's. A lot of women do have this condition and there is help... Gina