Severe Panic Attacks

[3d]

Experiencing severe chronic panic attacks from 3.30am - 4pm daily since June this year, ever since being discharged from hospital which was a severely traumatizing experience. Any help resources would be greatly appreciated. Symptoms include insomnia, tight chest, difficulty breathing/hyperventilating, crying and an inability to stop myself from incessantly repeating the words "No, no, no, no"

 Any help greatly appreciated, thank you 

[MJG017]

Hi @3d, welcome to the forum.

I wish I could offer some better advice for you but I don't have much experience with panic attacks, but I just wanted to acknowledge how incredibly difficult and exhausting it must be for you since they started.  But I also wanted to point out the strength you've shown for reaching out here like you have while going through all of this.

Those crisis support lines my be able to offer some advice, especially when it's the middle of the night and you find yourself having a panic attack again.  Maybe preparing a number to ring when this happens so that you know what to do when you feel it starting.  Sane have their own support line at 1800 187 263, but it's only 10am - 8pm AEDT, or you could even try the anxiety recovery centre hotline on 1300 269 438.  They also have a website at https://arcvic.org.au/

Have you sought out and form of trauma informed therapy?  Or any of those meditation or CBT apps?

Other than that then only thing I know of is those grounding techniques.  As someone who has gone through panic attacks for quite a while now, i'm assuming you know all about them already, but just in case...

• Deep, controlled breathing.
• The 1-2-3-4-5 technique i.e., 5 things you can see, 4 you can touch, 3 you can hear, 2 you can smell, and 1 you can taste.
• Holding something like a stressball

Hopefully some other members here with far more experience with this that me, can offer some suggestions for you.

[Jade30]

Hi @3d 

Sorry to hear of your distressing panic attacks for all this time.

I’ve had severe panic attacks for the past 16 years, along with my mental illness but they have come and gone and come and gone according to circumstances and triggers.

The thing that helps me the most (actually the only thing that helps me) is my PRN medication. Yours sound intense too.  It can be very hard to get PRN meds off a Psychiatrist or Dr but if you have a good one, can they help you with this.

When mine started 16 years ago, I was put on PRN’s for a lengthy period of time and then weaned off the meds with the help of my Psychiatrist. After that, I just used the PRN as the panic attacks came up, which was a lot less frequently, thankfully.

Like you, I had a traumatic hospitalisation (a couple of years ago) and was immobilised by the horrific panic attacks that followed. The PRNs didn’t help them. What helped them, my Psychiatrist and I discovered, was going back on a medication I had been taken off cold turkey back in hospital.  But it took a year to discover this.  Those panic attacks were a withdrawal symptom kind of thing. Once I was back on that very effective medication again, those panic attacks ceases immediately. My regular panic attacks are still around but they respond to PRN and I haven’t had one for over a year, which is great.

Your story is completely different to mine but I just wanted to offer you hope. I thought I’d never have life without a panic attack threatening me all the time. But I’m in a better place now. Also, it can take time to recover from hospital so give yourself plenty of grace, you are doing really well.

As for techniques, mine are just too severe for all those recommended. So if I were you, I would def seek professional help if you can. 

Do you have a psychiatrist or Dr you trust?

Oh one technique I use, that helps with my panic attacks when they aren’t so strong is breathing in and counting up to 5 and then breathing out and counting down from 5. As you get calmer, you can get deeper and deeper breaths and it can be relaxing and slow you down.

But be very gentle on yourself, you’ve been through a lot. As hard as these panic attacks are, they’re your mind and body’s natural response to trauma and stress. Accept them for now and know that there is a way out, one step at a time.

All the best.