How do you stop physical sensations from turning into panic attacks?
I’m really fed up with my physical sensations constantly turning into full-blown panic attacks. Every time it happens, I feel like I’m dying.
My symptoms :
-My heart beats so hard that it actually hurts when it pounds. It also beats very fast.
-I get chest pain and burning.
-I get extremely bad stomach pain.
-I have this overwhelming feeling that I’m about to die.
-After a while, I start shaking like I’m possessed, I feel extremely exhausted, and I have trouble speaking.
My breathing is completely normal. I’m not hyperventilating at all. I naturally tend to take long exhales.
It’s absolutely horrible. I keep telling myself that I’ve experienced this before and I didn’t die, but the symptoms feel so much like a heart attack. So how can I know whether I’m actually having one or not?
It can happen from the slightest emotion. As soon as I feel anything physical or anxiety, it turns into a full-blown episode.
I see a therapist who tells me not to focus on my physical sensations (well, no shit! 🙄). But honestly, it doesn’t help at all.
When it happens, I take Xanax, propranolol, and Gaviscon. Even with all of that, it takes around 3 hours for the episode to calm down.
It’s exhausting, and I’m so fucking tired of this.
I’ve already had an ECG, and everything was fine except for one bundle branch that apparently isn’t functioning properly but zero importance.
I guess a lot of you experience symptoms like these during a panic attack. How do you deal with them? When it happens, I become completely paralyzed, I can’t move or speak.
And how do you prevent physical sensations from escalating into a full-blown episode when you notice something happening in your body?