Every single say. Anxiety at an 8. When im at work i feel fine. Its when i come home is when my engine just revvs up. Its gotten so bad ive been to the hospital a couple times and my dr upped my benzo intake temporarily. I also signed up for Intesive Outpatient Program. I drink a tea thats call Cup of Calm everyday. What else can i be doing?
Does anybody else have a problem with/disagree with some of the more official medical definitions of what a panic attack is? I agree with all of it except for when I come across a definition that describes it as lasting for a very short period of time. Some definitions kind of make it sound like it comes quickly and get super super intense and terrible and then quickly goes away in like 20 minutes or so. I have had many that have been that way, but I don’t think it applies to a lot of my attacks.
For me, it’s more like a painfully slow build-up that can sometimes take hours before I really start to freak out. I’ll just be having these physical sensations that are making me so uncomfortable (racing heart, numbness, the usual stuff) and I will not be able to focus or think about anything else other than every single sensation in my body and trying to stay calm. Even after it peaks and I start to calm down, I’m not actually that much calmer and. I continue to feel the exact same way and have the same physical discomforts that don’t just go away like that. I will still be able to function and do things and go about my day and nobody would even be aware that I am actually having what I would describe as a mild panic attack and those symptoms don’t come and then just go as quickly as some of these definitions make it sound like they do. They linger sometimes for hours and maybe even days. It’s like one extremely long panic attack that just won’t go away.
My panic attacks come in all sorts of varieties and can vary in duration and intensity, but I feel like this type I am describing happens more often than not, and I may have reached the conclusion that I’m probably not dying, but the physical side of it just keeps going and so my anxiety just never really goes away completely. It’s a terrible way to live. Does anybody else relate to this?
Even after my family understands I get bad panic attacks, I still get treated like I'm throwing a tantrum, causing a problem, an inconvenience, or like I'm doing it on purpose. Like I'm doing my freaking best to manage them. I don't control them. And if someone gets mad at me for it, its just gonna get worse
Hey guys! Today was a tough day where my panic disorder was fully showing… this disorder is so hard, I’m thinking of everyone else suffering 🙏🏻 I have to fly soon and I really don’t want to, my only saving grace is maybe taking Xanax. I’ve been prescribed it but only taken it once at home. Given the fact that I was at home I wasn’t really panicking so I’m curious - if I’m truly having full blown panic, racing heart, does it really work? Does it help with the thoughts as well? If I take a 4 hour flight and my Xanax are .25mg, will I have to take more than one? Will it make me fall asleep?
Hello everyone,
It’s my second time writing here, I started having panic attacks almost exactly a year ago, I was diagnosed with a panic disorder and I’ve been taking sertraline since then.
There were times were things definitely got better, some days where I ended up in the ER over my panic attacks, I’ve been trying so hard to tell myself I’m okay but it’s extremely difficult.
The past couple of weeks I’ve been having a constant pain in my left arm and some shock like pains and a burning sensation in my chest, the burning sensation and the chest pains have happened before and I was assured it’s just me panicking and my anxiety.
However recently the left arm pain is not going away at all and I get sudden shock like pains in my arm and it instantly triggers a panic attack and man it’s horrendous, I really don’t know what I’m supposed to do, I’ve used meds to lessen the pain nothing helped, It’s been very difficult the past couple of weeks I’m always extremely anxious especially at night.
I would really really appreciate some help and guidance on how to get through this, how to assure myself that I’m okay, how to stop having this pain.
Fyi I’ve been to the ER around 2 weeks ago they did an ECG and everything was normal
Help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Its been more than 2 years since i got this thing But due to college and other stuff i was not able to give my full attention to this illness,not i want to get rid of this thing for good so anyone why had fully recovered i mean FULLY (he/she may have a panic attack but handle it like a normal person)and gotten rid of the anxiety also Give me every advice u have any advice small bigg anything you observed BUT NOT ANY COPING MECHANISM Thank you
I’m really struggling with the physical symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks just in general, at this point I’m having panic attacks just by thinking about having a panic attack, I’m trying my hardest to break my loop but it just never works for more than a day at a time, and it feels like I’m gonna be stuck like this forever, all I need is advice on how to cope because I haven’t felt normal since December
Hello!
25F, i experienced anxiety since age 12 more seriously, actually that was the age i had the first panic attack though i didn't know the word for it. from then onwards, i tried to self medicate any way i knew, with illegal substances, primarily cannabis. i was constantly running away from myself. at 19 i moved abroad for study, lived alone, and became agoraphobic. i suffered in silence mostly. then at 22-23 i started getting the courage to regain my life, and i started bit by bit. but i still regularly used substances to cope, though much lesser than before. i moved back to my home country after graduation, switched fields (began working as a programmer as a BSc psychology), lived through a couple of intense things such as intense political unrest and violence in the country, ending a toxic relationship, my cousins shocking s_icide. in the past few months i've largely felt like i'm getting my life more and more into order. depression was lifting, a depressive episode was but a blip, happened and forgotten. i felt like i was truly getting to know myself. to accept myself for what i am. opening up to people more, buildinh real friendships. i was pursuing my interests in art with a passion and courage i was struggling to keep consistent before. work was finally going better, i felt like i was finally catching up to my colleagues, like i belonged there though i wasn't perfect (nobody is! you try your best!).
and then? more than a month ago now i went out with a friend to a restaurant and experienced panic. i felt like it might've been triggered by the fact that in 3 days i had a team building to attend and i was horibbly anxious about it. i wanted to not go in the end, but i was scared enough of it costing me my job that i went anyway. it was alright, i actually had such a great time.
i felt like i was in the clear. after that, i felt really refreshed, grounded. i felt like i found work even easier, i was pursuing my art project intensely on the side. ordered a 3d print of a model i modeled. went to pick it up from a guy, to meet for coffee in the mall and pick it up. and there it was out of nowhere, intense panic from 0 to a 100. told him i wasn't feeling well and need a ride home. i lie in bed drained and felt kind of embarassed about the whole thing. i wasnt giving it much thought days after, however a few days later as i'm off to the hair stylist: panic. i tried going but my legs chose to leave the bus and run back home.
here is where i stopped smoking cannabis too. cannabis was the last substance i was using on a regular before sleep, and even before i had the panic i started intensely tapering off cause i didn't like the feeling of being dependant upon anything anymore. after that 2nd panic i started panicking about what this meant for me, my life. i started ruminating about everything. i started asking myself "will a walk outside with my dog feel scary now?" and when there is a question, of course it does. i was im horrible distress, thinking my life is changed forever, somehow angry and ashamed of myself. i was thinking i certainly can't go to a trip to NL with my brother next week, which i was looking forward to so much. well, i went anyway. i had some sedatives as backup, but i never ended up using them. it was really uncomfortable at times but also great and fun, including the huge concert we went to. then afterwards i traveled with my mom for a summer vacation, went to the beach almost every day, again ruminating thoughts but i had a fun time in the end, though it was a bit rough. sometimes rougher. i experienced panic one evening when we were supposed to go to the city, we turned back home. i felt shame again.
now i've been back home for a week, working, and experiencing intense bouts of panic every day regarding my return to the office. i'm going only on monday, we're supposed to visit only once a week the rest is remote work, and yet i've been dreading it, imagining every horror of a scene imaginable. i decided i will not raw dog it in the end, and will take a quarter of lorazepam. i really don't want to become dependant on sedatives, but right now it seems reasonable, cause i really want to get through that door and make sure i stay. it's the first time i would be off somewhere outside by myself for hours on end and where i have to perform since i started experiencing panic, which is why i find it especially dreadful.
so a month and some experiencing this. deep down i don't believe this will change my life forever, but right now i still feel confused and scared in the midst of it. i guess i'm writing this to get somebody else's "hopeful" stories haha. thank you for reading.
Meds, therapy, books?
I am currently in the ER with new panic symptoms I’ve never had. I have suffer with Panic Disorder for 6 years now, and I thought I fully knew the symptoms that could arise.
Tonight, I randomly woke up with my entire body burning. It felt like I was literally on fire and still feels that way now. It hurts so much, on a physical level.
I also had intense muscle contractions and spasms in my legs. They literally stopped working, like stiff and made of stone. My dad tried to get me to walk and my legs didn’t budge, just wobbled uncontrollably.
I also got a weird metal taste in my mouth. That’s the second time that happened. The first was during a smaller attack days ago.
I just took an Ativan, and I’m mostly stabilized, but my skin still feels like it is burning off of my body.
I panicked more because I thought uncontrollable spasms, muscle contractions, and burning sensations were beyond panic. This doesn’t feel in the realm of what I knew panic to be for the past 6 years. I feel like it’s getting so much worse and I’m helpless to it progressing.
I don’t even know if anyone here can offer me anything but I’m clinging on by a thread here. This is no way to live. I want to live my life but I see no light in sight.
Every month I get severe panic attacks!!! I also have been dx with Dysautonomia and possible MCAS and PMDD/PME. And I am on zero meds.
I finally tried the Allegra and Pepcid. Pepcid was not a go for me as it caused me horrible migraines! And I am already a migraine sufferer so that was a no.
But the ALLEGRA 60mg once in the morning has really helped me!!! First thing that has actually helped me and gave me relief. I’m on day 1 of my period and I began taking it 3 days before where I would feel severe sadness and lots of crying and panic and omg it’s truly working! I will continue talking it until my period is over or at least 3 days in bc usually that’s when I have severe symptoms and I will come back to update. 🙏💕
I keep having panic attacks/anxiety like 10-15 minutes into my workout. Makes me dizzy, light headed, feels like I’m going to faint. It is fucking annoying. I keep trying to push through but can’t. I’m not on any meds except lorazepam as needed. I’m about to start taking it before the gym because it’s so annoying. Someone please help me get over this shit. It’s ruining my life.
Does anyone wake up internally vibrating? I always do and I’m not on any medication and it doesn’t seem to go away. My doctor suggests medication
I'm making a bracelet about my mental health issues and need a charm for panic disorder. I don't mean awareness ribbon. A symbol, like for bod there could be a ladybug and for autism rainbow infinity sign. Any ideas?
Hey guys, this is my first time posting on reddit and oh boy I never thought it would be in this subreddit haha.
I'm a 30 year old dude and have been recently diagnosed with anxiety/panic disorder.
To be really frank, I was one of those people that thought "anxiety/panic disorders" weren't a thing; i thought people were just overreacting for the most part and never in my life have I been more wrong.
My first panic attack happened at the movie theater last year. I was with my loving girlfriend and it was just like any other day until my heart suddenly started racing and I was having trouble breathing. I told my girlfriend that I wasn't feeling well and asked her if we could leave. We got out of the room and things started getting worse and worse. I thought I was having a heart attack. I lied down on the floor (in the middle of the hallway), constantly fighting for my breath, and didn't care if anyone was watching or not because well, i thought i was going to die. This create a WHOLE SCENE and the staff came rushing in and asked what was wrong and i couldn't even talk so my girlfriend and the staff called the ambulance and helped created a barrier so that other people couldn't see me. It was extremely terrifying: I couldn't breath, I couldn't move, my entire body felt like I was having a seizure with all the muscles in my body just shrinking and shrinking until I couldn't even move a finger. I was in extreme pain and constantly thought I was going to die. And like you've guessed, the medical team couldn't help me at all, and that lasted for 3.5 hours.
After that day, I went to go see a psychiatrist and started taking Escitalopram and Propranolol for a few weeks until I just decided not to because I was feeling fine and the escitalopram was interfering with my work (brain fog, sleepy, unable to concentrate). I've had a few moments where I thought I was having a panic attack while I was taking medication but that slowly started to go away and I was ok for a few months and thought I was "cured" and didn't think panic attacks would come again.
Last week, I had the worst panic attack of my life, and I'm pretty sure I know what caused it again. To give you a little background, I've been very successful in my life. Everything went my way: I graduated from a top ivy league school, made millions in my early-mid 20's, and met the love of my life. However, it all started crumbling apart. I've made some poor financial decisions for the better part of the past few years (completely my fault) and now, I'm broke. Well, more than broke because I'm in debt now. I had to sell everything just to keep afloat: my house, car, watch collection, everything, and that still wasn't enough. I don't know how I'm going to be able to pay my employees next month.
I'm more lost than ever. My life became a mess. I wanted to be strong and do whatever it takes to crawl back up again but the fact that I'm suffering from this awful disease is questioning my ability to do so. If it were only mental, I'd be okay but I never experienced such awful physical pain in my life and I'm so scared of every possible panic attack that might come. I'm back on meds now and take xanax (0.25) maybe 3 or 4 times a week because it's getting worse and worse.
My girlfriend is really supportive and has helped me a lot recently and honestly, she's the only reason I'm still alive. I was planning on asking her to marry me before I was sick but now, I don't know if I can anymore. If I can't crawl back out of this hole, I don't want to drag her down with me. The physical pain that it is causing me is constantly holding me back from truly locking in and focusing on my work. Everyday, I wake up feeling awful, wondering if I can get through the day knowing that there is no clear solution to the problems that I'm facing. I wasn't the type of person to shed tears over anything, and now, I'm crying multiple times a day. I think I cried more times in the past month compare to my entire lifetime. I constantly start running out of breath, feel burning sensations in the back of my neck, and just randomly get really bad thoughts here and there. Everyday is a repeat of self-hatred, endlessly blaming myself for the poor decisions that I've made and continually wishing that the pain would just end.
I just wanted to share my story with you guys because I wanted to apology for being so wrong about this. I've been wrong in the past but never this wrong. The pain and suffering people must go through with anixety/panic disorders especially with others telling you that "oh it's all in your head", "just don't think about it", and failing to understand the excruciating physical nature of this disease.
Will I be able to get through this?
How did you guys manage to stay so strong?
Why am I so weak?
Will the pain go away?
I have been taking 0.5mg of xanax every night for sleep for 4 years and in 2025 november i upped my dose to 0.75 sometimes to 0.5 again then if another night a panic attack is really bad i'd take 1mg. I have very high tolerance to it not just because of the long term use but i biologically have a high tolerance and I only upped my dose because something tragic happened to my mom on November 2025. I was completely out of my mind stressing every day. She's not dead thankfully but everyday i just keep stressing and on june 19th i got ahold of some xanax and for 14 days every day i took 8mg. not always 8mg exactly
But 6mg minimum,thing is i didn't even get fucked up like i was almost sober i could even talk to my parents normally but i'm going back to my regular dose of 0.75mg will I have severe withdrawals? Any help/advice would be appreciated. :)
Looking for someone to tell me ANYTHING helpful. Long story short back in 2020 I was a heavy everyday user of the 🍃. My cousin invited me over to a party with a few friends plus her bf at the times brother who is a veteran. He was offering people at our small table to hit his wax pen and i was dumb enough to accept. That night I severeeeeely greened out to the point where I accepted the fact that I was going to die. Fast forward now for the past 6 years I've had severe panic disorder. Multiple panic attacks a day. Can't leave my house without having panic attacks, medicine doesn't help (refusing benzos). At this point I've become a master at just having panic attacks and still pushing through with work, school and anything else I need to do but I really want to know if someone has experienced a similar situation and has recovered. I'm getting to a point where I don't know how much longer I can live like this. I see another new therapist in 2 weeks but I'm just looking for a miracle at this point.
Thank you
Anyone else who gets panic attacks when eating spicy food?
I ate something I didn't realize was spicy. The moment the hotness hit my lips, my heart started palpitating. I realize it triggered my panic attack. I finished my food but not the spicy one. I suddenly feel scared for no reason. My heart beats faster, my chest tightened. I feel like insanity is messing up my heart and mind. Everything feels like overstimulating.
It's been an hour and my heart still palpitates. Anyone else who had this experience? Also, is this a panic attack or anxiety attack?
I don’t exercise enough/consistently and I was wondering if I started walking on my treadmill often if it would help stop my body feeling panicky/high anxiety?
Was diagnosed at age 13 and getting ready to turn 35 in August.
I have experienced years of 3+ attacks a day and years of only 1-2 per month.
i am dumbfounded after thousands maybe even tens of thousands of attacks I still get myself in these situations of fearing the fear. Thats my biggest trigger The fear and the symptoms.
”Everything will be fine”. No, it never is. I feel like I’m dying or having adrenaline rush like I’m skydiving inside while I smile and nod like everything is just fine.
It’s sad I’ve had panic more of life than ive not at this point.
Have done 2 SSRIs, a benzo, and a beta blocker. Also done talk therapy, and EMDR and I have quite possibly the largest private collection of self help books (jokes).
How blessed it must be to not know this terrible illness. Praying someday I’ll be free of It. Hugs to all the warriors fighting anxiety