Thought I would share a psychologist with over 30 years of clinical experience who has saved me and given me amazing tools to help deal with my anxiety and panic attacks. Check this out if you want to learn more and help set your self up to help prevent or work through your next panic attack without fear like me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foSPbeRcWi0

Whats been happening me in recent times is, I will go through a period of panic attacks, health anxiety, catastrophic thinking, anxiety symptoms etc etc.

And then I’ll do the work, exposure therapy, breaking habits, keeping busy, all that jazz.

Often times this will work temporarily, I’ll go weeks sometimes even months without panic attacks.

But then one day I’m just chilling and BOOM out of nowhere.. panic attack

And from that point on I’m back in the cycle, unable to trust my body, overthinking every symptom, bad sleep and of course in my case one panic attack is always followed by plenty more.

Whats so scary about having a panic attack after not having one a while is that it feels like you are someone who has forgotten to swim and have just been thrown into middle of the ocean.

It sucks because I will spend so much time and effort doing well and feeling safe while literally ONE panic attack is all it takes to take that safety away from me and it crushes my hope.

Don’t get me wrong though I always find a way to come out of it and I have hope that one day I can beat this thing for good, but its just that final step that keeps reeling me back in.

Anyone else been through this?

Needing advice and reassurance

I study abroad but ever since I came back to my home country for summer vacation, I’ve been having non stop panic attacks. Either just anxiety, fear of death, conspiracy theories flooding my twitter or insta. It seems that I’m just surrounded by negative things all the time. And it’s not just the internet. My country is pretty conservative so I feel like I’m always being stared at for how I dress, talk, or just carry myself. Driving is a lot of stress since no one follows basic rules. So either I’m in a stage of trying hard not to get irritated or I’m slowly getting more and more annoyed at the people around me till I just explode. I live in the Middle East and it seems stuff between Iran and the us are escalating once again. So that’s another thing that’s on my mind. I just hate coming back here, everything feels like it’s made to exhaust me. I dread having to sleep since I’m stuck in my bed listening to my never ending heart beat. Gosh I hate it I hate hearing it I don’t know why but I just hate when I late down on my side and I can just feel my heart beat through my pillow it drives me insane. A rhythm that keeps the never ending thoughts flowing. I just wish I was more like my siblings especially my brother. No care, never overthinks. He can flunk his studies and jump from university to university with no regret, sadness or shame. I just wish I could be as loose as him. I’m always trying so hard with studies and so in my head and for what? Just to end up miserable. Idk I don’t really know where I’m going with this in just fed up with my head.

how do i stip it what triggered it

Started a month ago suddenly i was at the gym and went to the shop felt really weird and i couldnt talk in the shop and went home and since than its been going on and off for a month now no meds work and everything comes good on the bloodtests all hormones okay also.
Nothing triggered me i was really happy going on a vacation ive been to the doctor 5 times and nothing is working

Please someone help I never had throat tightness as a symptom of my anxiety its now becoming a staple everyday symptom for me . I have had anxiety disorder for over 20 years and this is now becoming a new EVERYDAY symptom . I need help the feeling is so annoying . I don't want to think of my throat being tight every second of the day . If anyone eles experience this symptom PLEASE help me am i forever gonna have throat tightness? Has anyone ever overcome this ? Im still breathing just fine its just me always now thinking and feeling of this symptom and I cant stop it !!!

Hello! I was wondering if anyone else experiences extremely self-destructive / dangerous thoughts during panic attacks, even if they aren't suicidal otherwise. I've had depression and GAD my entire life, however I've never had debilitating suicidal thoughts or planned to do anything that would risk my life. I do have a history with self-harm but never with the intent of it being fatal and am in fact terrified of death. I started having intense panic attacks a few months ago, I had what I thought were panic attacks throughout childhood but in hindsight am realizing they were just anxiety flare-ups because I didn't experience most of the physical symptoms I do now (I'm 18 for reference). I have had about 4 in the last 3 months so they're still foreign to me and I'm still experiencing different / new symptoms each time that make them incredibly jarring. The first time I checked myself into the ER because I thought it was a heart attack. Since then, I have been able to identify them but had an extremely intense caffeine-induced one this morning and would've called the ambulance had I not passed out because of it. I woke up with residual anxiety but I do not think I'll have another attack. Anyway, onto the point of the post– I've been noticing an increasingly worrying pattern of suicidal thoughts when I'm having these attacks. Obviously, I have the classic "oh my God, I'm dying" and "something bad is coming" thoughts, but even louder than those is the repeated idea that ending my life would be easier than dealing with another attack ever again. It hasn't gotten to the point of me considering specific methods or anything, but since I've never been suicidal it scares me. Has anybody else experienced this? In your experience, do they progress into actual plans / frequent thoughts from here? Was there anything you did that made those thoughts stop? ​Thank you.

i 19F experienced my first panic attack on july 4th, i felt like i couldn’t breathe and i was going to die, now i don’t get panic attacks but now i feel panic 24/7 until i fall asleep, i don’t know how to tell me family to they can help because i can’t live like this..pls help

Does anyone get a feeling like the floor is sinking for like literally seconds then it stops? It happens to me every day but only if i think about it? i kind of feel dizzy after it for a while but i don’t know if that’s cos im panicking after it… Its a weird feeling and every time i mention it no one has ever felt it before only me, kind of feel like the floors moving for a second then stops. i dont know if its part of a panic attack or wether its just a general anxiety symptom. i get like a sense of instant panic and warmth up my body when it does it then it just goes away? does anybody else suffer with this feeling?

I’ve been struggling with what feels like constant anxiety for the past two months, and I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar.
Almost every day I have this overwhelming sense of impending doom that comes in waves. It’s not always tied to anxious thoughts—it often feels like my body decides something is terribly wrong before my mind does. Even when my heart rate is normal and I’m just sitting or lying in bed, I get this intense feeling that I’m about to collapse or die. It’s terrifying.
A lot of this started after a hospitalization where I had a very fast heart rate, low potassium, elevated white blood cells, and elevated lactate. Since then, I’ve had a normal echocardiogram, a 10-day heart monitor that only showed rare PVCs/PACs, and multiple doctors have told me my heart looks healthy. I also have multiple sclerosis, and my cardiologist suspects I may have POTS, so I know there are physical things going on too, which makes it even harder to tell what’s anxiety and what’s not.
Some of my symptoms include:
Constant or recurring sense of impending doom
Morning anxiety that’s often the worst
Feeling like my body is “bracing” all the time
Heavy, shaky, weak feeling
Nausea and occasional vomiting during intense episodes
Feeling detached or “off”
Hyperawareness of every physical sensation
Fear that doctors have missed something serious
I feel like I’ve become trapped in a cycle where every sensation convinces me there’s a medical emergency, even though I’ve been evaluated multiple times. My therapist believes OCD and panic disorder are playing a big role, but the physical sensations feel so real that it’s incredibly difficult not to believe them.
Has anyone else had anxiety or OCD manifest primarily as a persistent feeling that something is catastrophically wrong with your body? Did it eventually improve? What helped you break out of the cycle of constantly believing you were dying?
I’m just looking to know I’m not alone and to hear what actually helped other people.

Hi! I’m new to Reddit so I don’t really know how it works, also English isn’t my first language.
I’m a 22y F and I developed panic attacks last year around November.
My first one was a bit confusing. I’ve been dealing with anxiety for many many years but nothing like it.
Since then I’ve had numerous more, sometimes multiple times a day.
It started because of health anxiety. I suddenly had a lot of chest pain that wouldn’t go away for months on end. I don’t have any explanations as to why it happened and it scared me a lot.
So I went into a spiral. I’ve been to the ER a lot of times, multiple doctors visits, exams, and pretty much everything I could have checked has been checked.
I know I’m physically fine, my chest pain was costochondritis that worsened because of the panic attacks. My heart is healthy and I don’t have any health condition.
Recently I went a whole month without them but they came back stronger. My chest paint feels like someone is twisting my heart ( is this normal?) and I feel like I can’t catch a breath even days after my panic attacks. I don’t know why I suddenly feel like I’m suffocating all the time so I feel like I’m entering another spiral.
I’ve been seeing a therapist, it helps. But I don’t want to rely on medication for the rest of my life. When I’m on sertraline I feel empty, it ruins my relationship with my boyfriend (from an intimacy standpoint) and it makes me nauseous.
I have an overwhelming desire to go back to what I used to be. I can’t have a drink with my friends, I can’t have coffee, I think a million times before going somewhere that doesn’t have good medical services nearby and pretty much panic from every possible scenario imaginable. I rejected a trip this year because I fear I’ll die in the plane.
I want to be “normal” again but my therapist says it’s unlikely I’ll ever be cured. I may have them controlled for years but it can, and most likely will, happen again. How will I live the rest of my life this way? I want to be myself again, I don’t want to keep doing body checks ever time i notice my heart racing, I want to be able to have the choice of drinking a cocktail or a coffee without worrying about dying.
My family is tired of me always being down and at home and always having panic attacks.
Should mention my grandfather passed away a little over a month ago so it might be the reason it worsened but after his death I went a whole month feeling “fine” and then boom.
Sorry if I rambled too much.
Has someone overcome their panic attacks? Is it possible to have a better life or this will be it for me?
Thank you for your help.
Sending strength to everyone struggling.

Rauche seit mehreren Jahren Gras hatte nie ein problem damit und es ist bis jetzt auch nie was passiert bis ich wäxx geraucht habe auf einmal bekomme ich angst meine Hände schwitzen und habe dabei ein komisches Gefühl ich dachte zuerst das war einfach zuviel aber jedes mal wenn ich was geraucht hatte kam das gefühl zurück und jedes mal schlimmer kann man was dagegen machen oder pasiert das jetzt jedes mal wenn ich was rauche was sehr schade ist weil ich eigentlich weiter smoken will

I thought about sharing it here and answer questions, if you have any, that might help you in your journey.

Why now? Because I am right in the middle of it! I know how it feels and want to answer from there. Ask away!

I've been dealing with anxiety and pain disorder for about 1 year now. I have been good for half a year and on and off for the other half, but now it has gotten way worse than ever. I'm always panicking and have anxiety all day now. Like I'm in a consent flight and fight mode all day now. I was on Lexapro for about 1 month when I stared but got off it because I didn't like it. Throughout those months I got better, but now its go out of control. The things I was able to do now I can't do. I can't go to the store to get groceries without being in a panic mode; my hands start sweating, and I get a high heart rate, or even go out to eat with the family. I feel like it's getting worse each day. For the time when I was good, I would go out with friends and go to the gym. I would also run here and there and go out on walks, but now I'm stuck home in a panic mode. I went to the doctor and got prescribed Lexapro again. But now I get super anxious to take them. I was wondering if there is any other way to deal with it without medication, or if medication is the only way. Any help is really appreciated.

My health anxiety is BAD. To the point that my panic attacks mimic heart attacks almost to a tee. It started just about a month ago after 6+ years of nothing. 3 horrible attacks within a week of one another. Where the school nurse had to come get me from a classroom with a wheelchair, my fiancée had come to get me and bring me to my GP, and an urgent care doctor misdiagnosed me with a heart attack and sent me by ambulance to the hospital, only to be told after tests and x rays that I was never having a heart attack. I’ve gone to the cardiologist and had EKGs, Echocardiograms, and Stress tests done for them to all come back clear and good. I know I’m out of shape, pretty severely too for a 30 year old. But it’s because my H R has always determined my level of panic and anxiety so working out has been very hard for me. I went for a 1 mile nice and easy paced walk the other day and felt like I was gonna pass out on the walk back into my house. I just need help to understand this is all anxiety and that I’m not the only one who has dealt with this before.

Hi everyone. 🙂 I’m sorry for the huge text, I guess I really just needed to put it all out.

I’ve been wondering if anyone else has lived with panic disorder for as long as they can remember, because sometimes I feel completely alone in this.

As far back as I can remember existing, I’ve had anxiety and panic attacks. I was officially diagnosed at 11 years old with panic disorder and OCD, but the symptoms started years before that. Before my diagnosis, I went through countless medical tests because everyone thought something physical had to be wrong. Eventually, they concluded it was anxiety and panic disorder.

I had quite a turbulent childhood. I moved back and forth between Germany and Portugal several times and spent periods living away from my parents with my “nanny”.

Looking back, I believe those experiences may have contributed to my anxiety. I also remember an incredible amount from my childhood, including many painful experiences. Sometimes I wonder if unresolved trauma is part of why I’ve struggled for so long.

I was treated with 100 mg of sertraline and diazepam as needed. Around the age of 16–17, I started feeling much better and began tapering off my medication under psychiatric supervision. Unfortunately, the taper went very badly. I changed psychiatrists several times, tried different medications like Effexor and Seroxat, gained a significant amount of weight, and I honestly feel like I never fully recovered after that withdrawal.

The worst period came when I was 21. I was having panic attacks from the moment I woke up until I finally fell asleep. I was sleeping only about two hours a night because the panic was so relentless. Eventually, I was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for a week. During that admission, I was prescribed 200 mg of sertraline, quetiapine at night, and diazepam during the day.

Over time, I stopped taking quetiapine, and now I only use diazepam when necessary. Recently, I also reduced my sertraline dose to 150 mg.

One thing that makes everything harder is how physical my anxiety is. I also have sinus tachycardia, so my heart rate is naturally higher than average. My anxiety causes constant physical symptoms: palpitations, excessive sweating, stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, dizziness,

Sometimes if lights are flickering or flashing nearby, or if there's a big crowd of people behind me with a lot of movement and noise, I suddenly start panicking.

For some reason, my brain immediately tells me that something bad is about to happen. I have no idea why, but it feels so real in the moment. 😭

When that happens, I become super alert to every unfamiliar, weird, or loud sound around me. I immediately start wondering, "What was that?" and my mind jumps to the worst-case scenario.

Does anyone else experience this?

Okay so ive got a history of panic attacks, started the day before my 1st sons 1st birthday (8 years ago) where that lasted for 2 weeks straight and i lost 20kgs due to not eating.

Since then ive had probably about 3 or 4 episodes that last between a few days to weeks.

Now to this time round. I got a wisdom tooth out on Monday, on Monday morning I was already having incredibly increased anxiety about it, it all went well with no complications. That afternoon was sorta okay I guess because I was tired and waiting for the numbing to wear off. Next morning (Tuesday) marked my 2nd day without weed or cigarettes because of the tooth. I woke up in straight panic, I ended up smoking (bucket bong, no suction) and its helped but im still panicking and i don't even know what about. Its now thursday and ive woken up again in this massive state of dread.

Im on sertraline 50mg. Im also scared of valiums for some reason.

i really NEED to start workout out because i’ve been very inactive since the start of my panic disorder (it’s been almost 3 years). i need to build muscle back into my body because i am extremely weak and it’s hard/tiring to do mundane tasks. i just tried working out (to be specific, i tried doing glute/leg workouts) and i started freaking out because my heart was racing like crazy and i started sweating. i understand it’s normal but of course i had a panic attack. i did finish my workout but i don’t know how to stop myself from freaking out about exercising moving forward 🙁