You don't always need meds for panic attacks

Panic attacks are real...and as a sufferer of them I am here to say you don't always need meds. After suffering a few panic attacks I went to see my Dr. who immediately put me on Zanex which I took and the next morning I woke up crying, lathargic, and feeling depressed...never felt this way before. So it was at that moment I thought wow which is worse panic or feeling depressed...my answer NEITHER. I decided to not take medicine and start educating myself as to how I could control these panic attacks....after all I wanted to control my brain not have it control me.

3 Years later I still feel anxiety build up (on the subway, in close quarters) but I tell myself to breath and that everything is going to be ok...I drink water and mentally calm myself down. This is much better than being a drone on medication....and I have my life back.

Tips To Prevent Panic Attacks

Causes a panic attack

There are a lot of triggers for a panic attacks, but essentially, all panic attacks are caused by a state of someone being either out of control in a given situation, or by feeling physically threatened, particularly when situations are unstable or unknown/strange. The triggers vary widely by culture and society, but those are the hallmarks across all the different landscapes. Sometimes the trigger is real to the person launching into the attack, but to those around them, the cause of the attack is unknown, unperceived or unacknowledged. Remember, when a person is heading into a panic attack spiral, they probably won't know why, and won't tell you what is putting them there. The key is to know what your environment holds that will likely ignite the spark of an attack.

Learn how to stop panic attacks.

Signs of a panic attack

According to experts at the Mayo Clinic, a panic attack often begins abruptly, peaks within 10 minutes and lasts about half an hour. But panic attacks have many variations., and those that suffer from them often experience warnings that they try or are required to ignore.

There is not much clinical information available on what those warning signs are, although several will be suggested here from personal interviews, and anecdotal reports.. Most approaches and treatments attempt to interrupt or prevent symptoms, and often do not focus on the underlying or episode-specific cause.

Clinical reports discuss brain and physiological causes and conditions, and there are some people who experience unpreventable attacks due to organic causes. For those people, medical approaches under a doctor's supervision are advised. Other health problems — such as an impending heart attack, an overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism) or drug withdrawal — can cause similar signs and symptoms. Attacks may last hours or, on rare occasions, up to a day.

What does a panic attack look like? Signs and symptoms may include:

• Rapid heart rate
• Sweating
• Trembling
• Shortness of breath and hyperventilation
• Chills
• Hot flashes
• Nausea
• Abdominal cramping
• Chest pain
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Faintness
• Tightness in your throat
• Trouble swallowing
• A sense of impending death

How to Overcome Panic Attacks

A lot of people make the mistake of believing that panic attacks are incurable and that they will have to cope with them for the rest of their life, but I would like to tell these people that they couldn’t be farther from the truth. Let me give you some tips on how you can prevent panic attacks from occurring, stop panic attacks before they stop you from doing whatever you were doing and tips on how you can avoid to go through panic attacks ever again.

There a lot of things that one can do to avoid panic attacks from occurring. First of all, keeping an active and healthy lifestyle is a good first step. People who are overweight and don’t exercise regularly run the risk of going through more panic attacks than people who are physically active simply because of their unstable body chemistry.

Another thing that can help reduce the occurrences of panic attacks is to practice relaxation; and by relaxation, I do not simply mean taking a few minutes for yourself, but becoming sensitive to your basic needs for peace, self-awareness and thoughtful reflection for a specific period of time. You don’t need to see a doctor to tell you that the major culprit involved in most panic attack cases is stress, and relaxation is only one way you can counteract the harmful effects of stress on your health.

Now, I can you stop a panic attack when you are right in the middle of it? Well, the most important thing is to try to keep your mind off of it. I know this sounds easier said then done, but if you use mental programming techniques such as NLP, it can actually be pretty simple. NLP, short for neuro-linguistic programming, describes the fundamental dynamics between mind and language and how their interplay affects our body and behavior.

One of the best NLP techniques you can use to divert yourself from a panic attack is by remembering the funniest thing you’ve ever seen, such as a funny scene in your favorite comedy, and bring it back to your memory every time you experience a panic attack. If you are skeptical about the effectiveness of such a technique, you should keep in mind that several reputable psychotherapists, such as Steven Sultanoff, former president of the President of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor, are using it on several of their patients with great success.

If you experience several panic attacks a day, you might need professional supervision. Some doctors will favor medication over therapy depending on the case, but make sure you weight in all the pros and cons of taking anti-depressants before you take a prescription. While they may provide a quick fix to incessant panic attacks, they can have other undesirable side-effects.

Overcoming Panic Attacks - Strategies and Tips For Driving Anxiety

What is a Panic Attack?

Panic Attacks are far more intense than having the feeling of being stressed or anxious that most people experience. It is described as a sudden attack of intense fear or feelings of impending fate or disaster that strike without warning and for no apparent reason. These are caused by a shift in the way the Amygdala, the small organ in the brain which regulates the anxiety response, behaves when confronted with an anxiety provoking thought, sensation or situation. Panic Attacks occur when a level of anxiety is reached which causes the Adrenalin to produce severe symptoms which reach a peak in just a matter of minutes. The peak of an attack can range anywhere from 5 to 30minutes, but the symptoms may last a little longer. The symptoms of Panic Attacks are completely harmless, although they can be very frightening. Panic Attacks belong to a group of anxiety disorder, like panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and agoraphobia.

What causes panic attacks? Some of the symptoms of anxiety attack are intense heartbeat, difficulty of breathing, palpitation, nausea, excessive sweating and trembling, chest pains, fearful of going crazy or about to die, sudden chills, and the like. Some people may experience different or more anxiety attack symptoms but this does not mean that their condition is far worse or that you are suffering from different undiagnosed condition. And because we are all different, the symptoms during Panic Attacks can vastly vary.

Panic Attacks are always a sign of underlying anxiety disorder which itself can be treated successfully with or without having to go through medication or costly therapy. Panic Attacks are not a sign of illness. The way to cure it is to eliminate the causes that trigger Panic Attacks.