Anxiety and Panic Attacks Causing Physical Pain

[Nickb1701]

Hello, First time poster here, so i'll just get straight down to it. i am diagnosed General anxiety disorder (GAD) Panic Disorder, Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and Schizophrenia. My main problem is in regards to my anxiety and panic attacks. just last night i had to be admitted into hospital for an unusually high heart rate. but what people don't seem to understand is i have panic attacks every day. this day much worse. it had gone on for 3 days. i had a pounding heart. a constricted and crushing feeling in my chest that hurt physically. A lot. a sore stomach. weakness and trembling. the hospital was more concerned about my heart and conducted x-rays and blood tests, followed by tests on my heart to eliminate heart attacks. once they all came back clear. they discharged me with a letter for my GP to adjust my anxiety medication to try control my panic and general anxiety. it does get hard, often waking up in full blown withdrawal from the short 6-8 hour half life (i'm lucky to get 6 hours). these physical feelings i am experiencing daily. the crushing / constriction of the chest? the sore stomach? difficulty breathing. does anyone have any ideas or suggestions for what i could do with myself or my GP to try alleviate these symptons. because my doctor is of a different nationality to me and has trouble understanding me and what i'm trying to say. so theres a big barrier there. i also have another doctor i see once a month who is much more open and helpful to all my needs. but hes located further away than comfortable. any suggestions would be helpful to help me gather perspective on what i should do to approach my problem. thank you in advance. if you are experiencing similar issues please feel free to post your experience in this thread.

[Croix]

Dear Nickb1701~

Having panic attacks are just about as frightening a symptom as one can have, and with the frequency you are talking that will dominate you life.

OK, for the first thing -which is good from one point of view- is that you have been checked out. While you might know it's a panic attack it helps if the medical world does not have to investigate each time. Actually when I started having them I found it hard to believe they were anxiety related -the physical symptoms felt too overwhelming and real

I guess panic attacks need to be approached in two ways. The first is to deal with the attack as it happens, the second is long term, and that is to reduce the anxiety in your life that makes them happen

I would presume you have already talked to both your doctors about this. My apologies if you have tried all the following.

During the attack I breath in through my nose for a count of 5, hold for 2 and then out though my mouth for 5. This restores oxygen imbalance caused by rapid breathing and also -for me -tends to have a calming effect. I focus and think about my breathing. (Some people use breathing apps)

I also remind myself (often) that I've been though all this umpteen times before, it is a panic attack - not a heart attack or something like that - and is simply a 'fight or flight' response gone wrong in response to something that sets me off

If I can I try to continue on with whatever it was I was doing, this is basically an exercise in stubbornness, not wanting the whole thing to beat me

A couple of other things is to move away from the area, talk with someone I have confidence in and is all else fails try Smiling Mind (more on this in a moment)

With the long term stuff, lifestyle is important. The usual things: exercise, nutrition, sleep - all of which are too big a subject to go into here - plus avoiding events, situations, people that are likely to induce stress. Socializing with loved ones or others who you are comfortable with is excellent. My partner is my choice.

Most important is regular activities that both distract and are enjoyable. I use books, movies, walks, pets and other things. These get my mind away from regular life, plus they are all things to look forward to and punctuate the day.

CBT therapy is often effective in dealing with the underlying causes and I regularly use the free smartphone app Smiling Mind to get my mind under control. This takes practice, but is very effective.

Hope some of this helps

Croix

[demonblaster]

Hi Nick welcome 🙂

Jeez you have a lot to deal with, I don't know for fact but I think or maybe heard somewhere that anxiety is an off shoot of depression or other issues. It's I think because stress needs an out is why we have anxiety attacks like that. As always Croix is on point & yes first thing to get through them as they happen.

I've had some attacks & talked a couple out of them.
I've used a firm no nonsense voice saying to myself this is an anxiety attack, I'm not going down with it. Then as Croix said, concentrated on the breathing cause that's the main problem. Focus only on that Nick. The fear's major but thinking about that makes us worse creating more panic. That's why focusing on the breathing apart from needing to control it is also a distraction from the other slamming thoughts that their only purpose is to pull us down furthur.

I got the couple of people outta them by talking calmly to them but being in one, the firm voice did the trick and same concentrate on breathing.
So when it starts coming on difficult but doable try to relax your body as much as you can.

Heard here and saw somewhere on net too it's not life threatening so that's something to keep in storage

Yeah the hospital doing heart checks would be failing their jobs if they didn't check out heart, they have to eliminate, it's prioritising and hearts the big boy.

Also there's quite a lot of info on anxiety if you're interested in checking out other threads too could be of help and you have here too as well

Sorry you go through so much, well done reaching out for help.

be good to hear how you're going if you return, otherwise all the best Nick