Constantly panic attacks

[Taylen_Bucello]

Hi my name is Taylen, I have been suffering with anxiety and panic attacks for over 8 years. I know it’s from my childhood and I am taking medication for it. Sometimes I won’t have it for a year then it will all hit me at once. The second a bad situation occurs I get in this stage of extreme panic attacks where I sweat, can hardly move, feel week and sometimes almost faint. This year has been very hard for me, I am a mother of two. One 3 year old girl and a 5 month old son. My partner went to hospital recently which has triggered my panic attacks back to the point where I feel anxious all the time.

I NEED to go to the dentist as I have an abscess in my tooth and I can’t open my mouth very wide but even the thought of going to the dentist triggers me (hence while I am writing this at 2:30am) I had a panic attack 2 days ago for no reason. I was just out on a picnic with my partners family and all of a sudden it started so I had to rush home leaving my 5 month old (who is breastfed) and toddler with my partners mum as I felt like I am dying and needed to get home! Once I was home I felt a bit better. I have just changed my medication also.

i guess what I’m trying to say is that....... I need help, not only do I feel like a crappy mum for not being able to go on adventures, catch busses, even go to the park for a family lunch!! But I can’t even bring myself to go to the dentist and get my health sorted I have a fear of dentists ever since I was heavily pregnant and went to hospital ICU for a week after having oral meningitis and almost dying and fainting almost every time I get a needle

i need help over coming these things before I end up not being able to leave my house! I feel like it’s getting to that point, I wake up every day and feel hungover and drained and I am looking after my recovering partner who had severe pneumonia and is off work for a month and also my two children

I’m drained, worried, scared and petrified

please help me

[SammyD100]

Hi Taylen

I’m so glad you’ve reached out for support and advice. Your situation is obviously incredibly difficult and debilitating for you and I’m not surprised you feel so worried and drained. Your anxiety and panic attacks are obviously starting to become really disruptive and of course you want to be able to get on top of them before they completely control you.

You say you are taking medication for these – I wonder if you are also seeing a Psychologist to work through some strategies of dealing with your Anxiety and Panic Attacks? It may seem really strange, but the best approach for anxiety and panic attacks is actually to gradually expose ourselves to the triggers for our panic. This is something that you would want to do slowly, with the support of a Psychologist.

So for example with the dentist, together you would create a hierarchy of things that you find difficult about going to the Dentist. This might start with just looking at your tooth, or just thinking about the waiting room at the Dentist. The list might then go all the way up to actually being in the chair, having the Dentist operating on your tooth. With your Psychologist, you would gradually expose yourself to the triggers, starting with the easiest one, and sitting with the anxiety that provokes before moving on to the next one. Over a number of weeks or months you would slowly work your way up to the point of being able to sit in that chair and have the operation.

When you avoid thinking about the dentist, or avoid being out on a picnic with your partner’s family, it actually reinforces those feelings of panic and anxiety – they become all the more strong for the fact that you have thought about it and been there, but then have had to escape so a ‘safe’ place. The avoidance acts as a positive reinforcer for the idea that you are unable to face these situations and actually strengthens the anxiety.

It’s possible that you know all this already or are already working on these things, I’m not sure. So apologies if I’m not adding anything new or helpful here! I thought I’d start here though in case you haven’t been able to seek Psychological support.

Anxiety and Panic are really common and are really treatable. You obviously recognise that this is something that’s impacting on your functioning and that you want support with. I would really recommend seeing your GP for a referral to a Mental Health Plan to see a Psychologist for medicare-rebated sessions.

Best of luck, SammyD

[Brewturner]

Hi Taylen

I too have suffered for many years from anxiety and panic attacks. The Dentist and Hairdresser being two of the many situations that send me into a tizz. Having not been to the Dentist for soo many years due to more the fear of the panic attack than the actual dentist, I was recently in so much pain, I had to do something.

I asked my doctor if I could get a medication that would allow me to keep calm enough to make an appointment at the dentist. I tried the medication at home first to see how it effected me. Happy with 1/2 a tablet , I researched my local dentists to see if any specialised with assisting anxiety patients. The practice I found was just amazing, and I was really shocked at their level of understanding and the services that they offered for people with anxiety.

At my appointment, I explained my fears and feelings with the dentist openly and honestly. I told her what medications I was taking. She talked me thru each step, played soothing music and did relaxation senario talks (you know, the your lying on the beach, in the sun, water lapping at your feet talks) throughout the procedure.

I felt like a little kid winning a competition when I came out of there! So proud of myself for overcoming the panic which enabled my rotten tooth to be extracted.

The care and understanding of this dentist was a huge help to me, I really hope that there will be a dentist in your vicinity that can help you.

The best thing you can do is be honest and open about your condition, you will be amazed at how many others experience the same thing. With your own strength and support from others you will bust thru each obstacle as it arrises.

I hope this has been some encouragement to you.

As always, deep breathes !

Kind regards and best wishes

[A_Fish]

Dear Taylen,

I am practially speechless after reading your post. In fact it brought me to tears just reading it.

To put my situation into context for you, I am a middle-aged guy who has the most loving wife in the world. She is incredibly supportive. I sometimes wonder why she sticks around - albeit I like to think I know why she sticks around. She often reinforces that I’m brilliant and is genuinely captured in every moment when I speak with her about anything.

Enough about me, let’s talk about you.

Reading your post, I can only surmise you are an incredibly intellectual being too. When I first started to suffer from generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), diagnosed about 11 years ago and experiencing panic attacks, my GP told me that it's usually something only very complex people suffer. I don't think being complex is bad or anything to be afraid of. In fact you should embrace it. My GP also confided in me that he suffers from "A Condition", but didn't go into the specifics. But what he did tell me is that even he takes medication to manage the banal situations in mundane life.

I cannot even fathom what you are going through. I'm not a doctor, so please don't consider anything I say as professional medical advice, but it sounds to me that you not only suffer from GAD, but perhaps a social anxiety disorder.

Compounding the effects of both, whilst still trying to manage day to day activities, shows enormous strength and resilience in your character.

For the record – I also hate that word “disorder”, but that is what the ignorant professionals (apart from my GP) in white lab coats with a lot of letters after their names, carrying a stethoscope around their necks, use to describe our situation. I personally have no time for them. Unless you need to fill a script, in my experience the best medication is just talking to others who suffer the same experiences you do, learn from them and make a judgement call on what works best for you.

Most importantly, don’t give up and stay strong. As Arnold Schwarzenegger would say, “You can do it!”.

[A_Fish]

My bi-polar meds didn't work. I actually ended up in hospital because of it, expressing most of the severe side-effects.

Back on the SNRI.

If you are thinking of going to bi-polar meds, make sure you transition to them very slowly.

All the best.