Severity in panic attacks

Hey, Lisa, how are you?

Do you smoke cigarettes? Drink alcohol? Caffeine? Other drugs?

I used to have the same tight feeling in my chest before I quit alcohol, caffeine, and my cocktail of anxiety pills. I was on Buspar, Imipramine, Zoloft, Hydrocodone, Methocarbomal, codeine, you name it.

I think with me, sometimes I would concentrate so much on my own body that normal feelings were actually magnified. A scratchy throat became, to me, a situation in which I couldn't breath. Being out of breath became, to me, a heart attack. My attention was constantly focused into a fine beam of light on the normal sensations that everybody felt, I think. But with me, these sensation were mulitiplied.

I still feel tight-chested today, although I recognize this as a symptom that something is out of balance in my life. Usually it's a sinkful of dirty dishes or a full garbage can or something I've been putting off at work. I remind myself that eventually, I will get around to this thing. I sit down, relax, sip in a gigantic refreshing breath, hold it (and imagine that my tight-chest feeling is a poison that is now seeping into the air in my lungs) and then I exhale forcefully. It takes a few deep breaths, but the feeling generally passes in about 15 minutes, for me. Then I'm able to get up and tackle those dishes or the trash.

Stay away from caffeine! Even in sodas! It's the magnifying glass on the anthill of our nerves.

God bless.

Hi Wondercookie-

Thanks for your reply. No, I've never smoked, no alcohol, I'm not overweight & the only other drug I take is OTC Advil once in a while for my back & b/c pills. Before my doc gave me the Buspar to try, I was using Lorazepam 0.5 mg. tabs. She said I couldn't stay on that because it's an addictive drug. I gave up caffeine a few years back because of migraine headaches & drink water, milk or green tea instead. I don't like the Buspur at all. I sleep barely 3-4 hours since starting it, have very weird dreams, wake up & can't fall back asleep. So on top of everything I'm completely exhausted. I tried Zoloft before the lorazepam, but for me the side effects were untolerable...could not sleep, migraines increased. It's been about 5-6 weeks of this constant chest tightness, so yes I'm starting to get a little worried about it. I'm pretty sure my problems all stem from my marriage. I have tried to get out of my marriage before, I'm in a tough situation. We still have a high school son living at home. Thanks so much for your breathing tips. I was doing deep breathing but results were only temporary for me. I like what you said about imagining the tightness as a poison & releasing that from your body. I wish you well Are you taking any meds right now? I'm still waiting for my tape to arrive & pray it helps me. Thanks again- be well
Lisa

Hey Lisa...no, I'm on no medications right now (for anxiety). My last attack was about six years ago. Since then, I've gotten what I call "baby attacks" because they never truly explode into a full-blown panic attack. Later on, I learned that these "baby attacks" were due to low blood sugar. I didn't know that I was diabetic.

I sincerely wish you the best. Remember, if it gets to be too much: Men just aren't worth all that worry and stress and damage to your own body!