I have been on the verge of perhaps panic attacks or hysteria! IDK
It's scaring me.
Anyone else?
I have been on the verge of perhaps panic attacks or hysteria! IDK
It's scaring me.
Anyone else?
My panic attacks - even though I know that's what they are - always make me feel I'm about to die - I feel like I can't breathe, my chest is tight, I go clammy, dizziness, vertigo, and it feels like something is eating me from the inside, my skin prickles all over and it's just a feeling of paralysing fear.
All I'm able to do is put my head down or lie back and force myself to do deep breathing. It takes a few minutes but it passes.
Hugs to Kim.
Bree
I think a panic attack begins when you dwell on something negative until it becomes real in your mind and you can't see any end. Then the adrenalin starts pumping and all those symptoms you've described kick in.
I'm going to say something else about a panic attack experience. I told the story when it happened.
I had a procedure and I didn't know they would keep me overnight to see if there was a problem during that time.
When I woke up, I was hooked up to a catheter and all the monitoring equipment and my back was itching terribly from being in the same position for hours. I started scratching it but couldn't get any relief. Then I started thinking I needed fresh air. I remembered during my 11 day hospital stay after I severed my foot, that there was an exterior stairway where I could go out and smoke. No, I didn't want to smoke, I wanted some non air conditioned air in my lungs.
I was tied to that bed and catheter and I wanted out! I was trapped and I knew the adrenaline was going to start pumping.
How could I stop it?
How did I stop it? I put on my glasses and things literally came into focus. The anxiety stopped.
I rang a nurse and told her about my itching back, not knowing I had drawn blood with my scratching.
She put some lotion on it.
I was calm.
I believe you can stop a panic attack before the adrenaline pumps.
You do it by getting your focus off your fears for a moment by changing something.
For me it was putting on my glasses.
You can go stand barefoot on cold cement.
You could stick your head in the freezer.
Stick your hand in the toilet. (Clean toilet first)
Anything your wouldn't normally do to break the negative focus.
BUT you have to stop it BEFORE the adrenaline gets going.
The only panic attack I ever had was when I realized I was serious about quitting. It started out as a clammy feeling all over my body, like I was heating up and then came the sweats and then of course the tightening of the chest. And like any time when the mind goes on overload, it did pass and in the end, I did quit!
I believe it was fear of doing something I really didn't want to do and yet did want to. You know, the confusion we all face in the beginning. It was fear of failure. It was fear of change and you know what? Every moment that we live in the first days of a quit are moments of change. Nothings the same to us. We know the world should be the same and yet it isn't.
Over time, and not a lot of time usually, the mind has processed enough of these changes that it can begin to deal with the small aspects of what is happening rather than dealing with all of it at once, and so long as we're committed, the mind calms. With experience comes confidence and with confidence comes peace.
Don't forget the humor! It can calm a lot and get you thinking differently and not only that, you like to use it. This is your future that you're fighting for and in my opinion it's worth every discomfort that might be faced. Your life is so much more important than the consumption of a modified plant! Hang in there!
ONWARD TO FREEDOM!!!
Chuck
Whatever you're experiencing, whatever it is/was called..I also experienced it, and it wasn't fun.
I just kept believing that it will pass, and non smokers don't experience this horrible panic, and yep it passed.
It's also a memory..that's strong enough to thump me on the head if I ever consider going back to that horrible, life controlling addiction.
Hang in there...learn to meditate, breathe and let it go!
~Kathy 965 DOF
I've got you dear Kim. Feel free to msg me here if you'd like. Panic attacks are very common while stopping smoking. Mine came from the old programming in my head about cigarettes. I would panic when the pack started getting low and I couldn't get to the store either soon enough or at all. I would say that most smokers experienced that panic in relative degrees. I have a friend who starts to get absolutely panicky and b****y when she gets down to 2 or 3 smokes. I've had a couple episodes since quitting, over what I don't remember. I'm praying that you will be rid of them soon. Many hugs and support from me girl!
IDK.
A panic attack is the fight or flight feeling where your adrenaline starts pumping and you can't stop it.
Is that what you're feeling?