Consider A Way Out Before The Door Closes

[JonesCarpeDiem]

Panic Attacks:

      Once The Adrenaline Starts Pumping It's Too Late To Stop It.

When you've had them you know from past experience you will not be able to come down from it for hours and you will feel like you've been through the wringer afterwards, weak and shaky.

      I never had a panic attack before I quit smoking but, I experienced a few of them after I quit.  I am not saying they are in any way connected other than,  I probably would have smoked had I still been a smoker.  🙂

      What I'm going to offer is what I've learned about them.

Once you've had them, once you know how they feel,

when you know those two things, You can learn to consciously catch and control them before the adrenaline has been dumped.

      My theory is we get a negative thought started, a fear, and we magnify it until we lose hope of a solution to that thought, then, the adrenaline is pushed.  Remember, adrenaline is for the girding up to fight or run. (fight or flight)

      So here's an example of the last time I had a panic attack and how I pulled out of it.

      I had a surgery that required overnight monitoring. They had me hooked up to monitors, a catheter, and IV. I awoke with my back itching tremendously from lying in the same position. The air seemed stale. I was scratching my back but could not get the itching to stop.

      I felt trapped in that bed. I wanted to get up and get some fresh air.

I was claustrophobic, the room was a blur, and, I was ready to scream.

From past experience, I knew the adrenaline was going to kick in and I had to stop it right then or rip out all the tubes and wires and jump out of the bed.

      My hands were fumbling on the nightstand. My glasses.

I put them on. Things cleared up instantly.

      I was able to call the nurse. She was able to put some lotion on my bleeding back.

      You know how I tell you to bite into a lemon skin and all or stick your head in the freezer and count backwards from 20 if you feel like you have an unstoppable crave? Putting on my glasses pulled me out of that place before I went ballistic.

      I believe with practice, you can learn to turn off the panic attack switch in similar ways. You just have to find the off switch that works for you and remember to use it at the right time.

Keep learning about yourself. Smoking is no future.

[MarilynH]

Wow Dale, I've Experienced two panic attacks several years ago long before quitting smoking, this is ONE of the blog's that I wished had a helpful button because I'd be tapping on it right now, I hope everyone reads this post.....

[Bree19]

Hi Dale

I agree with everything you say - but it only works for me when I feel an anxiety attack coming on.  There is usually a reason (leaving the house/a recent spate of car-jackings or burglaries in our area/unable to contact Derek etc).  My go-to response is always first Rescue drops under the tongue, then (same as craving) move away from where you are and do something energetic.  Mop the floor/change bed linen/clean the oven/prune a rose bush.

But panic  attacks - I've yet to find that instant switch because it hits with no warning.  There seems to be no cause.   It is a wave of terror or fear that hits me and washes through me like waves - caused by NOTHING.  I immediately think heart attack even tho' I've never experienced one. I might be  driving/doing pool exercises/chatting on the phone/cooking...It is sudden, intense, not related to any stressor and comes with light headedness/tingling or numbness/headache/trembling/inability to breathe/nausea/chills/chest pains and more.  It subsides eventually (10-15 minutes later) and you are left with that feeling of unreality/distanced from reality and then the exhaustion. 

If I could develop a warning signal for my panic attacks, life would be so much easier.  Meanwhile I do get treatment for it and in the last 4 years I've only had 3, so I'm not complaining...much  

Not that an anxiety attack is any less frightening - just different - and a lot more frequent for me. 

Bree

[anaussiemom]

Kudos!  Exactly!  It doen't come to me in forms oh hey its just an anxiety attack.  It is like omg Im losing it, or Im stroking again..

[JonesCarpeDiem]

Perhaps we can learn to know?

We have to think differently to change anything.

I'm just putting a spark of insight out there.

People can learn from it or use it, or not.  🙂

[JonesCarpeDiem]

Well perhaps I am considering the adrenaline pump happens with both? (anxiety or panic)

Do you know if that happens with both?

[Bree19]

Definitely with both.  Anxiety attacks just give you a space of time to get through that closing door you mentioned (such a great observation).  With anxiety you can feel the adrenaline building up (fast or slow).  With panic the adrenaline only becomes apparent when you're coming down...you realise it's BEEN pumping, the other "events" just came on stronger.

A long time ago a doctor once said a panic or anxiety attack is simply your body/adrenal glands acting/working/pumping inappropriately.  It helps to know that.  Hard to remember when necessary though.  At least I KNOW it really wasn't a heart attack at the end of it and my rational self shakes itself straight.

Thanks for bringing it up.

Bree

[MichelleDiane]

Just my thoughts on this as I have had both and am still being treated for anxiety.  What I have found with my panic is that it has a subconscious thought.  Example.  My first panic attack happened over 10 years ago.  My daughter's birthday is in November.  Her grandparents gave her a gift card to Walmart.  So, what did I do.  I decided to go to the Walmart that was where they were just opening a huge Shop and Stop.  One thing about my daughter is she has Autism.  At that time she would have fits of screaming and crying that could wake the dead.  They usually happened when she expected something, but it didn't happen.  (It's not that she is spoiled.  We used to have to say first this and then that in order to prepare her.  When that didn't happen she was triggered).  Well, I put gas in the tank and told all three of my children that we would stop at the bank, which is in the Walmart shopping area and then go in.  Problem.  At the drive through to the bank I noticed that my hearing was fuzzy.  My heart was beating out of my chest.  My hands were in clenched around the steering wheel.  I could move my fingers.  Everything was numb.  I tried to think of a way to tell my daughter that we were going to go to the Walmart by our house, which I had no intention of doing.  My thoughts were that I was having a heart attack.  I tried to remain calm and had my son call my mother who lived with me at that time to tell her that I wasn't well and she needed to meet me outside of the house to help get the kids.  The drive home was torturous.  I never am one to cut through gas stations or make my own lane, but this time I did everything to get home.  Lights were staying red on purpose and I wanted to jump out of my skin.  I finally made it home and didn't know what to do.  My neighbor took me to the emergency room where I collapsed in triage because I was so dizzy.  After many tests they deemed this episode to be a panic attack because my heart was fine.  I slowly came down and was looking for my husband. He came in and I started to cry.  I was discharged.  The next day was my daughter's birthday.  (A ice skating party no less).  I was able to recall this episode because it was embedded in my brain.  I had similar attack on and off for over a year.  I have overcome them and when I feel that they are starting I do look at the situation that is starting to get me unnerved.  Usually it does have something to do with my children, husband, family, bad situation at work that I am worried about.  Now that I looked at the situation when it happened first I can say that there was a subconscious fear and it manifested itself in a panic attack.  I hope this helps you to identify underlying causes because when you can it helps to address it before it happens.  Best to all.  (Walmart is still not my favorite place to go).

-Michelle