panic/anxiety attacks

i think i have a new symptom. i don't know if they are panic attacks but whatever it is it messes me up.
i feel like everything is closing in on me. my chest hurts. it is BAD. i go see my psych on xmas eve and chould be able to get more valium but the valium was not helping before so i don't see how it can help now.
i just kinda lay in bed and curl up and ride out the attack. it can last for hours.

reply to post by thing fish


That sounds like a panic attack to me.

In this thread that you authored on 12/2/2008 you talk about what medication you're on, and several people recommended talking to your doctor about changing the meds because it seemed to non-professionals with personal experience that your depression wasn't being treated, only the mania part of the bipolar diagnosis.

Have you been able to do that yet? I think it's really important that you get on a good steady regimen of drugs that stabilize you rather than relying on something like Valium to get you through the episodes.

I also really think that it's important to be in some form of talk therapy. One of the smartest things that a shrink ever told me was to point out that I had been depressed while the rest of my peers had been learning how to live their lives – emerging from the depression left me still without that foundation. A therapist can help with that.

And don't be afraid to go back to the hospital if you need to be in a controlled environment.

Take care

Hiya again.

Definitely a panic attack. I used to get them so severely I spent almost a full three years in my house. Panic and Anxiety with agoraphobia.

My younger brother (now 37) and is a paranoid schizophrenic with major depression also gets anxiety attacks.

The problem is in treating the #1 issue which is his schizophrenia the medications often react adversely with other mental health issues and finding the right combination of drugs and therapy can take a while and it's really trial and error as you likely already know.

For the panic attacks ask your doctor about cognitive therapy as opposed to meds or in combination with a low dosage of anti-anxiety med until you get eh hand of working through the panic attacks. happily panic and anxiety can be amazingly reduced with psychological training (cognitive skills). I am living proof

It took about 6 years and I regret not a second of it. I am well in tune with myself and more confident and happier than I ever thought I could be.

make a list of concerns to talk to your doc about. It's hard sometimes to get all the info you need during an appointment and it's easy to get sidetracked.

Psychology and psychiatry are different animals. They both deal with mental health but psychology is behavior and mood related (not entirely but those are the main practices for it). There is a very good and trusted model for re-learning responses to fear (which is the root of anxiety).

An awesome book I have read and continue to read when I'm having a crappy bout of depression and even when the anxiety hits is The feeling Good Book. Stupid name but it's a scientific approach to self help and not the fluffy self help BS.

David D Burns is the writer...ISBN-0-380-81033-6

I also have the "homework" I redo to keep my anxiety in check...as with most mental illnesses they can be cyclical. For a while it's under control and then we get lazy and start having issues again. My anxiety will be a life long issue and I accept it as much as it often makes me feel like a weakling. It's hard not to be hard on yourself.

you sound like you're pretty on top of your own issues and that is admirable and makes it much easier for you to enjoy successes in helping yourself.

Talk to your doctor.

When having a panic attack start writing about what you feel. never mind why (it will guaranteed be irrational). Just focus on what you feel.

Breathe!!!!!!!!! In through your nose and out through your mouth make an effort to keep it slow and steady.

By writing about what you are feeling at the moment it happens, you automatically take yourself out of the moment. It gives you a reference point as well.

By writing about what you're feeling you're stopping the "what-if's" and all the shoulda coulda woulda's. This is called scenario building and it's the same in ALL people with panic anxiety disorders. It'll keep you up at night, depress you, confuse you and make you fearful of all the things the haven't happened and may NEVER happen.

The trick is to focus on the feelings without giving in to them. Avoid curling up and hiding if you can, but forgive yourself if you succumb every now and again. It's all practice.

I hope it helps, and make sure you talk to your doc about everything you can within your visit. he'll likely suggest additional meds and that's fine for the short term, but ask if it can be in conjunction with other therapies like cognitive therapies.

My brother is doing pretty well these days though he frequently has to upgrade and downgrade his meds as the body becomes immune. It's all manageable so long as you can admit when you can't manage Ironic.

Best of luck and feel free to U2 if you want more info.

yeah. doc said it sounds like anxiety attacks. he gave me a new med called geodon and told me to stop taking the zyprexa and gave me a clutch of xanax

I too suffer from anxiety and panic attacks,I just try not to go anywhere by myself,only med that helps is of herbal remedy,I've cracked my head open a few times because of them,and thing is never know when one will come on

I think Geodon is a good option for you.

I used to have bad anxiety/panic attacks too. I went from medication to medication (prozac to celexa to effexor and now on luvox) finding some relief for my OCD but not so much for my anxiety. So they put me on Risperdal (it's an atypical antipsychotic like Geodon, and both are known to be less likely for weight gain, yay!) and my anxiety is sooo much better that I wish I had started it sooner.

So... hopefully the antipsychotic will work for you too!

Honestly,
If you have Bipolar disorder it can take a while till you find the right cocktail for you.
I was lucky and they put me on Lamictal which helped a lot. But it wasn't till they added Seroquel to my meds that I found the bit of normalcy I was missing for so long.

I hope you find your own cocktail soon. Have they tried Xanex, Kolonapin, or Ativan for the panic attacks yet?