Panic Attacks

[blhowes]

As far as I can recall, I've never experienced a panic attack, but I know of people who have had them. The experience is deabilitating. Fears that may be real (or not) are amplified and they become all consuming.

I'd just like to understand it a little better. Have any of you experienced panic attacks? How did you deal with them?

The Bible talks about God being our shelter, a strong tower from the enemy. It talks of God always being there for us, that God can help us overcome fear - Perfect love casts out all fear.

To what extent do you think focusing on God and His Word can help a person who's experiencing a panic attack overcome the fears? To what extent do you think other help is needed?

 

[etexas]

I will PM you.

 

[larryjf]

I do have an issue with anxiety from time to time.
I had one severe panic attack...and it was not fun.
I was basically left cowering in the backseat of the car just praying that it would stop.
It did not go away for a while...maybe a few hours.
You can't sleep it off because your heart starts racing.
Then you start feeling like you are going to have a heart attack and die.

It was basically an overwhelming sense of terror that came upon me for no apparent reason.

I haven't had one since then, and by God's grace my anxiety has been under control for quite some time.

I do believe that God is the main factor in getting through it, and in controlling it. However, I wonder if God allows it to happen at times so that we can be fully aware of our frailty.

 

[MrMerlin777]

I too have had panic attacks and as has been said, it is indeed debillitating. They can be brought on by a number of factors. Focusing on God and His word is indeed helpfull. Also maintaining what I call a "rational focus" on the attack itself(ie focusing mentally on the facts of situations and not catastrophized fears). Sometimes the physical symptoms require medication as it is not "all in one's head".

 

[blhowes]

I do have an issue with anxiety from time to time.
I had one severe panic attack...and it was not fun.
I was basically left cowering in the backseat of the car just praying that it would stop.
It did not go away for a while...maybe a few hours.
You can't sleep it off because your heart starts racing.
Then you start feeling like you are going to have a heart attack and die.

Larry,
Thanks for sharing your experience. What an experience that must have been!

It was basically an overwhelming sense of terror that came upon me for no apparent reason.

In trying to relate to your experience, the thing that would bug me most, after-the-fact, is the "no apparent reason" part. Not knowing what caused it, and thus not being able to prevent it from happening again (if I knew, for example, that drinking too much coffee caused it, it'd be an easy fix, just stop drinking the coffee -- well, maybe not an easy fix, but I'd know how to fix it).

I haven't had one since then, and by God's grace my anxiety has been under control for quite some time.

Amen, glad to hear it.

I do believe that God is the main factor in getting through it, and in controlling it. However, I wonder if God allows it to happen at times so that we can be fully aware of our frailty.

Its good there are different ways to get through it. Faith, and meds as needed.

 

[Stomata leontôn]

Ask your doctor for Inderol. It works right away and has unusually few side-effects. It was originally blood-pressure medicine. Many performers are prescribed it for use on stage. Job would have taken it.

 

[larryjf]

Another problems after having an attack is...sometimes just the fear of another attack can set off an attack.

I think the reason that it comes out of nowhere is because it's a misplaced "fight or flight" response. So your adrenaline goes crazy, but you have nothing to run from or fight against. Since i was in a car i couldn't do anything physically, but i would guess that a short jog might help to alleviate some of it since you would be simulating a flight response.

Sometimes there are triggers, but they are not always obvious.

 

[blhowes]

I too have had panic attacks and as has been said, it is indeed debillitating. They can be brought on by a number of factors.

Don,
Thanks.
In your case, do you know what the factors were? Does knowing the factors help at all preventing them from happenning the next time?

Focusing on God and His word is indeed helpfull. Also maintaining what I call a "rational focus" on the attack itself(ie focusing mentally on the facts of situations and not catastrophized fears).

Its helpful, but from your experience would you say that it changed the symptoms at all, or just helped you deal with the symptoms until it passed?

Sometimes the physical symptoms require medication as it is not "all in one's head".

God gives faith, and to some he gives common sense. I think if I were experiencing something where my heart was racing and it felt like I was having a heart attack, pursuing medical help wouldn't be evidence of a lack of faith, so much as evidence of common sense (IMESHO).

 

[blhowes]

Ask your doctor for Inderol. It works right away and has unusually few side-effects. It was originally blood-pressure medicine. Many performers are prescribed it for use on stage. Job would have taken it.

Peter,
Thanks for the advice. As I've mentioned, I haven't experienced one myself, just trying to understand what its like for those I know who have experienced them. And what, if anything, I could do to help them through the experience.

 

[a mere housewife]

I used to have them with severe pain -- the pain itself is so severe that I can't move --not even my fingers, to hold a bucket to throw up in etc (and I inevitably throw up with weakness and pain). I now know the pain is endo; but the first few times it happened I had no idea what was going on and stopped breathing in the panic, thought I was dying as I lost all control of limbs etc. The pain was undiagnosed for years and part of the scariness was simply not knowing what it was that was happening to me. I honestly can't tell how I have learned not to be afraid of the pain and not to have the panic attacks with it except that God taught me to have a new attitude towards pain, where I don't live in fear of it anymore. I do remember training myself to breathe through it, focusing on a calm, repetitive phrase (often a Scripture verse) and trying to force my mind onto that etc. I think I might still panic if I were left alone through when the pain hits as I am utterly incapable of caring for myself; but by God's grace that has never happened and it is one of the things that keeps me calm: I know Ruben will come home if I call, etc. I suppose I will have to work through this on another level if it comes to a point where that is no longer an option. I also take herbs to keep me calm: liquid valerian is the best help for that physical aspect that I've found (I have to have it liquid, or I don't absorb it quickly enough). I can't imagine having something like that hit out of the blue, and being even more at a loss as to how to explain or handle it.

 

[MrMerlin777]

I too have had panic attacks and as has been said, it is indeed debillitating. They can be brought on by a number of factors.

Don,
Thanks.
In your case, do you know what the factors were? Does knowing the factors help at all preventing them from happenning the next time?

Focusing on God and His word is indeed helpfull. Also maintaining what I call a "rational focus" on the attack itself(ie focusing mentally on the facts of situations and not catastrophized fears).

Its helpful, but from your experience would you say that it changed the symptoms at all, or just helped you deal with the symptoms until it passed?

Sometimes the physical symptoms require medication as it is not "all in one's head".

God gives faith, and to some he gives common sense. I think if I were experiencing something where my heart was racing and it felt like I was having a heart attack, pursuing medical help wouldn't be evidence of a lack of faith, so much as evidence of common sense (IMESHO).

As far as knowing what the factors were, sometimes yes, sometimes no. Embarasingly enough (to me at least) attacks can be brought on by the simplest of things and not necessarily at the time said things occur. For example, A few months ago I came into work one morning feeling like I was about to "jump out of my skull". I talked to my Psychiatrist that day and the only thing we could trace the attack to was my being run off of the road by a red BMW some 2 weeks earlier.

And no, focusing rationally only helps things mentally (at least for me) the physical symptoms most times remain even though I understand rationally that things situationally are ok.

I agree with you as far as seeking medical attention if necessary after all God created Doctors and medicine too.

 

[Stomata leontôn]

I was editing my post, when my login timed out. I think I answer your questions more specifically here, and the lady above gives a good description of panic as extreme generalized pain. Think of the worse time you were ever sea-sick and multiply that by ten. That's what it feels like.

Inderol takes care of the physical symptoms of the attack. If there are any underlying psychological reasons, then biblical counseling, etc. can be used for that. My understanding is that panic attacks are usually physical in origin, such as long periods of poor sleep, too little sleep, stress at work causing one to be physically "on the go" constantly, diet, caffeine, theobromine (in chocolate) and a host of the stimulants that might be found in some energy drinks, especially ephedrine.

Someone may think they are sleeping fine when they are not. Stimulants such as caffeine not only hype them up in the day which can lead to panic, but they can keep them from falling all the way asleep, which over time can lead to panic attacks. Also, if there is an underlying problem such as Restless Leg Syndrome and the are unmarried, they might not even be aware of it. If the underlying problem is improper sleeping, the temptation is to drink coffee during the day which worsens sleep at night, requiring more coffee to wake up the next day, and the cycle builds until a nasty panic attack hits.

Panic attacks are physical. They are nightmarish pain located everywhere and nowhere in the victim. Sometimes the ultimate cause is psychological (extreme poverty, for example), but check sleep, caffeine, stimulants, and activity first.

There is a spiritual side to "activity." If for example, the person is working with really wicked people, and he is racing around trying to avoid trouble, it may help to stress to him that God is sovereign. If his job is the source of the panic, it is probably a good idea to look for a new one, since if the people there are so wicked that he is experiencing panic, then there is no doubt a spiritual price for working with them and trying to please them. One's sense of right and wrong could be eroded.

 

[a mere housewife]

Just wanted to add, with what Peter H. said, that pain is indeed much amplified by the panic attack, and far more 'generalized'. However with the endometriosis, the pain is localised --I can now tell the difference between 'panic' pain and endo pain. The endo pain is actually more severe . And while I believe coming to greater truth in our spiritual approach to fear/pain etc. is very important, I do think common sense indicates a physical treatment of some of the physical causes of stress, and some of the physical symptoms that go along with this.

 

[blhowes]

I used to have them with severe pain -- the pain itself is so severe that I can't move --not even my fingers, to hold a bucket to throw up in etc (and I inevitably throw up with weakness and pain). I now know the pain is endo; but the first few times it happened I had no idea what was going on and stopped breathing in the panic, thought I was dying as I lost all control of limbs etc.

Wow, what that must have been like, the pain and stopping breathing!

The pain was undiagnosed for years and part of the scariness was simply not knowing what it was that was happening to me.

My reaction, I think, after experiencing that for the first time, would be to wonder what caused it. Not knowing would drive me nuts (which, in my case, would just be a short drive).

I honestly can't tell how I have learned not to be afraid of the pain and not to have the panic attacks with it except that God taught me to have a new attitude towards pain, where I don't live in fear of it anymore. I do remember training myself to breathe through it, focusing on a calm, repetitive phrase (often a Scripture verse) and trying to force my mind onto that etc. I think I might still panic if I were left alone through when the pain hits as I am utterly incapable of caring for myself; but by God's grace that has never happened and it is one of the things that keeps me calm:

Training oneself to breath. Wow!.

I know Ruben will come home if I call, etc.

 

[Mushroom]

I have a dear friend who was having them on a relatively regular basis, and they too were unexplainable. Finally he was diagnosed with some sort of electrical flaw in his heart muscle, went through surgery, and it resolved the problem. His heart would race like nobody's business, and he'd gotten familiar with what med and the exact dosage needed to stop it, but was glad to finally have it fixed.

 

[blhowes]

I was editing my post, when my login timed out. I think I answer your questions more specifically here, and the lady above gives a good description of panic as extreme generalized pain. Think of the worse time you were ever sea-sick and multiply that by ten. That's what it feels like.

Peter,
Thanks for your response. I can relate to sea-sickness. 10 times? Yick!

 

[blhowes]

Thank-you to all who responded, both in the thread and via PM. Its helped me get a better appreciation for what panic attacks are like.
Bob