I’ve had three panic attacks in the last three weeks. Two in one day last Saturday and one this morning. Sweating, pulse racing, feeling anxious and faint. Sort of still in it now.
Any thoughts, advice, anecdotes gratefully received.
For extra context… I’m approaching fifty, in good health, and have a mostly stress free life. When I’m stressed I still drink beer to self medicate. But I’m not going nuts on it, 4-5 beers tops, 2-3 times a month. Let’s be open about that too.
Always willing to listen! I’m sorry you’ve been dealing with this. Was there something specific that triggered the attacks? Or are you currently experiencing a constant state of elevated stress?
You are not alone. I used to self-medicate through alcohol, but surprise… I now have a fatty liver. So I had to give up the booze and I now work off some of my inner turmoil through working out at the gym. In some ways this make things harder, but in some ways easier as medicating though drinking always made me feel worse the next day (and not just physically but emotionally). Hang in there… depression, PTSD, and other emotional disorders are really neglected when it comes to middle-aged men. Most of us suffer in silence.
The first started when a neighbour knocked on my door. Suddenly my pulse shot up, my vision felt blurry, and I needed to sit down. Five hours later it happened again while watching tv. Today I woke up in the middle of one.
Booze is definitely not helping me to reduce anxiety. I can see this clearly.
Try running. It sucks at first, but once you get into it the natural endorphins it releases really helps you feel better. A healthy way to get a temporary high.
Actually I’ve recently not done much running at all. I completed two marathons inside six months last year, but lately I’ve been too focused at work. Great suggestion.
I’m about to go out for the day, so if I don’t reply, don’t panic
I would also suggest physical activity to let out some tension. Maybe swimming, since it forces you to do breathwork and helps you sleep better.
Also, I feel journaling, “Anytime pages” style, helped me ruminate less and diminished the sense of experiencing an overwhelming kind of anxiety, that later triggered panic attacks. (But I don’t know if your attacks were triggered by anxiety, so maybe this won’t help)
I had panic attacks years ago at the start of exams. How did I resolve things? I accepted the attacks as part of my test process: Receive my exam paper, have a panic attack, wait a few minutes while that passes, start exam.
It sounds as if your situation is a bit different but I think simply accepting things and staying calm for a few minutes while it passes should help any kind of panic attacks.
Fight or flight. Do neither and stay calm. After a while panic attacks lose their power over your emotions.
Stay away from alcohol, as booze raises your baseline level of stress (where you are everyday when sober).
Reminds me of when I was sitting university exams. I drank so much coffee that morning that I had the shakes, I could barely write my answers on the paper. Still, I managed to score well.
Mostly Stress Free life to Panic Attacks - something seems to have changed drastically in the last three weeks! Or just a result of years of not as much stress free life as we would like to think. Maybe you are in denial about the stress that you have been experiencing - something to evaluate.
Okay coming to more constructive suggestions - agree with others increase physical activity. Get out of your regular schedule. Maybe a longer holiday? With a lover might be even better! Try Yoga & Meditation?
That’s a good point. The physical symptoms of the attack are only half of it. It’s the after shock on the mind that is equally present. Today’s attack went after half an hour, but I’m still thinking about it.
Agreed. But I’m not sure what.
I think that’s highly likely. I definitely need to do some detective work on myself.
You know, I’ve been having the same thing, probably since mid- to late- August. Not as far as panic attacks, but I’ve found it more difficult to manage my mood in the last few weeks. Perhaps our very late summer warm weather has something to do with it?
Is there some underlying stressors in your life right now?
I’ve only had 1 panic attack before. It was actually this time last year in September and I was under tremendous stress with money. Looking back it was a bit overblown in my head but it was really shocking at the time.
Money, financial stability is definitely one. While my work is stress free, it is also inconsistent. I have dealt with this by working too many hours, and not taking breaks. That has likely been more mentally taxing than I considered. The next two months are going to be lean work wise, and perhaps rather than seeing this as an opportunity to study more about gardening and move my business forward, I might be in a subconscious panic about it.
My ex. She’s complicated. It’s complicated. We amicably co-parent a highly autistic 11 year old child. Recently she has been contacting me more and has shown me more warmth and appreciation than she has done for a long time. She’s also married. I’m finding these interactions confusing and unsettling. I honestly don’t want any piece of a life with her, but I very much don’t want her to remove my access to the boy (which she has done in the past). That would be the absolute worst. So I’ve probably got some troubling thoughts floating about around that too.
I’ve been through many stressful situations in my life, most recently quitting teaching two years ago and spending about a year of that in a fugue state. But never had a panic attack about it. I was always able to just rage and exercise my way through it.
It sounds like you have a lot going on and definitely enough to run into some issues with your thinking. What has changed or why now? Who knows. I personally think we all have a limit and things tend to build until a certain threshold is passed. Check out the anxiety and depression thread, and try out some of the things discussed there. Maybe some daily meditation and/or breathwork would be a good place to start (check YouTube for some Wim Hof breathing for beginners). And again, stay away from alcohol. It’s just bad news for mental issues. Finally, keep up with the exercise. Maybe use it strategically (for example, hit things hard on bad days).
