[Stratovarius]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '
')You got hooked on them. Just do a little research about getting off the stuff. Frightening.

[Tyler_JC]

Granted, the pool was self selecting but the vote is 15/15.

That's rather high, don't you think?

[Ludi]

1% of the general population versus 50% of the po.com population.

[Stratovarius]

Doomer will soon end up medical dictionaries as a psychological discrepancy.

[yeahbut]

The worst thing about panic attacks is the person experiencing them doesn't know what's happening. A friend of mine started having panic attacks a few years ago during a very stressful period in her life. She confided in me, but as she didn't understand what was happening to her, she just said that she thought she was going crazy. She would be on a bus, or at the beach, or wherever, and would start feeling incredibly anxious, and then just get worse and worse until she was in a state of utter terror. I sympathised with her, but having no knowledge of it either, wasn't much help.

The attacks got more frequent so she went to the doctor, who of course said she was depressed and recommended she get on the aropax. Having heard a few horror stories about that stuff, I asked around and eventually was given the number of a therapist who specialises in movement. My friend went for a consultation, and the therapist recognised her symptoms for what they were immediately. She explained that panic attacks are a kind of vicious cycle of feedback between the brain and the body. The body responds to the anxiety one is feeling with adrenalin, which in turn makes one more fearful, so more adrenalin, and round and round it goes.

My friend found that simply understanding what was happening to her, and realising that she wasnt losing her marbles, defused the attacks quite a bit right away. But the therapist also told her that movement was the main key to coping with the problem. When you've got loads of adrenalin running through your body, what you're sposed to be doing is moving. If you feel an attack coming on, and it's at all possible, just have a quick run. Blast up and down some stairs, something like that. If thats not an option, any movement, particularly of the hands or arms, is helpful(I guess pretending to be a windmill in the middle of the office might draw some unwelcome attention but there's bound to be something you can do to move your body and give the adrenalin a release).

Anyway, my friend(and yes it really was a friend, not a 'friend')was amazed that something so seemingly incapacitating and terrifying could be defused so simply and effectively, and horrified that her G.P. had nearly got her on a six month course of a serious SSRI just because she(the GP)didn't know what she was dealing with.

So before your doc gets the chemist involved, try movement. It's cheap, doesn't give you suicdal or homicidal urges, and it gets you outdoors...

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', 'I')t's easy for people who have garden variety blues to insist that
gingko, ginseng, etc.. will help, but, in fact, they don't help with a
serious depression.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yeahbut', 'S')he explained that panic attacks are a kind of vicious cycle of
feedback between the brain and the body. The body responds to
the anxiety one is feeling with adrenalin, which in turn makes one
more fearful, so more adrenalin, and round and round it goes.

...But the therapist also told her that movement was the main key
to coping with the problem.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Stratovarius', 'D')oomer will soon end up medical dictionaries as a psychological discrepancy.

[yeahbut]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('steam_cannon', '[')b]So off the cuff, it doesn't sound like an adrenalin issue to me.
Also it's probably easier to take an antidepressant medication, then
it is to become a yoga master. So the doctor suggesting taking a
SSRI was really not giving bad advice.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yeahbut', 'E')r, where did I mention yoga mastery?

[yeahbut]

[quote="steam_cannon"]Don't be so shallow[quote]

Good grief, I only related that story because I felt a first hand description of a panic attack and it's successful treatment might be helpful to someone who was experiencing something similar. I found your response dismissive and disappointing and responded accordingly. I really don't think this makes me shallow.


[quote="steam-cannon"] Based on these medical studies, I think
that doctors advice sounds right on target.[quote]

Exactly. And based on the actual, real world, experience of my friend, there were clearly more options available including one that doesn't have serious possible side effects. No options were given, and the doctor incorrectly diagnosed depression anyway, not panic attacks! Why you would be patronising and disinterested re a story of a good way of treating panic attacks is not clear to me- but hopefully it is of use to someone who actually has this problem...anyway I now bow out before copping any more attitude for trying to be of help!

[Ferretlover]

HHHmmm... Are we counting nightmares as panic attacks?

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '
')You got hooked on them. Just do a little research about getting off the stuff. Frightening.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Fishman', 'M')ake sure you get your thyroid checked, have your doctor listen closely for a heart murmur, mitral valve problems can precipitate an anxiety attack. For those worried about long term access to medicines, cognitive behavioral therapy is probably the best. STAY away from the benzos like ativan or valium, ssri s work but they take time. Good luck folks, trying times like now are sure to bring about lots of additional anxieties.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yeahbut', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('steam_cannon', 'D')on't be so shallow

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he doctor hardly incorrectly prescribed, whether the patient
understood the reason for prescribing is another matter entirely.
Though I'm not saying the patient did anything wrong either,
exercise commonly helps depression/panic disorders and getting
a second opinion is the patients responsibility.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') backlash against SSRIs is now gathering pace. In February 2008, a Public Library of Science meta-analysis of four commonly prescribed "second generation" antidepressants - using both published and withheld drug-company data - reported that SSRIs were scarcely more effective as antidepressants than placebos. The illustrious UK psychopharmacologist Professor David Healy delivers an even more damning verdict on contemporary psychiatry: "there is probably no other branch of medicine where the outcomes for a core disease are steadily worsening." [p. 95; Shock Therapy by Edward Shorter and David Healy (2007)]

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('steam_cannon', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') backlash against SSRIs is now gathering pace. In February 2008, a Public Library of Science meta-analysis of four commonly prescribed "second generation" antidepressants - using both published and withheld drug-company data - reported that SSRIs were scarcely more effective as antidepressants than placebos. The illustrious UK psychopharmacologist Professor David Healy delivers an even more damning verdict on contemporary psychiatry: "there is probably no other branch of medicine where the outcomes for a core disease are steadily worsening." [p. 95; Shock Therapy by Edward Shorter and David Healy (2007)]

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'I') had an ugly string of them in the mid 80's which lasted about 2 months and then never appeared again. They are freaky. Really horrible. One minute you're feeling fine and then BAM!!! You have to have had one to fully appreciate the sheer nastiness of the episodes.

The only possible explanation I can think of was the ... uh... weight lifting 'supplements' I started taking... and immediately quit taking, heh.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'D')oggie friends help too.