Anxiety & Panic Community

Me too! I've been getting them more frequently lately and it's causing severe problems with my job. I've had to call out soo much in the past 6 months that I'm really skating on thin ice there. Xanax helps the most, but I really don't want to take it as much as I need to.Just now, I've been feeling weak and jittery and my legs feel like wet noodles. I HATE this feeling! I tried all types of things to re-direct my attention elsewhere, but it seems that lately, the attacks are so bad, these methods have stopped working

Please help.

No doubt about it, panic attacks are awful and you just don't want to experience another one for the rest of your life. So what do you do?


The 1st thing you begin to do is to analyze if anything has been happening in your life over the past 6 months to one year that would cause stress to build up. We know that stress and panic come together, but it happens slowly until it erupts in an attack.


The next thing to look at is if there are some lifestyle changes that need to be made. This may sound pretty simple, but sometimes the best solutions to things are really simple. Ever have a problem with your computer? Sometimes the solution is simply to turn it off and turn it back on again. It can be almost the same thing with panic.


So, begin to take stock of your life and see if there are things that you thought you were handling very well but which may be contributing to a buildup that has led to these 2 attacks. Next, take a look at your sleep, your diet, how much exercise you get in a week (you can do something as simple as walking in place), if you go out and enjoy yourself with friends or have a hobby that you enjoy and just some basic downtime maybe doing a bit of creative daydreaming. We are not machines and we need all of these things to be attended to. If we don't, our bodies make us pay the price.


Exercise, you say? Yes, research has shown that it can be almost as effective as medication in certain instances. Exercise is being prescribed for everyone and I'm sure that some people are able to use it as a medical deduction on their income tax because it is being prescribed. Cardiac rehab is prescribed, isn't it? Well this is the type of rehab that can also be prescribed by your doctor, in my understanding. Of course, I don't work for the IRS, but it seems if you have an emotional problem and the doctor prescribes something for you, that's a medical charge.


As I said, take a look at everything where there might be a bit of something missing right now. You might be surprised what you find.


Dr. Farrell

Thank you so much- I am at the end of my rope.

I can understand. Hang in there.