Panic Attack - How Can I Make It Stop?

The symptoms you describe also fit the symptoms of a heart attack. Panic attacks do not usually last this long. I urge you to call your doctor. If he thinks that it's anxiety then he can call in a prescription for you. If he thinks there is a possibility for a medical cause for this he'll advise you to go to Urgent Care or the ER. Do not try to diagnose yourself.

You need to speak to your doctor....... it may be that your depression medicine is not quite right for you, or you may also need an anxiety medicine, or one that treats both.

Please don't let this keep happening....... it is merely a chemical imbalance in your brain, and the doctor can help regulate that.

You need to call your doctor. That does not sound like a panic attack. I have panic attacks they last maybe twenty minutes not days.

Hi. I'm a Combat Medic and a Nationally Registered EMT.

It doesn't sound like a panic attack. It sounds like a cardiac problem. Most likely a heart attack. Please call 9-1-1 right now.

The longer you wait, the more likely it is that you will have PERMANENT, NON-REVERSABLE DAMAGE. The kind that requires a heart transplant.

Panic symtoms usually don't last longer than a few minutes. If your pain leaves and comes back, it is most likely a cardiovascular event. The fact that it has happened over such a long period of time is VERY worrisome. If you were my patient, I would put oxygen on you, hook you up to my monitor, and head straight to the ER.

Heart attacks in women tend not to follow the traditional "my left arm hurts, I have an elephant on my chest" symptoms that men get. Women often have milder symptoms that last longer. Like yours.

Please go and get seen. Right now.

This is definitely one of those situations where your doctor's advice is more helpful than advice from cyber mommas&daddys that don't know you or anything about medicine.

I wish you the best in getting yourself under control..so you can breathe and live again. Take care!!

if you ruled out anything heart related and your having them for a week at a time. Then you are having Panic attacks accompanied with Anxiety attacks. These feed off each other, and its a vicious cycle. Your anxious and stressed which make you in turn more likely to panic. Once the panic symptoms appear you begin to worry about the symptoms which will escalate the anxiety and its a full out war of your mind and body. I would get them so bad I was in the ER 3 times in a week. I ended up on Tranqs for a while. Then you are absolutely no good. They turned me into a drooling, zombie freak and I am not kidding. I DROOLED constantly. I have had every heart test available and they all assure me with great confidence its not my heart. Though when I get these lovely attacks I swear I am dying. I have PVC's as well. Premature Ventricular Contractions. Which is skipped and added heart beats. They make me feel like my heart is coming out of my throat or beating through my rib cage. I am antsy, irritable, depressed and zoned when I have these attacks. for 2 years it rendered me a recluse. I didnt leave my house unless I absolutely had too. I had to quit my job and my husband resented me for a long time. He just couldn't understand how debilitating these are. One of the small reasons we are not together any more, but a very minor reason.

For me I battled for months with a therapist. We tried so many techniques. The best was meditation. I swear by it. Meditation and deep thought therapy. I also did acupuncture, aroma therapy, and yoga. I worked with a therapist on controlling some of my fears, which I never knew, but had a form of Claustrophobia. I am happy to report I am no long a freak in my body, and only very seldom have panic or anxiety attacks. Very few PVC's and I manage my claustrophobia very well now. I do have set backs once in a awhile, but its so much more easy to understand what I am feeling now I know what it was. I urge you to get into therapy, and try to get the anxiety under control.

I agree, call your doctor, this doesn't sound right to me. Also, have you tried meditation and breathing exercises? It sounds simple, but it can really help you calm down if done right. My husband used to suffer from anxiety attacks. Since he learned to recognize the symptoms and focus on his breathing he can calm himself down and doesn't require meds anymore. Speak to your doctor about seeing a therapist (if you don't already) who can work with you and teach you breathing techniques.

See your doctor or call the one on call tonight. They can give you something for it. Makes you sleepy and calms you down.

Accept it, make friends with it, realize that it is just a panic attack, it is uncomfortable and it is not going to hurt you. The more you hate it and fight it the longer it will continue. Do something you enjoy that totally engulfs you--yoga, jogging, cleaning, color with your kids in a coloring book, raking, shopping, cooking and again, don't try and make it go away, just try and carry on with the strange feelings that come along with a panic attack.

The body can't last for very long in an extreme state of panic so eventually it will subside. Maybe you are having waves of anxiety. I hope you are getting some talk therapy. Good luck and know that panic and anxiety are pretty common.

That sounds awful. You might want to talk to your doctor about changing your meds, no one should have to suffer through that!

If I'm in a middle of a bad panic attack, the struggle for me is to get out of my own head! For me personally, a VERY hot shower can help, or working out really hard.

If that doesn't work, just embrace the panic. Sometimes that can make it pass more quickly. I had a bad habit of berating myself for feeling anxiety, but that ends up making it worse. Give yourself permission to feel overwhelmed, and try to narrow down what led you to those feelings.

I hope this passes soon, my heart goes out to you.

Some Xanex or Valium should help. I have never really heard of panic attacks lasting like that - how sucky!!

Have you been checked for heart problems??

I suffer from panic attacks as well...

I have to wait it out...and tell myself over and over again, "You are OK. This will pass. Just breathe."

~I too, say call your doctor, I have had panic attacks since I was about 17y/o and none of them have ever lasted more than 30 mins, TOPS...usually more like 15-20mins, start to finish, for me anyway.

Here's what's been helping me handle anxiety and Claustrophobia <<< that in particular can throw me into a spin..

1) EFT (emotional freedom techniques) check out eftuniverse.com (it's free) and can better explain the techniques than I can do in short on this board.

2) It's important to learn to control your breathing.. Once you start breathing in fast it's hard to get out of that cycle. Long , deep, heavy , slow breaths are helpful in getting the oxygen into your bloodstream and with the slowing of the breath it helps to slow the pulse. See Dr. Weil's website and the breathing techniques he uses for his own depression.
I have used them and they appear to work..

3) I don't drink much caffeine, eat little sugar and seldom drink alcohol (these items cause me to become more nervous) so I limit them...

4) Meditate, even if just a few minutes in the day.. .take a moment , allow yourself to sit quietly and take control of your breathing ... This kind of physical/mental/emotional check in is good because you really begin to get a sense of how you are feeling. if for example, you feel jumpy, then take a moment to slow your breath and see if you can begin release that anxiety.. all this takes practice. but as someone who was getting VERY Claustrophobic and anxious (particularly when riding public transit) the

5) Keep a journal with you.. I do this for example when I am riding public transportation and know that I might feel anxious.. By writing , it allows me to "distract" the anxiety as it were and focus on something else. Also, if you have an ipod, music can be helpful..

all the above techniques seem to have helped..

How do I know?? It's been about a year now since I have had to get off a crowded bus (before If I felt crowded in I'd hop off , even if it was raining)

Also, there were certain buses I wouldn't even take because they felt more closed in, I am able to take those now.

Lastly, although I still get a bit nervous when riding the subway, I did manage to take a route that in the past I stayed away from because I felt the train slowed too much and we'd become stuck.. two weeks ago, I rode that train and although I did get a little nervous, I managed the anxiety by writing in my journal...

I wish you the best
good luck

Self talk -- keep telling yourself 'I'm okay -- I am safe -- Everything is fine' ect. Keep repeating it like a mantra, say it over and over again.

Medication masks the symtoms but doesn't get rid of them. Find some books on self healing and find the source of your depression and anxiety. Then work on yourself to get rid of it.

I hope you went in to have it checked. Earlier this year, I had an episode of atrial fibrillation, and had to have my heart shocked to get back in rhythm. Please update us!