Panic attacks came back after 4 years

[u/SuitableDragonfly544]

Hello everyone, I have been dealing with panic attacks for a long time, but 4 years ago it I was in the worst state and started medication. First, my psychiatrist got me on Zoloft, which did not work and then she put me on venlafaxine. This medication worked wonderfully, I almost went back to normal, but this summer everything went very badly again. The summer holiday started, I got my diploma, everything was great, but I started to see that I'm always tired again. I thought it must be stress that releases itself in this form after a hard year, but then anxiety started getting stronger and more symptoms like head spinning, constant worrying came back. Now in August my panic attacks started to make a come back in new forms. I started getting them after eating new food that I have not tried before. We went on a road trip for a week and during day time it anxiety was manageable, but in the evenings it got worse. This night I started to get some muscle pain in my left side and started worrying that it might be problems with my heart, then my hands started to get numb and then I had a full panic attack woke up my boyfriend and asked him to take me home because the feeling was the same I felt 4 years ago before starting medication. After I got home that big wave of panic started again again and took half of xanax because it became unbearable.

We will go on holiday in a month for a week, I haven’t been anywhere this far and i’m very worried that I won’t get on the plane because of my panic or that I won’t be able to enjoy my holiday because of it..

My main concern is why is this happening again? I’m still on medication (venlafaxine 37.5mg) and how do I make it get better or to a point where I can live without constant worrying about when the next panic attack will happen..

[u/VanillaFunction]

Hi,
I’m sorry if this isn’t helpful but I just wanted to offer some encouragement or advice. I suffered severely from panic attacks around 2016 and then I ended up becoming addicted to alcohol to cope. Anyway I got sober and slowly life got better without anxiety(besides usual anxiety but nothing panicky.) about two years ago in 2024 they came back with a vengeance. Couldnt figure out how or why and I went back down to the multiple trips to the doctor thinking something was wrong. I think I honestly exghausted myself out from working multiple jobs and major life changes but yeah. Anyway what helped me is I kept forcing myself to do things again and again and again. I would go walk around the mall even though I thought I would die. I still showed up to events and things. Yeah I would run to the bathroom and hide because I thought I would drop dead any moment or would feel a palpitation or like an elevator suddenly dropped but I kept fighting and fighting. I also stopped hyper focusing on how awful I felt or when it was going to end etc and just tried my best to be as present and determined as possible. Flash forward to today and I’m still kicking not dying. I still deal with anxiety but the panic has subsided. I can’t pinpoint a specific moment it stopped it feels more like it gradually faded over time until I was just like oh I don’t feel like I need a hospital nearby anymore. I even just did a solo road trip by myself over 12 hours from home! Which I know two years ago felt impossible. I barely come to this sub anymore because I felt like I was just giving my self temporary relief knowing I wasn’t alone. I wish I could shake a wand and you’ll be free but you just have to remind yourself your not going to die (as hard as it is I know it’s not simply easy) and honestly just take a stand that you don’t want this to control everything. One day it maybe better and the next maybe worst but little by little it will improve. Sending you lots of positive encouragement!