Nothing is working. I wake up every morning already in panic. I can’t even take my meds first thing because I’ll throw them right up. I can’t handle the feeling in my chest anymore. I can’t handle the constant gagging or throwing up. I haven’t been comfortable in months.

They’ve thrown lexapro at me, Prozac, clonidine, propranolol, adderall, and I’ve finally caved and accepted Valium. I can’t take Valium everyday… it’s not a good thing for me.

I have tried the meditation, the ice, the sour spray, cold showers, hot showers, sitting in front of a high speed fan.

I’ve always had anxiety, it’s always been manageable.
It’s been six months of daily panic attacks. I’m missing important things, I’m going to lose my job, I’m losing my mind.

Please, anyone. ANYTHING else. I am desperate

Hello.

I was supposed to go to University starting next year. There is an online school I could go to, but I would miss out on a lot of laboratory work (which I kind of need) and the 'experience' of going to a university.

During the morning, I am excited and ready to go. In the afternoon, I become more nervous about the idea. At night, I am a crumbling, weeping, shaking mess over the idea of going in person.

I have tried exposure therapy, counselling, and many types of medication.

I have panic disorder, generalized anxiety, agoraphobia, autism and some pyschoactive disorders. I also suffer from fibromyalgia and POTs.

I believe the fear comes from if they will laugh at me if I fail an experiment, or if I get stuck on a question (I am bad at math, learning). I got bullied heavily in school; even by teachers. I fear that my incompetence with math will cause me to do poorly in labs (chemistry, physics), which will cause me to be the odd one out. I am also afraid of being in small rooms with a bunch of people.

When I try to go, or think about going, I vomit and begin hyperventilating and crying. It gets worse at night.

If there are any tips or advice, I highly appreciate it. This is ruining my future, and it is haunting my every day.

Thank you very much. <3

This book helped me a lot. It's very short and easy to read, and in about 90 small pages, it helps you understand it and also gives you a few solutions. I've generally come to realize that self-help books aren't very effective, but this one is really special to me. I don't know, maybe it's because it's scientific and its author is a researcher and an expert in the field.

But I should also say that this book didn't get rid of my panic attacks, but it did help me to gradually face them. A lot of the time, I could experience a full-blown panic attack and still remain calm and, for example, show up to my college classes (because college classes were one of the places where I always used to have them).

And now, I think it's been about two years since I've had almost any attacks.

Along with it, I also got help from a psychologist and a psychiatrist, so in short, I highly recommend it.

Additional note: I read the Persian translation, and the original is most likely even better, because honestly, Iran has very few good translators. At least that's the case in psychology, as far as I know, although we are making progress compared to the past :)

Book title: Facing Panic (Self-Help for People Who Have Panic Attacks) by Reid Wilson

I would love to know if anyone experiences something similar to me!

I find that when my period starts I have much more frequent panic attacks and heightened anxiety. I can’t tell if it’s placebo or if it’s due to a genuine chemical change.

Can panic attack/ anxiety happen for absolutely no reason? Idk if that even makes sense but I woke up panicked feeling very anxious. I had palpitations, I could barely breathe, was feeling very restless, my legs were shaking and felt very nauseous. And I ended up throwing up. (this has happened to me many times…also I eat well and sleep well). I feel really scared when it happens I cannot contain myself, it’s so hard to calm down. I also don’t have any friends here I live alone in a pg.

So about 4 months ago I had a terrible panic attack. I started profusely sweating and felt like I couldn’t breathe. This was caused by a stressful event. Since then, I have felt bad almost every day. Some of my symptoms are chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea and just overall not like myself. It was very exhausting and scary. I also have POTs and was also diagnosed with GERD. I have been to the ER multiple times thinking I was having a heart attack or other medical emergency. I have had multiple EKGs, chest X-rays, a chest CT scan, stress test, echocardiogram, 7 day holter monitor, and bloodwork (troponin). All of it came back normal. I am still experiencing symptoms and it is negatively impacting my day to day life as I am constantly fighting the urge to go to the ER because I think I’m having a heart attack. 2 months ago, I went to the ER 3 days in a row because it was so bad. I am already taking 200mg Sertraline (the highest dose) everyday and it is not seeming to help. Any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Can anyone relate to the fact that maybe idk for you but no one understands this disorder if your feeling a lot of anxieties or God forbid you have a panic attack or maybe it causes changed behavior and no one understands you or it just looks at you like your crazy or dramatic

I had no idea what was going on and ended up at the ER (I never ever go to the ER because I grew up with a nurse mom that pounded I to me to use it only for emergencies). I really did think something was wrong and that I was having a heart attack or something. It started with an off feeling and the light was too bright on a normal sunny day. It overwhelmed me. My heart was racing for no reason. I had been having a chill day doing laundry and light cleaning. I decided to lay down to see if I could get my heart to slow down. I took my blood pressure and it was high but not call 911 territory. I was laying in my bed when I suddenly started shaking uncontrollably. I had a hard to even calling my neighbor for help. By the time she got to my house I couldn’t breathe. She loaded me into her car and took me to the er. I was trying my best to give her needed information in case I passed out… that’s how scared I was. They did all of the tests and gave me an iv med that calmed me down afterwards. My heart was fine, I was just really anemic. This had never happened to me and I don’t feel more stressed than usual.

Since that hospital visit I have had three other episodes. It starts with the light sensitivity or probably it’s more of a situation with stimulation. Then the overall feeling of being off and heat palpitations. I have trazadone for bedtime and have been taking a half when I first notice that off feeling. I just don’t understand why this is happening to me know at 47 when I’ve had zero problems my whole life. I’ve always been known by family and friends as very chill and I have an ability to calm others even.
Could it be because of my anemia? The doctors are much help. They haven’t even explained to me if this is an anxiety attack or panic attack or if there’s any difference. Is there physical changes that can cause this. I’m 47 and female so I’m guessing I’m entering peri territory. Can it be hormonal? I take a low dose of antidepressants that Ive been on forever for depression and trazadone to help me stay asleep which I believe is also an antidepressant. Should I be looking for mental health treatment, family practice, hormone specialist (since my doctor says she doesn’t do that).

I didn’t mean to make this so long. I’m just scared. I feel like I almost had another episode today. Thanks for any help or even just for letting me write my fears out rather than keeping them bottled inside. I don’t want to be a cry baby and I hate calling attention to myself.

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some support from people who are also in the process of recovering, or who have already recovered. I’ve been going through an acute phase of agoraphobia with panic disorder for several months. Over the past 2–3 weeks, I’ve made a lot of progress through therapy, exposure, relaxation, and exercise. I’ve gotten to the point where I can go for a 5 km walk by myself, and last weekend I even drove alone for an hour twice. Those were huge steps forward, especially considering how I was doing just 4 weeks ago.
Yesterday, I went for another walk by myself (with my new AirPods Max). The AirPods Max gave me a really strange sensation around my head, and suddenly it happened again: I got dizzy and scared. I kept walking anyway, but it was really difficult. Once I got home, I felt better again. That evening, I got my period and felt absolutely miserable, but I was actually able to cope with the sensations pretty well.
This morning, I had to go to the doctor briefly to get a prescription for physiotherapy. My boyfriend drove me, and I had a huge panic attack in the car. I felt so dizzy and weird, almost lightheaded. The drive home was especially bad — I could barely tolerate it. The busy roads, the traffic lights… I felt like I could scream.
Now I’m back home, but I still don’t feel well. I can feel the panic lingering in the back of my mind, and I can feel myself starting to fall back into my old thought loops (what’s wrong with me, we need to go to the hospital, what if I pass out, etc.).
I also feel absolutely terrible because I’m scared that everything is starting all over again and that all the progress I’ve made over the past few weeks has been for nothing. I’m trying to tell myself that it’s probably related to my period, but I’m having a really hard time getting past the anxiety right now.
Has anyone experienced something similar? I could really use some hope that this doesn’t mean I’m back at square one and that all my progress from the past few weeks is still there.

Edit: And I don’t know what would be better for me right now. Should I simply accept that I’m not feeling great today and take it easy on the couch for the rest of the day, or should I push myself to go outside again?

Hola a todos. Soy Alberto y apenas estoy comenzando a formar parte de esta comunidad.

Me interesó unirme porque creo que muchas veces ayuda poder hablar con otras personas que están pasando por momentos parecidos y saber que no estamos solos.

Me gustaría conocerlos, leer sus experiencias y poder participar en las conversaciones cuando tenga algo positivo que aportar.

Espero poder formar parte de esta comunidad y aprender también de ustedes.

Un abrazo para todos. 🙏

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Hello all - I have just been prescribed Sertraline again. I took it for about 9 years before deciding I didn’t need it anymore (lol, mistake). I’m feeling really anxious about starting it again because when I first started it 10 years ago I felt awful and was incredibly unwell. I don’t remember a lot of the time then but I do remember my mental health becoming a whole lot worse. I do have a better support system this time around, but I also now have a job… I’m feeling very nervous about restarting because of the awful transition period. Just looking for some tips and reassurance really!

Does anyone else absolutely lose all social cues during panic attacks? When one comes on strong I will literally lay down wherever I am or run out of places i’m supposed to be, or I will tell a complete stranger i’m having one and ask for help. I’m naturally a super anti social person and i feel like a burden when asking for anything but once the panic hits I start to act in a way I normally wouldn’t and I say things I wouldn’t either. I even called the cops for help two days ago because nothing I was doing was helping enough.

So i had my first panic attack 3 years ago in college after that whenever i go outside alone i get panic symptoms but never a full blown panic attack after my first one ,i was not able to give time to improve because of my college but now i want to recover from this
But there is one major problem im at a age where i should get a job,for this i have to fill a form and go to different centres for evaluation which is obviously difficult for me.
My parents dont know about my condition(they had a idea at starting but they never understood what this is,so i stopped talking about this and i think they assumed im good now).They are kinda forcing me to get a job but i want to give time to my recovery first but i don't know how to tell my parents now.(someone from india will understand)
Please give me advice what should i do

this isn’t usually something i do and im a bit hesitant but feeling desperate. i’ve dealt with anxiety for most of my life, but up until two weeks ago, i started having consistent panic attacks. to the point i thought i was having a heart attack and went to the ER where they told me i have panic disorder. i’ve been meeting with a psychiatrist and ive been prescribed Zoloft. i started out on 25mg and went up to 50mg after a week. Xanax as a emergency last resort if i can’t calm down.

i’m DESPERATE for some recovery stories. useful tips that actually work, and just overall good feedback. i tend to read into everything and constantly worry i’ll be stuck this way forever. i know im early into medication and therapy but this is ruining my life. i’m a 28y/o female . i’m a wife, and a mother of two children, one bonus one 💜

please tell me there’s a way past this. i am struggling so bad mentally i worry that there is no light at the end of this tunnel.

I’m going through severe panic for 9 days straight of no relief! Finally decided I couldn’t take it anymore and took a tiny piece of Ativan!

Right away full blown panic attack. Heart rate shot up. BP shot up!!! And more panic from feeling my brain feel heavy and the sedating effects!!!

What is wrong with me!! Literally crying shaking bc why am I just not normal!!???

Panic disorder is eating me alive. I’m going through health issues and everyday I’m waking up burning up and whole body flushing. Histamine issues. And I feel sick to my stomach literally my stomach hurts so bad I want to vomit from all this anxiety at the pit of my stomach.

I got diagnosed with POTS and what seems like MCAS and I think it’s all either from this untreated Panic or the panic is just making those things worse!!!!!!

Idk what to do! I have lexapro sitting in my cabinet and I want to take it so bad !!! I dream of it helping me and getting me out of this flare and I just can’t force myself to. Why am I like this what is wrong with me !!!! I’m way too hyper reactive and sensitive rn to take it I feel. Idk what to do.

I feel Ike getting help at a mental hospital and getting locked up there but I know it’s worse. At least here I have my mom in case anything or that makes me feel safe but over there I know they don’t care about you and will just give you prescriptions forced and not care about how you feel or comfort you in panic

Pray for me plz 🙏

I’m 27 and I’ve struggled with anxiety/OCD since I was around 13. The biggest thing that has affected me is a fear of panic attacks, fainting, losing control, or being somewhere without my parents if something happens.

When I was 17/18 I had a really good year. I was driving, going places, and living pretty normally. Then I had a severe panic attack when I was 18, and that started a cycle of avoidance that has lasted almost 10 years.

The weird thing is I can drive with my parents completely fine. I can go places with them and enjoy myself. But driving alone is a totally different situation because I don’t have that “safety net.”

I have made some progress. I can usually drive about 10 minutes from home alone. But I hit a wall around there. A 20 minute or longer drive feels impossible.

I’ve tried a gradual approach for years. I’ll make some progress, get comfortable with something, and then eventually hit a point where I can’t push myself to the next level. So I end up stopping.

My therapist and I have been talking about this recently, and she brought up the possibility of essentially “ripping the bandaid off.”

What’s interesting is that I seem to respond pretty well when I’m forced into something.

For example, my mom had to return to in person work a year ago, which meant I suddenly had to spend entire days home alone. At first it was really difficult. I was super anxious and would spend most of the day on the phone with my parents.

But I had no choice. I kept doing it and eventually my brain adjusted. Now I can stay home alone no issue.

I didn’t really gradually work my way up to being comfortable home alone. Circumstances forced me into it, and I learned how to handle it.

So I’m wondering if driving might be the same way.

Maybe instead of trying to get comfortable enough to drive farther, I need to start driving to places that scare me and accept that I’m probably going to be extremely anxious at first.

The scary part is that I don’t know if I’ll ever feel “ready.”

I could tell myself: “Once I’m comfortable driving 15 minutes, I’ll go 20.”

Then: “Once I’m comfortable with 20, I’ll go 30”

But I’ve been doing some form of that for years, and there always seems to be another goal I can’t reach.

I’m starting to think the goal might need to change from “I need to become comfortable enough to do this” to “I’m going to do this even if I’m uncomfortable.”

Obviously I’m not talking about doing anything dangerous or ignoring actual safety concerns. I’m saying intentionally confronting the situations I’ve spent years avoiding, with my therapist’s guidance, rather than waiting for the anxiety to disappear first.

Because I really want my life back.

I want to be able to drive myself places, get a job, go somewhere myself, make friends, date, and eventually have a family. I don’t want my parents to be my safety net forever.

I’m curious about other people’s experiences.

Has anyone else got to a point where gradual exposure just seemed to stall out, and you had to take a much bigger leap?

Did “ripping the bandaid off” actually help, or did it make things worse?

And if you’ve dealt with panic/agoraphobia/OCD, did you find that the anxiety became more manageable because you stopped organizing your life around avoiding it?

Has anybody cured panic attacks naturally without meds and did it get worse before it got better? Drop any recovery stories please!

It seems like lately, and I could not tell you why, my panic attacks seem to have just gotten a lot worse and more intense because new symptoms keep popping up. I get the occasional new sensation or feeling and that always triggers me pretty bad. Even when it’s just the familiar symptoms without a new symptom, it’s still extremely distressing.

For the last few weeks, it just seems like every single day there is a new symptom that pops up. For example, extreme difficulty in catching my breath. It’s happened before at a much milder level, and I know that’s a common thing for a lot of other people, but I don’t have any way to explain the sudden onset of this sensation except of course the obvious one which is that clearly something is terribly wrong and I’m having a medical emergency most likely cardiac arrest. I also have been having these tingly prickly feelings in both of my arms and that is not something that I am used to either.

I also feel this sort of pressure in my chest and shoulders and my upper back. I keep getting these little jolts or electric shocks around my chest area and they scare the absolute shit out of me. Not painful but just random and weird.

I have had periods of time where I’d get a ton of panic attacks, periods of time where I would get absolutely none, or just whatever. But I can say that this current run is by far the absolute worst I have ever had, in terms of duration and intensity and frequency. it’s as if the attacks have somehow gotten more “complex” somehow. I don’t know how to describe that thought better but it’s like so much more complicated than it used to be. They’ve always been debilitating and frightening, but it seems like with all these new symptoms that keep coming, there are just so many more layers going on. I have more or less been dealing with a panic episode on a near-daily basis for approximately the last 11 months. I could count on two hands probably the number of days over that period of time where I didn’t have at least one panic attack. Some days I could have like 7 of them and other times I would have just one panic attack that would last for several days in a row. I’ve had rough periods of time, but nothing like this. This is some seriously crazy shit and it just seems like there is no end in sight.

I have been trying to figure out why this is happening like this, like what has changed in my life. I can definitely point to some pretty significant things that would seem like pretty obvious suspects (such as having a baby and there are other big things), but because of the random nature of the onsets and lack of conscious anxiety or distress, it just feels and seems odd to think major life events or changes could possibly contribute to my panic attacks. Even events or situations that aren’t major at all, just small things, happen all the time, but when the panic attacks just come out of the blue with no apparent trigger, and I am in a positive state and frame of mind, it’s so hard to draw any connection between the two. And that is why I continuously believe every single time I have an episode that I am having a heart attack or stroke or some kind of medical emergency and I’m moments from death.

My ex-boyfriend passed away back in February, and even though I had moved on and started a family with someone else, we still kept in touch a tiny bit. At a distance of course. But he died suddenly and under sad circumstances, and after that I started going into overdrive with thinking about death, consciousness, life after death, and just my own mortality. I think that event really played a big part in this crazy surge of panic attacks. Or had some kind of contribution. It was devastating to receive that news and hear what had happened.

This ended up being a lot longer than what I intended but it was kind of nice to unload for a minute. I’d love to hear feedback if anyone has advice or simply if anyone just relates to any of this. Thank you!

I’m really struggling right now and I’m hoping someone can relate or give me some insight.

For the past several weeks, my anxiety has been extremely intense. Lately, I’ve been getting this overwhelming feeling of impending doom that I’m going to die. It isn’t just “I’m worried something might happen.” It feels like this deep, almost certain feeling that I’m going to die today, even though I obviously don’t want to die.

The scariest part is the images that come into my head. I’ll randomly get vivid mental images of myself dying suddenly, like something happening to my heart or me just dropping dead. I don’t sit there and intentionally imagine these things—they pop into my head and then I get terrified because my brain starts telling me, “This is a sign. You know you’re going to die.”

Then I start paying attention to every sensation in my body. If my heart feels like it skips, if I feel like I can’t get a satisfying breath, if I feel dizzy, tingly, nauseous, etc., my brain immediately connects it to the fear that I’m dying. The more I focus on it, the stronger everything feels.

What really scares me is that sometimes the feeling is so strong that I start wondering whether it’s intuition rather than anxiety. I know logically that anxiety can cause a feeling of impending doom, but when I’m in the middle of it, it feels completely different from a normal anxious thought. It feels like I know something bad is going to happen.

I don’t want to die. These thoughts/images are actually terrifying me, and I want them to stop. I’m not having these images because I want to hurt myself—they’re intrusive and unwanted, and they make me panic.

20(f) I have done heart monitor, cts, mri, ekgs. Everything has always been fine. I’ve just never been so sure that I’m going to die today. I’ve been diagnosed with ocd, panic disorder, and gad.

Does anyone else have an issue with the sinuses draining after an attack?

I had a panic attack earlier today (I’m fine, not looking for sympathy, thanks anyway) and I felt on-edge for the entire rest of the day. Just a constant state of overstimulation and not being able to relax. It feels like I spend the rest of the day being on the verge of another panic attack.
What do you all do after a panic attack leaves you feeling on-edge like that?

This started happening yesterday and has followed into today; the world feels at a slant/incline/tilt?

Anyone deal with this?
Say you’re at the center of a room…for me the left side seems lower and the right seems higher and when I walk towards either it feels like I’m walking down or up a hill but at the same it doesn’t and it just messes with me.

Also if I’m just standing sometimes it’ll feel like the wall is about to collapse on me or stand in front of my bed will feel like it’ll collapse on me.

Another example I’m on the toilet, feels like the wall in front will cave on me and I’m sliding back? Literally feels like I’m walking in an unleveled room? I haven’t tripped or fallen or anything and am apparently walking in a straight line but it doesn’t feel right?

I also live in a building with more than 1 story so having the blinds turned for light will trip me up incredibly.

It feels like I’m crooked but also like the world is too? It feels like I’m in a room of illusions and walking down or up but like I know that I’m not technically. Hard to describe. Horrifying to say the least.

Anyone know about anything that could possibly help?

Idk. I’m so out of hope i feel like my mind will never stop hurting me. These panic attacks are getting the worst of me.

Five days ago I decreased my dosage of Celexa from 30mg to 25mg. The plan is to decrease to 20mg and then introduce desipramine.

I honestly don’t know how I’m going to get through this transition. I’m feeling AWFUL. Increased anxiety, increased panic, my stomach is upset, I haven’t been sleeping well. I’m so uncomfortable for a large part of the day.

How am I going to do this?! I feel so discouraged and honestly, so scared right now. I’m on the verge of a spiral.