All I can say is Thanks and Amen. :-)

Dave

i did comment i don’t know what happened . that’s ok. can’t let it steal my joy. great story. be blessed.

God bless you. You encourage me. There is so much information that was given here. I pray that you continue to love yourself and help yourself to continue to heal and grow physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually as well as financially. Take time to read your Bible and know that you are more than a conqueror in Christ. Believe that Jesus loves you so much that he died on the cross and shed his blood for you, that he took your sins, my sins and the sins of the world upon his shoulders. We are forgiven and he knows what we need before we ask. I too can relate to these issues. thank you for giving me more clarity regarding this matter. John 3:16.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. LIFE. What a GIFT.

I’m glad that you found this site and that you posted your experiences to date. I am of course very sad to hear that you’ve suffered so long with such a debilitating disorder. It will be very helpful for many people when you do find your path out of this and post it here so that others can benefit from your success.

As for your comments about my particular experience, I really had to think about this during the week. In the “big picture”, the real motivation for posting the article was to (1) show people that there *is* a way out of this, that there is hope, and (2) here is one particular way.

As you know, there are so many people who suffer from various forms and levels of panic disorder, and it seems that most do not know what it is or how to stop it or even if it’s possible to stop.

Certainly the vast majority of cases can be successfully treated. The actual treatment depends on many factors and these are well documented. And of course the vast majority of people who suffer from panic attacks luckily have a mild to moderate level of the disorder with many fewer having a severe level such as yours. For this majority of the people, I would speculate that probably 100% of them can be successfully treated.

We also have to remember that just because they have a mild or moderate level does not make their experiences any less scary for them personally. They’ve gone from “life is good” to all of a sudden being hit with a panic attack where they think that they’re dying or that they’re going crazy! And no one believes them and no one can help them.

I’d also say that I know quite a few people who get on medication and then, unlike you, leave it at that, taking no further steps to get to the bottom of it; to get to the source of the problem and then deal with that. In this instance, the medication is just treating the symptoms. It is not the cure.

Now, what I am not saying is that medication is a bad thing or that it isn’t necessary for the short term or even for the long term. Medication is obviously useful for immediate relief as well as giving the person some “normalcy” where they can then move on to tackle it. And obviously the more extreme cases are going to take more extreme measures.

As for my particular experience and level of panic attacks, first I would say that I learned several years ago that while we can try to explain what’s going on with us, in many cases there is really no way to communicate this information in a effective way. In fact, in many cases things are actually so ultimately complicated that we can’t even figure it out ourselves let alone tell someone else about it such that they really can truly understand. And I think that this is true for anything but the general surface for Panic Disorder.

That said, as I did state in my post that my attacks stretched out over a 12 year span. They did start at a very infrequent level, but gradually increased over time to where I had attacks a few times a week, the majority of them being severe (based on symptoms), with a general level of anxiety always present, but of course always varying up/down. It’s hard for me to remember exactly, but that level certainly lasted for several years. And yes, I did go to the ER and my doctor many times. Yes, I almost got divorced (but, thank God, did not) in the process (although it obviously was not the sole contributor). Yes, I was very “house bound”, skipping much of “life” that was passing by me. My job required me to travel; that wasn’t fun. Airplanes. Foreign places. No place “safe”. Having a severe attack in Moscow at 3am in my hotel room was not the most exciting thing I’ve ever done in my life :-).

I think that your description “When you are so panicked and depressed from your situation that you want to just pull the skin off your body” really describes where I was when I finally decided I had to start doing something about it.

Well, I think that’s probably enough for today. You also brought up some interesting things to discuss relative to what causes panic disorder, which I’d like to respond to and discuss separately.

Take care and I hope you’ve at least had a better day today…

Dave

I hate to jump in on this post, but I find your comment problematic:

“but unless you have been on various medications for this condition, and suffered many years, they were not truly all that bad”

Anxiety Disorders, as I understand them, are very subjective experiences. Therefore, you really can’t say that you’ve had it worse than Dave.
Everyone’s experience is equally valid.
Just my two cents.

John
John Haydon´s last blog ..Why Twitter is not a replacement for email marketing

Those of us who have suffered from severe panic attacks “for several years” are forced to take medications, “try” CBT and/or seek counseling. CBT is for those who have minor panic IMO. When you are so panicked and depressed from your situation that you want to just pull the skin off your body….then you have real panic.

The real test is trying to come off medication, which is well detailed on benzo island.com – and not very easy. Some medications can take months or years to come off.

I do not feel that you can cure everyone with this method, in fact, very few. CBT is akin to “the patch” in cigarette addiction to me. I have tried every method there is, including this book, Charles Linden’s exercises, etc. etc. Nothing has worked. Nothing. 12 years of non-stop panic.

In fact, I do think some people are pre-wired for panic attacks and certainly life factors can trigger them at any time, any place – even with a bad phone call. I think chemical changes do occur, some permanent, that make you panic for no good reason. I get panic for absolutely no reason at all, none. I wake up with panic, live with it all day, then struggle to even fall asleep with it I am so scared.

I have done the immersion thing – “faced my fears” – and this did nothing. I bought resperate.com’s unit, did little. I have had more tests than most lab rats to find a reason for my chronic dizziness and panic. CT, MRI, ENG, VEMP, ECOG, TILT TABLE, BLOOD WORK, NUCLEAR STRESS TEST you name it……..I have done it, twice.

Again, I am not aware of anyone who suffers from real, debilitating panic, for 5+ years without being on some kind of medication (for less than 2 days). Maybe I am out of line, but I find CBT talk as reproachable as people who use “panic attack” when they feel stressed.

My feelings that are unless you have been to the ER at least 2 times a year, for 5+ years in a row, you likely suffer from some panic, but not THE panic disorder. Chronic panic is different than occasional panic.

When and if I find my cure, I will surely post it. Believe me, I have been searching for a long, long time.

Just dropping a note to let you know how much I appreciate you and your blog.

Alec

Alec Satin’s last blog post..5 Antidotes to Gloom

I’m very glad to. Please let us know how it goes! :-)

Take care,
Dave

Thank you again for sharing your story.

Gina