Posts Tagged ‘symptoms of panic attack’

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Panic Disorder And Panic Attacks – An Overview Of Symptoms, Causes And Treatments

August 21st, 2010

Panic disorder is a disorder that is characterized by repetitive panic attacks. Panic attacks, on the other hand, are unexpected wave of overwhelming fear and anxiety that lasts anywhere from 15 minutes to close to an hour.

Understanding Panic Disorder

Panic attacks, in most cases, come without warning. A panic attack could happen anywhere provoked or unprovoked. It could even occur while the person diagnosed with it as at sleep.

Panic attack, in a number of cases, is a one-time event although in the majority of incidents, it is a repetitive cycle. People who have had panic attacks before are more likely to experience them again. Usually, recurrent panic attacks manifest in specific situations such as giving out a public address or riding the elevator, especially if such situations have triggered an attack before.

People who have panic attacks are not necessarily sick, because they are healthy, normal people who have minor issues with anxiety and fear. However, panic disorder often comes with other psychological disorders such as depression, phobias and generalized anxiety disorder.

Symptoms

The classic symptoms of panic attack include lightheadedness, irregular heartbeat, feeling dizzy, and general sense of having a heart attack. Most patients describe the symptoms as having an overwhelming sense of going crazy or an impending doom. No wonder, it is widely considered as one of the most terrifying experience a person could undergo.

A full blown episode of a panic disorder has the following physical and psychological symptoms:

Physical : Hyperventilation or shortness of breath, racing heart or heart palpitations, chest discomfort or pain, shaking or trembling, choking feeling, sweating, upset stomach or nausea, lightheadedness, hot or cold flashes, and tingling sensations throughout the body.

Psychological : Sense of being ‘spaced out’, fear of going crazy, of dying, and/or of losing control, unrealistic feeling with the body, and a sense of having a heart attack.

You may be suffering from panic disorder if you :

Have had a panic attack before.

Worry excessively about an impending episode of panic attack.

Modify your behavior as result of fear or anxiety over experiencing a panic attack.

Causes

The exact causes of panic disorder are yet to be fully discovered. However, experts have identified that it does run in the family, that is directly linked to major events in one’s life, and is deeply tied to traumatic experiences. It may also be tied to specific medical conditions such as hyperthyroidism, hypoglycemia, withdrawal from certain medications, mitral valve prolapsed and use of certain medications.

Treatments for Panic Disorder

There are treatment and therapy options for panic disorder. Among the therapy that produce the best results are:

Cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT – This is a quite popular technique used for treatment of several different psychological disorders such as anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, and other phobias. This therapy method focuses on fixing the patterns of behavior and thinking that provoke and sustain a panic attack. It teaches the patient to view his fear from a more realistic perspective.

Exposure therapy – Exposure therapy uses a controlled environment to trigger an attack. Thereby allowing the patient to create better coping mechanisms for handling an attack.

Other methods of treating panic disorder include the use of drugs such as antidepressants and benzodiazepines and application of self-help techniques.

Panic disorder can be a deeply unsettling condition. Although it may be intensely and overwhelmingly frightening for people who are suffering from it, there are actually solutions that can minimize the frequency and intensity of each attack. Find out more about this condition by dropping by my website.

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A Few Tips To Help You Stop Panic Attacks

August 20th, 2010

A panic attack may seem irrational for most people, but for those who are suffering from, it is a terrible experience comparable only to dying. There is no way for anyone to tolerate the intense amount of fear and anxiety this condition brings. This article provides a few helpful advice to stop panic attacks.

It has been claimed that a panic attack is among the most frightening, most intense experience a person can live through. No matter how life-crippling this condition, however, there are a lot of things that you can do prevent it from happening. For one, you can familiarize yourself with the symptoms of a panic attack.

The most common symptoms of panic attack are flashing vision or tunnel vision, rapid heartbeat, numbing sensation throughout the body, chest pain, heavy breathing, and sense of losing control, going crazy and dying. As many patients describe the symptoms, when you are experiencing panic attacks, you feel like you’re about to die or you will have a heart attack.

Although these symptoms may seem dangerous, these actually are not harmful and are unlikely to cause any danger to other people. For you as patient, you will live through them unharmed and unscathed although a bit shaken.

You are more likely to cope with the symptoms of the attack if you know how to identify them. You can react better and neutralize the symptoms much faster and easier. You can remain more calm and you can think more clearly if you understand that it is something you can handle.

Next, try not to fight with the symptoms. The more you try to fight with the symptoms, the more likely these will worsen. This is because your body will try to release a chemical called adrenaline which can make your symptoms worse.

Instead, try to be as calm as possible and allow the symptoms to play their tricks on you. While you’re at it, try to keep your focus away from the sensations of the attack. One effective way is to shift your attention to your environment. Look for something that could help distract. Eventually, the symptoms will subside.

Last, practice relaxation and breathing techniques. During an attack, among the most important things to do is to relax and to control your breathing. Some techniques that could come in handy when trying to stop a panic attack are breathing techniques and the techniques taught in cognitive behavioral therapy.

Although each attack only last for minutes, most patients actually feel like they are going through it for hours. By following the suggestions above, your suffering will be cut short and the intensity of your symptoms can be minimized.

No matter how frightening or terrifying a panic attack can be, there are still many things that can help your stop it. For more information on how to stop panic attacks, check out the resources on my website.

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Stop Anxiety Attacks – Ways To Cope With This Condition

August 20th, 2010

To stop anxiety attacks needs a great deal of work from you. The condition may be resolved by undergoing therapies and by taking prescription medications, but real solution comes from modifying the thought, beliefs and behaviors that have caused the attacks to occur in the first place.

Needless to say, there are many possible ways to fully stop the occurrence of panic attacks. You as the patient may receive medication prescriptions, if the severity and frequency of your episodes warrant the use of prescription drugs. Or you may have the option of choosing between several different methods which come with fewer side effects.

Breathing techniques

Many breathing techniques have been proposed to help bring a stop on anxiety attacks. Physicians and patients alike believe that proper breathing is very helpful in treating the symptoms of panic attacks.

When the body is calm, breathing is slow, deep and comes from the lower lungs. However, during stressful conditions such as during episodes of panic attack, the body automatically shifts from relaxed to stressed breathing which is shallow, fast and comes from the upper lungs, thereby producing symptoms that patients of panic attacks are familiar with. These are nausea, dizziness and confusion.

By learning how to change the way you breathe, you will be able to slow down your heart rate, ease the tension in your muscles, decrease your blood pressure and restore calm and relaxation to your entire body as well as your mind.

There are many options of techniques that could help with the symptoms of anxiety attacks. One is abdominal breathing or deep breathing. In this technique, proper amount of oxygen circulates in your body thanks to your lower lungs which have more room for air than the upper lungs. You can tell whether you are breathing using this method when your abdomen looks bigger when you breathe in and smaller when you breathe out. Once you have mastered this method, you can move on to other breathing techniques that are designed exactly for restoring calm to your body.

Lifestyle changes

Anxiety attacks aren’t always rooted on negative thoughts; they could also be caused by poor habits, demanding schedule, prolonged exposure to stressful tasks, lack of sufficient sleep or exercise, and sometimes even from too much caffeine. The bottom line is, lifestyle is critical to the occurrence of anxiety attacks.

If you have an unhealthy lifestyle, self-inventory often come in handy. You can also restore balance into your life by turning down extra responsibilities, finding someone trusted you can confide your problems with, and organizing your life to make it more enjoyable.

Prescription drugs

The most common medications used to put a stop to the symptoms of anxiety attack are benzodiazepines, beta-blockers, antidepressants,, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, mild tranquilizers and anticonvulsants. For more information on prescription drugs, contact your doctor.

Whichever option you choose to stop anxiety attacks, keep in mind that no amount of medication, lifestyle modification or relaxation technique can heal you overnight. A great deal of work is critical in fighting off the symptoms of anxiety attacks. Real cure comes from adopting healthier habits and ways of thinking to eliminate thoughts and habits that have caused the symptoms in the first place.

There are many ways to stop anxiety attacks, but the goals are pretty much the same – to completely prevent symptoms from occurring. Find out more about the various solutions to this debilitating condition by visiting my website.

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Which Panic Attack Treatment Options Could Work For You

August 19th, 2010

There are a handful very effective panic attack treatment options that have been shown to effectively help with the symptoms of panic disorders. Some are mainstream medicine while others are alternative options. No matter the kind of treatment, the goals remains the same – eliminate, control and prevent the symptoms.

Medications

Drugs are used primarily for managing the symptoms of panic attack. These are usually designed for short-term uses. Although these are known to effectively lessen the severity of the symptoms as well as in preventing them from occurring. Some panic attack drugs that have been approved by FDA are:

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) is often the first choice of drugs for controlling the symptoms of anxiety attack. These are antidepressant drugs, by nature, but have become a very effective medication for panic attack. Drugs that have been approved for treatment of panic attack and panic disorder under this class by the Food and Drug Administration are flouxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil, Rexeva and Paxil CR), and sertraline (Zoloft).

Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs)

SNRIs is one of those drugs that were originally developed for treatment of depression, but have been found out to cure panic attack. These work by increasing the levels of brain chemicals, norepinephrine and serotonin, by way of preventing their reabsorption or reuptake into the brain cells. Although the exact mechanism still leaves researchers baffled, these medications cause improvement in mood. The approved drug for treatment of panic attack and disorder is venlafaxine or Effexor XR.

Benzodiazpines

A mild sedative, Benzodiazpine is a drug that work on the central nervous system. FDA-approved benzodiazepines for treatment of panic attack are alprazolam or Xanax and clonazepam or Klonopin. These are typically given to patients when they seek medical care in an emergency situation to aid in stopping the attack.

Despite their effectiveness, most people try to prevent as much as possible using panic medications due to the nature of their side-effects. The most common side-effects of using any panic medication are dry mouth, upset stomach, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, insomnia, trouble sleeping and sleepiness, seizures, sexual dysfunction, comatose, among others.

Psychotherapy

Also commonly referred to as talk therapy or counseling, psychotherapy is a group of techniques that are known to produce better results for panic attack than medications. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, exposure therapy and psychodynamic psychotherapy are three of the most notable techniques used in panic attack treatment.

Cognitive behavioral therapy

CBT is a therapy that aims to alter the cognition or thinking pattern of someone who is suffering with panic disorder. This therapy essentially changes the way one behaves by correcting his thinking patterns.

Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy uses simulation methods to recreate the actual conditions that trigger an attack. Then patients are taught how to eliminate the anxiety caused through such simulation by forming new and more appropriate responses.

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Psychodynamic psychotherapy is a therapy that focuses on finding out the internal emotional conflicts that play a role in causing panic attacks and in forming avoidance behaviors.

Most patients eventually resume to their normal lives after undergoing a carefully selected panic attack treatment. Consult your doctor to find out which treatment would work for you.

It always pays to know your options when it comes to treatments for disorders like panic attack and panic disorder. Find out which panic attack treatment you can consider by using the free information on my website.

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Panic Disorder – Understanding Its Symptoms, Causes And Treatments

August 18th, 2010

Panic disorder is a disorder that is characterized by repetitive panic attacks. The main symptom of panic disorder is panic attack which is a random wave of intense and overwhelming fear and anxiety that last for a few minutes to an hour.

Understanding Panic Disorder

Panic attacks, usually, come without warning. A panic attack is random and thus it happens anywhere at any time, without provocation. It could even happen when a patient is at sleep.

Panic attacks could be one-time events, but most people experience repetitive episodes that may happen for years. People who have had a panic attack in the past could potentially experience more episodes in the future. Usually, panic attacks occur in places where they have first manifested or in circumstances that often provoke such attacks.

People who have panic attacks are not necessarily sick, because they are healthy, normal people who have minor issues with anxiety and fear. However, panic disorder often comes with other psychological disorders such as depression, phobias and generalized anxiety disorder.

Symptoms

The classic symptoms of panic attack include lightheadedness, feeling dizzy, irregular heartbeat, and general sense of having a heart attack. Most patients of panic disorder compare their experience with an overwhelming sense of impending doom or of going crazy. No wonder, it is easily considered as one of the most terrifying experiences a person could live through.

A full blown episode of a panic disorder has the following symptoms:

Physical : Shortness of breath or hyperventilation, heart palpitations, chest pain, feeling of being choked, upset stomach or diarrhea, shaking or trembling, nausea, hot or cold flushes and tingling sensations throughout the body.

Psychological : Feeling of unreal body, of being detached from one’s surrounding or feeling ‘spaced out’, fear of dying, of losing control and of going crazy, and general sense of having a heart attack.

You may be suffering from panic disorder if you :

Have experienced an episode of panic attack before.

Worry excessively about experiencing another attack.

Start behaving differently because of your panic attack.

Causes

The exact causes of panic disorder are yet to be fully discovered. However, experts have identified that it does run in the family, that is directly linked to major events in one’s life, and is deeply tied to traumatic experiences. It may also be tied to specific medical conditions such as hyperthyroidism, hypoglycemia, withdrawal from certain medications, mitral valve prolapsed and use of certain medications.

Treatments for Panic Disorder

There are treatment and therapy options for panic disorder. Among the strategies that are known for producing good results are:

Cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT – This is possibly the best treatment for panic disorder and is often used for treatment of phobia, anxiety disorder and other forms of phobia. This technique focuses on fixing the thinking and behavior patterns that trigger and sustain attacks. It lets patients to see their fears and anxieties in a more realistic light.

Exposure therapy – Exposure therapy uses a controlled environment to trigger an attack. Thereby helping the patient to create coping mechanisms for better handling of the symptoms of each episode.

Other options for treating panic disorder include use of medications and application of self-help techniques.

Panic disorder can be a deeply unsettling condition. Although it may be intensely and overwhelmingly frightening for people who are suffering from it, there are actually solutions that can minimize the frequency and intensity of each attack. Find out more about this condition by dropping by my website.

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