Stuck in a panic attack loop
I had a really hard year.
Was diagnosed with a heart arrythmia in the spring, then my youngest brother died from an undiagnosed heart condition over the summer, then my grandma died and I was laid off. All in around 9 months. That's when the panic attacks started. They weren't too frequent, so I could manage.
In the fall, I had a procedure to fix my arrythmia, I'm under the care of a fantastic doctor and he says I'm doing great. Totally healthy, healing great and nothing to worry about. But for the last few days, I've been caught in a terrible loop of anxiety and panic attacks. One panic attack even lasted for hours! Even though I know I'm safe, I can't seem to stop overreacting to every sensation and thinking it's more than it is. Tight chest, sweating, stomach distress, dizziness, shaking are all my anxiety, but I just can't get myself to fully believe it.
I've been riding waves of anxiety for several days now and I just want some relief.
How do you convince yourself that it's your brain tricking your body and that it's not real? How do you convince yourself that you're safe?
@blueClementine6189
Hit the pause button, take a deep breathe and start analyzing the internal dialogue at work. It's often our thoughts that compound the situation - and you have to take a lot of effort to grab the negative thought, weed it out and address it.
Something I might do....
My hearts racing --- STOP, PAUSE, ADDRESS --- Is my heart beating fast? Let me take a few, slow deep breathes and be conscience of my body. Ah, that's a good, strong, steady beat. My shoulders are tight... that may be what's making my chest tight and make it seem like my heart is pounding and racing. Let me try to relax some.
I feel like running from the room --- STOP, PAUSE, ADDRESS --- What is making me want to leave this room? Let me take a look around and make a note of what is making me uncomfortable. The flickering lightbulb is bothering me, let me change it. Oh there's a fly in here... oh I bet the buzz is making me irritated subconsciencously and I wasn't aware of it until now. Let me get the fly swatter and get the bugger.
It's figuring out how to interrupt the cycle -- and part of that is the brain talk cycle and addressing the strings that are insighting you to panic. You and your heart doctor have taken care of the medical issue -- try asking him about your anxiety cycle. The American Heart Association recognizes the impact of stress and anxiety and are providing tools for doctors to help patience through it -- it wouldn't hurt to ask. :D
Check out 7cups guide for Anxiety --- it has some good information in it and takes you through a series of steps that might help >> https://www.7cups.com/anxiety-help/
Come join us at the Mindfulness Community - there are some great tips and supportive people. It's about taking time to slow down, check in with yourself, validate your feeling without judgement and how to address negative ones. >> https://www.7cups.com/home/mindfulness/
I hope you feel better and this helps you some. Take care of yourself.
Try to not resist the anxiety, for starters. This sort of thing often occurs due to a habit of trying to ward off the anxiety with neurotic mechanisms until the neurotic mechanisms start to fail through overuse and the built-up anxiety starts releasing itself in huge, hours-long torrents. Be as consciously aware of it as you can and learn to tolerate it. Ride the waves.
This to me looks like a classic case of displacement where the anxiety is seen to be coming from sensations/the body rather than the other things that are actually causing them. As a remedy to this, try to go into yourself and observe, internally, where the anxiety is coming from.