A HYPOCHANDRIACS TALE

"Here are a few examples of diversion tactics to use whilst having an attack. Practice them, they really work!

1. Splash face with cold water - this produces the dive reflex and causes your brain to send messages to your body to slow down
2. Distraction - Count down from 100 as fast as you can, repeat over and over. Do maths problems or anything else that occupies your mind
3. Listen to your favourite music loudly and sing along to it
4. Say to yourself - this has never hurt me, it has never hurt anyone else and it never will. I know what it is and it means nothing - disempower the attack
5. Tell yourself that what you are feeling are sensations; nothing more and that sensations never hurt anyone
6. Watch a funny video on TV, laugh out loud
7. Don't look at yourself in the mirror
8. Keep some apples in the fridge. Eat one, then another if you wish
9. Gently slap your cheeks and dance around - confuse your thoughts to distract them
10. In the night, get out of bed, turn on the TV, get a drink, eat an apple and keep moving
11. Talk to someone or phone someone - don't discuss your anxiety
12. Do something physical if you can
13. Do not sit down! Keep moving"

Some funny pics I found enjoy.

Well today is not a good day for me everyone in my household is sick and when i start feeling little things here and there my mind just starts to wander like what is really going on here are you sure It's just a cold or a sinus headache. Crazy things like this happen all the time I should be used to it by now but no my brain travels at speeds that I cant even control. And what happens next I start to get nervous thinking It's something else and only the worst runs through my mind. But I try my hardest not to let it get there and finally I get a hold of the anxiety and start to calm down when the phone rings and It's my wifes boss telling me to get to the hospital your wife has passed out. Now I'm going nuts thinking the worst for her I make to the hospital everyone is in her room I said what happened she said her heart was beating so fast that when she got to emergency room her heart rate was 210 beats per min. I said oh my god she has a bad heart. now I'm really having a panic attack I'm asking the doctor all kind of questions (you know like all us hypochondriacs do) and he said to me she will be fine she does not have a heart problem this thing he calls SVT only happens to 5% of people and it can be fixed and it will never happen again. you just don't know the way I've been acting now like she is handicap or something thats the anxiety and hypochondriac in me.

"Imagine you've just stepped into an elevator and suddenly your heart races, your chest aches, you break out in a cold sweat and feel as if the elevator is about to crash to the ground. What's happening?

Imagine you are driving home from the grocery store and suddenly things seem to be out of control. You feel hot flashes, things around you blur, you can't tell where you are, and you feel as if you're dying. What's happening?

What's happening is a panic attack, an uncontrollable panic response to ordinary, nonthreatening situations. Panic attacks are often an indication that a person has panic disorder."

Some of these books helped . But what has helped is learning more about the symptoms and reading all I can about panic attacks I read everything I get my hands on that has to do with anxiety & panic attacks. Also this site has helped Click Here!

You Know You Have Panic Disorder When...

-You look for the nearest escape route everywhere you go.

-You wonder if anyone would notice if you locked yourself in the bathroom at your own party.

-You carry an industrial size bottle of hand sanitizer with you wherever you go.

-You have to mentally prep yourself for three days before going to pick up milk at the grocery store.

-You envy your pets because they don't have to leave the house.

-Immediately upon waking you check to make sure every part of your body feels normal. If your toe hurts you panic for the rest of the day and call in sick.

-You're pretty sure the receptionist at your doctor's office hates you.

-You sit at work and write lists because your anxiety has wreaked havoc on your concentration and you're pretty sure you have ADD now too.

-You leave a cart full of groceries because the check out line is too long.

-You let your hair grow ridiculously long because you're sure awful things will happen if you sit in that chair.

-You suffer through horrible headaches because you're sure that if you take a painkiller it will kill you.

-When you do take a pill, any pill, you cut it in half, and sometimes in quarters, just to make sure you're not taking too much.

-When someone's talking to you, they have no idea that while you're looking at them and nodding, you're not hearing one word they're saying because all you can think of is "how do I get out of here?"

-You take a shower and do your hair because you don't want the paramedics who are going to pick up your dead body to comment that you smell and look awful.

-You read this thread and nod knowingly.

"Because panic attacks are symptomatic of other illnesses, the causes can be wide and varied. We're each very different and the conditions for bringing about a panic attack can be almost unique to each individual. That said, there are telltale signs and symptoms of panic attacks that are common to most people, and it's these we'll concentrate on.

If you, or the person you are worried about, exhibits any of the following behavior patters, it may well indicate an increased likelihood or potential of a panic attack;

Extreme nervousness
Unusually antisocial behavior
Uncharacteristic lack of energy
Depression
Anger or anxiety that is out of character"

 Your panic plan
If stress usually precedes a panic attack, then the obvious prescription, you'd think, would be to double up on yoga classes or try some head-calming meditation. Unfortunately, more 'om' isn't the answer. There's no scientific proof that stress-reducing techniques will stifle future panic attacks. Because there's often no predicting when or whether another attack will strike, doctors usually don't recommend therapy or taking meds regularly unless your attacks are frequent and debilitating. But if a panic attack does occur, how you respond can steer you clear of uncontrollable hysterics. Here's how to wage your own war on terror:

Before it happens know that a panic attack will not harm you
'In therapy, we teach patients that although panic attacks are uncomfortable, there's nothing physically dangerous about them,' says Kimberly Wilson, Ph.D., a cognitive-behavioral therapist in the San Francisco Bay area and a psychiatry instructor at Stanford University.

Open up about your attacks
If you know you're susceptible to panic attacks, let friends, family, or even a trusted co-worker know the symptoms, so they can recognize one when it's happening and reassure you that you'll get through it,"

"I would say yes, definitely. Stressful situations can trigger athsma attacks. However, the symptoms of anxiety can also feel like an athsma attack as it can make you feel as though your chest is constricting and you aren't getting enough air. I was recently put on stronger inhalers due to my athsma not being under control and ended up with anxiety and disfunctional breathing due to the beta antagonisers in the inhalers! I have since reduced my inhalers (after seeing the doc again) and am starting to feel better but the dysfuntional breathing keeps rearing up whenever I'm stressed"

Separation Anxiety is driving me crazy. I thought only cats & dogs get this and little kids too. But I guess I was wrong because I'm suffering from it and drives me up a wall.  Ok this is how it goes I do suffer from anxiety attacks but sometimes i can control them but sometimes I cant and they get so bad that I feel like I'm just going die. when I start to feel that I cant control it I always call my wife and just talk to her I don't know what it is about being on the phone with her but it really helps. For some unknown reason a few minutes into the conversation I forget I'm having a Panic Attack. So now I tell her you better answer that phone I don't care what you are doing you better answer it. Once we had been in a fight and she knows when I'm going through one. So she decided to not answer the phone when I was having an episode that was the worst day of my life i must have called her phone about 500 times I actually thought this is it for me. I was sweating, shaking couldn't think straight i was about to loose it. So i said hell with it I'm going to the hospital. Once i get to the hospital the triage nurse takes my vitals she says everything is fine but my blood pressure is up a little. I said i feel like my heart is going to explode she tells me to go to the waiting room and wait at that moment my cell rings it's my wife she says where are you the hospital. As soon as I heard her voice it was like I was another person that fast it all went away. She knows me to well. I'm trying to really control this with out any meds I just want to be normal.