I don't understand my panic attacks?

[verityvee]

My panic attacks are odd. Maybe some of yours are the same as mine i don't know? I'm going to try my best to explain them.

My panic attacks begin sometimes suddenly or sometimes they gradually build up. But however they begin they don't really climax, they just linger for hours. I will get like waves on panic that will go and then about a minute later another wave will come and this keeps happening for sometimes up to 2 hours. I have had normal panic attacks where it builds up quickly and then gets so intense then goes again but I rarely get these. It might be because i like to try and keep them under control? I don't understand. I feel SO sick in my panic attacks that I just can't hyperventilate... I am barely breathing because i'm so scared. I get all the racing heart and sweating just they linger for SO long it's unbearable. Also since i've been very mentally ill again for about a month... I travelled about an hour and a half away from home last week and was pretty much OKAY all day long! I even ate out. But yesterday I drove 10 minutes away from my home to fo and see my hypnotherapist and had a MASSIVE panic attack... I don't understand it? I thought I was getting LOADS better because i had managed to travel an hour and a half away from home last week but then this panic attack yesterday really set me back and now i believe i wont be able to leave the house again without having a massive panic attack. Is this all part of the recovery process? Cus i do feel i'm getting better. I hope... I know we have to have set backs buti keep having lots of them and its hard not to give up. Are anyone elses similar?

If Sage could answer that'd be great too?
It doesn't mean i'm never going to get better does it?
Am i just expecting too much of myself?

[typical skeleton]

I'm no expert, however a period of intense feelings can follow treatment, in fact it often does. Your treatment method is somewhat unorthodox, so it's difficult for me to say whether this is true for your situation. Though many people who undergo more "regular" routes of therapy also report their feelings sort of "surfacing" and becoming more intense for a period. Do not let it break you, as you can overcome it, and it certainly does not mean you will never get better.

Additionally, you may have more emotional/trauma triggers tied to locations familiar to you and nearby, which can trigger intense feelings, whereas going somewhere further away may set your mind at ease.

This isn't entirely unusual for "PTSD" type cases. Again, this is based on my personal experience and understanding of trauma-related mental illness.

Sage may have a more in depth or accurate answer.

One more thing, panic/anxiety attacks manifest themselves in different ways. There isn't really a "right" way to have a panic attack. Your lingering sense of anxiety may be uncomfortable, but it doesn't mean you're especially "crazy."

[NaiveAndTrue]

I'm so used to them that I don't really mentally 'panic' anymore. I kinda describe it like a cartoon - all of the physical symptoms a cartoon character would get when they're scared, but for no reason. My heart races, I shiver and sweat, feel tingly, out of breath, have to use the bathroom and get dizzy, feel kinda disassociated and of course, nauseated. It doesn't get worse because I know my symptoms and triggers, so I can usually stay calm. They're still very uncomfortable, and the longer they last the more tired I get afterwards, so I usually do that a pill to calm it down.

[verityvee]

Is it even possible to get rid of panic attacks?

[sage]

Yes, it's completely possible.
Psychologists are always saying that a panic attack lasts like 15 minutes tops and if you just "stay there" wherever you are panicking, that it will dissipate and go away. However when I was emetophobic you're always "staying there" because "there" is how you feel in your own body. So I could also be panicking for hours.
I'm sure everyone is a bit different in their recovery. For me, the better I got the more they became like what they were saying: 5-10 minutes long. Then (and now) if I feel one coming on I can stop it right away just by breathing properly. This kind of breathing is a skill that takes a long time to learn (as in months, not years) but once you learn it, you can totally control the panic.
So all panic attacks are "curable" it just takes a lot of work.

[Rebecca85]

I used to get panic attacks fueled by anger if that makes sense, whenever I got really mad to the point of losing self control I would have a panic attack. I would then become convinced I couldn't breathe, leading to hyperventilating, leading to a feeling that I couldn't breathe... Learning to control my breathing made a huge difference, over the space of a few panic attacks I learned to cut them short and then I don't get them for that any more. But the panic associated with emetophobia is different to those, I don't get the 'can't breathe' feeling, it's just 'oh my god let me out of here'. The breathing I used to do doesn't work on these panic attacks. It makes me look outwardly calm but inside the panic is still building. And of course I don't actually panic all that often, which makes it harder to practice and to judge if something is working.

[verityvee]

What breathing technique do you use Sage?
and i only tend to panic when i have trapped gas or after eating. The reason im panicing is because i feel sick... so i dont know if breathing would help?

[sage]

I don't use any particular "technique" - just long, slow, deep breaths. You can learn this breathing through yoga classes, voice lessons, woodwind music lessons, hypnotherapy, Lamaze birthing classes and martial arts to name a few things. I teach the breathing on my relaxation tapes as well.

[verityvee]

So do the panic attacks still come now even though you are "cured"?