Woke up with full blown panic attack last night
Sep 1st, 2008 by Michelle
Woke up with a panic attack
I woke up with a panic attack again last night. I went to bed early and woke up about 2 hours later. I woke up trembling with fear and could not gasp my breath. I was trying to take a full breath in and could not. This has been happening a lot more in recent days. I need to go back to the beginning to where I found recovery and use the resources that helped me in the past get back to recovery because I refuse to go through full blown agoraphobia again! I am not sure what exactly brought last nights episode on, I guess it could be a mixture of Hurricane Gustav, uncertainty of what Tropical Storm Hannah will bring, and the storms behind Hannah, the fact that I lost my job, Kenny’s birthday is in a few days and I can’t get him anything, my pending electric shut off and the fact that I have $0.43 in the bank.
Last night I was listening to one of the best resources that has helped me tremendously, it’s an audio book by Dr. Claire Weekes, “Pass Through Panic: Freeing Yourself from Anxiety and Fear.” She reminded me that panic can return after a sudden shock to my nerves, as it did after my job loss. Prolonged stress is what is causing my return of panic attacks. It was comforting to hear someone reassure me that all the symptoms I have is normal and that it will soon end.
Right now my shoulders and very tight and tense and I know that this is adding fuel to my anxiety. I guess I will try and take a hot shower and see if I can relieve some tension in my neck and shoulders. Dr. Claire Weekes talks about muscle tension in her audio book. I really wish I could play the audio book or parts of it on Blog Talk Radio for all but I don’t think it would be allowed since its copyrighted material.
I think I am going to be listening to a lot of music today since that seems to help me tremendously. I am going to search for some new music that I will find relaxing. If I find some good ones maybe there is a way I can add a “Jukebox” here. Off to a hot shower and breakfast. Hoping and praying that this will be a good day.
