anyone had panic attack???

Has anyone of you had panic attacks frequently? How do you cope with it on the job or wherever you might be? I have to take anti-anxiety drug to help me to breath normally. All of my respiratory functions seized

My Mother has them all too often.

I find that I can usually just "talk her down" with mere conversation dealing with ANYTHING other than what it was that caused her loss of emotional control, into a state where she can breathe, then put on some classical music, and mellow her out pretty well.

It is something that I personally can't even understand, So I don't have any real useful suggestions beyond that.

When unsupervised, She eats Xanax like a three year old (given the chance) eats candy, with little effect, yet my just being there and talking rationally to her seems to work better than drugs.

Without trying to start any big conflict here, and apologies because you asked for advice, not criticism, as well as showing my medical ignorance and prejudices;

Nonetheless, I think modern society relies way too much on psychoactive drugs... It has been my observation that they cause as many problems as they SEEM to solve.

xantrax won't work because it is too weak. The stronger drug would be novo-clonazepham. It is powerful drug for treating anti-anxiety, panic attack. You would need pschiatrist or family doctor to prescribe this drug. the beginner dose would be 5mg. I am taking it now. It is effective in calming me down and allow me to think clearly.

This drug should NEVER be taken with alcohol beverage of any kind. Alcohol will cause a person to become very drowsy. It is not safe for the patient to operate a vehicle. Otherwise the drug by itself is safe to take orally with water.

So you've basically got a tranquilizer to take when you are having an attack? What about a beta blocker to keep you from having one in the first place? Though they are not without side effects themselves, depending on how often you have to take the other it could be a lot better for you and leave you functioning normally instead of being tranquilized.

I know a couple of people that have taken a beta blocker when needing to be able to function when they would otherwise be panicking. It won't make you not panic, but it will keep your breathing and heartbeat more normal as it reduces that part of the response. That makes it a lot easier to cope and get through it than if your body is amplifying the symptoms.

benzodiazepine is a very strong drug, and depending on how often you take it can be addicting and can really change your personality and everything. Thats not to suggest that if your doc thinks you need it that you shouldn't be taking it! You keep doing what your doing, but exploring other options is good too. I have a good friend who was taking that to control his epilepsy and led him into a severe depression and he almost succeeded in committing suicide. But he was on a regular daily dose of the stuff, if you're taking it only as necessary for symptoms that shouldn't be a concern.

The beta blockers dont need to be a permanent thing either, sometimes once you get the physical symptoms under control you can start to take control of the underlying non-physical cause and slowly ween yourself off having to use anything at all. But dont let the "people take too many drugs and you should just get over all your problems with happy thoughts" crowd keep you from doing what you need to do.