).
My mind runs away with me too. I really battle against controlling it. It's almost impossible at times. Thoughts just rush through my head and some of them hit like a bullet.
When I had therapy twenty years ago, my shrink told me what causes panic attacks. He said that we have them because of shallow breathing. So when you feel an attack coming on, what we need to do is breathing exercises.
It really does drive me nuts as it can take ages for me to get back to sleep.
I've awokenedin the middle of the night feeling like my throat is closed . I could not breathe. It takes a little time for me to catch my breath and after that. .. There's no way i'm getting back to sleep. Not sure what the was but, as far as actually habing a panic attack though. . Not sure. Maybe that was a panic attack. What do you guys think?I've never had a panic attack while sleeping but I do get woken up in the night for no reason!
Mostly my panic attacks come when I'm discussing my life with a shrink or if I have to go out. It is exceptionally hard to breathe when they happen and sipping water does help me. But it can only be sips as it is so hard to actually swallow it. That is why I just sip, even just to wet the mouth a little helps somewhat. By swallowing I manage to get in a little air and it helps to open up the air passage a bit.
Maybe you were having a dream and the subject of the dream is a trigger for your panic attacks. Sometimes when we wake up we won't remember if we have just had a dream. Especially if our mind goes to something else straight away.
I like that you're realizing that 'something's gotta give' because this means that you're finally ready to try something different. If you've seen that nothing is changing right now, it means that it's time for something new. You don't have to live with panic attacks as 'just the way things are' because you can get rid of them relatively easily. I know this is hard for a lot of people to believe especially if they have been trying (and failing) to do so for years now.