What you felt was normal panic. It was not a panic attack. A panic attack like panic comes all of a sudden and goes away too. However, that is where the similarity ends. A panic attack has been described as a discrete period of intense fear or discomfort, in which four to thirteen of the following symptoms abruptly develop, reach their peak and then subside.
1. palpitations of heart
2. sweating
3. shaking
4. shortness of breath or heavy breathing (hyperventilation)
5. choked feeling
6. chest pain or discomfort
7. nausea or abdominal distress
8. numbness or a tingling sensation
9. weakness in the knees
10. chills or hot flashes
11. fear of dying
12. fear of going insane
13. confusion in mind
14. a feeling of blankness
15. a blurred sense of time, as if it is taking too long to pass
16. wanting to escape
You can well imagine what a person would feel if he were suddenly swept by four of the above symptoms and what happens if he actually develops thirteen! There can be many causes behind such attacks. While hereditary or substance abuse can play a big role, increasing number of medical practitioner are blaming chemical imbalance within the limbic system as core issue. It is said that reduced production of GABA-A sends false information to amygdala whose job is to regulate body’s fight or flight mechanism and this in turn produces psychological symptoms that give rise to panic attack.
Medical practitioners generally use a two-pronged strategy while dealing with panic attack. However, the medicines they prescribe are not without any adverse effects and so many people do not want to take them. If you are one of them, you can opt for a homeopathic medicine called Nerve Tonic instead. It is a hundred percent non-addictive medicine with zero side effects. Such a medicine relieves the effect of stress and worries, reduces everyday nervous tension and promotes general well being. You can take it on its own or along with other herbal medicines like PureCalm and MindSoothe.
Even then, you have to make sure that these medicines are suited for the occasion. If for example, the patient is below the age of fifteen, MindSoothe will not be suitable for him. Do not take your treatment in your own hand because even though these nerve tonics are harmless and do not have any side effect, they are after all meant for the most delicate organ of our body. Every company worth its name will have experts panel to answer your queries. Get in touch with them before you buy a product.
Then again, there are people like Joe Barry McDonagh who after being cured of their own panic attack did not forget what it was like. Joe Barry realized that the panic attack is caused by the fear of panic attack itself. An attack gives rise to the fear of another attack, which in turn causes another attack and a vicious circle is created. He also realized that if one has to cure himself, he has to break this circle and medicines cannot help you there.
While use of nerve tonic can give you temporary respite, therapies can help you more. Joe Barry McDonagh recommends an advanced mode of cognitive behavioral therapy to help people get rid of their panic attack. So does Linden Method promoted by Charles Linden. Both of them talk about the same loop, but in a different language; both of them talk about breaking the loop to be permanently cured of the panic attack, but in different languages.
However, before you do anything, you must get yourself diagnosed. You must be sure that what is happening to you is because of panic disorder and nothing else. To have a proper diagnosis, you must contact a psychiatrist, who is either an MD or DO. Once you have made the proper diagnosis, you have the option to choose how you are going to have your treatment. Will you walk the conventional path or through the path, that Joe Barry or Charles Linden has shown? It is up to you to decide.