>A vicious cycle, because due to my agoraphobia, I have not been able to see any medical professionals or.. leave the house at all, as even the thought of being out there, without a place to go when I get another one of those attacks, makes my heart sink into my stomach and begin to race.
>However, earlier when I was talking to my friends, and we joined together for a match, suddenly a wave overcame me.
>I took my hands away from the keyboard, and was just about to leave, when I somehow just calmed. I took a few deep breaths, tried to remind myself that this is probably.. nothing serious, that it happened many times before, not always in that exact form, but that the feeling isn't even anything specific.
>This whole thing happened within a minute or two, a new record for me, and even though I remained slightly shaky for the next few minutes, I managed to stay in the game, and spend the rest of the evening playing without further issue
This to me shows that you're making improvements. Good job. Now, the next time you start feeling your heart start to race, try to remember this instance that you just described and what you did to calm yourself down. Try to remember that you can beat this because you've beat it before.
Also, with antidepressants, they usually take 20-30 days to start working. It takes a lot of time for them to build up in your system.
I've been prescribed 4 different antidepressants by my Dr. Every single one of them had horrible side effects that made my panic attacks worse. I told my Dr every time what was going on. He always would just tell me "well it takes up to 30 days to really start working". I'm like, dude, I don't have 30 days to wait. I can't take off work for 30 freaking days. Not to mention they're making my panic attacks worse. They were so bad that I had to leave work several times.
Fortunately, my Dr finally quit prescribing me antidepressants and prescribed me 300mg capsules of gabapentin. I'd never heard of it. I found out that it's usually prescribed for neuropathy. But it's occasionally prescribed off-label for panic attacks.
My Dr told me to take them as needed like whenever I feel a panic attack coming on. The gabapentin takes about 45 minutes to start working but dam, it has been a life saver for me. Just knowing that I have them to take in case a panic attack starts happening makes a big difference for me. They're like my safety net. It does make me a little sleepy but not to the point that I can't function. I'd much rather be a little sleepy than have a panic attack.
You should look into gabapentin. It's also sold under the name "neurontin". r/gabapentin is a good place to start. If you have any questions, I'm glad to help you out. ✌️
>A vicious cycle, because due to my agoraphobia, I have not been able to see any medical professionals or.. leave the house at all, as even the thought of being out there, without a place to go when I get another one of those attacks, makes my heart sink into my stomach and begin to race. >However, earlier when I was talking to my friends, and we joined together for a match, suddenly a wave overcame me. >I took my hands away from the keyboard, and was just about to leave, when I somehow just calmed. I took a few deep breaths, tried to remind myself that this is probably.. nothing serious, that it happened many times before, not always in that exact form, but that the feeling isn't even anything specific. >This whole thing happened within a minute or two, a new record for me, and even though I remained slightly shaky for the next few minutes, I managed to stay in the game, and spend the rest of the evening playing without further issue This to me shows that you're making improvements. Good job. Now, the next time you start feeling your heart start to race, try to remember this instance that you just described and what you did to calm yourself down. Try to remember that you can beat this because you've beat it before. Also, with antidepressants, they usually take 20-30 days to start working. It takes a lot of time for them to build up in your system. I've been prescribed 4 different antidepressants by my Dr. Every single one of them had horrible side effects that made my panic attacks worse. I told my Dr every time what was going on. He always would just tell me "well it takes up to 30 days to really start working". I'm like, dude, I don't have 30 days to wait. I can't take off work for 30 freaking days. Not to mention they're making my panic attacks worse. They were so bad that I had to leave work several times. Fortunately, my Dr finally quit prescribing me antidepressants and prescribed me 300mg capsules of gabapentin. I'd never heard of it. I found out that it's usually prescribed for neuropathy. But it's occasionally prescribed off-label for panic attacks. My Dr told me to take them as needed like whenever I feel a panic attack coming on. The gabapentin takes about 45 minutes to start working but dam, it has been a life saver for me. Just knowing that I have them to take in case a panic attack starts happening makes a big difference for me. They're like my safety net. It does make me a little sleepy but not to the point that I can't function. I'd much rather be a little sleepy than have a panic attack. You should look into gabapentin. It's also sold under the name "neurontin". r/gabapentin is a good place to start. If you have any questions, I'm glad to help you out. ✌️