On 6/3/2014 Goldie76 said:
Below is the link to the service to take you across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge if you are too timid to tackle it. Business must be booming.
http://www.kentislandexpress.com/
Goldie, I've only posted on this forum a couple of times, but when I saw this thread I just had to read it. When I got to yours about the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, I almost fell off my chair. I lived in Maryland for part of my growing up and young adult years, and drove across the bridge many times - before there were two. But in the early 90's, I was under extreme stress on my job and started having panic attacks (I've had anxiety disorder for most of my life)--at first had no idea what was happening to me. I agree with those here who say people can be sympathetic, but they can never understand about panic attacks unless they experience them. I thought I had them under control, but I went up to go to Ocean City with an old friend of mine who lives in West Virginia. We took two cars because my sister lived near Annapolis and they had a business on the Eastern Shore, and when we came back from the beach, I was going to spend the night with her before coming back to NC, and my friend went back to WV. To make a long story short, I drove over the bridge that had one lane going to the beach and two lanes coming from, and the other bridge was to my right. I was behind a big van and couldn't see anything in front of me, so when we got to the main span, all I could see was girders flying by. I had to pull off and stop when we got across and my hands were white from gripping the wheel. We went on to the beach, but I realized I could NOT drive back across. We called the service, and they said because of the timing of our return trip, they could not take my car. We had to take my car to my BIL's place of business near the bridge and leave it-he drove it back across the bridge and to their house for me. I still have problems with bridges bigger than over a small river but I manage, however, I don't think I could ever drive over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge again!
natesgrandma, I so sympathize with you for what you are going through. I still occasionally feel like I'm starting to have a panic attack, but I do take the generic form of Xanax, which works in about 20 minutes and does help, and I don't know what I would do without it. I have taken the anti-depressant Lexapro which can help with anxiety as well-in fact, some people take it specifically for anxiety. I'm sure you've been told about the deep breathing, etc. but I have a couple of things that I do.
I have an oil painting of a winter scene, a snowy stream and woods at night, with snowflakes falling. I LOVE this painting, and somehow I can get myself right into it. I put it on a chair beside my bed and lie down and just look at it, imagining myself there in the quiet of a snowy night in the woods, then close my eyes and relax-still seeing myself there. It really does help to calm me along with the med.
Sometimes, I get my little cat and lie down on the couch and snuggle with her and just close my eyes and breathe. Years ago, I did the same thing with a little miniature poodle that was my "baby". They have such a soothing effect on me. Once in a while, I just call my son on the phone and talk to him for a little while-he understands about what is happening to me.
Maybe you could come up with something special for yourself that is soothing and relaxing for you - concentrating on that can help break the cycle of the panic attack. It's like a circle..the more you think about what's happening to your body (it's your subconscious that has a lot to do with it), the worse the symptoms get, and the more you think about it, the worse it gets, etc. So if you can break that cycle, the panic attack will start to go away.
I sincerely hope you will be able to get it under control - it definitely can be a very debilitating illness.
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