severe anxiety .. help

The night before thanksgiving I woke up from a deep sleep having a hard time breathing & I felt cold and clammy and really shakey my heart felt like it was pounding out of my chest I have never suffered from anything like this before in my life..I got so scared and rushed to the nearest ER when I got there I was hyperventilating and a big mess!! The dr hooked me up to the ECG and everything seemed okay besides the tachy(130bpm resting) heart rate:/ so I was diagnosed with severe anxiety & was prescribed Ativan for the attacks. Since then I have had about six more episodes and all of them end up in the same symptoms... the Ativan helps a lot after a hr of me taking it but do any of you ladies have any advice that can help before they get so severe I can't breath and feel doomed  I'm so traumatized now.. I see my dr tomorrow to discuss a more longterm medication being that I am scared to get addicted to the ativan being that it is so highly addictive. This anxiety has made it so I'm not hungry and don't want to eat.. I don't want to leave the house and I had to drop my nursing classes I was taking because right now I'm a huge emotional wreck.. please any advice will be appreciated<3

I suffer anxiety too. I would recommend staying away from medicine, but thats just me. Breathing and visualisation exercises are very helpful. Also it usually stems from stress and counselling can be a great help. St johns wart, rescue remedy and valerian tea are all good natural remedies. The valerian tea needs a build up so it takes a few weeks, but so does prescription meds so give it a go  

Medications do need time to build up. I do alot of visualization, deep breathing when in an attack. When I feel one coming on I remove myself from the situation.

positive mantras and chanting (silently in your head or you may look loco) helps. Try and identify your triggers and take measures to avoid them or anticipate and control them. Hang in there. I didnt find the medication helpful at all, made me worse. visualisation techniques require a lot of dedication, you really need to focus and believe.

<blockquote><b>Quoting HopingforaMiracle:</b>" Medications do need time to build up. I do alot of visualization, deep breathing when in an attack. When I feel one coming on I remove myself from the situation."</blockquote>



My whole problem too is that I don't know what is causing the attacks  I can't pin point it

<blockquote><b>Quoting triple threat ♡.:</b>" <blockquote><b>Quoting HopingforaMiracle:</b>" Medications do need time to build up. ... [snip!] ... situation."</blockquote> My whole problem too is that I don't know what is causing the attacks  I can't pin point it"</blockquote>




Alot of things trigger mine. I can't avoid everything that does or else I would just stop living. But I do know how I feel before one comes on

<blockquote><b>Quoting HopingforaMiracle:</b>" <blockquote><b>Quoting triple threat ♡.:</b>" <blockquote><b>Quoting ... [snip!] ... trigger mine. I can't avoid everything that does or else I would just stop living. But I do know how I feel before one comes on"</blockquote>




I think I have so many triggers too & I feel like someones sitting on my chest before it gets fullblown so I have been taking the ativan prn avoiding it unless I absolutely need it

<blockquote><b>Quoting triple threat ♡.:</b>" <blockquote><b>Quoting HopingforaMiracle:</b>" <blockquote><b>Quoting triple ... [snip!] ... sitting on my chest before it gets fullblown so I have been taking the ativan prn avoiding it unless I absolutely need it"</blockquote>



I see. I'm on Ativan scheduled.