Now My Daughters having them

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-08-2004
Now My Daughters having them
4
Sun, 03-20-2005 - 5:10am
Hi, I've posted here a few times and now my oldest daughter is having them. She actually started gettin panic attacks a few years ago when i started having mine. They came frequently for awhile then they subsided, now last nite at her dad's house she called me and told me she got scared all of a sudden when the dog barked and she felt like she was going to faint, she said she fell to the floor and saw a black whole, then my x got on the phone and told me she had eaten, but mostly junk so i told him to talk to her calmly and put a cold cloth on her neck, she said she was curled in a ball on the couch and her breathing was fast i could hear it, i talked to her calmly, i didn't want to make a big deal about it so i just talked to her for a few mins about different things. I called later and he told me she was ok and sleeping now. I don't want her to go through this, I have three girls and they know about my problem. She's 11 years old and she hasn't been eating well at all, she's also hitting puberty full force, but has yet to start her period, she has been complaing alot about backaches, stomaches. My panic stemmed from a condition I didn't know I had till after the start of the attacks, which was 2 extra opeings in my heart, my girls seen me in full blown panic, and black outs, and wearing a heart monitor for almost a year because the dr.s thought it was just flat out anxiety untill my heart rate was recorded at 225, which a specailist at umass said was hard to believe untill he got the readings and then couldn't apologize enough. I'm on meds for my panic, and I don't want her to be i want her to beat it, and i just need some advice if anyone's child is going through this and if they have beaten it, plase help i don't want her to go what i went through, she has head a head to toe physical. She's been to a heart dr, and she's fine, so it's just the basic panic. please help
laura
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Sun, 03-20-2005 - 12:14pm
Hi, Laura! Nice to see you back. I am sorry about your dd. This must be very difficult for you. Since we aren't professionals, we can only provide our experiences. For me, that would be meds & treatments that I have used as an adult. There are treatments available for children & if I was in your shoes & wanted the best for my dd, I would contact my family doctor for suggestions. Let us know what you decide. Sending P&PT's your way. Good luck. (((hugs))) jan



 

 


 



iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Sun, 03-20-2005 - 2:23pm

Hi Laura! Boy, do I know where you're coming from! I started having panic attacks after an asthma scare (it was only temporary, thank goodness) when I was in my 30s. It went away entirely until I hit 40, and then my heart started "skipping" around nonstop, and that started it up all over again. It doesn't take much to trigger a panic attack in someone who is genetically prone to it. Both my twin daughters (21 years old) and my son (31) are now experiencing anxiety and panic attacks. My son is trying to be "tough" and fight it off. I tell him he needs to RELAX and float through it, but he's doing the opposite, and its hard to tell him anything. My daughters have it off and on, and it hasn't been really severe yet, but I really fear for them, considering what I've been through for the last nine years. Eleven is really young, and I would definately get your daughter to the doctor (and maybe a psychiatrist as well) as soon as you possibly can. Medication can help so much. Don't let her continue to suffer. Sometimes it takes trial and error to find the right medication, but action needs to be taken now, before she gets much worse. She needs to learn coping methods, because, as you know, you feel so completely helpless when it happens because you feel like you have no control. The book Hope and Help for your Nerves, by Claire Weekes has helped me more than anything else I've read on anxiety (and I've read a LOT!) I've seen it on Amazon. I keep it by my bed, and its so reassuring to read, especially in the middle of a panic attack. Good luck to you and your daughter! Email me anytime. I'm an old-timer with anxiety! Seaecho1@hotmail.com

Randi

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2003
Sun, 03-20-2005 - 3:25pm
Hi Randi.. My 15 year old son has panic attacks and OCD.. Signs of it coming out any ways the (OCD).. He started seeing a therapist

 C  >^. A .

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Mon, 03-21-2005 - 6:24pm

Hi Cat! Well, everyone is different, but almost everything I've read sings the praises of relaxing through a panic attack. The book Hope and Help for your Nerves explains exactly how to do this, and its helped me more than anything else I've ever read on the subject. It talks about "floating" through panic attacks, giving into them, and letting them do with you what they will. Like diving right into an ocean wave, instead of trying to run away from it. Letting it toss you about. There is no way through it other than to dive right in. No way around, over or under it. It states that cure lies in the places you fear most - cure lies on the OTHER side. It explained things so I could understand, and gave me things to practice. If you have something to work on, you take some power back, and you don't feel so completely helpless. Eventually, I started getting better, and am still improving, although its a very long, difficult process. I won't tell you its easy in any way. But believe me, that book comforted me so much! I have panic attacks as well as physical (psychosomatic) symptoms from my anxiety, so I really needed help badly. This book is by my bedside at all times. The breathing issue is one of the hardest to deal with. You are basically hyperventilating when this happens, and the more you try to get air, the harder it seems to become. It isn't dangerous, but can be truly terrifying. Slow, deep, breathing with the STOMACH, not the CHEST is so important. I no longer have full blown panic attacks because I've learned how to relax through them, just like a rag doll. I was truly AMAZED at how fast I improved after doing the relaxing during an attack just a few times. You have to keep reminding yourself that you AREN'T dying, even though it certainly feels like you are. And that your mind and body are playing TRICKS on you. Very effective tricks, I should add! Please email me at any time. I am willing to try help anyone with this awful disorder and try to spare them the breakdown that I had.

Randi