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Panic Attack
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 274450" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>Kjs, panic attacks shouldn't really be a big deal. But to the person having one, they can be terrifying. And easy child should be ashamed of himself, being so narrow-minded and judgemental. As for blaming you - I have one thing for you to say. "Oh, for Pete's sake!" and walk away.</p><p></p><p>Panic attacks are NOT mental illness, not in my book. They have a distinct physical component which kicks in and makes it seem a lot worse.</p><p></p><p>Gone are the days when we can label aconditionas purely mentla, or purely physical. Medical science now accepts that the body and the mind are intertwined, you can't separate out medical consitions which ONLY affect the mind, or ONLY the body.</p><p></p><p>In your shoes, I would be giving difficult child a detailed lesson in human respiratory physiology. He probably needs to include cardiac physiology and maybe some endocrinology. He's smart enough. But in this - knowledge is power. I speak from experience. When I first started getting ectopic heartbeats, it could have been scary except by then I already had enough knowledge of cardiac function to know exactly what was happening to me and to realise that despite feeling like my heart was trying to break out of my chest, it was simply a delayed beat leading to extra filling time, leading to a bigger stretch of the h eart muscle and a corresponding harder contraction in response. It's all back to normal by the next heartbeat. And it's just one of those things; if it had continued I would have asked my GP to have my vagus nerve checked out.</p><p></p><p>Respiratory physiology will explain things like why you shouldn't hyperventilate before diving in order to stay underwater longer - it can be fatal even for experienced swimmers. And knowing why can keep you safe. Respiratory physiology also explains why you get those weird symptoms during a panic attack, the pins & needles in the face (especially lips), fingers, toes etc. It also explains how to fix it fast. But you need to haver that academic knowledge, in order to be able to think clearly and not let your anxiety run away with you. Those physical feelings have a physical cause and it is lack of carbon dioxide. Our bodies NEED carbon dioxide in orde to fully function properly. It's also going to have a slight effect on the blood pH and this is why you feel the physical symptoms. But in the meantime, every cell in the body is constantly working hard and in doing so, is using up oxygen (and other raw mterials) and producing metabolites (which includes carbon dioxide). These metabolites all tend to dilate blood vessels in their local area. That's why exercising muscle (which has a higher level of metabolites) tends to have dilated capillaries, which helps more blood flow into those exercising parts and this fuels them as well ascleans them out.</p><p></p><p>It's all very marvellous, really. Fascinating stuff.</p><p></p><p>So my serious suggestion - find a physiology student or a medical student (we covered it in 2nd year) or the local doctor, and ask them for a loan of their textbook on respiratory physiology. You study it with difficult child and go over it together so you BOTH understand what is happening in the body when he over-breathes and exactly where these sensations come from. I would also ask for a referral to a therapist who can use CBT to help difficult child 'switch off' the panic attack and get back to a normal breathing pattern.</p><p></p><p>YOu may not need the CBT - knowledge may be enough. Or the CBT may help finish the job and be the nail in the coffin for any future panic attacks.</p><p></p><p>But panic attacks - definitely a physical component. Those symptoms he reports have a clear physical cause. But it's short-term and purely due to loss of carbon dioxide and resulting short-term acid imbalance in the bloodstream. If you're going into hospital for surgery, chances are the anaesthetist induces the same thing in you once you're unconscious, before the surgeon makes his first cut. Again, because "blowing off" your supply of carbon dioxide by putting you on pure oxygen for a few minutes, means there is a lot less bleeding from the surgery.</p><p></p><p>Again, this may be not in practice these days, my training is very out of date. But that is what science and medication students were being taught back in my day (about 20 years ago now).</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 274450, member: 1991"] Kjs, panic attacks shouldn't really be a big deal. But to the person having one, they can be terrifying. And easy child should be ashamed of himself, being so narrow-minded and judgemental. As for blaming you - I have one thing for you to say. "Oh, for Pete's sake!" and walk away. Panic attacks are NOT mental illness, not in my book. They have a distinct physical component which kicks in and makes it seem a lot worse. Gone are the days when we can label aconditionas purely mentla, or purely physical. Medical science now accepts that the body and the mind are intertwined, you can't separate out medical consitions which ONLY affect the mind, or ONLY the body. In your shoes, I would be giving difficult child a detailed lesson in human respiratory physiology. He probably needs to include cardiac physiology and maybe some endocrinology. He's smart enough. But in this - knowledge is power. I speak from experience. When I first started getting ectopic heartbeats, it could have been scary except by then I already had enough knowledge of cardiac function to know exactly what was happening to me and to realise that despite feeling like my heart was trying to break out of my chest, it was simply a delayed beat leading to extra filling time, leading to a bigger stretch of the h eart muscle and a corresponding harder contraction in response. It's all back to normal by the next heartbeat. And it's just one of those things; if it had continued I would have asked my GP to have my vagus nerve checked out. Respiratory physiology will explain things like why you shouldn't hyperventilate before diving in order to stay underwater longer - it can be fatal even for experienced swimmers. And knowing why can keep you safe. Respiratory physiology also explains why you get those weird symptoms during a panic attack, the pins & needles in the face (especially lips), fingers, toes etc. It also explains how to fix it fast. But you need to haver that academic knowledge, in order to be able to think clearly and not let your anxiety run away with you. Those physical feelings have a physical cause and it is lack of carbon dioxide. Our bodies NEED carbon dioxide in orde to fully function properly. It's also going to have a slight effect on the blood pH and this is why you feel the physical symptoms. But in the meantime, every cell in the body is constantly working hard and in doing so, is using up oxygen (and other raw mterials) and producing metabolites (which includes carbon dioxide). These metabolites all tend to dilate blood vessels in their local area. That's why exercising muscle (which has a higher level of metabolites) tends to have dilated capillaries, which helps more blood flow into those exercising parts and this fuels them as well ascleans them out. It's all very marvellous, really. Fascinating stuff. So my serious suggestion - find a physiology student or a medical student (we covered it in 2nd year) or the local doctor, and ask them for a loan of their textbook on respiratory physiology. You study it with difficult child and go over it together so you BOTH understand what is happening in the body when he over-breathes and exactly where these sensations come from. I would also ask for a referral to a therapist who can use CBT to help difficult child 'switch off' the panic attack and get back to a normal breathing pattern. YOu may not need the CBT - knowledge may be enough. Or the CBT may help finish the job and be the nail in the coffin for any future panic attacks. But panic attacks - definitely a physical component. Those symptoms he reports have a clear physical cause. But it's short-term and purely due to loss of carbon dioxide and resulting short-term acid imbalance in the bloodstream. If you're going into hospital for surgery, chances are the anaesthetist induces the same thing in you once you're unconscious, before the surgeon makes his first cut. Again, because "blowing off" your supply of carbon dioxide by putting you on pure oxygen for a few minutes, means there is a lot less bleeding from the surgery. Again, this may be not in practice these days, my training is very out of date. But that is what science and medication students were being taught back in my day (about 20 years ago now). Marg [/QUOTE]
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