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When I was suffering from panic attacks it was the most miserable time of my life (in my early 20's). I hope she does read the book, it was REALLY helpful. I did therapy, meds and read this book. The book is what made the difference because I understood what caused the panic attacks.
Yeh..I am like a freakin hippie without caffine...
Guess what I am not avoiding lately!
Check the preservatives in the ings you used.
Look for the common trigger ones.
Pesticide in the veggies?
You know they work the bugs into a frenzy (some of them) so it can do the same to people.
Other than that its just kinda carby or high calories. Excess eating can make it go off too.
I take Paxil and I get a months supply for it at Walmart for $4. If you can get her into see an MD that can give her a script, there are SOME meds that don't cost much. If she is having this kind of problem and has no job, she might qualify for Medicaid, you don't have to be pregnant to qualify. I wish her well.
I can't imagine what life would be like without Paxil.
When I was suffering from panic attacks it was the most miserable time of my life (in my early 20's). I hope she does read the book, it was REALLY helpful. I did therapy, meds and read this book. The book is what made the difference because I understood what caused the panic attacks.
Also, caffeine should be avoided completely.
I have links open to the book, will see what she says.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pitt_transplant
Yeh..I am like a freakin hippie without caffine...
Guess what I am not avoiding lately!
Check the preservatives in the ings you used.
Look for the common trigger ones.
Pesticide in the veggies?
You know they work the bugs into a frenzy (some of them) so it can do the same to people.
Other than that its just kinda carby or high calories. Excess eating can make it go off too.
I spoke to her more about last nights dinner and she said she ate a lot of potato with butter, same as when we had baked potato, so I'll try to find something different for her.
She's doing ok so far, the fact that her daughter is having a great day is also a help.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lindsey_Mcfarren
I take Paxil and I get a months supply for it at Walmart for $4. If you can get her into see an MD that can give her a script, there are SOME meds that don't cost much. If she is having this kind of problem and has no job, she might qualify for Medicaid, you don't have to be pregnant to qualify. I wish her well.
I can't imagine what life would be like without Paxil.
I'll see if I can find out what her state aide was. I'm trying to give her a little space while the baby is sleeping.
She's pretty much in your shoes Lindsey, parent wise; just found the bio's a few months ago, didn't go well.
I had to deal with my own daughter today in addition to this, so I wasn't able to do all I wanted. Tomorrow is another day, will see about her insurance & calling her doctor to see if he will call something in. I doubt he will since she's out of state but you never know.
Hopefully we can find a happy medium for her, whether it's foods, meds and seeing if she will talk more. Her kid has been very clingy the last week so we haven't had much time for anything other then getting the kid to calm down.
After I posted yesterday she had another attack. The baby was sleeping, she was on one of the computers and had to get up and lay down. She'd had more mashed potatoes with her late lunch, panic attack was probably an hour later. The other thing I know she had was white chocolate, which I told her she probably shouldn't eat either right now. From what she said, it sounded like a mild attack unlike the other night.
Everything was calm in the house, she said she had no clue why it came on like that and now wonders if it's the potatoes, so we'll see. She did not have them with dinner last night and did great even when her daughter wasn't falling asleep by 10pm.
She's not up yet but I'll ask her how her night went when she gets up.
She drank a little sprite, (sipping on it) maybe 1/2 a can & drank water most of the day.
Do not mix drugs. Do not take St. John's wort. St. John's wort affects the metabolism of many, many drugs... which will alter how strong the medicine's effect is and how long it will stay in the body. If your daughter can't continue her meds, then the book mentioned should be followed. Essentially, anxiety can have a biological, environmental, or combined cause. But that doesn't matter. Whatever the cause, the solution is still the same. Meds and/or therapy (with a psychologist or on your own). The easiest thing you can do is to make sure her diet is free of stimulants--caffeine being chief among them. Chocolate also has caffeine. Second is to not make a big deal about panic attacks. The more attention you give her, the more she feels like it's a big deal. The ironic part of a panic attack is that the more you accept it for what it is, the less common they become. The harshest way to deal with a panic attack is to just let her suffer through it. Panic attacks don't kill people (if it's true panic, and not some underlying cause), so the best "medicine" is desensitization---the more panic attacks you have, the more you just get used to feeling crappy and the less upset you get. But that's not fun for the person going through it. When she gets a panic attack, encourage her to find a quiet place to relax. Emphasize that you CAN'T stop a panic attack, you can only ride it out. The less worried you are, the quicker it will go away. Try practicing relaxation techniques, even when a panic attack isn't there. One relaxation technique is to breath in for 5 seconds, making sure your belly rises (if only your chest rises, it means your muscles are too tense). Hold it for a few seconds, then breathe out for 5 seconds. Repeat. In the meanwhile, focus your attention on tensing groups of muscles, starting from your feet and going to your head. For example, curl your toes as hard as you can and hold it for a count of 5, then relax completely to a count of five. Then move on to your calves, etc. It seems pretty silly, and it doesn't seem to help much at first, but over time you do learn to relax and you ingraine this thought into your mind that it's "quiet time". Be sympathetic, but don't be too involved. Panic attack is, unfortunately, a person issue. The greatest challenge to overcoming it is confidence, and that can only be gained by personal growth.
She had a great day yesterday even though her daughter didn't.
We did not get to look into her insurance because we were side tracked trying to find out if her child had any. Turns out that after many calls to the "baby daddy" she does not have insurance either. We are questioning an ear infection and have put a call into the clinic here.
My niece stopped the imipram HCL, she's only taken a few pills; as I said it was a new script. She does not want to take it, and being an adult I can't force her.
She did not have caffeine or potato yesterday, she watched what foods she put in her body.
The other night she came downstairs begging for me to call an ambulance. I told her she was having a panic attack and to give me her child and for her and my teen daughter to go outside to get air. I did not panic, I'm like my dad who also did not and after being around him every day; he was on the rescue squad, I'm not the panic type and am able to stay cool even with my own kids. My niece is aware she's having panic attacks, she worked through it the other night with my BIL (her dad); praying through it.
We'll see how today goes, I think she's going to be ok. She said that while she's stressed, she wasn't feeling the way she did the other night, which leads me to believe it was either the new meds or what she ate, or a combination of them. We'll revisit the potatoes another day to be sure.
The big stress I think is the child. No one has taught her how to get the child on a schedule or how to put her to bed at a decent time. She also usually gives in when the child whines, something I don't do. I am trying to teach her how not to give in.
She didn't give the child a nap yesterday, made sure she kept her busy. We then went to Walmart to pick up baby motrin. The baby wanted out of the cart (I was pushing it, she was mad at me). She was walking, then started whining to be picked up. I explained to my niece to give her a choice, walk or cart & to not give in. She did good, kept her cool. The child adjusted.
I gave her 2 notebooks to write in. We got the baby to sleep by 8pm, so she decided to journal. She told me she used to, one of the girls homes she was in they taught her that. We'll see how it works. I told her that she should get some sleep since the baby was up most of the night, so hopefully she used her time wisely.
I keep trying to reinforce the positive. Right now she's here and she's safe; we'll deal with the rest in the next 2 weeks.
I don't think she's used her inhaler since the other night.
My niece is visiting us for a few weeks. She's been having serious panic attacks, the meds she was given are almost gone, and we just found out this morning, she does not have health insurance.
Is there anything i can buy naturally or over the counter for her?
I know there's a long post about it, started to read it but it's long...
If I were in your shoes I'd do this:
Get and keep in stock all her favorite foods.
Don't suggest going out....let her tell you she wants to go out and do something.
Don't put responsibility on her so if you have other children, don't ask her to babysit. Even asking to clean the litter box could set her off.
Allow her to offer to assist you.
Those few weeks will go by in a flash.
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