Aware this may be the worst possible board to have asked this.  Still hopeful.  

sorry to hear that, tf. 

Sounds like self-help isn't working so maybe go to your GP?

Is the anxiety about anything specific, eg work?  If so then try stuff like turning off your work phone in the evenings or using some holiday to take a break and regroup.

Sounds like it is severe enough that you should talk to your GP.

tf - have just seen your thread about letting agents.

SELL THE BTL PROPERTY, PACK IN WORK AND TAKE A YEAR OFF.

Thx...

Kimmy - thx, wouldnt that be nice!  Got a few though, and despite the hassle, have doggedly stuck to them with the aim of clearing the mortgage...!  

Sell the BTLs and clear the mortgage....?

Not there yet.  

Tricky thing is... and reason posting here is... not really anyone can talk to about this.  And as my other half has difficulty coping with anything really, would just add to her negativity.  Hence rof.  !  

you should be able to talk to your partner, tf.

Sounds like the gp is your first port of call. Consider asking for a referring to a counsellor, or find one privately (which would be quicker).

I would just go back to the cheerful person I appear to others to be and pretend... but have been trying that and its not gone away.

With the state of the future of the country I’m surprised more people aren’t experiencing this.  You aren’t alone by any measure.  Firstly, stuff you can do yourself - do you take time for 20 minutes of doing nothing and not worrying about anything? Some call it mindful meditation, others just call it ‘me time’ either way it’s a handy thing to do, go look up some techniques.

Do you do much exercise? An anxiety attack can be caused by all sorts of things including the body wanting to let off steam physically.  Drains various hormones, gives your body a legitimate reason to flood you with adrenaline and can alleviate some of these symptoms.

Talking to a GP once you’ve tried a few things like this yourself is a good plan but be aware That they may try a few tablets on you.  Betablockers- generally a low dose which can help lower the heart rate and prevent surges of adrenaline.  But they can cause you to put on weight (that’s what happened to me).  Or SSRIs like sertraline or citalopramen, they didn’t do anything for me but some have had great success however some have also said it made them feel like a zombie.

Talking therapies, including a private counsellor or taking Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can also really help.  

Hope that’s of some use.  Like I said, you’re not alone by any measure.  Good luck. :)

Hypnotherapy helped my anxiety hugely along with exercising regularly. Hope it subsides for you xx 

Recovered sufferer here. At their worst mine were crippling. I had to force myself into court and weekends it all cane flooding out with repeated attacks and anxiety at all times. I can empathise completely. My first step to getting it sorted was realising loads of professional people experience this. I realised I wasn’t on my own and I could deal with it. 

I managed to get some CBT which worked wonders. It really helped reset my brain and appealed to the logical part of me. 

Also what Teclis said re exercise. The panic is your body’s physiological response to a surge of adrenaline. Now I exercise a lot and it keeps it at bay. Then, as a short term measure, I’d grab a pillow and pummel it really hard! I know it sounds bonkers but that burst of grrrrrgh and release of energy often stopped an attack dead. The ridiculousness of what I was doing also made me see the funny side of it all. Give it a try. Do star jumps. Run up and down the stairs. If you’re outside and it creeps up, jog. Anything to release the adrenaline. 

I wish you well with it. It can be beaten. I used to think I might have to give up my job because the fear of being in court was so great. Now I can deliver day long closing speeches and, although nervous, I recognise the feeling as excitement not fear. Take care. 

ok thx , that is so helpful cant even say.

Never had panic attacks but did have a period of anxiety and sleeplessness.  Went to the GP. 

When I listed them out I did actually have a lot of stresssful situational things going on - my dad was terminally ill, my wife and I had lost a baby, work was relentless with a pretty horrible boss.

Even just telling the GP helped me realise that it was no bloody wonder I was stressed.  Didn’t need treatment.  

The above may be no use at all but I’d start by taking it seriously enough to see someone.

Other half takes citalopram for it and I can echo the comment above about some of the side effects.  However they work for her and have made a huge huge difference so don't write them off.

GP pushed her down the talking therapies route first, but that was counter-productive in her case. I will suggest Bailey's pillow beating/star jump technique to her and see how she gets on!

Definitely speak to your GP though. My wife found just doing that to be quite a useful milestone in dealing them.

Exercise.  Run yourself stupid and you will stop panicking.  

It sounds awful. There seems to be so much more of tihs about or perhaps people just admit it. I haven't had it but seeing the GP might be a good start.

Also if particular tasks make you particularly bad may be see if any changes can be made to remove those things that cause the problem.

Not convinced that some people on this thread have had genuine panic attacks - they’re not just moments of anxiety. When I had my first I was in a restaurant with my girlfriend and had to literally run outside and escape. In my latest I wanted to throw myself off a gorge to escape. A bit of exercise doesn’t cure it ffs.

Very clear strategy plans of how to cope mid-attack are critical.

Wilfred - exercise alone won't cure anxiety and panic attacks but it's an important step in helping the body chemistry settle down.  The idea is to take a number of these things together, exercise, therapy either talking or pharmaceutical, meditation, purging difficult stuff, establishing trigger mechanisms etc.  

Oh I had them. Several times a week. I recall the first when I had to stagger off the tube because I thought I was having a heart attack. Another when I thought my legs were giving way and I’d black out. They cause different symptoms in all of us. Don’t denigrate one person’s experience because it wasn’t on all fours with yours. 

Exercise isn’t a cure all. It helps. And anything that does that is surely worth a try. 

TF another tip I was given by a CBT counsellor was to welcome an attack. This sounds odd I know. But when you feel it rising dig into it and say go on then. You know it’s not going to kill you. It’s about taking the fear out of it. I used to avoid things that triggered attacks but, for me, it was the worst thing to do. It was basically about throwing myself at the trigger and realising I’d come out unscathed that really took the power of the fear away. 

I find that not prevaricating helps enormously.  I can get into a worry cycle if I'm not careful, so I do force myself to do things which are a "stopper" on progressing a solution to the worry.

The more I address things the less I worry.

I have had crippling periods of anxiety in my life when I could barely function. 

I recommend you start with a baby step.  Do one thing, give yourself credit then do another.... baby steps....

@Teclis 1st Feb 17:38, and not wanting to make light of, or distract too much from, the OP, but I think much of the country is indeed in throws of anxiety and panic.  It's all over the media in relation to just about everything: Brexit, climate change, racism, sexism, pollution, calories etc. etc.  I think it's a revival of the ancient fear of the sky falling on our heads, but since we fancy ourselves as rational we need to be able to point to some statistics and throw some theory around while panicking.

I've had these but only as a result of my claustrophobia. Not sure that helps much tbf.