Suffering from anxiety nd panick disorder

Well, i m suffering from acute anxiety, stress nd panick disorder since Sep 2005. The way my problem started was just like one day i got up in the morning to feel highly uneasy. I don't know why but i was really feeling like m gonna die right now. I felt for some time as if my heart beat going slow nd just about to end. Well, that was just the beginning. After that, a whole lot of problems started for me. Just like life completly changed for me from a life of relaxation to a life of fear and anxiety nd all that stuff of panick. In the beginning i did not come to know what all is happening to me... I always used to think of some worst kind of disease acting on me.. Later when i had got almost every part of my body scanned... I realized there is no such great prob. But then still m not being able to sort out what actually m suffering from... I gotta a panick attack just after a few days of the start of my disorder... that day it was like my head going empty... like something was badly crawling in my head.... thoughts just strike my head like swords being hit on it... nd i really feel very feary... i feel like there is no escape left from it... how will i survive now... how to get rid of this... well what's actually happening... i can't see nything wrong still i'm feeling like this.... m i really gone crazy... m an alien .... i still feel like m not like others... i can't remain at rest like others... my friends enjoy life nd i can't even though i wanna do so... these thoughts just strike me without my will nd it has become n everyday thing.. inspite of this i also feel like the world is no more real... as if there is a straight painting like screen in front of me(the environment) nd m walking into it... as if the ground also moves when i move... such strong sensations travel through my body.. also i get some odd chest pain almost everyday nd everytime.... on the left part of chest... nd also have head-ache nd some sort of light-headedness like head going away.... just not being able to get rid of these thoughts.
Ppl say its just anxiety due to me studying hard for the competetive exams... but i don't agree.. my God knows m not wrong... i have changed a lot... i think very badly for whole day nd these thoughts just not leaving me....
First of all i wanna know what exactly is this... nd how it caused suddenly..... nd it seems that after that attack my whole body must have been damaged... nd nothing comes in any test....
Also... i wanna know what changes shall i bring in my life to get rid of it... I have tried a regular course of anti-depressants as adviced by a neuro( after i got the second attack nd taken to ER) but, still i wasn't getting the satisfaction of mind which i suppose m in great need of...
Plzzzz help

panic attacks dont damage your body or send you crazy if you can find an antidepressant that works for you it will help a lot with anxiety and panic attacks, valium also helps taken as needed
self help books on recovery from agoraphobia and panic disorder have useful advice

lots of info about panic attacks on the net, as mentioned they are harmless

Well said Harry...

Well one more question, are my heartburns and chest pains and breathlessness and feeling like head whirling, etc. also related to panick disorder??? If not, should I take medicines for them or will they also be cured with the antidepressents.
Also, i wanna ask that m taking Alprax 0.25 mg (Contains Alprazolam) will that be okkk???

Yes it is.
Also if you say to yourself that if I do this and that, then I'll get a sore stomache.

Oh I bet today I will get a headache, my chest will hurt I just know it, just by even thinking about these symptoms will make them occur.

Learn to cope with them, remind yourself what they are, anxiety, nothing more... you can not die from anxiety like Harry pointed out. Yes you will feel horrible, and uncomfortable but nothing bad can happen.

Panic disorder or anxiety disorder period will not be cured by pills, medications for anxiety can help with the symptoms of anxiety but does not get rid of the problem, only you can do that by facing what it is that is causing you to get anxious and panic.

There are many different coping methods that you can use for anxiety.

Positive self-talk.. (I can now literally talk myself out of becoming anxious, I rarely have panic attacks anymore) and abdmominal breathing helps slow your racing heart etc.

Things like that can help you.
Also picking up a self-help book on anxiety can help you better undestand what anxiety is about, and how you can deal with the symptoms.

One book that did wonders for me is called: Don't Panic: By R.Reid Wilson ph.d FANTASTIC book, once I started to read it I couldn't put it down.

Another good book is called: The anxiety & phobia Workbook: by Edmund J. Bourne ph.d.

Before deciding on medication for your panic attacks go and talk to your family doctor, see what he/she says is the best route for you to go with this.

I've been on all kinds of different medications for anxiety including anti-depressants, anti-anxiety etc.

Talk to your doctor... s/he will help point you in the right direction.

Well, thank you very much for dat cool advice.. My family doctor had advised me Alprax twice a day... so i'm taking that. But different docs. have suggested diff. medicines. I get relief from all of them. But sometimes the symptoms of heartburns nd stomach upset, nausea do not feel like going at all. U said correct that somethings gonna in my mind evrytime that "i won't feel good, how will i pass my day with nausea again, or my heart will beat fast... the life is striking me hard.. what shall i do... Where shall i go... i'm not same as before... " such bad thoughts do crumble my mind all the time... but they come instantly, especially the moment i step out of my house.... M not getting rid of them.. .Its like they have become a part of my rest of the life. Well wht can i do abt. these bad thoughts. Sometimes its like i feel feary in general while going out nd these thoughts come instantly. Its like i hv become overconcious abt. myself, nd surrounding. I think until nd unless i won't stop thinking abt myself, i won't get rid of these thoughts.
Well i will keep informing u of my recovery nd thnx again.

If you just started your meds, or haven't been on them a long time you are likely expierencing side effects.

I've been on different meds, some worked better then others.

Of the thoughts of anxiety are really over-whelming can your doctor refer you to a therapist etc to help you deal with the anxiety?

There are alot of tecniques you can do to stop the negative though process ....

The best thing that has ever worked for me is positive self-talk.

Also writting down what you are feeling- even negative stuff, and reverse the thinking.

Like for example.

"My stomach hurts, there's not point in going there today, i'll just feel like crap..."

change that too.... example:

"Ok I know my stomach is feeling a bit nauseated, but that's ok. Worse comes to worse if I am really bothered by it i'll take gravol, or drink some gingerale, that will help. Besides I know it's my anxiety, once I'm there it will go away, it always does. I will be fine. I'll be ok..."

etc....

That will work, but the thing is that you have to constantly be reminding yourself to say those type of things so it's engrained... so to speak.

Also there are alot of self-help books out there that are great for anxiety.

Try going to your library or bookstore, browse some and see if any of the books catches your interest.
My favorite book on anxiety is called Don't Panic overcoming panic disorder... it's by R. Reid Wilson ph.d fantastic book.
That helped me deal with alot of what you are feeling now....

Keep us updated...

valium type meds are often taken with an antidepressant med anxiety often effects the stomach. read up about GERD and acid reflux on the net

The things aren't going away. Plz help me out... My parents don't want to take me to a Psychiatrist or a therapist and neither the symptoms going away.... I still have heartburns everyday and have to take medicines for it. I everyday end up doing positive self-talk, but still get the same thoughts again nd again.. Will it end up ever...??? Yes, the things aren't of the same degree as they were before... but I think of death everyday nd everytime... The feeling of end of life... unreality etc. rn't going... not even with the meds i take.... What more can i do???