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November 7, 2007 5:58 AM Subscribe
Panic attacks while driving on the freeway- Life is pretty good, never had an accident, I even *like* driving for the most part. What's the deal? I wanna fight back but is medicine my only recourse? I live in So Cal and I'm not going to be a damn hermit. I have to get over this.
Ive had these for a few years now. They scare the crap out of me, as they feel like I'm going to faint. If I try and take deep breaths to calm myself, I only increase the fainting sensation. Really, it feels like a huge rush of adrenaline combined with a wicked headrush. Not only am I terrified during these episodes that I'm going to crash, I also dont want to hurt anyone.
Ive racked my brain to come up with predictive indicators that one will come on - it does usually happen at night, but its happened during the day as well. If I'm stressed, sometimes it brings it on but if I'm calm as a cucumber they can come out of nowhere as well. The only thing I can say is that its made worse if I'm on a stretch of road (even a real short one) with a small side of the road to pull off on, or a distance between exits. Which is, you know, all over the place.
I'm really angry at myself that I cant conquer it. I can take alternate routes or surface streets, but that just seems like a cop out. I've been diagnosed as depressed since childhood and with (obviously) panic disorder, but except for this one stupid thing its not a huge issue in my life. I'm a pretty happy, functional person. I see a shrink once every few months (who hasn’t been able to help me on this issue) and in the past have been on Celexa. I went off it because I felt like I was "better" about 6 months ago. The driving panic attacks have just started again.
Am I just going to have to be on meds forever? It seems like a huge overmedication if its just for one issue (driving). Taking Xanex every time I drive also seems stupid.
Thanks for any reality checks/advice you might be able to give.
Ive had these for a few years now. They scare the crap out of me, as they feel like I'm going to faint. If I try and take deep breaths to calm myself, I only increase the fainting sensation. Really, it feels like a huge rush of adrenaline combined with a wicked headrush. Not only am I terrified during these episodes that I'm going to crash, I also dont want to hurt anyone.
Ive racked my brain to come up with predictive indicators that one will come on - it does usually happen at night, but its happened during the day as well. If I'm stressed, sometimes it brings it on but if I'm calm as a cucumber they can come out of nowhere as well. The only thing I can say is that its made worse if I'm on a stretch of road (even a real short one) with a small side of the road to pull off on, or a distance between exits. Which is, you know, all over the place.
I'm really angry at myself that I cant conquer it. I can take alternate routes or surface streets, but that just seems like a cop out. I've been diagnosed as depressed since childhood and with (obviously) panic disorder, but except for this one stupid thing its not a huge issue in my life. I'm a pretty happy, functional person. I see a shrink once every few months (who hasn’t been able to help me on this issue) and in the past have been on Celexa. I went off it because I felt like I was "better" about 6 months ago. The driving panic attacks have just started again.
Am I just going to have to be on meds forever? It seems like a huge overmedication if its just for one issue (driving). Taking Xanex every time I drive also seems stupid.
Thanks for any reality checks/advice you might be able to give.
Some of my panic attacks were totally triggered by driving. I did go on antidepressants (Celexa, then Paxil) to control my anxiety because it was out of control (I got to the point where I refused to drive anyplace but a select few locations). The meds did help it, but what helped more was CBT and having my therapist help me identify my irrational panic thoughts and change them. If you can find a new therapist who practices CBT, I think this could help a lot - it has a great success rate with anxiety disorders.
There are also many CBT workbooks you could try. One many people recommend are the Anxiety & Phobia Workbook.
posted by tastybrains at 6:15 AM on November 7, 2007
There are also many CBT workbooks you could try. One many people recommend are the Anxiety & Phobia Workbook.
posted by tastybrains at 6:15 AM on November 7, 2007
I stopped driving for a few years because of the same problem. I now take a very small dose of Ativan before I drive to stave off the attacks, and it has worked quite well (0.5 mg). I am now able to drive without it. I guess it took "practice" with the medication to prove that I can drive without having a panic attack, which allowed me to experience driving without constant fear. (I did the same thing for dental visits).
posted by nursegracer at 6:15 AM on November 7, 2007
posted by nursegracer at 6:15 AM on November 7, 2007
Panic attacks are a huge rush of adrenaline; the triggers can be all kinds of things, but the actual process is chemical. In your case, the trigger may be primarily visual rather than sourced in anxiety. If you can safely put your visor down and block out some of the sky from your field of vision, you might try that.
Tranquilizers are not the only anti-anxiety drugs available, and are probably a poor choice for panic attacks like these. You may also need to take a look at your stimulant use, particularly caffeine and energy drinks.
I think cognitive-behavioral therapy might be useful under these circumstances, at least to keep you from ramping yourself up just out of anxiety that you might have a panic attack, and also to see if you can identify the individual components that trigger these attacks so you can short-circuit the process before you get to the big adrenaline dump. Once that happens, there's not much you can do to make the hormones dissipate faster.
You have options, so don't give up before you've explored them. The anger you're directing at yourself is not productive; tackle this as a physical issue with psychological components.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:23 AM on November 7, 2007
Tranquilizers are not the only anti-anxiety drugs available, and are probably a poor choice for panic attacks like these. You may also need to take a look at your stimulant use, particularly caffeine and energy drinks.
I think cognitive-behavioral therapy might be useful under these circumstances, at least to keep you from ramping yourself up just out of anxiety that you might have a panic attack, and also to see if you can identify the individual components that trigger these attacks so you can short-circuit the process before you get to the big adrenaline dump. Once that happens, there's not much you can do to make the hormones dissipate faster.
You have options, so don't give up before you've explored them. The anger you're directing at yourself is not productive; tackle this as a physical issue with psychological components.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:23 AM on November 7, 2007
I just want to back up what Lyn is saying - I'd been consuming a lot of caffeine in the last couple of days, and my homelife is a little stressful (not a lot, just enough to notice) and I've been getting panic attacks far more often than previously. It wouldn't surprise me if the SoCal freeways were that just tiny additional stressor that might be pushing you over the edge, especially if you've been drinking caffeine.
posted by mckenney at 7:21 AM on November 7, 2007
posted by mckenney at 7:21 AM on November 7, 2007
The Anxiety & Phobia workbook comes highly recommended by mental health professionals, and deals precisely with your problem.
posted by limon at 7:50 AM on November 7, 2007
posted by limon at 7:50 AM on November 7, 2007
My completely made up theory was that my day to day life needed some bona fide outlets for the adrenalin that was manifesting itself in panic attacks so I took up snowboarding and I think that helped a lot on a number of fronts.
posted by zeoslap at 7:51 AM on November 7, 2007
posted by zeoslap at 7:51 AM on November 7, 2007
I used to have the same problem. For me, it was a control problem. My depression and anxiety were largely situational, so situations where I felt like I didn't have a safety net or didn't have complete control over my surroundings were liable to set me off into a panic attack.
This meant airplanes - my safety was literally in the hands of the pilot and there was nothing I could do if he or she were to fail.
On the freeway, I would also get them mostly at night, and pretty much 100% if I were driving up a steep hill. I am pretty certain it was brought on by the anxiety that you describe - feeling like if I were to pass out or otherwise fall apart, both myself and others would be in danger.
For myself, I worked in therapy and improved a lot of situations in my life that were causing this particular problem for me. I believe, in retrospect, that the places where I would have those breakdowns were mostly related to the fact that I was walking around day after day feeling that way ALL of the time - that I didn't have a safety net, that I couldn't break down or be weak even for a second, and sometimes the pressure would get to be too much. It was only when I was alone in my car and driving (in LA - where we all have to do too much driving) that I would even be able to give myself over to those thoughts, even subconsciously.
Obviously this is a personal thing and may not at all apply to you, but I figured it was worth telling you about, in case it helps.
You're not alone, though. I'm certain that it's very, very common.
And FWIW, I had very severe panic disorder throughout my 20s, and no longer experience panic attacks at this level at all, I can now fly without anxiety, drive without anxiety, and I have never taken any SSRIs or other meds. But they probably would have helped a lot, and I believe that I suffered needlessly for years.
posted by pazazygeek at 8:47 AM on November 7, 2007
This meant airplanes - my safety was literally in the hands of the pilot and there was nothing I could do if he or she were to fail.
On the freeway, I would also get them mostly at night, and pretty much 100% if I were driving up a steep hill. I am pretty certain it was brought on by the anxiety that you describe - feeling like if I were to pass out or otherwise fall apart, both myself and others would be in danger.
For myself, I worked in therapy and improved a lot of situations in my life that were causing this particular problem for me. I believe, in retrospect, that the places where I would have those breakdowns were mostly related to the fact that I was walking around day after day feeling that way ALL of the time - that I didn't have a safety net, that I couldn't break down or be weak even for a second, and sometimes the pressure would get to be too much. It was only when I was alone in my car and driving (in LA - where we all have to do too much driving) that I would even be able to give myself over to those thoughts, even subconsciously.
Obviously this is a personal thing and may not at all apply to you, but I figured it was worth telling you about, in case it helps.
You're not alone, though. I'm certain that it's very, very common.
And FWIW, I had very severe panic disorder throughout my 20s, and no longer experience panic attacks at this level at all, I can now fly without anxiety, drive without anxiety, and I have never taken any SSRIs or other meds. But they probably would have helped a lot, and I believe that I suffered needlessly for years.
posted by pazazygeek at 8:47 AM on November 7, 2007
Some meds promote anxiety attacks, in my case, Prozac and asthma inhalers both caused trouble, so check with a pharmacist. A cold, wet washcloth on the face really helps once an attack has started, so keeping a water bottle and cloth in the car might be a good idea; you'd have to get off the road of course. Music that is calming is a good idea; maybe you could change your drive-time radio station, or choose different cds. Reduce the coffee intake, and increase the exercise, which is healthy anyway, and will also help general axiety.
posted by theora55 at 9:02 AM on November 7, 2007
posted by theora55 at 9:02 AM on November 7, 2007
I used to have bad panic attacks, where I was totally paralyzed with fear. One came on when I was driving, but it was to the dentist so I chalked it up to stress.
I would often have to take alternative routes to try to stop them too. They were unpredictable, but at one point in my life I figured out they were triggered by hot summer weather, and sometimes by vast open space. If I walked out of the building where I worked, from the air conditioning to the heat, I would often have a panic attack. Or pretty regularly when I walked across open fields. Go figure.
They have almost completely gone away. I can go for years without one. I don't know anything special that I did, I did talk about them although never took any meds. I found out that I had thyroid disease, and now I look back and wonder if this played into it somehow.
FWIW, I have a sibling who has them too, and went into therapy because of them. She almost always had them in elevators. They told her they were genetic, that someone in our family had them before us but never talked about them.
Still they come up once in a great while, but it is rare and usually brief. And not at the intensity of the earlier ones. Good luck with this.
posted by chocolatetiara at 9:04 AM on November 7, 2007
I would often have to take alternative routes to try to stop them too. They were unpredictable, but at one point in my life I figured out they were triggered by hot summer weather, and sometimes by vast open space. If I walked out of the building where I worked, from the air conditioning to the heat, I would often have a panic attack. Or pretty regularly when I walked across open fields. Go figure.
They have almost completely gone away. I can go for years without one. I don't know anything special that I did, I did talk about them although never took any meds. I found out that I had thyroid disease, and now I look back and wonder if this played into it somehow.
FWIW, I have a sibling who has them too, and went into therapy because of them. She almost always had them in elevators. They told her they were genetic, that someone in our family had them before us but never talked about them.
Still they come up once in a great while, but it is rare and usually brief. And not at the intensity of the earlier ones. Good luck with this.
posted by chocolatetiara at 9:04 AM on November 7, 2007
I was having quite a stretch of panic attacks in 2006, and I was just as frustrated as you are. I didn't want to go the Xanax etc. route. After much research, I completely cut out caffeine, started exercising like crazy, got plenty of rest, and started taking a few supplements like magnesium, B Vitamin, and Fish Oil. The panic attacks pretty much went away. For me it was just breaking the cycle of thinking I was going to have one. A month ago, I decided to start drinking coffee again. Big mistake. After two cups, in the middle of a presentation, I had a mild panic attack. No more caffeine for me.
posted by kaizen at 9:48 AM on November 7, 2007
posted by kaizen at 9:48 AM on November 7, 2007
If I try and take deep breaths to calm myself, I only increase the fainting sensation. Really, it feels like a huge rush of adrenaline combined with a wicked headrush.
The deep breaths aren't helping you breathe better or avoid fainting. You may have heard the term "hyperventilation"—that's what you're doing. The best advice I ever found for avoiding hyperventilation (I think I read it in a thread on here, actually): Only let yourself breathe through your nose. It's almost impossible to hyperventilate breathing through your nose.
Also, I inadvertently found that sucking on mentholated cough drops can help stop a panic attack cold. (Someone else on here recommended the very same trick in another thread, it turns out.) I recommend Halls Sugar Free Honey-Berry flavor. I think they work because the menthol makes you feel like you're better able to breathe, like your passages are opened up, so breathing is easier and less stressful. Sucking on them also gives you something to focus on—and keeps your mouth closed, so you can't hyperventilate. And if you take them consistently when you want to calm down, I've found you begin to sort of mentally associate them with "calming down." So now, whenever I feel panicked, I pop a cough drop.
A question: Is your car vibrating a lot? Before this year, all my panic attacks (and I'd had very few of them) were related to feeling "weird" after taking medicine—I'm very sensitive to changes in my body, and feeling a medicine take effect, or thinking about the fact that this substance is inside me, and won't wear off for however-long, freaks me out. But this year, I began having panic attacks in my [new, as of this year] boyfriend's car—sometimes after taking medicine, but sometimes when I was just already feeling slightly weird or loopy from not eating for a while.
What I eventually realized was that his car vibrates a lot. And that feeling alone, since I'm oversensitive to bodily sensations, makes me feel a little jittery, like there's something weird happening to my body—so when you combine it with an odd feeling from not having eaten or having taken a new medicine, I get freaked out. That's what was triggering my attacks, I think, and since I've realized that, I've been able to use the above techniques to work through that feeling and avoid panic.
As kaizen noted, one of the biggest things then, once you've figured out what works to calm you down, is breaking the cycle of worrying about having a panic attack. That by itself can trigger one, if you start breathing funny just thinking about what it was like when you "couldn't breathe" during the attack. That's where cognitive behavioral therapy can help, as they focus on reaction formation—what's happening, how you're perceiving it, and how that perception is perhaps molding your behavior in a negative way.
posted by limeonaire at 10:05 PM on November 7, 2007
The deep breaths aren't helping you breathe better or avoid fainting. You may have heard the term "hyperventilation"—that's what you're doing. The best advice I ever found for avoiding hyperventilation (I think I read it in a thread on here, actually): Only let yourself breathe through your nose. It's almost impossible to hyperventilate breathing through your nose.
Also, I inadvertently found that sucking on mentholated cough drops can help stop a panic attack cold. (Someone else on here recommended the very same trick in another thread, it turns out.) I recommend Halls Sugar Free Honey-Berry flavor. I think they work because the menthol makes you feel like you're better able to breathe, like your passages are opened up, so breathing is easier and less stressful. Sucking on them also gives you something to focus on—and keeps your mouth closed, so you can't hyperventilate. And if you take them consistently when you want to calm down, I've found you begin to sort of mentally associate them with "calming down." So now, whenever I feel panicked, I pop a cough drop.
A question: Is your car vibrating a lot? Before this year, all my panic attacks (and I'd had very few of them) were related to feeling "weird" after taking medicine—I'm very sensitive to changes in my body, and feeling a medicine take effect, or thinking about the fact that this substance is inside me, and won't wear off for however-long, freaks me out. But this year, I began having panic attacks in my [new, as of this year] boyfriend's car—sometimes after taking medicine, but sometimes when I was just already feeling slightly weird or loopy from not eating for a while.
What I eventually realized was that his car vibrates a lot. And that feeling alone, since I'm oversensitive to bodily sensations, makes me feel a little jittery, like there's something weird happening to my body—so when you combine it with an odd feeling from not having eaten or having taken a new medicine, I get freaked out. That's what was triggering my attacks, I think, and since I've realized that, I've been able to use the above techniques to work through that feeling and avoid panic.
As kaizen noted, one of the biggest things then, once you've figured out what works to calm you down, is breaking the cycle of worrying about having a panic attack. That by itself can trigger one, if you start breathing funny just thinking about what it was like when you "couldn't breathe" during the attack. That's where cognitive behavioral therapy can help, as they focus on reaction formation—what's happening, how you're perceiving it, and how that perception is perhaps molding your behavior in a negative way.
posted by limeonaire at 10:05 PM on November 7, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by zeoslap at 6:12 AM on November 7, 2007