Welcome Juls7
Funny thing about panic attacks they can warp memory so you think you know where they are coming from but are wrong. Take me, I spent a lot of time in tight places welding mostly but insulating and wiring houses. In attics and crawl spaces fixing frozen pipes. I'm not claustrophobic but my dreams are. I spent twelve years falling trees in the mountains. I'm agoraphobic but the open spaces don't bother me. So what am I? I'm agoraphobic. Agoraphobia manifests itself as a fear of the outdoors usually as a fear to leave the house. But what it really is is a fear of not having control. Every situation where you get panic is because you do not have control. With me I couldn't go in stores because I didn't have control of the situation. Some times I couldn't even drive to the store. Notice these words are past tense. I'm fine, more than fine. I can do anything my wore out body will let me. I don't get anxious, I just get pain.
Anxiety disorders are a condition not a disease. No pill can cure them. Changing thought patterns can.
Good that you have coping skills but that is not CBT, it is only half. The behavioural half. Changing thought patterns is the Cognitive half. They work best together.
Two words that seem to mean the same thing. Have to and want to. One is negative, and one is positive. One takes control from you, one gives it to you. This simple fact plus a little exposure and some determination cures agoraphobia.
One day I had to go to the store, No choice I was out of things. With difficulty I drove to the store but could not get out of the car. At this point on the brink of tears I said out loud, "I want to do this". What is the worst that can happen, I leave the store, at this rate I'm not going in anyway. I just kept my breathing regular and kept thinking I want to do this. I can do this because I want to. Not because I have to, hell no, I can leave any time. So I grabbed the most important things. Tea and toilet paper. By the time I got to the check out I was thinking I want to get the other things. So I did. Not without some trouble but I wanted too so I could. I was in control because it was my decision, no one was forcing me too, I didn't have to. I could leave any time. I'll admit the first time I tried this I waited till there was no line up. I used some distractions but still the only reason I did it was because I wanted to. I took back control of the situation.
This came out of me, out of frustration not the internet or a book. Just a determination to take back control of my life. And I have. I don't need to tell myself I want to any more, I know I do. Now I just do it. I talk to people in line ups and in the isles. If I meet a friend we go for hot chocolate. Never a problem. The last three operations and check ups were a piece of cake. The dentist was just a nuisance. I'm not taking any Benzo's or SSRIs. Only supplement I take is calcium with magnesium and D3. Only herbal I use is Lemon balm tea. I'm 99% recovered. Not bad for a guy who had a panic attack every night and was dependent on Ativan for four years. Visualization is my best coping skill still.
There is more to curing panic attacks but these two were the turn around for me.
My Dad died of Alzheimer's disease. He only made it five years. I took care of him.
Gaba is produced in your body. Supplements never did me any good, Calcium does because it is necessary for proper synapse function. If you really want to know what causes panic attacks read up on memory. It is complicated and technical but won't tell you how to cure them. But it will be obvious that CBT does. All the pills and supplements are just bandaids.
