Panic / Anxiety Disorder

Someone asked on Rosie's site about how to handle going to the dentist since she has panic attacks. Oh, I know how frightening it is! A few years after my son was born I was diagnosed with Panic Disorder. You CAN live your life with this terrible "disease", I am proof of it!

Now, I will be honest and tell you that 1) I only have mild panic attacks on an extremely rare basis and I manage them with a low dose (10 mg) of Paxil and breathing exercises, and 2) the only time I have major panic attacks is when I have to have anything other than a cleaning done at the dentist.

I bet you're thinking...well great, I'm doomed. How is that supposed help? I smile as I type this because that's what I would be thinking too. I'll get back to the "dentist problem" in a bit.

Getting control over your disorder takes time and you have to give yourself that time. I saw a wonderful psychologist who taught me breathing exercises and gave me a tape to play at night when I was going to sleep. Both things were KEY to my success. I went from being afraid to leave the house or to talk to people to starting a new career and getting all the wonderful things in life that I could ask for -- lovely safe home, beautiful family, job I love.

First step is Deep Breathing. It's very similar to the breathing you do in Yoga (yoga helps immensely, do it if you can!!). I found the following helpful technique on the way to do it from Cathleen Henning Fenton on her About.com page.

http://panicdisorder.about.com/cs/shbreathing/ht/breatheproperly.htm

1. Begin by lying flat on your back or standing up straight. You may also sit up straight in a chair, if that is more comfortable.
2. Place your hand on your stomach area.
3. Breathe as you normally would, and notice whether your hand and stomach rise and fall, or your chest rises and falls, as you breathe.
4. When you are breathing properly, your chest will stay still while your stomach will rise slightly as you breathe in. When you breathe out, your chest will continue to stay still while your stomach lowers slightly.
5. Now, slowly breathe in through your nose on the count of five while gently pushing your hand up with your stomach.
6. Hold the breath for a count of five.
7. Slowly exhale through your mouth for a count of five while gently pushing down on your stomach.
8. Repeat this process for five minutes.
9. If the process causes you to begin panicking, stop. Try again later or the next day, but do the exercise for a shorter amount of time. You may need to start with one minute per day.
10. Increase the length of time each day until you can do the exercise for at least five minutes, two times per day.
11. If you continue to practice breathing this way, you soon will be doing it naturally throughout the day.
12. An additional benefit will be that once you are familiar with the exercise, you may do it while experiencing anxiety or at the beginning of a panic attack, and you will feel relief.

Ms. Fenton has a lot of useful information, please check it out!

Second step for me was the relaxation tape. I listened to it at night but it could help before you go to the dentist or even listening to it with headphones WHILE you are there. I wish that I could tell you where to get the tape I used but unfortunately it was made by my doctor and he is no longer available near me. Here is one that comes very highly recommended on Amazon:



The last thing I'd like to talk about is the actual dentist appointment. I can go in and get my teeth cleaned with very little anxiety but the minute they say cavity, filling, crown, root canal, my mind and body go on very high alert! My arms are tingling (sign of a panic attack) as I think about it! But I found out some interesting things to get through it.

1) Ask your dentist if he/she uses novocaine with epinephrine - it is very common and the epinephrine is a stimulant that is almost sure to set off a panic attack. Ask for anesthetic with with no stimulant. They should have it on hand because they cannot use it on patients with heart conditions.

2) Ask whoever is working on you to keep the chair up as far as possible (so they can still see in your mouth!!) so that bits of stuff don't go close to your throat. That sets many people off, including me.

3) Use the aforementioned relaxation CD with headphones.

4) Ask for a sedative that you can take before you go in. They will send the prescription to your pharmacy. You'll have to have someone drive you but I know from experience that it helps immensely, especially during longer procedures.

I hope this helps and I wish you much success and good health!

Suzzy (rhymes with buzzy)