Alcoholism, Panic Attacks and treaments

[Conley]

I get these from time to time, exercise has worked best for me. I've also read of paper bag breathing as a technique...it seems somewhat more controversial but I'll try it anyway. Anyone who's suffered from these know they suck. :-[

"Many panic attack sufferers as well as doctors recommend breathing into a paper bag as an effective short-term treatment of an acute panic attack.[22] However, this treatment has been criticised by others as ineffective and possibly hazardous to the patient, even potentially worsening the panic attack.[23] Critics say that this technique can fatally lower oxygen levels in the blood stream,[24] and increase carbon dioxide levels, which in turn has been found to be a major cause of panic attacks.[25]

It is therefore important to discover whether hyperventilation is truly involved in each case. If it is, then rebalancing the oxygen and CO2 levels in the blood and/or re-establishing an even, measured breathing pattern is an appropriate treatment which may be also achieved by extending the outbreath either by counting or even humming."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_attack

I've tried using booze too, and I'm not sure if they make the attacks better or worse. It does seem to happen more often when I've not been drinking for a while. Alcohol withdrawal is a whole other ball of wax:

"The sudden death of the singer Amy Winehouse last month has cast light on a little-known problem: the dangers of alcohol withdrawal.

The cause of the singer’s death is still unknown. But Ms. Winehouse’s family has said she tried to quit drinking, leading to speculation that alcohol withdrawal may have played a role in her demise.

While it may sound surprising that efforts to stop drinking could be harmful, addiction experts say such a situation is “highly possible.’’

“I hope the message that can come from this is how dangerous unsupervised alcohol withdrawal can be,’’ said Dr. Harry Haroutunian, physician director of the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif. “About half the people who come off steady and regular alcohol use will have some manifestation of the syndrome. People should seek medical advice.’’

Why is alcohol withdrawal so dangerous? In regular and heavy drinkers, the body compensates for the depressive effect of alcohol by ramping up production of a number of hormones and brain chemicals, like serotonin, epinephrine and dopamine. When a person suddenly stops drinking alcohol, the body becomes flooded with abnormally high levels of those chemicals."

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/0...ol-withdrawal/

So whenever I quit drinking for an extended spell I usually try to taper it down...will buy a six pack and drink 3 one day, 2 the next, and 1 the last...something like that.

I might be sharing a bit too much information but this thread might help anyone who stumbles upon it online, lurkers or people who aren't registered here. I had symptoms like these for years and never put two and two together to figure it out.

[MMC]

[Conley]

w:

[MMC]

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[Mister D]

I had similar problems in my early 20s. I'm pretty sure it was hyperventilation. I looked up the symptoms online and they all matched. For example, I distinctly remember becoming light headed moments before my first panic attack. It was only indirectly related to drinking from what I can tell. I began to associate the onset of panic attacks much more with smoking than with drinking. Stopped smoking and began to eat more and better food. I haven't had one in a decade now.

[Mister D]

I swear by the paper bag but here is a good article on it. Pretty neutral.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/health/13real.html