When I had my first had a panic attack. Was shortly after my husband died. I was hyperventilating so bad I passed out. Later the nurse showed me how to do the breathing technique. Breathing deeply through your nostrils, and exhaling slowly through your mouth. Keep doing that until your breathing calms down. Also running your hands under cold water can be effective

Praying. @A DiabetesTeam Member.

I was blessed with astra zeneca's Brilinta, a blood thinner specifically for stents. I was sentenced to 16 months taking it daily, after a heart operation. A stent was installed in my LAD, the Widowmaker. 4 days before I was diagnosed with diabetes.

I actually saw the results of my bloodwork for my PCP in the recovery room from the surgery.

My side effect was atypical, but extreme and severe. They knew about the side effect. Astra Zeneca kept telling me that I should wait to report it. So I reported it every week for 16 months.

I had severe panic attacks, 1 after the other. As many as 20x an hour.

So bad that I was hospitalized after my 1st dose. My O2 sats were 93. I did not know what was going on. After 12 hours in the emergency room area, I saw a few doctors. They told me they could see no cause for it.

I told them I took my 1st dose of Brilinta that night. Then I felt like I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't get enough air. The doctor said that explains everything. By the time they released me after 20 hours and I seemed to be stabilized.

I was having panic attacks. Another hit before the previous 1 subsided.

I was told not to take my next dose. And to contact the doctor. Before office hours in 2 days I called our youngest baby boy's girlfriend and asked for guidance. She often had panic attacks.

She gave me the coping techniques she had been taught. I adapted them to my past experience. When I finally talked to my doctor. I was told to continue with the Brilinta. If I could not live with the side effects contact them again.

On that Monday morning they made an appointment for Wednesday.

On Tuesday I saw my new PCP, A1C 13.5. She told me I was diabetic. She wanted me to start with Metformin, long acting insulin, and fast acting insulin. I negotiated a 3 month reprieve from medications, because I was prepared with fore knowledge.

3.5 months later my A1C was 4.9. I did no medications for 5 years, in remission.

Then on Wednesday, I already had 2 days experience coping with the panic attacks. Usually 20-30 an hour.

I could now control them in 10-20 seconds. So even though I was having another panic attack every 2-3 minutes. I was in control.

So when the doctor insisted that I remained on Brilinta. I told him it was no fun, but I could live with panic attacks every 2-3 minutes.

I'm not your average bear.

So I dealt with it for 16 months. It took 2-3 days till it was enough out of my system that the panic attacks became more tolerable.

I know about panic attacks.
NO fun at all.

Mentioned Users

A Diabete...

I think one of the reasons is that when you’re a diabetic your blood sugar can also affect your emotions and that can be very difficult for a person with diabetes because being depressed is not fun from personal knowledge and it’s just something we have to deal with but you also we should always reach out for support

I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder before I became diabetic. I've had these all my life and my diabetes is now linked with my depression.