A few hours ago my son told me that he's been having feelings which he described as panic attacks. I'm not really sure what the source of these attacks are. And he can't seem to pinpoint them either. I would greatly appreciate your prayers for him. Thank you.
Will be keeping this in mind and prayer, asking also for guidance and provision for medical follow-up. No small issue, this.
I hope things get better. When you say "professional help," do you mean a medical doctor? Many people think panic attacks are strictly psychological in nature, but some actually are medical in nature, like the body producing too much adrenaline.
I mean any and all avenues. Including medical doctors. And Cognitive Therapy as well. We prefer to not use meds if at all possible, but aren't completely against it if it's needed.
Couldn't agree more with Aaron on this. I've had multiple periods of my life that included frequent panic attacks. Back in my 20's I started getting panic sensation for completely irrational stimuli. Like forgetting the last name of a character mentioned once in the middle of an 800 page book. Or not being able to recall some detail I know I'll never be able to recover. Waves of heart pounding, mind melting, stomach turning fear/panic. One day I felt like when I swallowed, only one half of my throat got "wet". Was so overwhelmed I drank so much water that I puked. Had to go to the hospital. Doctor told me I wasn't crazy, I likely just had a problem with seratonin production since I had terrible fitness, eating, sleeping, and stress mitigation habits. 1 week on Clanazopan and 1 year on Fluvoxamine and I was right as rain.
Thanks for your post HL. We're currently in the beginning phases. We just saw a therapist yesterday, and seeing a medical doctor to rule out anything physical was on the top of her list. So I'm not against it obviously, but I don't want to medicate just for the purpose of medicating. Sometimes people are offered medications too quickly. In my opinion. But having personally gone through therapy in my younger years, I'm hopeful that this will help him as well.
Today was my son's doctor's appointment. Bloodwork will take a few days but most troubling to me, and my wife, is that the doctor discovered he has a heart murmur. I greatly appreciate your prayers now more than ever. Thank you.
Our daughter was born with a small hole in her heart which caused some initial issues when feeding. Thankfully it completely closed up. That's not my main point though. When we mentioned it to friends and family, it seemed like everyone knew someone or themselves had a heart murmur.
I got panic attacks out of literally nowhere when I started with "the change" and, as it turns out, my hormones had tanked. Put myself on progesterone cream and they went away almost immediately. Strange things, those hormones. PS My son's also been dealing with panic attacks and irrational anxiety, and therapy has helped some. Although I do think a lot of it is hormonal since he's going through puberty and has horrible self-care habits. I'm going to put him on some St. Johns Wort and see how he responds. Push comes to shove, we'll do meds, but I'm trying herbals first. Meds can be a great solution, although my body doesn't respond well to synthetics so I personally prefer the herbal route. Different strokes for different folks, though.
Praying for you all! Father, please be with this whole family. Help calm the nerves! Whatever is causing these panic attacks is not of God, this we do know! We do know that You, Father, God, have the power to heal and comfort, so we come to You for that. If there are human resources that can benefit, please use them and let the family know exactly what they are. Plese don't let them get involved with any doctor or counselor that would make anything worse! Give them Your godly wisdom, I pray. In Jesus' name. Amen
I don't mean specifically for his son, I just mean in general. I don't know much about heart murmurs.
Heart murmurs are unusual sounds made during a heartbeat cycle. It's not a disease per se, but the result of a heart problem.