I remember it vividly; it was my sophomore year of high school.
I was sitting in math class, and then all the sudden I felt my heart skip a beat.
Before I knew it, I couldn't catch my breath, my arms and legs were tingling, and my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.
Panic set in almost immediately, and I was sure that I was going to die.
Then my memory gets a little foggy.
I don't know if I passed out or if I subconsciously choose to forget it, but the next thing I remember is the principal trying to calm me down as I was getting loaded into the back of an ambulance.
I guess that I had expected this rush of people at the hospital that were going to try and save my life.
Instead I was placed in a room where a nurse took my blood pressure, stuck this clip on my finger, and had me take 2 small pills.
Then she said "your going to be fine" and just walked out.
All I know is that I did not feel fine and I could not believe that they were just going to let me sit here and suffer.
Ten minutes later I was breathing better, 15 minutes later and the tingling was gone, and 20 minutes later I felt calm enough to take a nap.
But I was still confused about what was going on.
Eventually, a doctor came in to check on my status and that is when I finally found out that I just had a panic attack.
A Panic Attack! What the hell is a Panic Attack?I think he tried to explain it to me, but it was making no sense to me at that time...
maybe it was the double dose of Ativan they gave me.
All I know is that I went home and went straight to bed.
From that point, I kind of forgot about it.
I made it through the rest of high school without any other problems.
Maybe it was just a freak occurrence.
I could not have been more wrong.
It was not long after I started college that I had another full-blown panic attack.
By that point I had forgotten what it felt like, but this was definitely a harsh reminder.
And it wasn't a one time thing either.
It could have been the stress of college or the overall unhealthy lifestyle, but I was having frequent panic attacks.
They would vary in severity, but I knew that I could not go one like this.
So I finally took the doctor's advice and starting taking Paxil.
And wouldn't you know it, my panic attacks slowly started going away.
But then side-effects of the Paxil started setting in.
Besides the obvious weight gain, there was the bigger problem of being a college student with no sex drive.
At one point, I decided to take my chances and stop taking it.
What a Nightmare!!The withdrawals from the Paxil were just as bad as or worse than the panic attacks.
So I got back on it and eventually stayed on it for 8 years.
Every couple of years they would increase my dosage, because I was building up a tolerance to it and I would start with panic attacks again.
This was what my life was like until just about a year ago.
That's when during one of my mindless web surfing weekends, I came across a man by the name of Joe Barry.
I just happened to find some information on him after researching something for my wife.
He was claiming to be some "anxiety expert", so just out of curiosity, I checked into him.
His credentials seemed legit enough, so I kept on looking and came upon a program that he had developed.
This "Panic Away" program claimed to help people get rid of their anxiety disorders/panic attacks without medication.
I was skeptical, even though he had about 100 testimonials declaring how the Panic Away program had changed their life.
I just kind of blew it off until 2 months later I came across it again when I was searching for information on another medication that my doctor wanted to start me on.
This time I figured why not, I will get a full refund if it doesn't work.
So I ordered the program and immediately starting going over the basic points.
It seemed simple enough so I went ahead and followed the program word for word.
At first, I wasn't seeing much change, but with the level of anxiety that I had, the program mentioned that it may take me longer than others.
After a while, I did start to feel more confident about handling my panic attacks.
Eventually, I felt so confident that I talked to the doctor about getting off the Paxil.
He was not all for this, but with my insistence, he finally agreed.
It took a strict 6 month regime of slowly lowering my dosage, but I have now been Paxil-free for about 4 months.
The best part about it is that I have not had one single panic attack.
In fact, I'm not even scared of them anymore.
If I find myself in a situation where anxiety usually sets in, I think back to steps in the Panic Away program (it is not hard to remember!) and I gain control of the situation before the thought of a panic attack even enters my head.
My recommendation to anyone out there, who is tired of the medication and its side-effects, is to give this program a try.
You really can't lose because of the 100% money back guarantee, if you find it doesn't work or it is too hard for you, just get your money back.
If you stick with it and have a little patience, I think you will be very surprised about how easy it is control your anxiety.
But remember, if you plan on getting off your medications, do it with your doctor's help.
It will make the whole process much easier and definitely much safer.