Struggling with Anxiety Attacks

I've started putting on guided meditations to sleep at night. The deep breathing work they do is good for training your parasympathetic nervous system (the "rest and digest" opposing force to "fight or flight,") basically teaches you to use breathing to slow your heart rate. I find it helpful to count longer on the exhale. I've actually watched on a pulse oximeter before, and my bpm will increase on the inhale and decrease when I exhale. The meditating is also nice just cause it gives me a distraction. I can focus on the soothing voice and gentle words, and it helps me relax. Like a bedtime story for a little kid, almost. My therapist told me once that while sensory deprivation is helpful for most people when they sleep, PTSD, ADHD, anxiety, and other issues where your brain is often "too alert" (hypervigilant) sorta flips that script. She said a lot of us with brains always watching for danger, stimulation, or both (like me, hi, C-PTSD, ADHD, and panic disorder here,) will sleep better if we've got a little light and a soft, familiar sound, like music or my meditation videos, because both falling asleep and when you wake up in the night are times when you're disoriented and groggy and just having those little cues that you're home, in your bed, and everything is safe, can be enough to keep you from ruminating or panicking. I totally get that. Sleep is nearly impossible for me if I don't feel totally secure in my environment. I went out of town with a friend for a weekend and maybe got 3hrs total from the 3 nights at the hotel. The final night there I didn't even go to bed cause I knew our flight was early and I'd just be tossing and turning, listening to the weird hotel sounds and my buddy snoring, worrying about how tired I would be when our alarm went off. Once I was home with my cats and my meditation video, I was out like a light. Oh, that's another thing, I call one of my cats "my tiny sleeping pill" sometimes, cause she'll wait till I get the blanket how she likes and then curl up into a purring little ball at my belly. She was the only way I could sleep some nights during my abusive relationship. So, another tip would be to get a cat, I guess, but it's gotta be the right cat, cause my other one eats his feelings and wakes me up sometimes cause he was bored and ate enough to see the bottom of his dish (how dare.)

Ouu I did sum recently that actually made me feel better helped with all the stress I was in my car had the music really loud while I was driving and yelled at the top of my lungs like yelleddddd nd let it all out,, also with the anxiety attacks I still haven’t figured that out rlly I’ve been able to control my breathing before maybe once or twice but Hydroxyzine kinda helps me relax cbd too but u have to get a good actually brand umm coloring kinda helps cus I hyper focus on that and it’s satisfying,, I hate panic attacks prolonged ones too I have them a lot I can’t move can’t breath feels like my lungs stopped working working nd then from completely freaking out I can’t feel my body nd also black out sumtimes it feels like ppl are running around in my head screaming freaking out while on fire nd my heart feels like it’s rising and falling at the same time so

Writing down my anxious thoughts has genuinely helped me so much. I came to suggest it, as well!! Writing and meds! And a little bit of 🍃 but that's just me and my journey🤷🏻‍♀️ With anxiety your brain is moving so quickly. It feels like loud, overlapping chatter all of the time! I suggest writing down everything. Sit down, free your hand, and your mind! Answer the question, "What's wrong?" Even if you start with, "I don't know," just write. Jumbeled thoughts, dramatic statements, tear stains on the page, and all. From there you're able to read back, and if you're open and honest with yourself, learn a lot about who you are and why you're afraid. I like to write regularly and make goals for myself based off of what I'm going through. It brings me fulfillment. Personally, I deal with being a people pleaser. I realized through writing my anxious thoughts that I was valuing empathy more than my authenticity. I've continuously taken little steps everyday, and now, a year later, I'm in a much better place. My anxiety is not gone. I still deal with the occasional panic attack or cry for no reason other than, "My brain is being mean to me," but life has improved significantly! I hope you find the peace you deserve❤️

Maybe write it down and go back to it later to see why you have so much anxiety.

Sometimes I just cry and then after that I feel so exhausted and I go to sleep. But now I just watch asmr (you've gotta find the one that works for you) and it really relaxes me! I would also recommend melatonin or tart cherry juice. Sounds like you just need some type of relaxant to stop your mind.