Theres been a lot on here about coping with fear and pain which seem intertwined
The panic attack thing, there been someone on th radio this wk who suffered a lot after his experience in the London bombings. It's Christian in reference but its applicable to all faiths and none.

http://www.mindandsoul.i...cles/Panic_Attacks.aspx

His name is Will van de hart, he writes from a Christian perspective but I think the techniques are solid across the board

I found his techniques for dealing with panic and that you can indeed recover from them fascinating

I've been practicing progressive muscle relaxation with guided imagery to help my body relax at nights more. There are several on I player including the one I have called the beach. It's been recommended by the psychologist I'm seeing as part of the pain clinic.
The slowing your breathing thing has helped me a lot too

What do you think?

Jenni x

Maria, that must have been so very frightening.

The relaxation techniques I'm finding very helpful and actually sleeping at night rather than spending hours awake at the wrong times.

Don't always remember of course. But it's hard to break a habit of not dozing off and then feeling cross and then hurting more and sleeping less!

Jenni xx

Hi Jenni,

I haven't been on here much lately, due to one thing and another.

I have recently been suffering from anxiety/panicky feelings. My gp has given me antidepressants but I am also trying out controlled breathing and relaxation exercises. I am using overcoming anxiety by Helen Kennerly a book i ordered from Amazon, also an introduction to coping with anxiety by Brenda Hogan and Lee Brosan. I also got a cd NHS Wellbeing relaxation by Tania Tulloch from Amazon.

I am trying to swim more and yesterday I saw the rheummy nurse who has referred me to a challenging arthritis course run by arthritis care. Which she says has had good results for anxiety.

Hope these are helpful.

Bevxx