hey all! 
i am a 20 year old female, and i’ve been diagnosed with a panic disorder in the last year. things that trigger my panic attacks include thoughts such as the thought of my heart stopping, or thinking something bad will happen to me whenever my heart rate spikes way up randomly. whenever i would think about this i get into a FULL BLOWN panic attack- doesn’t matter where i’m at or who’s around, nothing can stop it. it’s at the point where i don’t feel safe driving because it’s happened multiple times behind the wheel recently. 

this fear of my heart stopping (or cardiophobia) is something that i cannot stop thinking about at all. id randomly start thinking about it, i could be driving, laying in bed, in the shower, even thought about it in my college class during an exam. it’s so hard to hold it back and look normal in front of anyone if i’m in public. this is ruining my life. i can barely sleep at night. i avoid so many things because of this. i feel like i’ll never be able to live a normal life and that also scares me. i feel like i’m always on the edge, anxious, and i always HAVE to distract myself, whenever i’m not doing anything my mind will go back to thinking of this fear and i’ll go into panic mode all over again. 

i’ve tried deep breathing, which helps cam me down maybe half the time.

i’ve tried yoga, it’s hard for me to find time do it though because most of the time i’m awake i’m panicking :(

i’ve cut out ALL drugs, i rarely ever drink caffeine. i’m not taking any medications either. 

has anybody else ever had this problem? how the heck do i calm myself down so i can live my life? lol

but most importantly, how could i get over the fear itself that’s triggering my panicking? it’s on a whole other level and it won’t go away.