Have you had few results with a variety of treatments, tips and tricks for stopping your panic attacks?  If so, it may be time to see a professional, but to ward off any anxiety you may have about doing so, you can arm yourself with knowledge of what to expect during your first visit to the doctor.

Take any journal or diary that you have kept related to your attacks with you – it will help you a lot when filling out forms.  Be prepared to answer a lot of questions for your doctor, and try to provide an accurate history for him or her.  Some representative questions you will be expected to answer, and information you will be required to provide are provided below.

While it may be difficult to remember exact dates, you will be expected to provide a history of illnesses and surgeries you have had before.

Providing information to your doctor about any traumatic events you have experienced (especially those that still have an effect on you when you think about them) can help to determine your triggers.  So prepare by trying to remember things that did affect you, such as a breakup or divorce, the passing of a loved one, your children moving out or going away to college, and especially things like living through a hurricane, earthquake or other natural disaster.

Providing an accurate list of medications (and the dosage for each) that you are taking, or have taken over the last six months or so is going to be very important.
Your doctor will ask you whether anyone else in your family has, or had in the past, anxiety or panic attacks.

You will be asked how much alcohol you consume in a day, a week, or a month, and be honest because alcohol is often a trigger for panic attacks.

No matter how uncomfortable it may be for you to answer questions about recreational drug use, it is going to be particularly important for you to do so, since these, too, can trigger attacks.

How much coffee, or caffeinated soda or other beverages do you drink on a daily basis?  What happens if you don’t get your morning cup of coffee; for example, do you get a headache, or are you too tired to function without it?

You will need to describe how you know a panic attack is coming and how often you feel stressed or anxious, and this is another set of questions that your journal can help you answer.

Your triggers will be a topic of discussion as well, so be prepared to tell your doctor if you have heart palpitations when you have to drive, or start sweating profusely when an elevator goes past the third floor, for example.

Just remember to be as thorough and honest as possible, and if you remember things later that you did not share, write them down so that you can let your doctor know during your next visit.

Want more information?  Visit EndingPanicAttacks.com and find plenty of informative content ranging from general information about anxiety therapy to very specific “how to” info on panic attacks.

Tags: anxiety, anxiety attack, anxiety attacks, anxiety help, anxiety therapy