I have been suffering from anxiety disorder since 2000. It was during a very stressful period in my life. The panic attack made me feel like I was having a heart attack, which is what I called 911 for.
I felt so crazy when they told me I was only hyperventilating/having a panic attack. And once you have one panic attack, the fear of another sets you up for multiple attacks.
It was difficult for me for awhile.
I was put on medications and I wasn't really ready at that time for that kind of thing. Since, i have always been against putting chemicals into my body.
My attacks are not due to a chemical imbalance, so they put me on medications they thought would just calm me and relieve stress.
I fought against the meds, and my attacks increased. I wasn't sleeping because I thought I was going to die. I finally just accepted I needed the medication and gave it a try.
After a month I hadn't had any attacks. Then I began to worry I was being weak because I couldn't maintain normal existence without medication. But a friend of mine made me look at it a different way. We wouldn't encourage someone with bipolar syndrome to not take their medication or someone who has seizures to try something outside of what the doctor prescribed.
I'm not sure what your reasons are for trying to get off your meds, but if they work... why would you want to? Breathing methods have proven quite effective, since you are only hyperventilating.
It demands a great deal of discipline, because you have to change your thinking.
Your mind is registering this as you dying. You may think you know you are not, but the brain works in mysterious ways.
There are several online sites that help you practice the breathing through the nose like you are smelling a rose technique and expelling out of the mouth like blowing through a straw.
I get most anxious at night, before bed and frankly I don't have the discipline needed to say screw it to my ativan and trying out some breathing excercises.
There are also yahoo groups with people to talk to in every single state. It is very frustrating at times. People look at it as just in our heads or chemical imbalances, etc. We all handle stresses differently and panic attacks are our bodies way of dealing with it. Good luck.