Had a panic attack so bad I thought I was going to crash my car
Hi all. I just got a new management position after walking out of my previous job (I had the new job before I did that, I'm not THAT dumb) and it's in the opposite direction of my house that I used to drive. And it also requires me to be there super early in the morning, which is also not something I'm used to.
Anyway, I almost had a panic attack the first time driving there early in the morning. I'm not used to the area, I didn't know where the turn was coming, and I just... I can't explain it. I started to panic. So much so that when I finally did pull into the parking lot, I felt tingles down my entire body.
That was 3 days ago. This morning driving to work, it was one of the worst panic attacks I've ever had. I was reaching my hand into my water cup to splash cold water on my face. Didn't help. I tried deep breathing for a minute. It helped for a minute, then everything came back full force. Even worse than it was. I actually thought to myself, "this is it. this is how I go". Trying to reassure myself the entire time that, no, you are in control of this vehicle. But it didn't work. By the time I got to the turnaround to get to my job, my entire body was shaking so bad that my foot wasn't making secure contact with the pedal. It's like my car was stalling - stopping and starting in crazy intervals - because I was so not in control of my muscles.
I'm scared and I don't know what to do. I'm prescribed Clonazepam for anxiety and it didn't do shit. I'm at my wits end. Am I always going to have to drive to work like this? I can't. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long, ranting post