I've been wondering "where you go" what you think about when having an attack?  Especially when my sleeping patterns get affected I have some deep interspective thoughts.  Not going crazy, i hope.

All I really think about during a hit is getting through it. I try to stay calm and to breathe.  I remind myself that I'll be okay and that I will get through.  I almost always say "this will be the last one."   On very high kips .... I beg God to end it.  

Not very deep, I know. :-/

Simple minded,

Jeannie

I tune everything out except for my breathing of the O2.

If its not super bad, I try to clear my head. I usually have a stop watch by my bed and that seems to help. I watch the time go and focus and know that it will be over soon.

If its really bad, I usually end up crying (which seems to make it worse) but I really don't have a choice. I guess the only thing I can really think about is it going away and count down the minutes... Sometimes I pray, sometimes I scream, it just depends.

If the O2 don't get it, I'm left to pacing.  

My hits were mainly at night, so I would just pace back an forth in the back yard.

The only bad thing is that my neighbor decided to put up yard lights and porch lights which kill me

                                          PFD's
                                           JPC

I seem to get really deep.  Trying to figure out what it all means.  Why it's necessary for all this pain.  thanks everyone for your feedback.

Once, about 10 years ago I was writhing in pain during a particularly long, bad hit. I hadn’t discovered O2 yet and I had no med’s.  The pain was so intense that I was really wondering how I was going to survive.

For a brief few seconds, I remember feeling like I was examining the pain in sort of a detached, analytical manner while I was thinking "what is pain?"  The next stab brought me right back, but for that fleeting moment I was impervious to it. I tried a few times to get that back, but there is just no way I could concentrate on anything beyond trying to escape.

Marc

Just Plain Carl wrote on Jan 28^th, 2009 at 3:51pm:

The only bad thing is that my neighbor decided to put up yard lights and porch lights which kill me                                           PFD's                                            JPC

hahaha, awww... i'm so sorry.

Melissa wrote on Jan 28^th, 2009 at 2:56pm:

I tune everything out except for my breathing of the O2.

Ditto

My brain has two threads of thought running.  My focus alternates between them.

The first is focusing on remaining calm and not letting the fear of the pain overwhelm me.  

The seconds is the more mechanical "is the O2 working, how long have I been on it now, am I breathing correctly, how much is left in this tank, is the hose getting tangled as I pace, is it time for the trex, where are the tissues, what the hell is that I just kicked".

It's pretty standard stuff ... But then I'm not too deep anyway  ;)

-Dennis-

I can't "deal" with the pain so I seem to go somewhere else sometimes. the best way i can describe it is that there is this puzzle and once i figure it out the pain starts to subside.  I realize that it's a coping mechanism and don't put much stock in what ever the hell it is i figure out.  (Unless of course i listen to a Terence McKenna interviews or documentary about 2012 that day)  So i'm not going crazy.  I just found it interesting and thought i'd see if anyone else experiences it.  I must say that i'm still in extreme pain while doing this.  HAven't figured out how to stop that.