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Patsy Lake BearsJenny I am so glad to hear that your on the mend it is amazing what our body does do when we are stressed. Take care and stay calm
Drea's BearsJenny, I'm sorry you are having so much pain and now knowing that you are dealing with panic attacks is not a fun notion.
I too suffoer from panic attacks as well as neck and shoulder pain. Here's what I have don that has helped A LOT!
First thing, 7-11 breathing, if you find yourself having a panic attack this is the best. You breathe in for 7 even counts and the exhale for 11 even counts and repeat, this apparently mimics the breathing your body does naturally when it is sleeping and it helps to slow your heart rate.
Second thing, GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD! If you're anything like me you get lost in your own thoughts about what needs to be done and how little time you have to do it in and all of those nasty 'what if's' try playing your favorite music and make yourself sing along it's a great fast way to get out of your thoughts.
Third thing, get regular massages with the focus on upper body. I go every three weeks whether I need it or not I go for 45 minutes and just have upper body back, neck shoulders arms done. It has not only reduced the amount of migranes I get in a year but also the amount and severity of my panic attacks! There are some times that I can't realy afford it but I always find the money somewhere and I never miss an appointment, it's my own little treat to myself. I also make sure to book at least two ar three appointments at once so I don't have the excuse of not being able to get an appointment because she's too busy or I'm too busy.
Fourth, do something that strengthens your core muscles, like Pilates or Yoga, this will eventually help kick the bad posture that leads to shoulder, neck and back pain. If you can train your muscles to support your spine from the center outwards this will help lengthen your career as a hair stylist and a bear artist. It will also help with your breathing an remove the pressure on your lungs that bad posture can sometime cause. Fortunately I'm a dance educator so awareness of posture is a job requirement, but, when I've spent few hours sewing and stuffing I know it!
I hope this is helpful to you, it's gotten me a long way over the past four years.
Best Wishes,
AndreaM 
Drea's BearsP.S. All of the stretches that the ladies mentioned earlier are fabulous ones do them often, they will help!
Cheers!
AndreaM
Thanks girls...I will read all these replies tomorrow..we had a birthday party for my daughter and I have only just logged on but need to sleep!! I had zero panics today...and shoulder pain...something I am doing is working..I am focusing my head away from stress...mind over matter...
Till tomorrow..
Laurie Lou BearsI have been feeling pretty stressed over the last few days Jenny but I have been walking the dogs on the north norfolk coast at Weybourne these last few days for a couple of hours a day and it has been lovely and you feel so much better afterwards.Where it is a case of mind over matter it is easier not to be in a position where you give yourself thinking time as the more you worry the worse it gets.I do have food intolerances and find it doesn't help one bit if I eat certain foods as it makes my anxiety a lot worse.
I hope you get it sorted out Jenny 
Laurie :hug:
Thanks for all the tips ladies..it's good to know I am not the only one!
Andrea, by a miracle I realised that the slow, deep breathing does help to fend off the adrenalin rush..the banging heart beat, the tightening chest, the dry mouth. What a powerful thing the brain is to cause your body to do this..sometimes for no reason! So all those tips are useful ..and do work!
Diane I have been where you are now..I drove my daughter to London dropped her off at her digs when she went to University and drove back up the M1 with a song called 'Walk Away' playing loudly on the stereo, tears streaming down my face...how I didn't collide with someone I'll never know because I didn't see a thing all the way home...But she went and she came home and now she lives about a mile from me with her partner and baby and we're best pals and our relationship is sealed because she went away..we now know how strong our bond is..and that mother/daughter thread is so strengthened now. That's why ..even though it feels awful...the maternal instinct is to let them go..because that's the way they grow up. But it's the hardest thing to let go...
You know what they say...'Your son is your son till he takes a wife, but your daughter is your daughter for all of her life' and I always remember what an old lady who is a client in the salon said when my daughter had her little girl, she said, ' Oh good, she'll always have a friend then' I thought that was a lovely thing to say, because it's so true!!
I am just so glad that I am able to control this myself..I think it's made me realise how powerful your brain is ..and how, gone haywire it can cause havoc!
Jellybelly BearsJenny I have tears in my eyes...nothing is like the relationship between a daughter and mum...even sisters...such a blessing. I'm so glad you are working things out...stress is a killer...gets me too and its often worse than the stuff they diagnose as being serious haha :hug: :hug:
BlondheartWell lets see, 26 years ago I was a healthy robust teenager who thought she would make a teddy bear. A couple thousand bears later, I have had eye fatigue, carpal tunnel, tennis elbow, chronic neck & back pain, a bone spur in my shoulder that I had to have surgery for, a ganglion in the palm of my hand I also had to have surgery for, and asthma. Also if you drink a lot of coffee, you might be experiencing anxiety attacks? If you have tightness in your chest, either of those might be something to check for. I have been to a chiropractor as well and reccomend it highly. But something that he told me to do in the interim between visits is to take two roughly tennis sized balls (try to find something a little softer tho) and wrap them together with that white medical tape til they are completely covered. At the end of the day, start at the base of your skull and lay on them on the bed. Put the divot between them under your spine. Lay til it stops hurting, because it will a little if you're stiff and then when it becomes comfortable move it down a little. Keep doing that til you get all the way to your lower back, then move them back up. It's slow, but it mimics a massage and really loosens up that spine and works the knots out of your shoulder. As some others have said yoga is good too!
Edit: If you want to see the balls taped together I can snap a pic for ya.
