Valerie,Yes, you have found people here who have been there and who understand! I, too, have had bad attacks like you describe. I reassure myself that they rarely happen and I now have the skills to deal with them if they do again. We moved here three years ago, away from my family and friends, and I know how you feel not having anyone else you can count on but your husband. I also have learned since we've been here that people are much more compassionate than we ever think they can be. We spend our time worrying if we will embarass ourselves if we have an attack in public. I can reassure you that MOST people will help you, not laugh at you. Shortly after we moved here, my son got caught in an escalator at a store and was nearly thrown from the second floor to the first floor. He was caught by strangers and was rather scraped up and bruised. I was screaming and hysterical. After it was over, I was amazed at how many people stopped and helped. ALL of them were concerned and ALL of them were very compassionate. I know it's not the same as a panic attack, but we have to believe in the good in the people around us. I guarantee that regardless of what happens while you are out, you will find people to help you and see you through.I also wanted to direct you to the anxiety forum. At the bottom of the page is a hop to box. Take it to the hypnotherapy, anxiety and CBT forum. There you will find more information on anxiety and how it relates to IBS. There you will also find info on "Mike's tapes". Those are hypnotherapy tapes designed specifically to deal with IBS. The neat thing is that they also work to calm anxiety. It is a 100 day program. I am on my second time through and I cannot recommend them highly enough. Please read up on them. They have helped many people. There is a thread on that forum called success stories. You may like what you see there!As long as you learn how to cope, you will never again have an attack as bad as the last one. If you can recognize it and let yourself flow through it instead of fighting it, it will go away and you will be ok!LauraP.S. I will go to the hypno forum right now and bump up the success stories thread. Let me know if you have any trouble finding it!