Firstly, kudos to you, jtassar. Gathering coping strategies to put to use before something is happening is great! (Trying to come up with them in the midst of the issue can be very difficult at best!)

I'm compelled to talk about panic attack because I had a whopper last night (the magnitude of which hasn't happened in awhile), so it is fresh in mind. It started with a lightheadedness and a feeling that I was on the verge of losing consciousness, so I laid down. (Other than that, I'm not going to elaborate on the symptoms, just the coping.)

The main thing was to try to get a grip, right? But the act of "trying" can be counterproductive (at least I've found that so). So the key is grounding. To bring myself out of my reeling mind, and get tethered.*

* The word "tethered" came to mind from having somewhat recently having seen the movie Gravity. There is a scene where she becomes (literally) untethered. In space. So no gravity. Nothing to grab hold of. And she cannot get her bearings. I thought it was the ultimate example of abject terror. No spoilers. Point is that it all started with becoming untethered (like a panic attack). So the trick is to somehow get tethered, right?

It can be accessed in many ways. (See mindfulness.) The aim is to divert your focus. In this particular instance, some of the time I held my BF's hand in my hands while spooning, focusing on warmth and the feeling of safety. Focused on the comfort of the bed itself, etc. Then there was the breathing. I find stomach breathing helpful (where you rise and fall each breath at the stomach instead of up high where it feeds the tension). I also endeavor to relax muscles, including face. Being able to work with only a small area is ok. Do what you can, no matter how small. When it relaxes, try to go further. I image being ice cream melting on hot pavement (go figure, lol!).

Now that all seems a bit easy-peasy, must be nice to be able to do these things while freaking out, right? No. I DON'T have magical powers of self control. Far from it. Again and again and again and again I lost the focus to the terror. But again and again and again, I pulled the focus back. (Don't berate yourself for losing it, just bring it back without judgement). Really can't overstate how many times it took. But eventually, the balance shifts.

I do have a PRN and did avail myself of it. Incrementally (so as to use least amount necessary) and only after significant time had passed without improvement using the non-med techniques (as in, I didn't even take the first half before over 10 minutes in, when an average panic attack would be abating). I keep the bar quite high for using them for panic, and think that's important.

Sorry so long, but I hope you find it helpful.