The only thing that truly helps me avoid one is to walk away from whatever situation is causing it, find a calm quiet (preferably dark) spot, close my eyes and breathe.
Luckily, the one person whose opinion I care about has learned to just let me walk away when I need to. And I've gotten pretty good at avoiding situations that cause it (crowds mostly).
I've been prescribed Ativan. I hated it. A panic attack might incapacitate me for an hour or so, but the Ativan I'd take to fix it would leave me zombified all day.
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If life's not beautiful without the pain,
well I'd just rather never ever even see beauty again.
Well as life gets longer, awful feels softer.
And it feels pretty soft to me.
Modest Mouse - The View