Have you ever had a panic attack? How does it present, and how do you overcome it?
what are your physical and emotional symptoms?
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I used to have them as a teenager. For me it felt exactly like an asthma attack. My mother-in-law has them all the time and for her it is like uncontrolled anxiety with severe abdominal pains.
I get panic attacks whenever I see a clown or chickens. I don’t really know why but I freak out when I see one of those two. The way I handle it? I scream or take deep breaths, if I can.
EDIT:: My symptoms are, shaking body, can’t breathe, and I tend to fall on the floor and curl up into fetus position. It’s that bad.
Creeping feeling up the back of my head onto the top
Hands and sometimes body shakes
Adrenaline surge up the spine which hurts like a pulled back muscle and hot clenching stomach
Panting breaths
Ears ringing
Blurred vision
I never understood what an anxiety attack was or how it felt, until I tried to quit smoking. I was in the mall and hadn’t smoked in about 4 days. It was the first time I was around a large number of people since I had stopped.
Out of nowhere I feel like I couldn’t breath and my heart started to race. It was almost a claustrophobic feeling. I was walking very quickly to leave when it hit me. I felt as though I was struggling in quicksand, dying to find a way out of this sea of people. I didn’t like the feeling at all and felt really embarrassed afterward. When I got to my car I popped a commit lozenge and breathed very deep.
My left arm went numb, I felt my heart beating hard in my chest and I thought I was short of breath. I felt clammy and more nervous than ever before. Everything started to bother me: the noise in the other rooms, the ceiling light, the fan, etc.
My thoughts came to me at a rapid pace: What did these symptoms mean? Am I having a heart attack? Should I tell my mother? Should I go to the emergency room? What if I don’t get there in time? Will I die? I could not stay on any thought for more than a brief moment.
At this point, I was shivering and wrapped myself in a blanket. But I left the air conditioner on because I felt like there was no oxygen in the room.
Then I thought: I’m not having a heart attack. I must be going crazy. This is what it feels like to lose your mind. I’ll never be the same again. My family will have to commit me to a mental institution. Images of myself in a sterile white hallway walking into a lonely, bare room. I’m wearing unfamiliar clothes and a plain bathroom. There is a window on the door with bars on it. My heart continued to pound and I still couldn’t catch my breath. And I was too embarrassed to go to my mother and tell her what was happening to me.
These feelings and thoughts cycled through my head for hours before I finally calmed down out of sheer exhaustion. It was the most terrifying thing that ever happened to me.
I only realized later that it was a panic attack that I had experienced. It wasn’t my first, but it was certainly the worst one, and the one that made me realize something was wrong. That was 2 years ago.
I haven’t had a panic attack since, thanks to finally getting approved for Medicaid, seeking a therapist and learning CBT techniques.
I had a panic attack once caused by my hypochondria. I’m not a severe hypochondriac by any means, but every now and then it seizes me and this time it led to a panic attack. It just felt like I was having trouble breathing and my heart was racing and I felt like I was going to pass out or something. I just tried really hard to relax and I took deep breaths. I splashed water on my face and lay down and focused on one thing in the room (staring at it) and eventually it stopped. I knew what was going on though, so I just tried to calm myself down. Really really scared me, though. I never want to experience anything like that again. Way more frightening than hypochondria.
Every now and then when I feel hypochondriacal feelings, I fear I’ll have another panic attack, but it hasn’t happened. Hopefully I won’t let hypochondria become too powerful.
This is the first time I’ve ever told anyone about this, btw. It happened in the morning when I was still in my underwear and no one saw.
I start hyperventilating, I have severe pains in my heart, I cry uncontrollably, I can’t think clearly and usually I become unaware of where I’m at all I can think about is that I feel like I’m going to die. I used to drink when I would get really bad one but I stopped that recently. Now I usually smoke which is not a good alternative, go outside so I can breathe, or shut myself in a room and listen to music.
@DominicX I have always been told I had hypochondria but I never really believed anyone but know that I’m thinking about it I have a couple of minor panic attacks because I thought I had an illness, infection, and so on. Thats an awful feeling to believe so much that you have something that is going to kill you. and to think I’m going to be a nurse I already started looking in my books for potential diseases I might have I never really connected the two.
When I have panic attacks, I feel like I can’t breath, much less even stand. I begin to cry and my attacks can last for several hours. I talk like I’m crazy, and I can smoke a whole pack during that time. To me, it is one of the worst feelings in the world. I feel alone, and scared. The only way for it to stop, for me is finding some way to relax, or talk to somebody about my problem while it is happening
I thought of another really good technique that calms me down. ^@brinibear response made me think of it when she/he sorry don’t know your gender don’t want to offend :) feels alone and scared. If I’m with someone at the time of my attack I get them to hold me and not try to talk me down just be there and really hold me until it passes. My ex had to do that a lot for me.
@sjmc1989 no offense, I’m a girl. I totally know what you mean, my ex did the same for me. But now I have to find other ways. When I left my ex that was the longest most horrible panic attack I ever had. But I had friends with me, but I was alone, in another state with no family. So that did magnify everything.
Thank goodness I haven’t had one in a long time. But when I did, I was always afraid I would pass out, couldn’t breathe, blackness seemed to creep into my peripheral vision, trouble swallowing and an overwhelming feeling of fear. Not fear of anything specific, seemed as if fear of everything.
I then found a book called “Hope and Help for Your Nerves” by Dr. Claire Weekes. It really helped me tremendously. Later in life, while in counseling, I discovered a lot of secrets I was keeping hidden deep inside and they were probably the cause of the attacks. After I dealt with them, the attacks receded completely, knock on wood!
@brinibear I thought you were but didn’t want to assume. Yeah I have my worst attack when I feel as though I have no control over the situation like with a break up and what I want is slowly slipping through my fingers and I can’t do anything about it. It’s an awful feeling and I feel like people think I’m psychotic which makes me freak out even more. I also feel that loneliness does magnify it as well.
Many, many times over many, many years. Mine felt basically like an asthma attack combined with a heart attack. For a long time I was certain I actually had heart disease, and went down that rabbit hole, which really didn’t help at all. After finally accepting that I didn’t have a physical illness, I lived with the panic attacks for years. It wasn’t until they were happening every day, and I had one while driving that I finally sought help. CBT only worked for a very short time for me, so in the end I wound up medicated. I’ve been taking the anti-depressant/anti-anxiety drug Effexor XR for years now, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. I only wish I’d gotten help earlier!
I occasionally need to supplement with Xanax, either before a known stressful event as a preventative or during an acute panic attack. Happily, those are quite rare these days.
ehh i have an anxiety attack every once in a while, usually for no reason whatsoever. jsut random lameness.
but anyways my heart beats ridiculously fast and i feel lightheaded.Try to breathe slow and full and make my self relax. usually works pretty quick. but like i said once in a while, ive had 1 anxiety attack in the last year
All great descriptions of the dreaded panic attack. Mine used to be particularly nasty, with chest pains, racing heart, breathing problems, light-headed, feelings of impending doom, etc., but thanks to Xanax, they are mostly a thing of the past.
@augustlan, Thank Evelyn for pharmaceuticals!
@evelyns_pet_zebra Yeah bad thing for me is that most Doctors are not going to prescribe Xanax to a 20 year old though.
I don’t think one would call them “panic attacks,” but I’ve been in situations which have caused me to cry uncontrollably, hyperventilate, become nauseous, and gag.
@Facade, like the day after a Chili Cook off or a Refried Bean buffet?
My fiance and I are discussing the differences between a “panic” attack and an “anxiety” attack. they seem to be very different yet similar things. any comments?
@hopscotchy I found a website that explains the difference problem is I don’t know how to post links :(
@sjmc1989 Here’s how to do it:
Type: ” words you want to use as your link ” :
(but with no spaces in between the quotation marks and the words, and no space between the quotation mark and the colon.)
Immediately after the colon (again, no space) paste or type in the URL address.
So, if you wanted to link to Fluther: ” Best question and answer site around! ” : Fluther . com
Remove all spaces, and you’re left with Best question and answer site around!
Panic attacks suck, I’m a fairly neurotic so I get them regularly, it’s just like getting scared, sometimes really scared for seemingly no reason. Sucks, but they are going away. I eat better, sleep more, excercise more, and don’t drink or do drugs, helps. I don’t have much sex anymore, don’t know how that’s relevent I just don’t feel like I’m doing my part unless I’m criminally self effacing, to a fault, yuck, too many words.
i think its just the effect of stress. Lorazapam helps a lot, and breathing slow helps.
My panic attacks were almost exactly what @evelyns_pet_zebra describes, chest pains, racing heart, breathing problems, light-headed, feelings of impending doom, but also tingling in my extremities, racing thoughts, and a grinding feeling in my gut that I thought meant that I needed to eat something. Like him I found Xanax to be a huge help, along with talk therapy to help me develop ways to defuse the situation. Getting enough sleep, getting brisk exercise several times a week, eating a decent diet, and avoiding alcohol also help.
I doubt a doctor would prescribe Xanax to you out of the blue, but he might if you were also seeing a counselor.
And panic attacks and anxiety attacks are basically the same thing. And yes, stress, especially stress over a long period, can trigger panic attacks initially, but then the body seems to learn how to start them off all on its own.
when i was a kid i used to get them a lot, now i still do but not as often…
i cant stop it so just have to be insane and all that and then it leaves on its own after a while
but i have to run away and hide if theres lots of people, recently in my friends loo… =P
what i get is my throat blocks up, my eyes are kind of seeing things as if im not quite in a dream, and hear stuff like my heads seperating from the earth kind of thing (?) but not awake (whatever), and fear, shakiness, generally feel ill, my mouth is really dry, senses are loads more sensitive, especially eyes to light… etc etc
it started at first when i was stressing about illness i think, but now and for a long time its kinda random…
I have panic attacks (and anxiety)...my symptoms vary. Usually I get a headache, blurry confusion, mental confusion and sometimes a pins and needles feeling in my leg or hand…
Sometimes panic attacks and anxiety are confused for eachother. This is the best page I have found for anxiety symptoms:
http://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety-symptoms.shtml
had a few…nasty and stupid things…feels like your organs are shutting down or being frozen (like that scene on the day after tmr) starting from your heart and heading outwards…and a few where its like your body is a suit of clothes and you step backwards out of it and drown….how to get over it? stop worrying,,,,i adopted a sort of so what attitude
Symptoms vary. Here is an incomplete list of possible ones: overwhelming sense of fear or terror, racing heart, feeling as if you are having a heart attack, hyperventilation, dizziness, sense of unreality, feeling as if one were going to die, numbness or tingling in the extremities (even ears), strong feeling that one needs to urinate or defecate, sweating, chills, pain in the abdominal region (stomach or intestines), tensed shoulder and neck muscles. http://panic-attackrelief.com/panic-attacks-symptoms/
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