Anxiety and panic attacks

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This has been a pretty bad year for me, psychologically speaking. It all began when I was scheduled to have my regular colonoscopy sooner than expected. I have a history of polyps, so I usually have to go every couple of years, but this time it was six months between exams. Of course I realize now that it was because I was dealing with an enterologist who hadn't seen me before, but at the time I became obsessed with the idea that I could have colon cancer. As it turned out, my colon was free even of polyps, but I had this episode where I felt a sudden swelling in my chest, which radiated into my arms, causing a tingling sensation. My first conclusion was that I was having a heart attack, but it subsided almost immediately. Still, I couldn't bear the thought of being alone, so I spent a couple of hours at the home of a friend from my church so that I could calm myself down.

Then a few weeks later, I was at work when I felt a bitter taste in my throat, my heart started to pound, and I became very sweaty. This was so terrified that they had to call the paramedics to take me to the hospital. They continually reassured me that what I was experiencing was only anxiety, but I had trouble believing them. I was a little uneasy that they were making it sound so commonplace, and here I thought I was dying! Well, I understand they had probably encountered this many times before, so that's why they were as casual as they were about it.

Anyway, after a negative EKG, a couple of crisis interventions and some new prescriptions (Atavan, Cimbalta and Mirtazepine), along with regular visits to a support group, I think I'm managing my emotions fairly well. But today I had that same surge in my chest that first told me I was having anxiety problems. Why can't I believe that my heart is OK and put this fear behind me?

Yikes, that sounds scary!

I've had panic attacks and anxiety attacks, but never with scary physical symptoms like that (except when I'm having a really bad hot flash).

Mine are usually caused by a specific situation. If I fix or avoid the cause, the anxiety goes away.

Are yours caused by something specific, or do they just seem to come out of nowhere?

I used to have severe panic attacks.
For me it helped a lot to learn what's really happening and also take valium.

For no reason all the adrenaline dumps into my blood and makes my heart beat too fast
and things get very bright and shiny and everything smells intense like burning plastic,
and time slows down and stops in a way that sounds like ... well a DJ would know
the way it sounds if he slows down the vinyl music record disc and then stops it.

Also if you have a panic attack on caffeine that feels like you're getting electric shocks,
try quitting the caffeine for a while, because caffeine gives me even more panic attacks,
especially if I try to use caffeine to resist extreme fatigue. It's better to rest and sleep then.