Strange sensation during panic attacks?

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I often will talk with people or read online about how people will feel like their throat is "closing up" when they are having a panic attack and it makes it feel difficult to breath.

When I have panic attacks, I notice that it feels like all the air gets sucked out of my throat? My throat never really feels tight, maybe stiff, but has anyone felt this before?

It kind of feels like a vacuum sucked all the oxygen out of my throat and for a moment I literally feel like I can't breathe at all and then I will be fine and a few moments later, it will happen again and again.

Can anyone relate to this?

I had panic disorder for years and researched the hell out of attacks. I'm your go to gal on that. It's caused by a combination of involuntary tightening of the muscles during the fight or flight response and air hunger from hyperventilating. It's one of the scariest symptoms and I believe it's responsible for additional adrenaline dumping from fear which prolongs the attack. Breathing slowly into a paper bag does help , as does distracting yourself.

Ok, so I'm not the only one? lol

I would sometimes get the feeling that I was choking on something when I would have them, if that's what you mean.

I sometimes feel like the air is too thick to breathe or that something is choking me during a panick attack.

I went through a wretched period of two years where I assumed I was dying every few days, I would have a feeling of light headedness and of falling down an elevator shaft and feel like I was clawing to get out of my body to escape the feeling of dread and impending doom, I don't have them as often anymore, they were worst when I was using drugs periodically but they faded in frequency after I came out of that dark time cause I spent a while digging within myself and finding all the shades between and even analyzed my own anxieties.T he sensation has never altered for me when it comes to panic attacks and I've had them at all stages of my life and it's always the feeling of falling down a mineshaft and needing to escape that moment.

Good advice for hyperventilating, OOM.

The bag makes you re-breathe your exhalations somewhat, which have a higher CO2 content. If a bag isn't available, putting your face or head under the sheets or even a towel/cloth/blanket/piece of clothing can accomplish the same thing. However, as the CO2 goes up the O2 goes down and blood gets more acidic slightly so if it gets too low your body will try to breath faster to compensate - if someone isn't aware of why its happening it can make them think they are still hyperventilating and freak out a little. Like you said OOM, it helps to consciously try to slow the breathing so the person is aware of it.

That trick also can work sometimes for staving off a painful migraine, as CO2 is an anesthetic. It also affects the blood vessels in the head (dilates? contracts?) which can directly help alleviate the headache. People should just be sure to use something porous like a paper bag or a cloth so that some oxygen gets in, as the goal is to only slightly lower the raise the CO2 content.

I yank the window wide open and breathe in the cool air and listen to the river and rustling trees, for some reason I always think of pulling grass blades up whenever I'm off on a panic jitter, grass is very agreeable to focus on in any situation.

I can't say I get the "vacuum" sensation, but my airways seem to constrict and breathing becomes somewhat restricted or ... arduous.

The primary sensation I acknowledge during panic attacks is a rising sensation of derealisation - a peculiar sensation that makes me forget I have a body, an makes me question my very existence in that present moment. It comes on at a moderate pace and is the first symptom I notice, and is my cue to find an exit and to being breathing as deeply as possible. At the peak I regain control of my neocortex - it seems - and I resume rational thinking, wherein I understand what's happening and reason the next steps.