Warning signs of Panic attacks

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I was just curious but for anyone who suffers from panic attacks do you get warning signs right before you have them? For me it feels like my breathing becomes harder and harder. My brain kind of shuts off and it's hard to think. I sometimes have chest pain as well. The one time a couple months ago the chest pain got so bad I thought I was having a heart attack and called an ambulance. I was just curious to hear other people's warning signs. They aren't easy to deal with.

For me, it feels like the walls closing in, like I am in this tight space and everything goes quiet. I can't make sense of anything, I can't think, and yes I basically shut down. Also, it feels like I am having an out of body experience and I get very lightheaded.

Warning signs are usually, I start to feel overwhelmed and confused. It's like I enter a state of fight or flight. Thats when I know to remove myself from the situation if I can.

In the past I've had certain people who seem to trigger me. Once starting a new job gave me one and I broke out in hives.

Thanks for sharing King Kat! I get that overwhelmed and confused feeling as well.

Most often when I get a panic attack, my anxiety will gradually build until it reaches panic levels, so warning signs for me are gradually increasing anxiety and the physical symptoms that go with that - increased heart rate, trouble being still, difficulty focusing, headaches, and stuff like that. Once in a while, something will trigger my PTSD and lead to a sudden panic attack. When that happens, there aren’t any warning signs.

Last edited by TwilightPrincess on 16 Feb 2025, 8:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Trigger PTSD. i do not care ,what....it adrenal on time ..and knowing limits is good and usually good time to get outta there....healthiest option for any and all in the area.imho

Yeah, that’s true, but leaving won’t necessarily keep a panic attack from occurring. Well, it doesn’t work like that for me. I only mentioned it because I don’t typically get a warning with those sorts of panic attacks, not that I’ve experienced them more than a handful of times in my life that I can recall.

Thank you for sharing TwilightPrincess! That's how it seems like it mostly goes for me too. A gradual increasing of anxiety and physical symptoms like increased heart rate and difficulty thinking. I also have heart palpitations too and then I sometimes focus on that and it increases the anxiety more. The sudden panic attack without any warning signs must be difficult when it happens. I think the first major one I had six years ago may have been like that.

I'm not too sure if I do get a warning they just happen but I have a way of coping with it when it comes

That's great you are able to cope ok! I sometimes do tapping therapy where I tap my neck or somewhere else just to try and shift focus away from the anxiety. Sometimes it helps unless it's severe.

I just focus on breathing and let it pass

I sometimes feel as if it's like drowning and at first I try to fight it and then I relax and just let it take it's course. It happens when I get bad memories and I start to relive them

I suppose it's different for everyone though and I hope your way works well for you

That's a good way to manage it. I think I heard fighting it can make it worse. I've tried some breathing exercises before but have trouble with it sometimes. I am glad it's working well for you babybird and thank you

Yes, such attacks do have a sort of point of no return and if you're not able to address it before that, the upper functions get sort of disconnected, preventing access to the usual strategies that might have been helpful before that point.

I've personally found that, the more I focus on prevention of that level of anxiety, the better. I tend to feel it more in terms of either dissociation or a bunch of electrical activity going up and down my body. Other than that, I tend to focus on what my breathing is doing and whether I've got any muscles tightened. Which clearly, is easier said than done for anybody that's likely to be posting here.

Those sorts of panic attacks are not preventable for me although other ones can be. They go from 0 to panic and are typically due to a major PTSD trigger that I wasn’t expecting or prepared for. I think I’m less likely to experience them these days because I’ve spent a lot of time working on the root issue - my trauma. Still, I keep benzos or edibles on hand for those occasions.

Stuff like breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, and listening to music while going for a walk can certainly be useful when I feel my anxiety starting to build and it’s not a seriously triggered (in the original sense of the word), 0 to 100 situation.