Panic attacks

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Until recently I didn't know exactly what a panic attack was, but after bringing up the symptoms with a doctor the other day I realised I've actually had a few of these over the years. I hadn't recognised them as attacks, because during the episodes I never felt anything I'd describe as panic exactly. There was plenty of fear and worry in most cases, but I'm not the kind of person that panics; I never lose control and never react on impulse. It was more like the panic was in my body, rather than the mind. The thought of being unconsciously vulnerable in that way is kind of unnerving.

The most recent attack was caused by a fever that had kept me up all night. I was thinking and worrying about it too much, which was depriving me of much-needed sleep, which was making my condition worse, and so on. Then there was nausea, severe hyperventilating, feelings of numbness in my hands...and it escalated to the point that I expected to pass out. It was horrible. After it passed, I just sat stock still for over half an hour.

I'm kind of curious to know how others' experiences with these attacks compare. Maybe it'll help me get a better understanding of my own. Anyone feel like sharing?

I worry about it a little, the disconnect there seems to be between how I'm feeling consciously (i.e. not panicking severely) and my body's reaction (going into panic mode as if I'm about to die). I'm becoming concerned that all the stress and fear in my life has been there so consistently, for so long, that I've accepted it as normal, but my health is still suffering the consequences of all these daily fight-or-flight reactions.

Last edited by Leander on 12 Jun 2010, 11:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

When I have a panic attack, my mind seems calm to me but my body feels like I'm having a heart attack.

Even though my mind seems calm, if I have to talk or interact with others in any way, the words come out in a frantic voice and sometimes garbled.

It's almost as if I'm not inside my body anymore. I feel like an outside observer. If people leave me alone, I can deal with the sensations and "ride it out." If people try to interact with me or interfere in any way, it turns into more of a meltdown with me saying and doing things I deeply regret later.

I try my best to get away from people when I feel that way because I know what a fragile situation it is. Especially because I seem to appear distraught to others who can only see the physical symptoms and that encourages them to approach me and engage me in conversation. (Usually starting with, "are you okay?")

yeah, i had that same exact thing happen to me .
except it was severe panic.
I had strepp throat earlier this year and was so feverish at one point during the night that my thinking went a little crazy. & i'm not really a schizo or have paranoia or anything, but in the time leading up to the panic attack, suddenly i was pretty irrational & suspicious of the medicine i was taking and kept thinking i'd taken too much and that it was going to make me worse even though it was just like tylenol, etc. & i felt certain that i was absolutely going to die, & i felt super hot and cold & had a strong urge to take ice cold showers and just be under running water for some reason, and i absolutely couldn't force myself to calm down on my own, so i had to cocoon myself in towels and blankets on my bed and count slowly backwards from 10 until i passed out from mental exhaustion. the counting backwards slowly is a calming technique, but it wasn't really enough to calm me in that case. It simply served to keep the panic from escalating higher than it already was. Sorta a "finger in the dike" scenario; not really solving the problem, but just temporarily keeping it from completely overwhelming me.

that's really the only one quite like that i've had however.
i have had a few more recently with the symptoms you're describing:
chest pains,
tingling in extremities,
hot/cold/sweating,
jitteryness
trouble speaking clearly
but since i've been prescribed paxil for it recently, i haven't really had any trouble with it.
My doctor said it was just caused by anxiety.

Hi,

I have panic attack 1-2 times per week...
It's the worst feeling ever...

I don't know how to decribe it at the moment...
but when I have panic attack, it feels so bad that I would rather die.
my mind go totally insane...I do weird stuff and become very impulsive

There are milder panic attack which I just feel like my heart is pumping out of my body.

Anyway, I'm now under medication control which has helped a lot
I'm on Valium (diazepam)... it is for short term management only. I'm seeing psychiatrist on Tuesday to be re-assessed.

Oh, and my panic attack can be caused by crowd, inability to communicate, or being ignored totally...

1-2 times a week must be difficult to bear. I really sympathise with those of you who have these attacks frequently. I've been lucky enough that mine are few and far between, and the worst ones have been when I'm alone (although the isolation may have contributed to the trigger - feeling like you're about to pass out with no one to find you is scary). I can imagine suffering one in public could feel much worse.

true, i also happened to be alone when the big one happened to me.

I spent my entire twenties and thirties having panic attacks on a daily basis.

They would last anything up to two hours.

My symptoms were extreme paranoia along with a fear of going mad.

Often a fear I had said or done something to upset someone and intrusive thoughts about the kinds of things I might have done along with a predisposition to misinterpret evidence.

Fear that I was saying things out loud and accompanying intrusive thoughts about the kinds of things I might be saying.

I am 47.

One thing that is different for me now, is I know I have Aspergers.

Knowing I DO NOT KNOW what someone is thinking or feeling means I do not have to make something up just because everyone else appears to.

It is okay for me not to know. If I need to know I can ask someone.

NOT KNOWING can be uncomfortable but it is better than making up something because I don't know something.

I no longer have access to my negative interpretations about the world, because I know MY interpretations were NOT ALWAYS ACCURATE.

I rarely have full blown panic attacks, when I do I can take myself out of a situation and manage them wihin about twenty minutes or so.

I have also learned to manage anxiety to an extent and most people would not notice it.

Because of my ability to handle anxiety I am at a distinct advantage in some situations where any other person would ordinarily be too anxious to take action.

For example, extreme sports occur for me as no more frightening than a panic attack.

By contrast I found it easy to jump out of a plane.

The last two really scary things I did were:

Going paintballing.

Speakin out loud at a town planning meeting.

Cheers

Mark