[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Panic Attacks- Anyone ever had one? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 2/17/2011 6:46:16 AM EDT
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I had one last night. Felt miserable to say the least. I was extremely terrified. I couldn't calm down. I just got in my truck and started driving. It took a little while but it helped. With a full tank of gas and no where to go I just drove.
When I got home, I freaked out again. I didn't want to be on the road again so I started to clean my apartment. It helped out a lot. But every time I stopped the feelings came back. I'm fine now. |
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Stangfan93––
Definitely talk to someone about it, someone knowledgeable about chemical inbalance. But what was the ideation involved––what ideas were driving your feelings of fear? Was there any one thing in particular which you feared––death, disgrace, financial ruin, etc? ––Eight_Ring |
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no idea what the hell a panic attack is or why people get them.
a friend of mine got one when her boyfriend took her on a cruise. she could not get on the plane. talk about a waste of money vacation stresses her out... jeesh i dont see how when someone is going through one of these, they cant . close their eyes. realize everything's OK, and then resume their day |
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I experienced it once, while scuba diving (which is a context in which panic attacks are more likely, and sometimes end up killing inexperienced divers).
My wife and I were diving in a lake in Florida, doing a navigation test for our advanced certification, so the instructor had chosen a particualrly murky lake with practically zero visibility. When I first descended to about 20 feet or so, and was just surrounded by this murky nothingness, I just suddenly freaked out. Started breathing super-fast, becoming disoriented (which obviously was very easy in that environment) and flooded with adrenalin. I have no idea how it happened, and it was really quite frightening. Fortunately, I was able to slow my breathing and calm down, but for a number of seconds, I was almost completely out of control and didn't know up from down, and wasn't thinking at all. |
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Quoted:
Fight or flight response , but your imagination triggered it? i never understood these either... Interesting observation about fight or flight––centered in the amygdala/limbic system. I get the impression that it doesn't come so much from the "imagination" as from a sudden and acute amplification (and distortion) of normal everyday fears and concerns––like a chemical magnifying glass has been applied. I hope it doesn't offend you Stangfan, but I'll say a prayer for you. ––Eight_Ring |
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After surgery to fuse bones in my foot, one of the medications they put me on caused one. Although the bones were fused, and my foot in a cast, I just "had to" move the foot. When I couldn't I started to have the anxiety attack and actually thought that if I couldn't move the foot, I would have to go into the garage, get an ax and cut off that part of my foot. I knew I wasn't thinking right, was panicking, and called my wife and told her what I was thinking.
Fortunately, I had some Lorazapam left over from prior to a surgery, my wife got some into me and rushed me to the hospital. When the emergency room doc saw what med I was taking, he said anxiety is a common reaction to it. They dosed me heavily with more tranquilzers, and sent me home. The after effects lingered for months. I had never before had any issues with anxiety or stress, even though I spent 25 years in an extremely high stress job. Being so beyond control, and feeling like I was watching my craziness from outside was weird. It was if there were three people there. The one was the crazy person who wanted to chop off part of my foot with an ax, the second one was the rational one who knew that the first person was crazy. The third person was one watching both of the first two and wondering who would win...freaky. Damned glad that is over, and now in my medical chart there is a note that I am extremely sensitive to some sort of re-uptake inhibitor. I think it was a noradrenaline, or norepinephrine re-uptake inhibitor that was put in one of the pain meds. |
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I had one last night. Felt miserable to say the least. I was extremely terrified. I couldn't calm down. I just got in my truck and started driving. It took a little while but it helped. With a full tank of gas and no where to go I just drove. When I got home, I freaked out again. I didn't want to be on the road again so I started to clean my apartment. It helped out a lot. But every time I stopped the feelings came back. I'm fine now. I've had a mild version of this when I feel trapped or claustrophobic. The last time this happened was on an airplane when I waas sandwiched between 2 big people. |
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when you have one, try to relax. hard to believe it, but they feel mcuh worse than they are.
if you feel you are hyperventilating and getting lightheaded, get a brown paper bag and breath into it. slow down, take it easy, don't freak out, then consult health care pro. ETA: stress leading to imbalances is usually the trigger, but so are certain meds that jack your heart rate up (like decongestants and broncodilators). cut down on caffeine and alcohol, stay away from recreational drugs. |
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Never had one, but I have a relative who worked in television and has had several, just before he was going on the air.
He's had a lot going on in his life and gets pretty stressed out. I think it just eventually builds to a point that it overwhelm's him. I don't really understand it, but I don't think he has had that problem since leaving the TV job, which was not a good work environment for him. |
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I have had them 3 times
First time they took me away in an ambulance thought I was having a stroke/heart attack. 2nd time was when they tried to put me into an MRI machine, to check my head for swelling ect... I was absolutely terrified and I am not claustrophobic or I never used to be. The MRI tech thought I was going to kill him. 3rd time after they ran a shitload of tests and everything came back fine, it was fucking allergies and my mind playing tricks on me. Barometric pressure of the weather coming in, anytime we have storms I get the feelings again but I can shake them off It was very real the first time blood pressure was at 189/168 when the fire dept showed, the EMT said which hospital do I want to go too I could not answer him intelligibly I was all fucked up, could not speak or tell them where my meds where, best thing I did on instinct was to chew two aspirin when it all started the first time. Let me tell you it took the ER staff about 6 hours to get my blood pressure back down to normal range. It has been almost a year and everything is good to go, but the panic attacks and anxiety episodes are very real when they are happening to you B |
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Quoted: I had one last night. Felt miserable to say the least. I was extremely terrified. I couldn't calm down. I just got in my truck and started driving. It took a little while but it helped. With a full tank of gas and no where to go I just drove. When I got home, I freaked out again. I didn't want to be on the road again so I started to clean my apartment. It helped out a lot. But every time I stopped the feelings came back. I'm fine now. I had one once when I was 18. I had moved into my first apartment and was probably nervous about being on my own and paying bills. I thought I was having a heart attack and felt dizzy/lightheaded and had to lay down. It passed and I haven't had one since (I'm 36 now). There are issues in your life causing you anxiety and stress...get to the bottom of them. |
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For years I could never understand what these were. Someone I knew had them and thought he was having a heart attack... my friends used to joke about it when he wasn't around... how silly it was.
A couple years ago, I had an allergic reaction to something I ate and my throat started to close up, went to the ER they gave me some stuff it stopped the reaction. Anyway from that point forward i've had like "panic"/anxiety attacks. I went to my doctor he prescribed some meds, to take when/if it happened unfortunately the meds made me loopy and that was no good either. Since then what I do when it happens is just tell myself to "suck it the fuck up"... just force myself to relax and keep telling myself that it's all in my head and that it will pass. It is easier said than done but with enough persistence it is manageable. Additionally I find things that get my mind off of it help, anything from exercising at the gym, a hot shower, video games, reading or even hanging out with friends... just something to get my mind off of it, similar to your driving. Although sometimes being in situations with friends/other people aren't good because they can tell something is bothering you and just think that you're not being friendly, meanwhile i'm concentrating in keeping it together so I can crack a smile and pretend nothing is bothering me. With practice over time it has gotten much better and easier to control. Each person's situation is different, and it was hard for me to understand until it happened to me. I think you should see a doctor...but also keep in mind that depending on your situation it may be possible to deal with it without meds. Hope that helps, feel free to pm me if you want to discuss this further. |
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Quoted:
I experienced it once, while scuba diving (which is a context in which panic attacks are more likely, and sometimes end up killing inexperienced divers). My wife and I were diving in a lake in Florida, doing a navigation test for our advanced certification, so the instructor had chosen a particualrly murky lake with practically zero visibility. When I first descended to about 20 feet or so, and was just surrounded by this murky nothingness, I just suddenly freaked out. Started breathing super-fast, becoming disoriented (which obviously was very easy in that environment) and flooded with adrenalin. I have no idea how it happened, and it was really quite frightening. Fortunately, I was able to slow my breathing and calm down, but for a number of seconds, I was almost completely out of control and didn't know up from down, and wasn't thinking at all. I witnessed a very similar event. We qualified for underwater navigation in an Iowa lake - you can't see your hand in front of your face. "If you can navigate through this, you can do it anywhere!" This girl apparently flipped out and started sucking down her tanks when she got down to where it was dark. She got out OK, but was done for the day. My buddy had a full-on lock-down panic attack once. Just froze in place, shaking with tremors. I helped him to the car, and he was better in ten minutes or so. |
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I had one last night. Felt miserable to say the least. I was extremely terrified. I couldn't calm down. I just got in my truck and started driving. It took a little while but it helped. With a full tank of gas and no where to go I just drove. When I got home, I freaked out again. I didn't want to be on the road again so I started to clean my apartment. It helped out a lot. But every time I stopped the feelings came back. I'm fine now. Yes  BTDT.
I find that I sleep a lot or do a lot of busy work. No entertainment, no relaxing. Either one will result in me starting to think again, and that's what brings on the bad stuff. |
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A couple years ago, I had an allergic reaction to something I ate and my throat started to close up, went to the ER they gave me some stuff it stopped the reaction. Anyway from that point forward i've had like "panic"/anxiety attacks. Epinephrine. Jacks your heartrate up. When you're sitting perfectly still, your mind can't keep up. |
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I tried the brown paper bag thing since I actually had one in my kitchen. It didn't help out at all. I was hyperventilating and getting light headed. I also don't use recreational drugs. I have been on Tylenol and Bactrim recently because I am under the weather.
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Had two after surgery. Shortness of breath, hot, everything closing in on you and the feeling I had in my cast(unable to move). Lucky my wife seen what was happening and told me to go outside and sit down in our driveway and take some deep breaths. Being nighttime and cold outside also helped. The closest way of explaining it was like you were going to die!
For those who never had one. The best way to describe it is like you have something stuck in your throat, you cannot breath or clear the obstruction and you have your hands tied behind your back. Multiply that +1000 |
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It was because I was dating this girl. And now I'm not. I ejected this morning and after wards I felt so much better. Like I feel almost euphoric. Wait......Wut? (LOL). Story, please. ––Eight_Ring Ehh, I don't know if I really ought to get into. I feel pretty bad about it now. Lets just say I was the other guy. |
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My heart was racing, I felt like I couldn't breathe, shaking uncontrollably, nervous, terrified. It was like a massive adrenaline dump! I've never even had real adrenaline do that type of thing- dry mouth, fast breathing, that's it- certainly not terror and such. I'm with the others- this is just something I have a hard time wrapping my head around... |
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Yes, I just had my first one 6 months ago at the age of 37.
It was over a statistics exam, that I subsequently aced... edit: For Aimless' benefit... It felt like there was a heavy object on my chest. It was difficult (physically) to breathe and it lasted nearly an hour. |
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Quoted: Picture this. You are stiign there doing yoru thing. No stress, life is great. I don't even understand what they are. Like you get all anxious and your heart races? Sounds like time to see a counselor, I would guess. All of a sudden your heart starts racing, arm goes numb, and for some reason nothing seems right, you might drop at any moment. Everything seems ominous and it might be that you are dying. Probably an electrical or chemical problem. I have them from time to time. Cant find the cause. I just push through them and do stuff like the op to get my mind off it. There is no reason to medicate for it IMHO. Push through, though it may seem impossible. |
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About 5 years ago I started getting them all of a sudden, Multiple times a day. Went to the ER thinking I was having a heart attack... couldn't breathe... heart beating like crazy, light headed/dizzy. Then started having memory issues. I'd be driving and forget how I got to where I was. etc...
I went to the doctor and while looking at my charts and results from tests from the hospital that stated nothing was wrong he noticed I lost 40 lbs since the last time I was there. Asked what I was doing to lose weight/daily diet. I was drinking A LOT of diet soda(some will absolutely dispute this) He told me to stop drinking/eating anything with artificial sweetner in it and come back in two weeks. I stopped that day and was totally fine within a week. When I went back he said I had an intolerance/allergy to artificial sweetner/asparatame. I'd get headaches when I'd drink diet soda until I got "used" to it. Now I can't even chew a piece of sugarless gum without getting a migraine. Since I've stopped ingesting anything that had artificial sweetner I haven't had any issues whatsoever. |
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Quoted: I had one last night. Felt miserable to say the least. I was extremely terrified. I couldn't calm down. I just got in my truck and started driving. It took a little while but it helped. With a full tank of gas and no where to go I just drove. When I got home, I freaked out again. I didn't want to be on the road again so I started to clean my apartment. It helped out a lot. But every time I stopped the feelings came back. I'm fine now. I had one the night Obama was elected.  |
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Picture this. You are sitting there doing yoru thing. No stress, life is great.
I don't even understand what they are. Like you get all anxious and your heart races? Sounds like time to see a counselor, I would guess. All of a sudden your heart starts racing, arm goes numb, and for some reason nothing seems right, you might drop at any moment. Everything seems ominous and it might be that you are dying. Probably an electrical or chemical problem. I have them from time to time. Cant find the cause. I just push through them and do stuff like the op to get my mind off it. There is no reason to medicate for it IMHO. Push through, though it may seem impossible. That's exactly it. I was just sitting on my couch watching tv and this overwhelming feel of terror came over me. Driving helped because my mind was focused on the task of driving. But, when I got home my mind was left to wander again. So I started cleaning because I didn't want to be on the road anymore. Possibly putting myself or others in danger. |
| I've had AA/PA since I was a young kid. I thought everybody had them. My mother told be that my grandfather (her father) had them for years and my dad lived with them for a long time. I guess its in my blood. I found out about 2 years ago that my Testosterone level was severly low. I didnt relate the low T with the PA/AA until I quit having them after starting Test replacement. |
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I have had two in my life. Takeoff climb out of Sky Harbor airport in AZ. For some reason the pilot decided to chop throttle and for a second it felt like the plane was falling backwards. My heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest, was on the verge of hyperventilating and I was scared shitless. A combination of heavy drinking the night before, not enough sleep and lots of caffeine were probably contributing factors to me freaking out. Didn't make a scene or anything but I was on edge for the remainder of the flight. Utterly hate flying now. The other one was triggered by me running wire in a crawlspace under a house. The ground sloped gently upwards towards the back of the house. I kept pushing on and suddenly realized I was wedged in so tight, I couldn't take a breath. Freaked the hell out for a second, then came to my senses and backed myself out. Came out from under the house, took a couple minute break to gather my wits then figured out a way to run the wire without using the crawl space. |
| I had a few problems a couple of years ago, most of which I got under control without help. But as a follow up to everything I saw a shrink a couple of times. He did nothing about what I was there for, but he did help me deal with panic attacks. I might still have the occasional anxiety problem, but nothing like what it was. It was like a combination of rational thought and self hypnosis, kind of. It's a self reinforcing cycle, you start to get concerned that you're feeling anxious and that feeds the anxiety causing you to get even more upset about what you're feeling which increases the anxiety ... At least, that worked in my case, apparently. |
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Quoted: Oh I DO get it. Absolutely. Sorry if the pill head comment offended you. If the pills help you then that's good I guess.Quoted: Quoted: Man up. Pretty much the only thing one can do about them. Or they can go the pillhead route. Spoken like a couple of guys who do NOT get it. Personally I chose to deal with them head on on my terms. It was almost crippling a few times, but as I knew what they were, I knew they wouldn't kill me. Everyone reacts differently to things. If you had to go to pills, then that's what you had to do. |
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i have a couple a year. weird thing is, there's never anything happening to set them off...just BAM! out of nowhere. mine usually start with a light-headed feeling and my hands get cold. then i get numbness in my arms and cold sweats and things start looking very bright. it literally feels like you could die at any moment. a xanax will stop it cold in about 15 min |