Hi, my name is Chris, this is my first time posting on here and actually first time posting anywhere about my panic attacks and anxiety. I am 18 years old and not too long ago I had my first real panic attack. I had trouble breathing, my chest was hurting, my legs were tingling and I felt dizzy and lightheaded. I kept thinking to myself "Oh my god I think I am having a heart attack". I went to the ER and they did an EKG, X-rays of my heart, bloodwork, etc. They told me it's just anxiety and that it will pass. They said they found some irregular breathing which caused me to have a higher level of carbon dioxide but if I started to breathe the way I was before it would pass. I did not feel too relieved because I was SO sure there was something else wrong with me...
Some time passed, about a month or so and I started to get more symptoms. I looked them up and found exactly everything that I was feeling was related to Anxiety and Panic Disorder. The article I read said "Many people who have these attacks mistake it for a heart attack". I thought that would relieve me but for some reason it didn't. I was just hoping this would pass and the next day I would wake up and feel fine.
Over the last week or so it only seems like it has gotten worse and that I can't focus on ANYTHING. I don't want to move from where I am, I don't want to go outside far away from where I can't get help, I don't want to do the things I normally do during the day because this is ALWAYS on my mind. I haven't been able to get a full nights sleep in a while. I'm always scared I'm going to not wake up or I'm going to wake up in the middle of the night having an attack. The thing that has been scaring me the most and keeping me on edge is when I feel like nothing around me is real - it feels like I am not me and I question everything that is happening around me. I lie awake at night thinking of any tiny thing that's out of place in my life and wonder if I'm going to die because of it. My heart races a lot during these attacks and sometimes lingers even when I'm not having one. I am just always on edge and not able to RELAX. For a while I was trying to stay away from medication but it felt like it was the only way out. I was prescribed Fluoxetine 10mg ( I guess its the generic name for Zoloft? ). I was also given Propranolol for my heart palpatations and to calm me down. I felt immediate relief from the propranolol but then it started to make me feel like my heart was going to stop beating because it was beating so slow.
I just want to be able to get back to a normal sleeping routine and wake up and feel refreshed instead of exhausted and anxious. Does anyone else get very strange dreams that seem so real that scare you enough to wake you up in the middle of the night? The last 2 days I've felt a little "shaky" I guess you could say ... I can feel my heart throughout my whole body (it's not racing) and it feels like I'm moving every time it beats. It's very hard to explain. I came on here to get some reassurance and to see if there's anyone else out there who is going through what I'm going through.
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to NMP.... you have come to the right place cos i am sure that most of the people here can relate to what you are going thru 
. Firstly don't be afraid of the Proprananol... i have taken it for a couple of years now and it will not slow your heart rate to a dangerous level but it will help calm your heart rate.. when you have had a rough time with panic/anxiety you become used to the racing heart, so it can almost feel strange when it returns to normal again but it really is helping to calm things down...... The fluxotine should help in the long term but you can get increased anxiety when you first start it but this should settle.. but if you find that it is not helping you go back to your doctor cos there are other meds that will work for you... i didn't get on with fluxotine, so switched to Citalopram which is working wonders... but i know people who have found the opposite is true, so its a case of trial and error to find whats right for you... 
