Do you have different types of panic attacks?

[xvolatileheart]

I feel like every time I get a hold on my panic attacks, they come back in another form. The different types include:
1. Heart palpitations
2. Lightheaded/dizzy and clammy feeling
3. Sudden heart racing out of nowhere
4. Feeling like I can't breath deeply enough
5. Episodes of depersonalization

It's really frustrating! I feel like I have to start over and convince myself there's nothing physically wrong with myself, I'm not going crazy, etc. with each new symptom.

[granny number 4]

hi i agree with you its the derelization that freaks me out and the palpatations espesially in bed they r all so different x

[Stormsky]

You need to remember you have an attack and THEN you panic...
you cant stop an attack , but you can choose not to panic...
I havent panicked in years, i get attacks, i just dont panic anymore....
When an attack arises, it comes out of nowhere,(heart starts racing, dizzy etc)... dont pay any thoughts to it, its the oh my god here we go, and what if i lose it, what if i pass out, what if what if what if..... thats whats starts up the adrenaline, leading to full panic...without fuel (adrenaline) you cannot panic..... so when i get an attack, i just say yeah whatever, not interested,, and it dies off......

[robinhall]

Hi Stormsky
That's a very good point you have made - can I add that it might also be helpful to change the word 'attack' to something that reminds you of what is actually happening.

In most people's mind the word 'attack' denotes something very bad is happening.

The reality is that the body is experiencing harmless (although very frightening) and exaggerated symptoms of fight or flight caused by a surge in adrenaline.

so instead of saying you are having an 'attack' you could say you are experiencing 'fight or flight' or 'just adrenaline' which will trigger less anxiety and remind you of what is actually happening.

I have learned over the years that the language we use can be very important when breaking free from the anxiety cycles.

and can I also add that whilst we can't stop the initial surge of adrenaline and resulting fight or flight response it is important to know that the more we practice with the sensations and learn that we are in no actual danger the less we experience even the initial surges until eventually we rarely experience fight or flight at all.

I wouldn't want everyone to think that even of we don't panic we might still experience the fight or flight for the rest of our lives at the same intensity

Hope this helps
Robin

[Stormsky]

I didnt choose the term, it already exists. Hence why i used it.
I thinks its important to differentiate the 2, because it should be attack panic...as thats the order it happens. And it wasnt until i understood that, that i managed to conquer them for myself....understanding it that way round made the difference for me.
I still get attacks though, another reason why i use the already known term, i just CHOOSE not to panic anymore....
but i also understand your point, but attacks do happen from time to time even when recovered... but i would say that once recovered we cant always assume symptons like feeling light headed occasionally are signs of an attack...thats for the individual to know their own symptons and to know what is and isnt an attack
my point was more in the moment now, when people are saying they are experiencing panic attacks....and how to deal with actual panic attacks.

[xvolatileheart]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I am getting better at telling myself that it's nothing harmful but it's so mentally exhausting. I want the "attacks" to go away so I can stop having to worry about panic (such a terrible cycle!)

[PanchoGoz]

I'm confused...why would one have an "attack" if one is not panicking in the first place. What is an attack if it's not a panic attack? An attack of what exactly?

[Stormsky]

an attack is the initial symptons, maybe bit nervous, heart beat raised, light headed...its how you then react to that , that decides whether you go into a full blown panic

[eight days a week]

Completely disagree Stormsky - in fact I couldn't even make sense of your first post at all (sorry).

Robinhall - very many thanks for your insight and shedding (for me) invaluable light on the subject.

[Stormsky]

Completely disagree Stormsky - in fact I couldn't even make sense of your first post at all (sorry).

Robinhall - very many thanks for your insight and shedding (for me) invaluable light on the subject.

Your entitled to disagree... doesnt change my view on it tho. Infact many books ive read put it the same way i have, its where i learnt it from myself.

[PanchoGoz]

Completely disagree Stormsky - in fact I couldn't even make sense of your first post at all (sorry).

Robinhall - very many thanks for your insight and shedding (for me) invaluable light on the subject. A bit mean. I see where Stormsky is coming from and wouldn't make such a contrast between a professional therapist and a learning sufferer in one post myself without even offering a personal opinion.

Storm - I suppose you are saying the attack is the initial anxiety attack then, and the panic is what you make of the start of your symptoms eg. catasprophising. This makes perfect sense to me.
My only quiffle is that it sounds a bit like the symptoms can appear out of nowhere...but usually you can identify the thought that set it off. So I wouldn't say it is an attack like an epilectic attack, but the nervous sympoms resulting from the troublesome thought that started it :)

[xvolatileheart]

I think you two are getting into semantics, but you can have an "attack" either way around -
1. Anxiety that leads to an attack - an "anxiety attack"
2. Attack that leads to panic - a "panic attack"

I find anxiety attacks easier to manage because I can easily see where it came from. Panic attacks, however, are what I have been experiencing lately. I will be sitting calmly when my heart starts pounding or palpitating or I'll suddenly feel dizzy. I'm not saying there isn't anxiety in my life that is probably setting these attacks off subconsciously, but there is no acute episode of anxiety that I can relate to the attack, so in my mind, it must be a physical cause which I find very distressing.

Hope that makes sense.

[Stormsky]

Yes Panchogoz, your right about everything in your post!
Even Robinhall didnt completely disagree with me..
You are right that thoughts can start off nervous symptons.... but also when your body has been experiencing panic attacks and continious anx for years, then an attack (or whatever you want to call it) can sometimes appear from nowhere, not even a thought.... i can awake in the night having an 'attack' (maybe my bodies response to anx throughout the day)...but i dont panic (add to it)- i just say, im ignoring this and going back to sleep.... i also can just be watching tv and suddenly my anxiety rises.... and again i dont panic, and it dies down.... this is why my post states what it does.... and from reading numerous books, this way of thinking is not just my own....
I guess everyones experience is different, and those who want to ignore my posts , thats fine too...

---------- Post added at 22:25 ---------- Previous post was at 22:23 ----------


I think you two are getting into semantics, but you can have an "attack" either way around -
1. Anxiety that leads to an attack - an "anxiety attack"
2. Attack that leads to panic - a "panic attack"

I find anxiety attacks easier to manage because I can easily see where it came from. Panic attacks, however, are what I have been experiencing lately. I will be sitting calmly when my heart starts pounding or palpitating or I'll suddenly feel dizzy. I'm not saying there isn't anxiety in my life that is probably setting these attacks off subconsciously, but there is no acute episode of anxiety that I can relate to the attack, so in my mind, it must be a physical cause which I find very distressing.

Hope that makes sense.

well said., i would agree with that.
Whatever the type of 'attack' its all about handling it, and not letting it lead to full blown panic.

[PanchoGoz]

Agree with all of that. It's all very interesting. My attacks or mainly anxiety attacks with triggers so I can't say much more on the subject. I look in to things far too deeply anyway. It's why I'm anxious :)

[eight days a week]

A bit mean. I see where Stormsky is coming from and wouldn't make such a contrast between a professional therapist and a learning sufferer in one post myself without even offering a personal opinion.

Eh? I DID offer a personal opinion - that Stormsky's post was unreadable to me (and apologised for that) while Robin's made complete sense and showed me, perhaps, a new way of looking at things.

There is only one comment on this thread that is 'mean' as far as I can see - and it's yours to me.

Robinhall is also a learning sufferer as far as I know, so please stop assuming prejudices where there are none.

I too see where Stormsky's coming from, but for me 'panic attacks' are 'panic attacks'. You can't break them down in to 'panic' and the 'attacks' because 'panic attack' means one thing, in totality. Absolutely, you get certain triggers, or sensations, that it's all too easy (alas) to learn to signal a panic attack is coming, and from there on in it's (I believe) a self-fulfilling prophecy, which is the hard - very, very tough - part to beat. It's absolutely brilliant if Stormsky has managed to get beyond those feelings or triggers leading to panic attacks, she's then been able to step off the rollercoaster before it gets going at all - and that is wonderful :yesyes:

I simply disagree with the way she's picking apart the phrase 'panic attack'. It is semantic, but while it may be practical for her it won't be for others, so to present it as correct because it's in 'some books' rather than just her opinion is going a little bit far in my humble opinion.

Peace :)

[Stormsky]

Just found this on the internet- again i know, the person who wrote its personnel experience-

A panic/ anxiety attack will tend to appear to the person experiencing it to be a random event. And it will not be clear what triggered it. This is because the foundation of the panic/anxiety attack was put in place many hours earlier before any of the symptoms were felt. What this means is that the actions of the person when attack first started probably had very little to do with the current attack. This quite often the case when the individual suffering the attack has the panic/anxiety attack symptoms soon after going to bed. The sufferer of the attack may experience any of the common attack symptoms. They could include trouble swallowing, tingling sensation, sweating, trouble breathing, nausea, dizziness, heart palpitations, or a feeling of disconnected from reality. The last symptom is probably the most difficult to describe to someone that has never had an attack, and it is also (my opinion) the most frightening. It may cause the person to believe that they are dying and will commonly cause the individual to go to the Emergency Room. It must be understood that this is simply the sympathetic nervous system (the fight or flight response to what the body believe is stress) followed by the parasympathetic nervous system trying to return the body to a normal state of equilibrium. But the worst part is what occurs next. The intense fear that the person having the attack is feeling, is actually becoming the catalyst that will make the panic/anxiety attack become worse. Some of mine would typically occur while reading the evening paper or watching TV. The typical panic attack would come in 15-20 minute waves, and the fear of it would actually be triggering the next wave.

Ok Eight Days A Week, i will say in future my personnel opinion is we have an attack and then we panic.... or i will say another way to perhaps look at it, but like i say, its not just my opinion.... We all have different ways of how we view it, i get that....

[Darrenb74]

But storm didn't say attack anxiety. She said attack panic which makes sense. The question was do you suffer different types of panic attacks and not do you suffer different types of anxiety attacks.
So i think she is right what she is saying. Basically i would say if you're a anxious person then most likely when you are feeling anxious then the attack starts and if you don't panic about the attack then you don't have a panic attack. The attack is the symptoms, sensations. the panic is the controlling of the symptoms, sensations.

Darren

[kashameets]

As i have had agoraphobia all my life and cant remember not being like it i can understand why people feel there is a difference between 'panic' and 'anxiety' attacks.....I would have palpitations most of the day before taking beta blockers and to me they were normal so even though i felt anxiety symptoms i would not react to them so would not go in to 'panic' .

I know when i get these anxiety feelings nothing bad is happening its just my body reacting to something.

I have not had a 'panic attack' for years but i do have 'anxiety attacks' well thats how i see it anyway :)

When i first started the beta blockers not having palpitations felt strange to me when i could feel i was getting nervous, sweating, dizzy, faint but no fast beating heart, i found not having the palpitations caused me more anxiety until i got use to not having them:wacko:

I know in CBT they teach you to recognize the first symptoms of anxiety and then to not react to them so even if you do feel the first stages of a 'panic attack' you can control it and let it pass without reacting and going in to a full blown panic so i guess some of us have learn't how to do that without CBT :shrug: I also understand that its believed that if you can do that then in time the anxiety will pass and your cured (for want of a better word) but i have been doing that for over 30 years and i am still not cured, i just live with it because to me its normal :)

[mrmj]

Can I just ask what you guys consider an "anxiety attack"? I know I have anxiety, but it seems to be a constant thing rather than an "attack"? Is this different for anyone else? For example I am constantly light headed and very tense and jumpy. With a panic attack I know exactly when it is happening and when it is over.

Also what is derealisation/depersonalisation? Just curious, I don't think I've ever had it.

[Stormsky]

I think for me anxiety attack, is like a constant state of anx , that you can feel all day long... but does not lead to FULL PANIC.....
DP and DR, are symptons of anxiety, DP is the feeling of ones self not being real, like your an observer in your own body, and dont relate to the actions your body makes...
DR is the unreality of the outside world, feeling the world isnt real, objects, things, even other family members...

[xvolatileheart]

An anxiety attack is where you feel progressively more anxious until it leads to fast heart rate, shakiness, difficulty breathing, difficulty sleeping, sometimes crying, etc. My tendency is to have these at night when I'm trying to go to sleep (hadn't had that in a few years until last night!) I'll generally feel anxious all day, but keep myself going until I finally lay down and it all culminates into an "attack".

[Stormsky]

An anxiety attack is where you feel progressively more anxious until it leads to fast heart rate, shakiness, difficulty breathing, difficulty sleeping, sometimes crying, etc. My tendency is to have these at night when I'm trying to go to sleep (hadn't had that in a few years until last night!) I'll generally feel anxious all day, but keep myself going until I finally lay down and it all culminates into an "attack".

so what are classing as a panic attack?

[xvolatileheart]

Panic attacks are sudden fight-or-flight/adrenaline rushes. Symptoms hit instantly, they don't build over time. Instant feeling of dread/fear with intense bodily symptoms all over, can feel like they happen out of nowhere.

[kashameets]

Well i am a odd one then as when i have had a panic attack in the past its built up not sudden out of know where:wacko:
I don't think panic attacks / anxiety attacks or anxiety in general can be put neatly in a box and only be explained in one way.....Everyone of us might share symptoms but we all feel different things and have different experiences with are anxiety which includes panic attacks and anxiety attacks......I class MY symptoms of not being able to breath properly, sweating and palpitations as just feeling anxiety where someone else might class that as a panic attack......I class MY panic attacks as feeling and being hysterical........ to ME they are different and are MY experiences with anxiety so are personal to ME..... Most of MY panic attacks have come on slowly but that does not mean that other peoples are the same as they might come out of no where...we are ALL different and as anxiety is a personal illness we will all experience it in different ways so will also explain it in different ways...I don't think there is a right or wrong way just a personal way :)

[tamo]

I think every one of you have valid points depending on the
Individual learning sufferer. LEARNING is the key in my opinion.
Learning all about flight or fight response and how not to let the
Sensations overpower us thus producing more adrenine and eventually
That hirrible dread and fear. Anxiety is so frustrating especially
When we have had a good spell at being well and it strikes out
Of the blue. My own opinion on this is that at some level we
Are watching for it and when we have a few stressful events
Occuring too close together anxiety resurfaces.
I notice ( In reply to the original post) that my anxiety
Type DOES change in how it manifests in the body and i do
Strongly agree with storm to ignore it or tell yourself you are fine
Distract yourself before it rises to much , difficult stuff i know
But it works for me. Doc trying to put me on duloxitine but i
Dont want them. Good luck all

[mrmj]

Ahhh feeling and being hysterical is a great way to describe panic attack I reckon I have definitely experienced dp then but not dr I wouldn't say.

Cheers for all those descriptions guys interesting to hear people's views!