tell me your panic attack symptoms please

[aggiecuttler]

hi i have been suffering really horrible panic attacks lately, and i would like to know what yours are like and how you try and get over them.
mine come on really quickly and i know when one is coming which makes me panic even more, i feel like i am going to black out/faint, and i breathe really heavily they last maybe a minuite or two each time, been getting them everyday lately, any tips would be fab blessings:blush:

[Blondiegirl1]

Hello,
I am a panic sufferer, I have been dealing with anxiety and panic for over a year and a half now. I have my good days and I have a lot of bad days. When I have a panic attack I get really scared, feel like I'm going to faint, my heart starts to race, I get sweaty, & feel like I just want to escape, but there is no where to escape too. I feel like I'm all alone. I try and tell myself that it is just the anxiety, but it really does not help. MY blood pressure also goes up, The anxiety comes out of know where I don't know what triggers it. I wish it was a switch that I can just turn off. I have the breathing issues also, where I feel like I have to control my breathing and that scares me also. Do you have issues with blood pressure?? The doctor has put me on Zanex and Lexapro and that seems to be helping a little. I hope soon that I will be free of this and live my old life again. The people on this site have been helpful and can give alot of information. We are not alone in this.
.

[aggiecuttler]

Thanks blondegirl1 i appreciate the feedback blessings

[JulieJay92]

i get

difficulty breathing
pain in chest arm and face
pulse feels like racing but is ctually around 75
BP raises
feel sick and needing toilet more than normal

then when i realise the symptoms it causes mild panic but i worry more about the symptoms than anyone

[Boxerharvey]

My panic attack symptoms seemed to have changed over the years.
They used to be your typical symptoms as mentioned above by others like racing heart, chest pains and and difficulty breathing but now mine seem to mostly head based.
I get headaches, sharp head pains and pressure, eye floaters, general feeling like I am going to drop down dead or pass out. Plus I suffer alot from brain fog and feeling like I am not with it or like I am heavily stoned (even though I dont do drugs).

[reenymac]

My panic attacks feel as though everything and my thoughts are closing in on me. I feel totally overwhelmed want to run away....i sweat and breathing is difficult oh and my thoughts are completely irrational.....after it I think to myself what the hell was that all about can find the humour in it today cause am having a good day...but somedays they really rattle me....and shake my confidence....got prescribed Prozac today as went to counselling yesterday and spent the whole time trying to contain my panic attack so never got any counselling done ....not sure if I want to go down the Prozac route though...hqng in there they are a bitch to deal with

[Chinadoll]

I feel as if Im having a stroke. A big wave of heat goes into my head and I feel like Im going to faint. I feel as if Im imploding. It's terribly frightening and I truly believe Im going to die. I am getting so
Much better at coping and this site really really helps! I really feel
For you xx

[starlight78]

My panic attacks are odd. I dont really get the physical symptoms much. My hert races and my feet tingle. I get derealisation and feel terrified and overwhelmed about everything, life, the earth, the sky, people, literally everything! I have fleeting thoughts that I can't carry on like this and desperately want to escape.

I have found CBT and mindfulness really helpful. I used to try and think myself out of the panic which didn't work at all when really distressed. Now I focus on my breathing, counting the breathes in and out. Then I try and bring my awareness to my body. I focus on my feet being planted firmly on the floor and that everything is working just as it should be.
I repeat to myself 'this is just symptoms that will pass' x

[Rennie1989]

Intense fear that something dreadful will happen and it won't go away
Difficulty breathing, sounding like I'm having an asthma attack
Body cramp which gets worse the longer and more intense the attack
Tight chest, like I'm wearing a corset
Blurred and fuzzy vision
Hearing problems
Not feeling all there and nothing's real

Once I'm out of the attack I feel like I've had seven bells knocked out of me. I need a good hour or two's sleep and just basic TLC (cups of tea, kind words etc).

[Col]

hi, in short mine are - wierd feeling detatchment and wierd body sensations - simply not with it and combined with an overwheling sensation of collapse like im just going to drop dead!!! I Then search around for a friendly person place or somewhere to escape to or feel secure BUT if this happens far from home - my heart is literally in my mouth as i frantically try and fight these collapse & loss of control sensations!!! These episodes first surfaced to me in 2011 and my lifes been different ever since. i became more or less agrophobic but having kids the school run had to be done. now loads better no meds just lots of self help and less family agro, which was a massive if nott the route cause of my panica attacks.

i also have experienced - loss of sensation, breathing difficulties and derealisation.

[aggiecuttler]

Thankyou everyone for your messages it means such alot to know you are not alone blessings catherine

[steveo]

I love it when this question keeps getting asked on here. I love seeing how different everybodies symptoms are. It shows how complex the nature of anxiety is.

For me, it's 99% mental symptoms rather than physical. I get terrible terrible terrible depersonalisation/derealisation. My vision is like looking through binoculars the wrong way round. I almost have no idea how on earth to control my body. Like I'm no longer in control. I guess the number one thing though is FEAR. I can rarely explain what it's fear of but I guess fear of feeling the fear! It's VERY frightening. I suppose I get fast heart beat and shakey hands and sweat a big, but that just goes from adrenaline pumping around the body and I never really pay those symptoms any attention. I just want to get the hell out of wherever I am, FAST!

[Roxanne 1986]

I cant believe I found ppl tht feel like me!! I thought I was the only one, when I got my first full blown attack I fell to the floor and started hyperventilating, I started shaking every where and felt as if I was stuck in a dream and couldnt get out everything felt unreal, it lasted for such a long time I honestly thought I was going to be crazy like this for a very long time. I ended up in the er and everyone seemed not to care and I was wishing they could feel what I felt, also the scary thing was tht my panic attack happened when I was sleeping, it was the most frightening thing ever

[JoNPanics]

Itchy heart feeling
numb arms and thighs (this really sets me into a bad panic)
Racing heart
Sweaty
butterflys in stomach
Headaches
Throat blocked

Not even really sure now its different and happens randomly,
But im not a great fan of them.

[LittleSongbird]

Very fast heartbeats (sometimes up to 160 BPM), anxious, churning stomach and sometimes jelly legs.

But it is totally harmless.

[djvtech]

When I had them, it usually started as feeling 'weird'. Like things just wherent right. Then I started to feel a little spacey, then suddenly everything would start to feal surreal, and then the physical symtoms kicked in, racing heart, dry mouth, shaking. DOOM!

[aggiecuttler]

thanks again everyone you are all so great so sorry you have these dreadful panic attacks, they are horrid, keep safe all and blessings

[mandie]

My main symtpoms are I get really lite headed and get an intense rush of heat over my body.

I feel spaced out and things around me don't feel real. I want to run from wherever I am.

my symptoms have changed over time, going from chest pain etc to now head based symptoms

mandie x

[joelhall]

What I've been told are my 'panic attacks' go like this:

All of a sudden I start to feel jittery, my movements become rapid and jerky. Then I start to feel somewhat light-headed, as if I might turn faint. Around this time I feel a hot flush around my face and neck, which then spreads to my arms. Sometimes however, my arms begin to feel cold.

My legs become shaky and feel weak and unco-ordinated, although in reality they are very tense which makes co-ordination difficult. My neck becomes tense and my left shoulder starts to jerk upwards repeatedly. Breathing becomes awkward as I have to force myself to take breaths as the muscles in my chest tighten. On one or two occaisions I've had painful 'numbness' shooting from my elbows to fingertips, which persists without hyperventilation. I start to worry then that something is very wrong and my number is finally up.

Typically these attacks last for between 30 minutes and two hours. There is little I can do about them and have to wait for them to run their course, which can be horrendous.

As it turns out these attacks were the result of some nerve damage and a reaction to the high dose of citalopram I was taking. Now I have had B12 injections and had my citalopram reduced to 20mg/d the attacks are much less frequent and the severity has decreased markedly, as well as other effects I was having, such as decreased alcohol tolerance, etc.

[Caramel]

My panic attacks are very like Mandie's. I also cannot stop my legs shaking because its the only comfortable way I can find to get rid of all the adrenaline that courses through you. I also feel really sick and faint.

Having said all that, I was reading a very interesting article yesterday that was talking about that when you have a panic attack, your blood pressure actually goes up, whereas in order to faint, your blood pressure actually has to fall. Therefore, it's actually near on impossible to faint during a panic attack! I thought about it for a bit and I realised that, even though I have felt very faint, I have never actually passed out once. Apparently, you feel faint because of the lack of proper breathing. I found that a bit of an eye opener.

[AnxietyGirl87]

Hello

I can tell when a panic attack is coming because I start to feel shaky, my heart starts to race and my breathing is affected, I become incredibly hot and often start sweating an awful lot, I feel sick and one time was actually sick, or I get a terrible feeling in my stomach like I'm about to have an upset stomach. Sometimes my vision goes blurry or I have blacked out before now.

I find I just have to ride through it, I usually put a cold wet flannel on my head to cool me down and get someone to grab me a glass of cold water to sip. I concentrate on my breathing and try to focus on other things.

:) x

[DarKBlade]

My panic attack symptoms seemed to have changed over the years.
They used to be your typical symptoms as mentioned above by others like racing heart, chest pains and and difficulty breathing but now mine seem to mostly head based.
I get headaches, sharp head pains and pressure, eye floaters, general feeling like I am going to drop down dead or pass out. Plus I suffer alot from brain fog and feeling like I am not with it or like I am heavily stoned (even though I dont do drugs).

That is what i feel too BoxerHarvey i don't feel connected to anything, i can do tasks autonomously, but it is like walking around in a perpetual fog i feel for you because i am also going through this and nobody but me understands it, my wife doesn't get it, my friends don't get it feels lonely, hopefully you get it sorted mate. :)

DarkBlade

[Regina]

Oh yes, the brain fog is very familiar. I can't concentrate and find myself just spaced out, but i also get severe dizziness and shaking, chest pain, numbness, trouble breathing and crying fits usually when it gets bad...if I'm unable to calm down from there, sometimes nausea and feeling like I'm not where I am.

~Regina x

[PunkyFish]

My panic attacks started a few years ago when I was at University. I have good periods so for example I can go months without having one and then bad periods when I have several a day. I also have anxiety as well. The symptoms of a panic attack for me are heart is racing, I tend to cry, sweating, breathing becomes difficult, shaking and feeling very scared/worried.