Is this a panic attack?

[Jimmy28]

This day, last year, I experienced my first panic attack. Today I woke up around 4am with a huge, stabbing pain in my scalp. It lastet for a few seconds and after that I suddenly felt like my heart was beating too fast and it was choking me. Then it felt like it stopped, I couldn't feel it anywhere. Next I started sweating like crazy and my hands started trembling. I stood up and I fainted for about 3 seconds. It was all black in front of my eyes. I felt like I needed to throw up but nothing came out. I literally felt like dying. I couldn't take a normal breath, it was so, so scary. Is this a panic attack and WHAT causes these attacks? It's so weird to me that this happened on the exact same day that happend last year.

[hheavenlyangel]

Oh Jimmy, I feel for you. Panic attacks are awful. I have Panic Disorder so am very familiar with how you felt. The stabbing feeling in the scalp would have been what triggered your attack, that would trigger anyone to have a panic attack. on the left of your screen you will see Problems/Issues and Panic Attacks - click on that. It explains what a panic attack is. Unfortunately it can come out of the blue so some people panic in fear of having another panic attack. My panic attacks usually have triggers which can be bad too as you learn to avoid the things that trigger them. I quite often get midnight attacks, they're the worst especially when you have to go to work the next day. :( I hope you're feeling better now.

[Jimmy28]

Yes, I do feel better now, except I still feel the pain in my head a little. I think you are right about what caused it, I remember when I opened my eyes and felt the pain in my scalp, I thought 'Oh God, I'm going to die of brain tumor this morning, I can't die right now' and some things like that...
Thank you! I'll check the link now.

[mummyanxious]

We're you scared when it happened last year? I truly think the body subconsciously knows exact dates and times if things that have scared you before and reacts to them.