joelhall
26-07-13, 13:58
Ok so, just finished having a random, God-is-testing-me, panic attack, and tracked my symptoms as I've noticed a general pattern in how they occur (although sometimes they differ). The reason I decided to track how the panic attack develops is to try and work out why I feel the way I do during an attack.
First of all I felt hot around the face and head. This feeling continued while my palms began to sweat. Now I have been a bit dizzy and tired today, although this is focussed around the eyes.
After a while my dad stuck the air condtioning on in the car, and I felt cooler, although usually this feeling of heat simply continues.
After around 10 minutes when we stopped, I felt a little calmer, but returning to the car things started to get worse. The following is how my panicattacks develop over time:
First I feel hot around the head and neck, particularly down the sides of my face.
Next I begin to feel a tightening of the strap muscles, in my case this occurs at the top of the neck rather than the bottom or around the larynx, under my jaw and along around the sides at the back of the jaw.
This feeling of course makes me feel as if my throat is closing, and breathing through my nose becomes uncomfortable, so I begin mouth-breathing - not hyperventilating, simply it feels more comfortable.
Now these sensations in themselves are not too bad. The bad part is when I actually start worrying. First of all my muscles seem to relax, which makes me immediately think 'I'll collapse' (even if I'm sitting or lying down). However, my neck and head move in twitching motions, and my left shoulder begins to jerk up into my head (which can be painful, and as yet nobody can find a reason for this perculiar reaction). This jerking increases the tension in my neck which obviously exacerbates the symptoms.
The worst is this strange fear that my heart will stop. The only time I worry at all is during an attack after the physical symptoms have started. During an attack, and I have no idea why, I also have a phobia of taking my own pulse (I know, it is a little mental, only happens during a panic attack). I have no idea why I think my heart is stopping, I have no sensations, cardiac symptoms, my heart rate rarely changes during a panic attack, I don't have altered consciousness, or become confused, or suffer cardiac or suspect pain...
Then it struck me! Everytime I want reassurance about my pulse, it's because of the tension of the strap muscles (infrahyoid muscles if anyone fancies Googling) which is among the most common symptoms of stress and anxiety there is. This is because of the location of the tension, right by my carotid arteries and of course the carotid sinus. This leads me to think that not only do I have the sensation of having the arteries occluded, but the sinus pressure might artificially lower my blood pressure and lead me to pass out (which invariably is what I worry about when the attack is ongoing - collapsing and dying). In fact the tightness itself, which gives the sensation being pressed is right where a standard carotid pulse is felt.
I've found that tracking my symptoms and thinking through what occurs and what I think when the different feelings occur has helped deal with panic attacks quite a lot.
Has anyone else tried this approach?
First of all I felt hot around the face and head. This feeling continued while my palms began to sweat. Now I have been a bit dizzy and tired today, although this is focussed around the eyes.
After a while my dad stuck the air condtioning on in the car, and I felt cooler, although usually this feeling of heat simply continues.
After around 10 minutes when we stopped, I felt a little calmer, but returning to the car things started to get worse. The following is how my panicattacks develop over time:
First I feel hot around the head and neck, particularly down the sides of my face.
Next I begin to feel a tightening of the strap muscles, in my case this occurs at the top of the neck rather than the bottom or around the larynx, under my jaw and along around the sides at the back of the jaw.
This feeling of course makes me feel as if my throat is closing, and breathing through my nose becomes uncomfortable, so I begin mouth-breathing - not hyperventilating, simply it feels more comfortable.
Now these sensations in themselves are not too bad. The bad part is when I actually start worrying. First of all my muscles seem to relax, which makes me immediately think 'I'll collapse' (even if I'm sitting or lying down). However, my neck and head move in twitching motions, and my left shoulder begins to jerk up into my head (which can be painful, and as yet nobody can find a reason for this perculiar reaction). This jerking increases the tension in my neck which obviously exacerbates the symptoms.
The worst is this strange fear that my heart will stop. The only time I worry at all is during an attack after the physical symptoms have started. During an attack, and I have no idea why, I also have a phobia of taking my own pulse (I know, it is a little mental, only happens during a panic attack). I have no idea why I think my heart is stopping, I have no sensations, cardiac symptoms, my heart rate rarely changes during a panic attack, I don't have altered consciousness, or become confused, or suffer cardiac or suspect pain...
Then it struck me! Everytime I want reassurance about my pulse, it's because of the tension of the strap muscles (infrahyoid muscles if anyone fancies Googling) which is among the most common symptoms of stress and anxiety there is. This is because of the location of the tension, right by my carotid arteries and of course the carotid sinus. This leads me to think that not only do I have the sensation of having the arteries occluded, but the sinus pressure might artificially lower my blood pressure and lead me to pass out (which invariably is what I worry about when the attack is ongoing - collapsing and dying). In fact the tightness itself, which gives the sensation being pressed is right where a standard carotid pulse is felt.
I've found that tracking my symptoms and thinking through what occurs and what I think when the different feelings occur has helped deal with panic attacks quite a lot.
Has anyone else tried this approach?