Does anyone else feel like they are actually dying during a panic attack?

[GingerFish]

I have suffered from panic attacks for the last 2/3 years and I used to get them every day and now its most days and most of the time they are ok, bearable. For the last few months though I've been having what I call, terror attacks. Its where I actually believe in the moment I am dying. I can't describe the overwhemling fear I have. All I can say "I'm dying!" or "get me a doctor" because the feelings are that strong and I feel its more than a panic attack. My heart absolutely races to the point I think its going to burst out my chest, I can barely stand up, the room spins, I feel sick. Its all gone within a few mins. This kind of attack probably doesn't last long as a generic every day attack.

I get these bad ones maybe once or twice a month. I only used to get them at home but yesterday I got one outside in public and I collapsed to the floor, I was absolutely mortified.

I am worried I have something more than panic attacks because of how strong that fear and dying feeling is though I know that every attack has a different severity and not every attack has the same symptoms as the last one. I am scared I am going to become agoraphobic again after taking a bad attack yesterday outside.

[Dazza123]

I have had many an emergency appointment at the doctors, and trip to a&e during a panic attack absolutely convinced I am about to die. Its horrific isn't it, but thankfully, it was just panic. I have diazepam on repeat prescription now, 2mg, and as soon as I feel a bad one coming on I take one immediately. I hate taking them, but I hate that feeling of impending death even more.

[GingerFish]

Sorry to hear you suffer from severe ones too. I knew people could experience the feeling like they are dying during a panic attack but I had personally never felt it until a few months ago and after feeling that, I felt like any other panic attack I had before that wasn't a panic attack at all. It scares the hell out of me. I had one yesterday and I'm still feeling crap and drained from it.

[Sammy-Jo]

Hi, sorry to hear you're dealing with this!
I have had a few panic attacks where the only thought was "i'm dying", it's terrifying and exhausting, though i generally get "i'm going to faint" thoughts instead.
I got rushed to a&e once, convinced i was having a heart attack - i'd burst into tears suddenly at the dinner table and could only say "i'm dying". My panic thought it would do the same the next day and that was when my mum made me go to hospital. For someone who was housebound at the time, it wasn't fun!
I know what you mean though,

I felt that any other panic attack i had before wasn't panic at all
It took having a full blown attack like that to realise i was only panicky before, but i found it was easier to cope with the less intense ones since then.
Do have a kind of.. panic signal? I know it's odd but i get this tingling feeling in my arms which i relate to adrenaline being released, so i start countering the attack [well that's one way of putting it! :roflmao:] with deep breathing and reassuring thoughts 'it's just panic', etc. and i find it helps me keep calmer - and stop my thoughts from getting to the 'im dying' stage.

[Seth86]

Yeah feels like i'm going to stop breathing and my organs are going to pack up because my stomach started getting really hot(Which is just the acid in my stomach going crazy due me panicking)

[Lee2475]

Ye it's awful, had one last week, can't explain what I was feeling like either. Just thought I was gonna die. I too have diazapam for this, I don't take them unless I think I might be in a situation that I need to control. But just having a couple in my wallet puts my mind at rest. This may sound very strange but it really helps knowing if I get a turn I can stop it by taking one or two. Only 2mg and I've had them for a while, I know people don't like taking them but if you only take them in this situation I can't see anyone becoming hooked, I'm not and I take the odd one when I really need it. The doctor understands and knows I'm careful so as no issues giving me them. Funny enough I went surgery late this afternoon about citalopram I had last week and explained I couldn't do the side affects and continue working.

[GingerFish]

I think if I didn't have vertigo, my panic attacks wouldn't be so bad, or at least I maybe wouldn't get the 'I'm dying!' ones as often because I have noticed that each time just before a bad attack like that, I get a severe case of vertigo and I can't move or walk without falling to the floor or stumbling. Any panic attack I have had without vertigo being related has never been anywhere near as extreme.

[GingerFish]

I used to rarely get panic attacks were I actually believed 100% in the moment that I was dying. I felt awful and that there was something wrong with me but never believed I would die on the spot. Recently I've been getting a lot of these 'dying' ones and its really getting to me. I am living in fear of getting another one like that, especially if I am outside alone.

[ricardo]

In a word Yes, but the first time is the worst.

[sial72]

Yes, so many of them. At the time truly convinced I am dying, then when it all passes I think: you see, not dying only panic, if it happens again you know its panic...
And yet the next time Boom! X

[xvolatileheart]

I have dealt with this everyday since my first panic attack 3.5 years ago. I experience sheer terror because I believe 100% that I am about to die. It's the worst part of panic attacks for me.

[GingerFish]

This is definitely the worst symptom for me. I am grateful I don't get it with every single panic attack but holy moly, when it hits you, it makes up for not being around during every other panic attack. Even after the panic attack goes away, its the one symptom I can't forget or shrug off. It scares me that much that I can't stop thinking about it and in a way, analyzing it and wondering this and that about it.

[SOBAY310]

Just had one 30 minutes ago after going about 8 months without one. I was driving and all of a sudden I got a hot flash, then the racing heart. I tried calming myself down, then the thought of the panic was going to follow me no matter what sunk in and the next thing you know I'm pulled over on the side of the road and had to pop a pill, but it worked. It's only the second anxiety pill I've ever taken, but I look at it as progress because last time this happened I pulled over called my wife saying I was having a heart attack and then called 911.

The next step will be to keep driving and let the heart race and run its course, but today was a bad one.

It is kind of disheartening because I was just telling my wife how I have been feeling great with no anxiety attacks, and then boom, it hits me. :(

[Ditapage]

all my attacks feel like death. Hell, even a single symptom feels like death. At this point a panic attack that didn't provoke a strong fear of dying would be a luxury.

That and the feeling that I am helpless and can't look after myself and can't even call someone to calm down is what makes my panic attacks pure hell. I went panicking into the ER for a simple ear infection. They hurt and create pressure and headache but my brain went aneurysm, and the panic was out of control.

I feel like if I wasn't convinced during every single attack that I was dying or needed immediate medical help, I wouldn't have "panic disorder"

[cjemc]

I have had many an emergency appointment at the doctors, and trip to a&e during a panic attack absolutely convinced I am about to die. Its horrific isn't it, but thankfully, it was just panic. I have diazepam on repeat prescription now, 2mg, and as soon as I feel a bad one coming on I take one immediately. I hate taking them, but I hate that feeling of impending death even more.

Hi Dazza. Why do you hate taken the diazepam?

[Illuminati]

Use the fact that you didnt die against it. I know, easier said than done but it is the fact of the matter. Time and time again we think were dieing only to live on. Use that knowledge that we survived.

Tell yourself "OK, im having a panic attack, i didnt die last time i wont die this time"

[GingerFish]

Knowing I didn't die during any other bad attacks should help me, but in the moment during an attack, it doesn't.

[Soulcatcher71]

Its strange that during a panic attack, the panic (or what you are panicking about) seems like the 'most real' thing in the world - but later when the panic has gone, you cant understand how you could of ever felt like that?

Its strange, almost like two different levels of consciousness ...

[GingerFish]

Its strange that during a panic attack, the panic (or what you are panicking about) seems like the 'most real' thing in the world - but later when the panic has gone, you cant understand how you could of ever felt like that?

Its strange, almost like two different levels of consciousness ...

Yeah that is exactly how I feel after a panic attack, especially after a major one. I always wonder what on Earth could have made my mind and body feel like that. I usually find though that thinking what could have caused it, makes my anxiety worse but its so hard not to try and work out why it happened.

[Soulcatcher71]

Yeah that is exactly how I feel after a panic attack, especially after a major one. I always wonder what on Earth could have made my mind and body feel like that. I usually find though that thinking what could have caused it, makes my anxiety worse but its so hard not to try and work out why it happened.

At the end of the day, 'thinking' probably is our downfall.
Are you a deep thinker?
I know i am, and that's probably not a help. But at the same time, I'm sure I wouldnt want to go through life with shallow fleeting whispy thoughts all the time ... i don't know. :shrug:

[Frenchy]

Its strange that during a panic attack, the panic (or what you are panicking about) seems like the 'most real' thing in the world - but later when the panic has gone, you cant understand how you could of ever felt like that?

Its strange, almost like two different levels of consciousness ...

Strangely though, this is one of the tactics I try to use during a panic attack. Like most people I usually wake up the next morning (mine mainly happen at night) and I genuinely scratch my head about how I could possibly have gotten myself in such as state.

So now, when I am having a panic, I take a deep breath and try to hold it for a couple of seconds. Then I actually try to project myself in to the future and picture myself after the panic attack. I imagine myself feeling calm and relaxed in the morning and I actually imagine myself looking back at this panic attack, wondering why I let myself get so wound up over nothing. It does seem to help me, even if it's not a magic cure. But you're right, - it is bloody hard (impossible sometimes) to control your thinking during a strong attack.

I use a similar visualization tactic to combat my night time anxiety - I imagine myself in my bed, really snugly and warm and cozy and soundly asleep. I even imagine myself with a contented smile on my face because I'm so comfy and getting some great sleep! After a few minutes fantasizing about how cozy and comfortable I'm going to be it does really work and helps to make the prospect of going to bed less scary.

[Jo1980]

O.m.g! Yes I get these too, been having them since January they are absolutey terrifying I'm so sorry to here that use expierience these aswell bit I'm sorry to say its a relief to here I am not only person to suffer like this I've been prescribed propanolol but feel they do nothing although I feel they dnt help I still take them with the hope they may not be as bad as not taking them. I dnt know if it merely coincidence but feels as thought these really bad ones come as I am due on my period. My attacks have taken over my life and so glad I found this site as although I have a lot of support I feel nobody really knows what I am going through I felt so alone with all this as it's so overwhelming it's reassuring to know I am not alone.

[GingerFish]

O.m.g! Yes I get these too, been having them since January they are absolutey terrifying I'm so sorry to here that use expierience these aswell bit I'm sorry to say its a relief to here I am not only person to suffer like this I've been prescribed propanolol but feel they do nothing although I feel they dnt help I still take them with the hope they may not be as bad as not taking them. I dnt know if it merely coincidence but feels as thought these really bad ones come as I am due on my period. My attacks have taken over my life and so glad I found this site as although I have a lot of support I feel nobody really knows what I am going through I felt so alone with all this as it's so overwhelming it's reassuring to know I am not alone.

I know exactly what you mean. I'm glad you found this thread then :) my panics get worse when I am hormonal too.

[Linda32]

Hello, I had my 3rd panic attack today (third in one and a half years) I take propranolol 40mg 3 times a day since the 1st one.

I was walking around a steam fair enjoying myself and feeling fine. All of a sudden the heavens opened and it rained so that we were dripping wet. This bought it on, I just could not get my breath for a good 10 minutes. I did feel like this was it, although I also knew what it was. For me its a fear of what on earth is going to happen next.

My partner says it was the shock of a drenching so quickly.

[GingerFish]

This is by far the worst symptom of a panic attack for me. The other symptoms are horrible but this is the one I can't shake off, sometimes not even for days after an attack. It has a way of lingering unlike most of the other symptoms.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Impending doom feeling is the worst of all of it..I am on the same boat as you, I have been battling anxiety and panic attacks since I was about 14, so almost 10 years! Sometimes I think it would be best to just give up and die but I know its not the correct answer. It has been almost a month since my last panic attack and I used to have them almost every day!

There are a few exercises you can use to help control the panic and anxiety, they have helped out tremendously for me. They do not cure you by any means but it does help.

Take a look at <link removed>

its a good read :) hope I was helpful and remember that you are not alone.

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:busted::nicked:&:finger:

[GingerFish]

I hate that after this 'I'm dying!' feeling and the panic goes away, I am left with such a strong feeling of DP/DR. It can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Anyone else get this?