Panic attack or not ? Help plz

[Daniel28]

It happened last night I was laid on my bed as relaxed as I could be but I had a strange numbing sensation just below my temple area its difficult to explain and then all of a sudden I become shortness of breath which was slowly getting worse,my heart was 150 plus bpm and irregular,it lasted about 2 minutes and when the paramedics arrived around 5 mins or so later I was feeling slightly better and just abit shaken,my obs were fine they took a heart trace and that was ok but my pulse was still fast just over 120 so I was taken to hospital about 15 mins later and my obs were again normal and pulse was below 100.? Never experienced anything like it,I did suffer panic attacks when I was younger but this was different I never had shortness of breath like this. I had an echocardiogram last Monday morning and that's come back normal also had two blood tests and a chest xray since beginning of September which were normal?? Also I have a circular red patch the size of a 50p on my knee which I've had since beginning of the summer it's persistent and never goes away, I do a lot of walking with my dog in woodland areas etc and I've convinced myself I've got lymes disease,I've shown my doctor and he thinks it's a fungal infection but I don't believe that for a second because it's not bumpy or anything it's just a solid red patch that doesn't itch or anything so I've not used the cream he's prescribed which is daktacort if that's spelled right,and now I think I've got lyme carditis. It's driving me crazy! How is lyme disease diagnosed ?

[Randara]

Hi there, I think you should try the cream if your doctor has told you to. If that doesn't work then you could go back to doctor and explore other posibilities, however I imagine they won't be impressed if you've ignored their advice.

It does sound like you had a panic attack, I've had ones similar in the past where I've focussed on a physical sensation too much and it has spiralled. You may not have noticed it st the time but you may have been breathing short fast breaths which would have made it more difficult to take in oxygen and increase your heart rate.

Or it could be the opposite - when I had my first panic attack I thought I was being really good by taking long deep breaths but I was still dizzy and close to fainting, in reflection I wasn't breathing out for long enough so I had too much oxygen.

How are you feeling since your panic attack?

[icingsugar]

Hi - yes this sounds exactly like my first panic attack which started with a strange stomach/bowel cramp and 5 seconds later I couldn't breathe, my heart was racing at a speed it never has before, I felt dizzy and thought I was going to die.

The best thing you can do at this point is not to dwell on it like I did as this can lead to panic disorder and regular panic attacks. I wish I could go back in time and tell myself after the first attack to believe the test results from the emergency unit and forget about it, because maybe now I wouldn't still (a year later) have panic disorder.

Best of luck to you :yesyes: