Panic Attack without a racing heart?

[aangel]

It is normal to have panic attacks without a racing heart? One minute I'm reading something and the next minute I'm startled (it feels like panic attack starts in my chest) and I'm jumping and reaching for my hair (I pull my hair when anxious). It doesn't even last a minute before it's over.

[gatsby12]

Yeah, i have them without it. I get a horrible feeling in my stomach and i feel cold.

[aangel]

Thanks for responding. It happened again. I jumped a little because I was so startled. I don't know why it starts in the chest though.

[Pepperpot]

My heart never races. The doctor annoyed me when he prescribed me propranolol and said this will help with the racing heart, then wouldn't believe me when I said I didn't get one. I get like a feeling of dread which normal people would get in their stomachs, you know like butterflies or mini-flips, but mine is in the chest. Horrible x

[GingerFish]

Yes most of the time my heart doesn't race during a panic attack. The only time it races is when I have an Earth shattering panic attack and thankfully I don't get them too often, maybe one every month or 2 but i get moderate panics every day.

[MikeyT]

Yes me to, never notice a racing heart, more in stomach and legs and trembling and head flashes

[stars22]

Oh wow finally somebody who does the hair thing I take mine out my bobble and do it up and down constantly until it stops I've just had a mini panic attack or so I say no racing heart although my heart rate is always on highers to 90s sometimes 100 no reason so could be xx

[SLjimbo]

Most of the times I barely notice or don't even have a racing heart. The only symptoms that I notice and bothers me are funny feelings in my chest (esophagus) and tingling sensations.

[MissyMischief]

I get a jolt of fear in my chest, like someone just jumped out and scared me. No real racing heart lately.

[luxxinterior]

My Panic Attacks normally present themselves with difficulty breathing normally... fearful of heart attack, then start with brain fog... confusion etc until I realise its panic, hold my breath and wait for hyperventilation to come under control

[Ditapage]

No, there's different severity levels with panic attacks. I always get the lightheaded, weak, tingly feeling in arms, legs and face, head pressure kind, and feeling like I can't breathe. Yesterday I had a racing heart one. I noticed I didn't have the can't breath feeling, i had open mouthed rapid breathing. And rapid breathing increases your heart rate. So unless you're really hyperventilating your heart probably won't race.

You might just be having limited symptom attacks, and not full blown ones. Also you might not FEEL your heart racing, but if someone took your pulse, it would be showing an increased heart rate. My pulse is 150bpm when I am anxious and that's how I know it's a panic attack but I don't feel it racing. When I am panicking my insides are all going a million miles an hour but to everybody else I look like nothing is wrong! I had a panic attack in a doctors waiting room once (good place to have one ha!) and the nurse immediately took my vitals. My heart rate was up. But the physical symptoms I could feel was head pressure and jaw pain and a sense of impending doom. So I reiterate: your heart doesn't have to feel like it's racing, to be racing.

Basically there's a long list of anxiety symptoms, everyone's different, and just having 4 of those symptoms on a very extensive list, qualifies as a "panic attack." Also, if you're only getting the feeling for a minute it means you're stopping the attack. Maybe it's the hair pulling. Some people say they can stop an impending attack by splashing water on their face. It just interrupts whatever the body was about to do. It's actually a good thing, it means your body is being preventing from going into a full blown attack.

[Lee29]

My anxiety voids my whole chest and gives me a headache.

My heart literally stops beating and I feel a void in my chest.

Of course it's still beating and the doctors never see anything wrong with me.

[aangel]

I just eating a cutie and had a of rush of anxiety in my chest. I gasped for a split second it didn't last that long. It kind of caught me off guard (I had a few weeks of peace I guess I got too comfortable) I don't even know how the describe the sensation I guess it's similar to what I was having last year. I am so over panic attacks.