What was this? Horrible, horrible day

[orchidaloha]

Yesterday was just horrible for me and the worst panic attack I have had in a long time, if ever.

It started in the morning. I woke up with a sinus headache and upset stomach. Not sure if that was anxiety related, it could have been allergies or environment or something. The stomach issue too I think was down to being constipated for days (sorry if TMI), something I have frequent issues with. As the day went on, my headache and stomach issues got worse. At one point I started to have a panic episode where my heart was racing and I felt hot, etc. At lunch I had to force myself to eat something and even then it was just handful of chips. After lunch I started to feel nauseous and like I had to get out of the office. I felt I was going to throw up.

One thing to mention here is that I have a phobia of throwing up so I find that my anxiety always goes to that, making everything worse.

I went home and barely remember the drive home, I was in a daze and just needed to get home. I got home and took a Gravol, and laid on the couch with some ice to cool down and ice water. My stomach was still upset, I was groggy from the Gravol and I just felt myself spiraling. I fell asleep and then woke up freaking out feeling like I was going to puke. I splashed cold water on myself and went back to the couch.

After a little while I had a bath to try to relax, and it worked a little. But then I started to freak out because my husband will be home from work soon and I didn't like the feeling of having someone else in the house while I'm behaving this way.

He came home and made himself dinner, he tried to get me to eat something but I refused and said I felt too sick. I ended up falling asleep on the couch again while he was watching TV. I woke up suddenly with stomach cramps and had to go to the bathroom, so I went to the bathroom and had a BM, which had some diarrhea in it (sorry again for TMI).

Here's where things get really scary - I got up to wash my hands and my legs felt really heavy and I felt dizzy and I ended up fainting on the bathroom floor. My husband was outside with the dogs so he didn't see/hear anything so I laid on the cold bathroom floor for a while, trying to calm and cool down. I was sweating like crazy at this point.

Eventually, I came out of the bathroom and laid on the bed and my husband (who has super worried at this point), gave me some water. The panic really started to settle in at this point and I started shaking, shivering because I was cold, sweating, I couldn't feel my hands and I generally felt like I was going to die. My heart was skipping beats too.

He ended up taking me to the hospital. The nurse checked me over and my blood pressure was slightly high (mine is usually on the lower end) but everything else seemed normal. She gave me some ginger ale and told me to sip it slowly to try to get my blood sugar up. Keep in mind, all I had eaten all day was a handful of chips and half a latte in the morning.

After about a 2 hour wait to see the doctor, I started to get ridiculously tired and drowsy (it was 1:30am at this point) and just wanted to go to bed. We ended up leaving the hospital without seeing a doctor. I have an appt with my family doctor on Monday though.

I went home, went straight to bed and slept straight through to my alarm. I woke up this morning feeling completely exhausted, drained and starving. My stomach feels totally fine and I feel as though I can eat again.

Now I feel really freaked out, I have no idea what happened to me or if this could be panic/anxiety related. And I'm absolutely terrified I will go through that again.

[vicky23]

Hi,
sorry you had such a horrible day
It sounds like a stomach virus or food poisoning apart from the not throwing up part and the you being ok now part doesn't entirely fit either.
I would take it very easy with eating like plain saltine crackers dry white toast ripe and drink plenty of fluids.
Then you'll find some answers on Monday hopefully!
X

[orchidaloha]

Hi,
sorry you had such a horrible day
It sounds like a stomach virus or food poisoning apart from the not throwing up part and the you being ok now part doesn't entirely fit either.
I would take it very easy with eating like plain saltine crackers dry white toast ripe and drink plenty of fluids.
Then you'll find some answers on Monday hopefully!
X

Thanks for the reply. I had a green tea latte this morning and some banana bread and it's all been fine. Right now I'm hungry because it's almost lunchtime, and other than feeling completely exhausted, I feel ok.

I don't know if it was a virus or food poisoning because stomach issues are usually my #1 anxiety symptoms. It felt like every other attack I've had, except this one was a 1000 times worse.

Recently I started a new job, which is a really positive change for me because my anxiety issues stemmed from my old job. I found that the old job made me feel so bad that I feel like I'm a totally different person now. I was kind of hoping that I wouldn't have anxiety or panic attacks anymore since I got away from that job, but I guess that's not true :( I just feel like I'm hitting rock bottom.

[icingsugar]

Hi, I'm sorry you've had such a bad time, I suffered with terrible attacks last year while living abroad (in Italy) and I would have different symptoms every week. My first ever panic attack, which led to me calling an ambulace in a foreign country and ended up being probed like an alien, only to find nothing was wrong, also began with some stomach issues following a period of drinking. Then I ended up noticing every little change in my body, like if I wasn't feeling well because of stomach problems or a cold...and ended up panicing subconsiously and bringing on an attack.

When you get the Ok from your GP, which I'm sure you will, it can help to remember that your body is associating little changes with something life threatening, and acting accordingly. I know it is really hard to break out of this habbit, and it took me a year to do so, but sometimes little changes in your life can help too, like eating well and going for short walks each day. During my worst periods I would remove myself from my bedroom (where the first attack happened) and go for day trips alone to other towns and cities, and I would always feel better when away.

I hope you feel better soon. I know it is really hard when you are experiencing a really bad panic attack and the aftermath can leave you feeling really anxious and strange, but it seems likely to have been caused by something normal (eg. a cold and stomach upset).

[CeeCeeCee]

Hi, I'm sorry you've had such a bad time, I suffered with terrible attacks last year while living abroad (in Italy) and I would have different symptoms every week. My first ever panic attack, which led to me calling an ambulace in a foreign country and ended up being probed like an alien, only to find nothing was wrong, also began with some stomach issues following a period of drinking. Then I ended up noticing every little change in my body, like if I wasn't feeling well because of stomach problems or a cold...and ended up panicing subconsiously and bringing on an attack.

When you get the Ok from your GP, which I'm sure you will, it can help to remember that your body is associating little changes with something life threatening, and acting accordingly. I know it is really hard to break out of this habbit, and it took me a year to do so, but sometimes little changes in your life can help too, like eating well and going for short walks each day. During my worst periods I would remove myself from my bedroom (where the first attack happened) and go for day trips alone to other towns and cities, and I would always feel better when away.

I hope you feel better soon. I know it is really hard when you are experiencing a really bad panic attack and the aftermath can leave you feeling really anxious and strange, but it seems likely to have been caused by something normal (eg. a cold and stomach upset).

This sums up the situation of anxiety over health well. Your body taking over with your thoughts running amok, it happens to a lot of people, but that doesn't stop us all worrying, reading this might help you though, I can certainly relate.

[FamilyMan]

It does sound like you had some kind of virus or bug, coupled with the usual anxiety symptoms. The one occasion when I found myself lying on the bathroom floor splashing cold water was when I had a UTI and was panicking about its symptoms.