Anyone else have panic attacks that are more 'subtle'?

[carabijoux]

Hi everyone!

I hope you're as well as can be.

I just wondered - does anyone else suffer from anxiety attacks that are more longer-lasting and less 'dramatic' than the typical panic attack?

I seem to have prolonged 'attacks' of panic, that might last a few hours - but they're not as dramatic as the panic attacks I used to have (where the onset was very fast, and it was extremely intense, but over within 20-30 mins.

I feel like a band is round my chest, very short of breath. I also feel extremely fatigued, dizzy, have mild chest pains, and feel generally unwell.

It feels like my insides are having a quiet panic attack - I'm shaking on the inside, and it feels like my heart is beating really strongly.

These may last a few hours at a time - or until I take something to calm me down a bit.

Does anyone else experience anything similar, or are panic attacks generally more intense and over more quickly?

Thank you!

C :)

[Bearinmind]

I had one of these that lasted nine hours.

Not a crushing full blown panic attack, but a general feeling of anxiety and unwellness that lasted through out the day. Racing heart, slight hyperventilation, cold extremities, very cold, and would not heat up with any kind of cover. Dizzyness and weakness. Nausea and lack of appetite. Bu no fever, no constant pain, all vital readings normal (for an anxious person).

Sometimes I had these kinds of anxiety through consecutive days. What I find curious is that, always, every time, around 23:00 o clock the anxiety suddenly vanish. The clock beat 23:00 and I would suddenly feel calm and relaxed. So my guess is that it's something to do with our natural circadian rhythm. Or maybe my adrenal gland would go "you know what? Screw it, I'm not playing this game anymore!"

How well are you eating? It could be dehydration or lack of nutrition, it tends to make the "general anxiety" a little worse. Anxious people tend to feel unwell if we go for long periods of time without eating anything as well.

[carabijoux]

Bearinmind, thank you so much for your reply!

That definitely sounds familiar. It's just so strange.

In answer to your question - I definitely haven't been eating all that well for the last month or so. Lots of snack food, not so much whole food etc.

Do you find that sugar causes your anxiety to worsen? x

[Bearinmind]

Sugar, not so much. Like, if I drink a very sweet juice or soda it doesn't do anything noticeable to me.

What does bother my system is gluten. I'm no celiac, I don't die if I eat food with gluten, common bread and pasta goes alright, most of the time. But if I binge on very processed gluten, like cheap snacks, cheap restaurants and so on, I do feel 'sick'. Feel like my body is heavier than usual, that I just want to lay down, upset stomach, gastric burping for hours, slight fever. If I focus too much on this symptom, I get the pleasure to add the anxiety symptoms on top of it, so I generally tend to avoid these kind of foods unless the urge is too strong.