First time panic attack

[nmp123]

Hi I'm a 20 year old female and the other night I had a panic attack for the first time ever. It came completely out of nowhere. I was not stressed for any particular reason and still cannot think of a reason why it happened. I am an extremely laid back person and have never had an issue with anxiety.However, my mom got diagnosed with generalized anxiety at this exact age so I'm really worried.
So what happen was, I came home from a night out (which never happens) because I was feeling really off and not myself (I didn't end up drinking at all either). I decided to stay up and wait for my friends to get home or call if I needed a ride. I got this extremely weird feeling I've never felt before. It was like I was so weak and tired but my mind was SO alert. I then got extremely claustrophobic to the point I had to rip my clothes off my body. I was pacing around my house and didn't know why I was acting like that.
My friends then called for a ride and I decided I'd go get them to take my mind off of this weird feeling. Luckily they were only a few streets away because on my way it got worse. It began to feel like my throat was closing up. As soon as I got to my friends I switched over to the passengers seat and begged and screamed for them to take me to the ER. It literally felt like my throat was completely closed and I couldn't breathe for the life of me. I was convinced I was dying. Everything was spinning, I couldn't breathe, my heart was racing, I was profusely sweating. My friends tried to calm me and down and explain it was a panic attack. My one friend gets them a lot so i believed her and we went home. The symptoms continued for over three hours. I almost felt like I was extremely extremely high and paranoid but ten times worse. As i listened to meditations on repeat my mind would drift off but then I'd snap back into the panic and my heart would race again. I eventually fell asleep around 5 am. It was BY FAR the worst experience of my entire life. I still cannot believe that that is the feeling people get when they refer to panic attacks and I can't imagine how horrible it is for people who suffer with panic disorder.
Ever since, I am so paranoid to go places in fear this will happen. I've missed all my classes this week, haven't been able to go to the gym, I've honestly barely left my house. I know that is probably making it worse but I am so fearful of it happening again I can't help it. Do you think i should see someone or do you think it was a one time thing??
Also, why would this happen to me if there was nothing stressing me out and i've never even had an issue with anxiety or panic attacks in the past. it was literally out of nowhere!!
Any answers would be great thanks:)

[Clydesdale Epona]

It can happen rather unexpectedly,
I was also known as the happy little weird child who was quite reckless at times(oops :roflmao:) and when I had my first panic attack it was rather expected as I was happy and still feeling great, only time can tell if it was a one time thing or not, but I can assure that if you stay indoors(like I did for a year) it will not aid it in fact I'd say it will definitely make it worse, if it is really bothering and affecting your life then there's harm in seeing someone about it, at the moment the best thing to do is what you think is best for you. your wellbeing is most important :) x

All the best :hugs:

[montys]

Hey, nmp. I'm so sorry that happened, and welcome to the forum! An identical situation happened to me actually, and you can rest assured that pretty much everyone in this section of the forum has had a similar experience.

You seemed to have had an especially bad panic attack. From my experience, most are not like that. I think the attack was extreme because you have little past experience with panic/anxiety, and it seemed to have come out of nowhere. I imagine not having a precedent or barometer for how anxiety feels induces even more anxiety. You feel like something horrible is happening even though you're experiencing a sensation that millions of people go through regularly.

There are some questions you should ask yourself:

1. Has something happened in your life recently that is causing a significant amount of stress? Family, relationships, work, school, etc?
2. When you think back on your life, do you find that you've engaged in some anxious behavior? Stuff like germophobia, social anxiety, etc.?
3. Does anyone in your family have anxiety?

I'm not a psychiatrist, but I've been through a similar situation, and came out having learned that I had undiagnosed GAD. You might not though. This could just as easily be a period of high stress.

Either way, it's important that you seek help. You mentioned that you're a student. I'm certain that your school will have free or almost-free mental health resources available, and you should take advantage of them. Talking your experience through with a professional is immediately helpful.

In my worse moments I was too afraid to go to the gym, so I understand. But maybe try going on brisk walks for at least half an hour each day. The exercise will help regulate the panic. Meditation helps a lot as well. The "Calm" phone app has a great 7-day guided meditation program that helped me get the hang of mindfulness. I guarantee you'll feel better at the end of that week.

Hang in there! You'll feel much better in time.

[Tea87]

So sorry this happened to you, a very similar thing happened to me, came out of no where, I've always been laid back etc etc. One thing you can definitely do just to make sure it is nothing medical is get your thyroid tested.

Your thyroid is basically the police station of your body and controls everything! I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at the age of around 21 after my first panic attack.

Once my thyroid levels were corrected I felt 100% again, however every now and then I would feel panic start to set in so I would get my levels tested and they would be "out". Then once my medication was appropriately adjusted the anxiety and panic would go away. Unfortunately I now have panic disorder as after having my second child just over two years ago my specialist majorly stuffed up and left my thyroid hormones levels "out" for so long, the constant anxiety and panic has now surfaced into an anxiety disorder. Now even when my levels are within normal range I'm am still fighting against feelings of panic every single day. But in the beginning it was all thyroid related so I would definitely get that checked first. Good luck with it all :)

[Reggie]

Such a scary experience, the ripping off of the clothes is what I did when I first had a panic attack, I was in the garden in my bra. My panic attacks came after I lost my daughter to cancer, so there was a "reason", even so, I felt very much like what you described. I have to tell you, even though I've had anxiety and depression for many years, it's been a long, long time since I've had a full blown panic attack, years even with a lot of stress, the panic attacks have stayed away.

A physical thing is happening to you when you have a panic attack, for any number of reasons, your body is dumping a huge amount of adrenaline into your system in one go and your brain/body is reacting to it. I found it helpful when I understood that and they do stop, no panic attack goes on forever.

[Marie2016]

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear that you've had a panic attack, they truly are a terrible experience.
As mentioned above only time will tell if this was a one time occurance or if you'll have more but in my experience and many others I've spoken to about panic attacks is that no panic attack will ever be worse than the first one.
I ended up in accident and emergency with my first one as I had no idea what was going on and I thought I was going to die. Since then I've had loads and obviously they're still unpleasant but they're nothing compared to the first.

You need to get out and go about your normal routine, if you hide away you're just inviting more anxiety in, the more you take your mind off the worry then the less likely it is to happen :)