I'm really worried I didn't just have a panic attack...

[alongthelakeshore]

Hi. I'm a 19 year old female and yesterday something happened while I was driving and I'm CONVINCED it was not a panic attack! (Well, the panic attack followed whatever it was...)

Anyways, i'm used to experiencing panic attacks while I'm driving along with usual underlying anxiety. Some days are worse than others.

Yesterday morning I felt as if i couldn't focus because i hadn't gotten enough sleep the night previous. i was worried i'd fall asleep driving, plus i had forgotten to take my allergy medication before i left, so my head was feeling a bit swimmy.

admittedly, the whole way there i was thinking, 'what if i pass out or have a seizure?' thank god, i've never had one, but as a sufferer of intense migraines, i hear it is likely that i could develop them. i'm always worried about something happening while i'm in the car.

usually when i feel a panic episode coming on, my head will feel a bit weird. like dizzy. does anyone else get this? i feel as if it happens right before i start getting the pounding heart and heavy breathing.

however, after i had stopped thinking about all the terrible things that could happen while driving and was focused more on getting to therapy in one piece, i experienced an odd feeling in my head that i'd never felt before. it felt almost as if i was going to pass out, or that i had entered a lower level of consciousness, just for a couple of seconds, but it felt like a long time. and then i was sweating, heart pounding, and shaking, just like a usual panic attack. i got out of the car at therapy and was completely fine for the rest of the day.

the thing is, i'm so scared that i DID have a small seizure or possibly even a STROKE! i dont do much, ever since becoming depressed, so that worries me. i didn't have any symptoms except for the strange head feeling like i couldn't focus and my consciousness felt odd. has anyone else ever experienced this? what scares me the most is that the panic did not come right after, but i feel as if it came as a result of this. i'm so scared but i don't remember the exact sequence of events so it might have just been part of the usual panic attack.

can someone please help reassure me that i'm just a panicky little wimp that need not worry i'm going to have a stroke and die?:scared11::eek::sad::ohmy: thank you everyone!

[Chrisi]

I had the same thing happen to me it was odd as I had the dizzy spell but no palps it passed after a few mintutes, I think the same as you but it must have been an onset of one and then we must have controlled it x if your really worried call nhs direct or speak to your gp x

[raggamuffin]

"I'm used to experiencing panic attacks while I'm driving along [...] Some days are worse than others."

This was just a day that was worse than others.

"the whole way there i was thinking, 'what if i pass out or have a seizure?' "

Your mind was convinced that you were going to have an attack, or something worse. So your body created what you feared most. Something new.

"however, after i had stopped thinking about all the terrible things that could happen while driving and was focused more on getting to therapy in one piece"

A moment not feeling anxious doesn't mean you can't and won't have symptoms. If you worry consistently throughout the day your body is going to be tense and fatigued and prone to symptoms.

" i experienced an odd feeling in my head that i'd never felt before"

These are always the one's that trigger the most anxiety in people with health anxiety and tend to become a fixation and obsession.

"or that i had entered a lower level of consciousness, just for a couple of seconds, but it felt like a long time."

Derealization can cause symptoms such as this. If your mind is stressed out for prolonged periods of time it can simply wish to retreat into itself to avoid the constant battery of worries and fears that can swirl around in an anxious mind. This retreat can make life not seem real, we feel like we're not all there, or existing in some strange plane of existence.

Now you say "i didn't have any symptoms except for the strange head feeling " but prior to this and after the initial head feeling you stated: "and then i was sweating, heart pounding, and shaking, just like a usual panic attack"

The thing to remember with bodily symptoms is that it's the bodies way of reacting to a stressed mind.

The saying mind over matter is important in coming to accept that anxiety and stress is the creator of these uncomfortable symptoms that occur in our body.

We can all accept that our mind controls our body. It allows us to do every movement that we make and talk and type etc. So why is it so difficult to accept that our mind can make our body ache and feel sensations that aren't pleasant?

Now here's something that will be harder to accept than accepting anxiety is the creator of the aches/pains and sensations; and that is that anxiety is actually your friend. It's not a foreign invader or something that is ruining your life and weakening you as a person. Anxiety is the signal of change in our lives. It's showing us (with a real lack of subtlety) that we're not where we want to be in life, that we aren't processing our emotions healthily. It's challenging our perceptions and trying to make us into stronger and more capable people.

Often we look back to the times before anxiety struck us with panic attacks and symptoms as a time of happiness and tranquility. In reality, anxiety is a call for change and it often takes many years of poor stress management and imbalanced emotions to manifest itself physically in the body. I myself thought life was fine prior to having a panic attack, seemingly randomly in my bedroom when I thought, at the time leading up to the attack that I was happy and content.

We should be weary of looking back fondly to the past instead of moving on into the future. For some the transition from normality to anxious living is stark and sudden - such as abuse or a death in the family. For other's it may well be a slow transition as our increasingly negative outlook or slow withdrawal from those around us begins to take hold of our lives.

Many people struggle to see that scary and very real and painful symptoms are manifestations of anxiety. When the mind is stressed the body will follow suit eventually. For me it took years of daily symptoms, virtually every hour of every day wracked with pains here there and everywhere. Perhaps it was long term experience that finally helped me see that the pains and symptoms were indeed caused by stress. I pestered Dr's multiple times a month for years, each time the tests and prognosis came back as "anxiety". But hearing the word anxiety and truly believing it has that much power and control over you is a difficult step to take - but it is truly the first step that needs to be taken to really improve.

I too had horrific panic attacks and constant symptoms when I used to drive as well. A fear of being far from home, terrified of the car breaking down, or having a heart attack or stroke or some such and not being around family or anyone that could help. But the more you face the situations that make you anxious the less and less the anxiety will start to affect you. But this comes through accepting anxiety is the conjurer of your symptoms.

Just remember that WE are in control of anxiety. Anxiety is not in control of us.

Ed

[alongthelakeshore]

Chrisi, thanks for the reassurance that someone else is experiencing this! And raggamuffin, thank you for explaining some background information on anxiety! I do feel a bit better now that I've read your post :D but still my anxiety eats away at me trying to tell me it wasn't just panic. I hope in a few days I'll realize this was all silly and it will blow over!:unsure: I know logically now that it was a panic attack but since the dizziness came beforehand, it's still freaking me out a bit :( but thank you!

[panickingsince98]

More than likely, you hyperventilated with panic and just over-oxidized your blood. Close to passing out? Probably a little closer than usual, but you maintained consciousness throughout so that's good. My sister has absence seizures, and I can assure you that is not what you had - you would have no memory of the incident, and would not have been able to keep driving. If it ever happens again, I'd say check your breathing and see how fast it is - you'd be amazed at quickly you can become dizzy from breathing fast!

[alongthelakeshore]

Again, thanks for the reassurance, panickingsince98. (I'd have to say that's when I started panicking too, around age 1 :D LOL). I guess you're right, I wouldn't have been able to drive if anything worse had happened to me!