View Full Version : How long is a full blown panic attack?
Hi i had a majour panic attack yesterday for no reason at all . It came out the blue and it lastsed around 10 minutes ?
My heart was all over the place and thank god my friend was aparamedic!!!! She gave me a bag to breath into , but why did it last so long?
She said it was quite severe and that made me feel worse because now i think there is something else wrong with me ?
I did have ECG last year which shoewd up an adnormality, so they sent me for a scan and they said my heart was healthy. I also had a 24 hour monitor because i get palpataions. Dr said they could give me tablets but it would probably make it worse.( this was last year)
So my question is CAN A PANIC ATTACK LAST 10 MINUTES ?
Hugs to all
Elly
xxxx
nomorepanic
16-07-07, 12:09
Elly
Panic attacks can last for much longer sometimes. I know that I have had ones that never seemed to stop and it was so hard to get control of the breathing.
Hope you feel a bit better now.
I thought 10 minutes of my heart going mad was long enough. Gosh i never thought they lasted longer than that.
Thankyou for your reply
Elly
x
At my worst, i had a panic attack from 11pm one night until gone midday the next. I was terrified to even move off the floor in case something awful would happen.
x
Thanks for your reply
Isnt it bad for you if your heart is going so fast and all over the place for so long?
I should be taking CITALOPRAM but im scared to because i dont want those bad heart things to get worse.
Any Advice?
Elly
x:lac:
A single panic attack can't last more than about a minute or so as the chemicals involved get used up in that time, feels a lot longer though. However it's not unusual to have multiple attacks that come in waves, you have the attack, things ease off slightly then you're hit by the next one, so seems as though the attack lasts for much longer.
Probably my most intense attack lasted about 1 1/2 hours. Had the initial attack, on a scale 1-10 felt like a 12! Didn't have anything with me to help, no rescure remedy etc. I stood still but felt I was going to faint so slowly started walking but that also made me feel as though I was going to faint, couldn't win. It then continued in waves until I made it home.
In theory people say you should just ride them out, don't concentrate on them as that makes things worse. In practice that's a lot easier said than done, but on a couple of occassions I've managed it and the attack went within a minute. Practice your breathing and distraction techiques. Also clenching then unclenching your thigh muscles use up adrenalin so can help.
Thanks
Mkeeley for your reply. I suppose not all attacks are the same. The paramedic did say it went on for 10 minutes, and didnt ease off at all . Its so worrying when it happens. I hope Dr can reasure me tommorrow when i see her. I hate leaving the house at the moment , its all too easy to fall back into the bad times again. This site has helped me alot .
Hugs to all
Elly
x:flowers: x
Hi Soggypops
My post was based on a numbers of sites, however I've Googled about it again and according to the American Psychological Association a typical panic attack lasts 10 minutes. So according to them yours was typical, doesn't that make you feel so much better :tongue:
Goes to show that you can look at 20 sites and get 20 different answers!
When you're having an attack a minute seems like an hour. I've never actually timed how long an initial attack has lasted, not really felt like being scientific at those times.
Thanks Mkeely
I do feel a little better now Thankyou. I think when youve got so much anxiety you cant think straight. So i need now to convince myself that what i had was normal and its not my heart?( easier said than done)
Life keeps throwing this bad stuff at me and sometimes i think gods punnishing me. All those really bad guys out there are fine. So i keep thinking why me?
Im back to drs today and i think im going to ask her for a medication changes.
Hugs to all
Elly
xx
Hi Soggypops
I know what you mean both about not being able to think straight at times and the "why me".
Hope that if you get a change of meds that they help.
I've had two panic attacks, the first lasted twenty minutes, it went away after ten minutes only to return a few minutes later for another ten minutes
The second one I had last month lasted a good hour. Same deal, it would ease off only to return a few minutes later. I have no control over them , they seem to last as long as they want to. These panic attacks involve numbness of face, shaking, strange almost dream like state of mind, and chest pains. Very similar to the symptoms of a stroke.
these attacks make me feel like I'm going to drop dead at any moment. Scary stuff, I didn't know panic attacks were so bad.
Like others I've had attacks that come and go so frequently that it feels like a really long one, up to a few hours. Bloody nightmare!
You should really try to dissociate the panic from the possible heart problems that you mentioned. Its probably very likely that the panic attacks are a result of your worries about the heart, but impossible for it to work the other way. Your panic attack can't give you heart problems.
Btw, this is my first post, so hello everyone!
Alex
In the past I've had panic attacks for over a day. But it's not so much the length of the attack that used to bother me, it was the severity of the attack that was the problem. The worst attack I ever had was when I was took into hospital with a supected seissure. I had pins and needles from head to toe and every muscle in my body was going 'ten to the dozen' :). Anyway, the doc gave a me a shot of valium which soon did the trick. Now I'm not frightened of them, so they leave me alone. You see it's the fear of them that feeds them. Take away that fear of them and there's nothing to fuel them. I know it's easeir said than donem but that's only thing panic attacks rely on - your fear of them.
most of mine have been in the 10minute range, but there was one that lasted circa an hour or more before I calmed down. It was 2.30am when it started with noone around so I called the NHS Direct helpline and they were able to talk me down thankfully.
I've only ever had one major one - It lasted 3 days and I lost 6kg.
Don't wanna have another like that.
Phill :shades:
The length of how long a Panic Attack lasts can vary. I think it can also depend on the symtoms you are experiencing. When I get them, I seem to notice the more servere they are, the less longer they last, and the less server they are the longer they can go on for.
For exmaple..
Severity 100%: 5 - 10 mins
Severity 90%: 10 - 15 mins
Severity 80%: 10 -20 mins
Severity 70%: 10 - 25 mins
Severity 60%: 10 - 30mins
Severity 50%: 12 - 35mins
Severity 40%: 12 - 50 mins
Severity 30%: 15 - 60mins (1 hour)
Severity 20%: 15 - 1 and a half hours
Severity 10%: 15 - Several hours
Occasionally, I do get rather nasty ones for much longer with a wave of anxiety and panic sytoms coming back and forth.
Sometimes, what can also happen is I may get one, then only after 20 minutes or so another one comes. Once I've had two or three Panic Attacks in a row, I don't get any more for at least one or two days.
They can as everyone says last a real long time or be over in a few moments. I suffer from attacks, however over the past week they have been so severe and my worst yet. i passed out last night and gave my wonderful boyfriend the fright of his life I think. I was breathing so rappidly. I was catching my breath and then all the usual symptoms came all at once, I think my body was just so overwhelmed it decided it was enough. I have not been right since. I am still very panicy, uneasy, my whole body aches, im edgy and my heart is racing, this has been the longest yet. 10mins is a short one, however it feels like a lifetime no matter how long it takes. Its not nice, its frightening and its somthing that we all want to go away. You aint alone here, you have all of us for some advice any time you need it.:hugs:
petra x
Hi Soggypops,
Sorry to hear what you went through.
In September 2007 I had a baby and in November I started to suffer panick attacks and was diagnosed with anxiety.
My first attack was mostly heart based too, felt like it was alover the place, was racing, i couldnt relax as was so aggitated and on edge, just couldnt sit still/breathe/swallow/eat/couldnt really do anything actually.
I was told it was hormones and I didnt believe...thought there was something drastic wrong with me and i was dying! I didnt want to go out either.
I did a bit of reading on breathing techniques and self-talk and it really helped. Im pretty much back to normal now although i had a brief attack about an hour ago, the first in ages.
I just want to say, although you are scared and it makes you not want to leave the house, don't let it stop you! It really is easier said than done but once you find a way to ignore the feelings and brush them away you will feel so much better and the attacks will become less frequent!
Sorry for rambling, just wanted you to know you are not alone, you will be ok and try not to worry.
Love and best wishes, take care
Char xxxxxx
My longest panic attack has been an hour 40 minutes, i wasin london and it took that long before i got home to where i feel safe.
Most don't last that long and i honestly think as i didn't know at the time that it was a panic attack that i prolonged the feeling myself, thinking it was medical not mental
Hi There:
It happened to me once and I ended up in the Hospital with some Cirup in my arm. I was stand up after my work in a bus, then feeling dizzy , feel like to vomit and then colapse sitting . then I got paralized and crying a lot I couldnt move my arms, people try to move them but nobody did. I justr remember when the bus driver got me in the hospital I was all lie down in the bus . It was all black out. Never again it happened to me but I always have to have in my bag the pill call Alprazolam 0.5. It help me to calm down when Im so upset and start the effects coming again . Hope some day I will get ride of my pills cause I got adicctive to them . Just for sleep.
Take care
Kath
I would say mine seem to last around 10 mins on average (like building up to it and then the actual event), but once I get one - it can be like a rollercoaster where i will calm down and then....wooooahhhhhh, here it comes again, and then it can go on for days..up and down, up and down.
Can I get off this rollercoaster please?
You should take your meds if that's what your doc recommends, give them a few weeks to work to full effect.
You've probably read the side effects back to front right now, and of course if you are like me you will probably develop all of them, but remember its part of the anxiety, probably nothing to do with the medication. I've been on mine for 5 days now and feel so much better.
Jo
Secret Poster
06-07-08, 17:50
I've had 2 major ones and they both lasted only about 2 minutes, so after reading all of these posts, I feel much better that I don't have to deal with ones that last days or hours. I don't know if I could handle that.
hi soggy pops i knw hw u feel i had one for more than ten mins mostly at nite for all the nite u need to try to distract ur mind try anyway i hpoe u feel much betta
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