thought it was a stroke

[ronostommo]

hi
i think i had a panic attack today were i was speaking and then for about two seconds i really struggled to speak and form the word i wanted to say. Then for about 10 minutes afterwards my mouth felt slightly numb. normal panic attack symptoms followed but this really frightened me i thought it was a stroke. anyone else ever had anything similar happen. thankyou for any replies.

[Toms596]

Hi i get this fairly often i will be saying something and will mess up a word i often get a numbness in the face or a twinge in my lip for no apparent reason ive learnt now to mainly ignore it as my girlfriend and docters ive seen assured me that if it was a stroke or something serious i would know about it

[smudgie]

Hi

Im sorry you are having this symtom with your panic attack. I can relate to you. I know when a panic attack is coming now as i get my words all muddled up, when the panic is in full swing I cant talk at all sometimes and yes my face goes numb on one side.
The first time it happened, last year, my hubby took me to the hospital.They explained what had happened. My attacks had just got worse.
Now it happens most of the time and yes I get very embarrassed with the facial distortion.

Im sorry you are having to endour this as I know it can be hard to deal with.
You take care of you
Smudgie

[AtmoLav]

I've had this ALL my life, and it's normal, and nothing to do with anxiety. When I'm in front of a group of people, I'll sometimes just not be able to get a word out. It happened the other day. I'll be mid-way through a sentence and then bang - a word just won't come out. It's a form of a stammer.

The reaction you had afterwards IS panic. You panicked because you thought sh*t, I can't speak, something's wrong, rather than treating it for what it was....a stammer.

The way to fix this is...next time it happens, either stall for time (I use "kind of", "er..", "y'know") and/or use a word that means the same but is different. Or just stop the sentence and start another one. Some people might notice (they did the other day, a couple of chuckles), but no-one will think you're crazy.

Years ago, when I was at school, a guy came in to assembly to do a talk on something (i forget what it was). There was about 1000 of us. He got up on stage, started talking, and then just got stuck, for like 45 seconds. It's very, very common.