quite confused.. help appreciated.. panic newbie !!

[JBaus]

About a month ago i had my first panic attack... although i had never been an anxious person before, it came out of the blue and i woke up in the middle of the night with the assumption i was dieing. With my mind racing to figure out what was wrong i had to tick off wat was NOT going on..
I finally got over thinking i was having a heart attack, and latched onto the assumption i was going crazy (for me that was worse than the heart attack thought haha) and then finally i went downstairs typed in symptoms and lo and behold im having a panic attack.. well now this nameless fear has a name...
So i found this site and have a few questions!
Do u need to be anxious whilst having a panic attack for it to be a panic attack or could it be something else? I'm ALWAYS a happy person and this came out of the blue!

Also my first panic attack appeared to last for 4 hrs! and then the symptoms persisted for 4 days after that!?

Now they come without warning, although a lot milder than before, and its almost like im having the physical effect of a panic attack, but my mind really doesnt want to switch over so im still me just feeling incredible discomfort..

And they also only seem to come on at night time!

They make me angry because Im lucky i dont even have anxiety and i dont worry and i dont panic! but i have panic attacks! if that makes sense.. thanks anyway for any help guys and gals...

[Alisonj]

First off Welcome to the forums.
Panic attacks can come on suddenly without warning or any feeling of anxiousness. Mine tend to last hours as well and I have several days where the feeling remains. Mine almost always occur in the evening or night as well. Have you seen your doctor? What was their thoughts on it? If you have not seen them that would be the best first step to rule out anything else such as thyroid etc that can mimic panic attacks. Lots of luck and I hope you enjoy the forum

[bfy]

hey Jabus
sorry to hear that you are having the dreaded panic attacks.
i don't understand them neither, but I am told the feelings are normal.
I have had the on and off for about 40 years. I have found that when I am having one it helps me if I have someone to talk to. yes, it makes me angry that I have them and can't control what is happening to me. I had not had one in three years, and around the middle of June just out of the blue, no warning a full blown panic attack. Unless a person has them noone has a lue how horrible they are. nothing has changed in my life, no added stress or anything to be stressful about, so I don't understand why they are back, but it is everyday, and yes they are worse at night
I am truly sorry that you are having them and If i can be of help please let me know.
I joined this group hoping that I could understand better and to have some one to talk with, it does help.
hang in there pray alot and then pray some more
have a nice night
bfy

[JBaus]

Yeh thanks guys i have seen my doctor.. he didnt really say much on the subject he just seemed to agree with me that they were panic attacks.. i got some diazepam but that didnt really do anything except take away some of the physical symptoms i was still stuck in that hole of crappyness but oh well..