I need help.

[KaylaMarie]

Nearly everytime I get a panic attack...I feel ike I may be having a heart attack.
I know this is a common symptom of panic attacks, but No matter how much I tell myself that...My mind gets clouded with all of the 'what ifs'.
my left arm almost always feels odd when Im freaking out...and i believe it is just because I am thinking about it so much. can anyone please tell me what you do when stuff like this happens?
I dont want to spend another night thinking that I wont make it to tomorrow.
Please.

[Alisonj]

I know that feeling. I had been doing quite well with my panic attacks and then I had to go to the ER last night for a bladder infection. They brought someone in that was in full arrest. Suddenly the panic completely flooded me again. My dad died at 40 from a heart attack so that is my biggest fear. Unforunately PA's can mimic heart attack symptoms to a tee. If you feel that what you are feeling might not be a PA then dont hesitate to get looked at. If it will help your piece of mind. But the symptoms you are having are defintely common with panic attacks and anxiety. Huge hugs, I hope you feel better soon.

[KaylaMarie]

Thank you for your response=)
I have been checked out...ECG and Chest Xray. Only about a month ago as well...
Your response did make me feel a bit better...Gah. I think so irrationally when I get a PA...(Or Alaxander as I call it occasionally)
It is starting to settle down now.
I am so glad I found this site! Just reading all the posts everyone has posted helps! Thank you. ^.^

[LeeBee]

The three times that I've had a full-blown panic attack, at the peak of it I've been convinced I'm having a heart attack. Tachycardia, pain down the left arm, breathlessness, sweating, the works. Every time I've called an ambulance. The last time, I kind of knew that I was having a panic attack but was so frightened and convinced that my heart was going to explode that I called an ambulance anyway. I took an anti-anxiety tablet just before I called (as I took it I remember thinking "oh well, going to die in a minute anyway") and stayed talking on the line to the operator. As I talked to her I started to calm down and told her not to send the ambulance.

Once the panic attack itself has been triggered there's nothing you can do but ride it out. Stress hormones like adrenaline have flooded your bloodstream and you have to wait until they are processed out before the symptoms like racing heart will recede. It usually only takes a minute or two but it feels like forever. I guess the trick is to catch it before you get to that stage by recognising that you're winding yourself up for an attack, or, if you don't manage to stop it happening, keeping your head as calm as you can and allowing yourself to ride through the hormone rush to the other side.

People who have never had a panic attack have no idea how deathly frightening it is. Most of us lot in here have had them though, and understand what you're going through. :winks:

[KaylaMarie]

I have never called an ambulence before...But I have driven to the ER...Sometimes I just sit in the parking lot until the attack has gone away...bleh.
It makes sense to try and catch it before I get to that stage...I just feel like sometimes nothing will work. Though I know that given enough time and work on my end it will =)
It is extremely comforting knowing that I am not the only one going through this though...I mean...I knew I wasnt before but until I found this site I had no one to talk to about it that didnt just tell me that "Its all in your head, It isnt real"
Thank you very much for your reply!
(Sorry for any typos...)