The Worst Panic Attack Yet

[Patrick S]

Yesterday I was driving home from visiting a friend down the country. As I came up through the south side of London, I began to think about my relationship and how I felt bad about deciding to end it.

Before I knew it I was hyperventilating behind the wheel. I knew there was a hospital near by, so I made a dash for it. When i couldn't find it I drove into the nearest petrol station. Parking up I got out, at this point I couldn't feel my hands. I walked into the shop in the petrol station and said 'call an ambulance' before I fell on the floor. I lost total sensation in my legs and hands. My hands curled up in a kind of claw like fashion. They were totally cold and I couldn't even hold my car keys. Ten minutes later an ambulance arrived and the paramedic said I had 100% oxygen in my blood and that's why I couldn't move my hands. I had pins and needles all over my hands, legs, chest and face.

They put me in the ambulance and told me to breath slowly. Withing twenty minutes the sensation started returning. I spent the next six hours in casualty having blood tests and a chest x-ray done. The doctor said I had hypoxia (i think that's what it was called).

I woke up this morning with serious anxiety about it happening again. I started to exhibit my old panic issues like feeling i was losing my mind, high body temperature and rapidly beating heart.

The doctors have said I should do CBT and if that doesn't work take pills to calm it. I really don't want to take pills to calm my panic down. Has the hand thing ever happened to anyone else so severe?

Patrick

[goth]

hi patrick s i totally no what you mean i had my worst pa last wednesday and i was absolutlely terrified i felt really hot and felt paralised down one side of my body and was hyperventilating i went to my dr and he said it was a panic attack and told me to go hme and have a bath to calm down what does he no so i no how you feel.your not alone with this hope this helps love lin x take care

[JasonB]

Hi Pat,

All I can say is YES!

This is almost exactly what happened to mw 2 months ago.

The claw hand, the hypoxia, the pins and needles in the face.... everything.

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You do not need to worry, as you can prevent it from happening again.

You had a severe panic attack, that was made more severe by hyper-ventilating. When you hyper-ventilate, you get too much oxygen in the body, and you experience what you had in the petrol station.

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So you do not need to worry about it happening again. As you can be prepared for it. If you find yourself going into that sort of panic again, immediately try and calm yourself down, and get a paper bag to breathe into.

I think you will find just having the tools for dealing with future panic attacks will greatly reduce your anxiety about having them at all.

Don;t let it get you down. It can be beaten.

Jason

[natasha]

Called Hyperventilation Syndrome.

Had a similar situation. Had what was probably a chest cold, was coughing a lot and had a panic attack. Felt like it was hard to breathe, like I had to take real deep breathes. Decided to go to the hospital, drove. As I drove it got worse, pins and needles, paralysis of hands and face, etc.

You feel like you can't breathe and start hyperventilating, which in turn causes symptoms that are suspisciously like what you suspect being short of oxygen would feel like, which in turn causes you to hyperventilate more.

[Veronica H]

:bighug1: big hug for you that must have been really traumatic. you have been given good advice here already. Keep your chin up....you came through this and it will get better. Thoughts can become feelings with this illness instantly and as you said you were thinking about your relationship this must have triggered the attack. I hope you can resolve these fthoughts soon.

Take care

Veronica