Panic Attacks, Worry, etc..

[ikimasu]

Hello ... I was hoping I could get some rational thoughts from others who know what I'm going through.

I've had some type of health anxiety since I was a teen. Nothing major, just general fear and worry about having something deadly. Probably my biggest thing is brain tumors, although it has not always been limited to that.

Anyway, a few months back, in the spring, I was at the office and suddenly just had a sort of weird feeling - I think it was related to breathing, in some way. Anyway, after that I suddenly got kind of a strange feeling in my head, and started to feel like I could pass out any second. My heart started to race and I was definitely going into a panic. I didn't feel dizzy - just like I could pass out at any second, and it almost felt like it was in my head (maybe it was just tension?). I called my wife because no one else was at the office at the time, and within maybe a minute or two, it had passed and I felt fine. I drove home and didn't really experience it again for a bit. But over the last several months I've definitely begun to have more of these experiences. Only one has been worse than that, where I really started to freak out majorly and almost went to the ER, but since that one major one I've been able to keep these feelings pretty well under control by simply laying down and watching tv or otherwise distracting myself and relaxing for a little bit.

One thing that I've started to worry about though with all this is that it's a brain tumor or something like that. Of course, I worry that almost any negative experience is a brain tumor, but with this I worry that maybe I actually have good reason, because of the whole "pass out at any second" feeling, and especially that it seemed to just come out of nowhere. I just wanted to get some thoughts from people here that might help me lay this aside.

I should add that over the last couple of years the stress in my life has multiplied greatly. I've been married about 2 and a half years now, have an 11 month old baby, and I am in my first real job (which I got right around the time I got married), among other things. I recognize I have plenty of reason for panic/anxiety attacks at this point, but then I wonder why they only started now. I also have had panic attacks in the past when I was a teen, but they ceased for the most part for several years, and they were different from what I have felt now.

I went to the doctor, and he diagnosed me with panic attacks and fatigue - did an x-ray of my chest due to the weird breathing feeling, which didn't show anything. He said I could get meds for anxiety, but I said I wanted to try to deal with it personally first, and if it got to a point where I thought I needed it, I would come back.

Anyway, yeah - is this typical for panic attacks? I know I'm probably being irrational about the brain tumor stuff, especially since I have been able to control them by relaxation/distraction. But it's hard for me to be reasonable with myself because I always end up second guessing myself.

Sorry this is so long, but thanks in advance for any thoughts.

[Blot]

Hi there, the symptoms you describe seem very simlar to the ones I experience when I have a panic attack. I find that it generally begins with an odd sensation in my head,then my heart races OR my heart skips a beat,I then feel funny in the head and then my heart races.Hope this helps.......xxx

[ikimasu]

Thanks Blot ... the weird part I think was just that it came out of nowhere, and I wasn't expecting anything at all, and didn't feel particularly different that day than any other day. But, I suppose everything has to start somewhere, and it was probably worse because I hadn't been used to getting the panic attacks, so I wasn't really prepared for it. Now that I am prepared, I can keep them from escalating most of the time.

And honestly it was probably worse because I do worry about brain tumors so much, so sometimes any little thing can throw me towards panic, and blow the tiniest thing out of proportion. For example, I thought I had weird eye symptoms sometimes and they could start to freak me out and get me into that "what if" thinking. But when I went to the optometrist for a normal check up, they didn't find anything at all in the eyes to be worried about. But at the time, everything always seems a big deal. :-/

[xBettyBoopx]

Hi and welcome to nmp.

Most fears are irrational:mad:

Constant tension has probably brought you to the place you are now. Our bodies can stand a little tension everyday, in fact we need it, but a lot everyday over a long period of time can start panic attacks because the tension builds and builds.

I'm sorry you are having a rotten time. Do you think maybe you could have cbt or some sort of counselling? Getting help as soon as you can means getting better quicker:)

Els
xxx

[ikimasu]

Hi Elspeth - thanks for the welcome :)

Indeed, many fears people have are irrational ... I wish that knowledge made it all go away!

One of the issues that caused me to start worrying about the tumor stuff with this is that I knew of a guy who just suddenly collapsed/passed out one day, and it turned out he had a tumor, and he eventually died from it. So even though I have not collapsed ever, when I have any feeling that's even close to that, I think of his situation, and start doing that "what if" thinking that is so dangerous. That's why I wanted to know if it's normal to have that whole "I could pass out any second" feeling without necessarily feeling dizzy or whatever. But again, I figure if I am able to control it through relaxation or other means, it's probably not something like a tumor. But as usual I second guess my own thoughts.

I have considered some type of counseling, and perhaps if it gets bad enough I will. Right now, I'm trying to just keep things under control before it takes control of me. I've spent time praying about it (I'm a Christian) and try to talk to family and friends to help keep my mind and thoughts grounded. That's also why I joined this group - in hopes of just being able to get some of that rational thinking that we are so good at giving to others (and ignoring ourselves). :-P

[ikimasu]

I thought I'd share this, and maybe it'll help someone. Just a minute ago I stood up from my computer, and started to feel a little bit weird (probably stood up to fast), and this started to lead into that head feeling that I talked about before. But, I was able to control it and it went away very quickly without an attack (10-15 seconds at most, and I was fine).

Most notably however, when I am able to control it and look at it objectively, I realize that it's not me about to pass out or something wrong with my brain, but something more related to sinus issues (where I live there are TONS of allergens, and I have noticed my sinuses being worse ever since moving here), or perhaps just panic in general. My guess is that when I start to panic, my blood pressure increases and obviously my heart starts to pound faster, and this makes me feel things in other parts of the body that can easily lead to a vicious cycle until I'm in a full blown panic, which only makes those feelings worse. The reason I was so convinced I could pass out that day was because I let it take control, and wasn't looking at it objectively. Looking at it now though using a more objective stance, I recognize that it was more of a lightheaded/dizzy type of feeling, and am reassured that it's not a tumor or something deadly. Especially the fact that I was able to control it, and so quickly at that, says that it's not a tumor.

I wonder how often we blow up our symptoms in retrospect though. Obviously we tend to blow them up at the time, but then when we look back we even get more distraught, instead of trying to take a more objective stance. Taking the opportunity to observe this feeling when I had it again (almost like an experiment) really helped me realize just how much I have blown it up in the past, and I believe this will help me avoid it even more in the future.