Can you have a panic attack without hyperventilating?

[Decius]

A couple of weeks ago I was experiencing what I think were panic attacks. I ended up going to the walk-in clinic thinking I was having a heart attack, they said it was acid reflux (and that all was fine expect I had high biliruben levels). a few days after that I started having the same pains again and then I was worried I was having a stroke. It felt like my heart would "skip" a beat and blood would rush to my head. My heart would race and I would have sweety palms, but I would keep control (for the most part) of my breathing and then after a few moments I would calm down again. This only happened twice after going to the walk-in clinic. Is that what a panic attack feels like? Since then, though, I have just been feeling like crap (I have been stressing out about my health among other things). Is this what anxiety feels like? How long can these symptoms last if it is anxiety? Please any thoughts or advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[MrsJaredLeto]

This is exactly how my anxiety feels. I have panic attacks reguarly but rarely do I hyperventilate.

[alicegreen]

I do. I have never had the hyperventilating thing at all. I just feel a racing heart,cold and clammy and shakey and utterly terrified that I am losing control and about to die. I sometimes go dizzy and hearing gets muzzy too and most of allI do not feel myself which frightens me a lot.

[Catalyst]

I've never hyperventilated during a panic attack. I get the other symptoms you described - for me it feels like my surroundings are starting to 'spin' and I can almost hear my pulse slowing as though my heart is about to stop. I get weak legs and convinced I'm going to pass out. Since I've been able to recognise the signs of a panic attack, I'm better at rationalising what is happening & sort of talking myself round.

[eternally optimistic]

My symptoms as everyone else has mentioned above.

Infact, the thought of those symptoms make me go weak at the knees at the thought of it all - I dont know...

[Vixxy]

I always tended to hold my breathe when I was having a panic attack. Since learnt to stop doing that lol

[Blueeyed87]

I never thought I hyperventilated until the therapist assured me that's why I get dizzy, I disagreed and said I'd know too which she said most people don't even know there doing it, so I decided to count my breaths per minute that night to try and prove her wrong to my horror I was taking close to 20 breathes per minute whereas max your meant to take is 11 per minute. Not everyone knows there hypervetilating, but in no way am I saying you can't have a panic attack without hyperventling, just many people say there not hyperventilating when they really are because they don't reliase :), I also go the other way sometimes like vixy and hold my breathe argh.
Good luck and well wishes

[pollyanna]

It sounds exactly like anxiety, i dont always hyperventaliate, but do have a lot of the other symptoms more often .
unfortunately the more you worry/stress over things, the more the symptoms will come.

[Valka]

I've never hyperventilated during any of my gazillion panic attacks, so yes ;)

[Valka]

Also, personally I would recommend CBT if you're getting panic attacks - I've managed to reduce mine to maybe one every couple of months, and I don't really care when I get one because I know nothing horrible's going to happen. I never would have believed it, but a few CBT sessions with my psychologist worked a charm.

[Going home]

My panic attacks have always been accompanied by hyperventilation, feelings of suffocation, but i do also get the skipped beats, blood rushing feelings that don't always necessarily lead to a full blown panic attack. I don't like the skipped beats, they scare me and they make me stop whatever i'm doing and take a few deep breaths, but if its only the odd one or two I can usually cope and carry on, but if I get a long run of them then this can lead to a panic attack complete with feeling i can't breathe.

Anna xx