I had my first panic attack.....?

[jamie177]

I've always been a very anxious person and have had mild anxiety, never been on any medication. A little about myself, I am 31 years old, have 2 kids with my husband, ages 4 and 5, I just started working again a year ago and have a very busy life. Anyways, I was in Vegas 3 days ago having sushi with a group of 10 people when I got light headed and dizzy, told my husband I needed a taxi and wanted to go back to the room. That taxi ride was the worst ride of my life, I thought I was having a heart attack, couldn't breath, my entire body was tingling, my tongue was all weird. Pretty much I went straight to the ER, worst place to ever go in Vegas, a million people waiting to see a doc. They did an EKG on me and said go sit in the waiting room, meanwhile I think that I am dying because I couldn't breath. Long story short, some lady come up to me and said your having a panic attack and calmed me down, took the next flight home. I saw my doctor yesterday and she said it was a panic attack. Ever since I have this tight feeling around my chest and I just feel weird. What is going on with me?? I'm I always going to get this now? How come this feeling in my chest wont go away, feel like my heart is about to jump out. A couple times since I've been back, my heart starts to race and I just practice the breathing until it goes away. How long will I have this tight chest feeling around my chest???

[Col]

jamie!

I'm 31 too, with husband & 2 kids aged 10 & 3. I have had a very difficult life BUT alway always been a get & go person anyway.... 2011 feburary I'd been severely over doing it and BAM, panic attacks!!!!! Never had them before, never!!!! I had to quit my PGCE teacher training course which was the last stretch to gaining a profession & a good career because Ive got a degree in biomedical science , which I worked my arse off for, when I had my daughter. So I had to leave my post graduate course half way through & I hate leaving things half completed!!! Plus hard getting back and working/studying as a mum or dad!
I was gutted about giving my course up & in a real mess deal with the most horrendous panic attacks! These then lead to me becoming agrophobic!
BUT although still not 100% & despite feeling like my life has been turned upside down and stolen by panic, I am a lot better & I am back out there doing the shopping ok and daily tasks, which before I would second guess.

You can not put a time on anything like this, once it starts & that's the problem! Do all the right things & you will get better.

Eat good , sleep well, herbal remedies, manuka honey, tapping exercises YouTube, general exercise & right now taking it easy, slow down!

[jamie177]

Glad you are doing better, that's good to hear. So will I start to have anxiety everyday after my first panic attack? I just keep scarring myself to death with all these thoughts. The second I think about it, everything starts, but the main symptom I have is the tightness around the chest. Did you get on any medication?

[Annie0904]

Hi Jamie, sorry to hear you have started having panic and anxiety attacks. Your doctor can give you medication to help but you could also ask your doctor about cognitive behaviour therapy or try an online course http://cognitivetherapyonline.com/cb...c/?hop=nmpanic
This one is very good.

[Col]

Hi Jamie bless you, no , you might not ever have anxiety nor panic attacks again.
I've read a lot of good threads on hear & everyone has their own unique experiences with panic attacks and/or anxiety disorder. However there are some basic similarities that seem to happen to most people who experience a panic attack, this tends to be fear of having another panic attack and this makes you anxious & can sometimes develop into anxiety disorder.

I think Annie is right because your starting to over think about the panic attack , you should try and see your doctor , as soon as ! The quicker you get medical advice the better , some therapy & maybe medication might help you & you'll soon be back to your normal self! Like I said everyone has a different experience with panic, there's no specific timeframe with this illness , a day or a year, you just don't know! Annie's advice & things which I've mentioned, will all be a step in the right direction. X

Ps my med - propranolol