racing heart while in car-scared its a heart attack/stroke

[lanerbanana]

hello everyone!
this is my first post ever on this thread, been a lurker for a long time because i have severe hypochondria. just for some background, i am an 18 year old girl with no pre-existing heart conditions that i am aware of. that being said,

today i was in the car with my parents, i had just finished a turkey + bacon wheat wrap with lettuce and tomato and i was feeling okay. all of a sudden, i started to feel really, really weird, almost lightheaded. i felt like i was losing control of myself and that i was going to suddenly black out of consciousness. we were driving on the highway and i usually get a little anxious being on the highway, but never this bad. my heart started POUNDING. really really hard. it was getting really hard to breathe. there was a huge rush, tingling in both my arms and hands. i told my parents about it and they started becoming worried about me. my mom gave me a drink because she thought it might've been because my blood sugar was low and when i ate, it spiked up. this happened about maybe an hour or two ago. i still get small attacks from time to time but nothing as intense.

i feel kind of weak and i get small shakes. i dont feel chest pain, but its this pounding, uncomfortable feeling like im not getting enough air. no nauseousness, maybe a little, but not much. i get really lightheaded and my legs get weak, i feel like im either about to pass out, or die.

i cant tell if i was having a small stroke, or a heart attack? or is this my first true panic attack? we had gone to the doctor, and i was feeling a little anxious there, but i dont think ive ever had a true panic attack before. it's scaring the HELL out of me, could someone please ease my mind? i may ask my mom to take me to the hospital just to check if anything is wrong. thank you so much in advance!

[Scass]

Hello, it does sound very much like a panic attack. So sorry you had one because I know they’re so scary. Have you seen anyone about your anxiety before? There are lots of articles here you can read & I think you’ll probably recognise your symptoms in them x


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[lanerbanana]

if that's what they feel like, then wow i never wanna have one again, lmao
thank you for your support <3 i've talked to counselors about my hypochondria/general anxiety (my mother also has panic attacks from time to time so i guess it kinda runs in the family) but never have had CBT or anything like that, sadly
ive been a severe hypochondriac since i was very very young, i have awful health anxiety and am always terrified whenever something about my body is doing something out of the ordinary
i think ive read a few of the articles here and they're always very helpful, its so nice to be in a community where people actually understand!

[BlueIris]

It might be worth having a chat with your mother, asking if she can help you find a good CBT therapist. I've suffered from severe anxiety since my early teens, and it's only been now, in my 40s, that I've found a combination of solutions that really work.

I wish you the best of luck - panic attacks are absolutely awful.

[ankietyjoe]

You have described a panic attack perfectly, and I would imagine 90% of people who experience their first one believe it's a heart attack.

Did something in particular trigger your health anxiety at such a young age?

Contrary to popular belief, anxiety is not genetic or hereditary. When it does run in families it's often a learned lifestyle choice that can exacerbate the anxiety from one generation to the next. For example, there's lots of research right now that suggests that diet plays a massive role in anxiety and depression.

In any case, I would push for a course of CBT. As you're in the States it's likely you'll be offered anti-depressants very quickly. I would try and avoid that until you've tried other ways of dealing with it, as it can be overcome without medication.

If you learn one thing from panic attacks, try and reinforce the idea in your head now that they're not dangerous in any way. They feel awful, but they're not harming you. People most often get into trouble with anxiety when they start having panic attacks and begin researching more sinister explanations for what they are feeling. Never, ever use google to explain away your symptoms, it will only make things worse. Absolute, 100% guarantee. Anxiety and panic can masquerade as hundreds of different symptoms, so treat the anxiety, not each and every symptom. If you can do that now, your journey to recovery will be much, much faster.

[lanerbanana]

thank you <3
unfortunately, ive tried to talk to my mother about my anxiety and depression-but she believes there's nothing wrong with me. she says that i "think i have depression" and keeps telling me that my life is blessed and ive had so many good things happen to me throughout

i know that. the problem is, those things whenever they pop into my brain, they DONT make me happy. it's really hard for me to be happy. that's the issue.
ill be looking into it more in the coming days. i just woke up about an hour ago, nothing much to report other than it kinda feels like its a little bit hard to breathe, little bit of coughing here and there, and there's a small, weird pain in the side of my head. little worried about that but trying not to think about it.

oh sorry i forgot: i cant really seem to pinpoint exactly where and when i started having HA, but i maybe can guess bc of these couple factors
- dont get sick very often so i always panic and think the absolute worst whenever i do have something even a little off with me
- grandmother passed away suddenly bc complications of diabetes (i dont know the true cause)
- mom got sick with pneumonia and panicked a bunch so in turn I also panicked as well

and maybe a couple other things, but i cant pinpoint them off the top of my head right now. doesnt help that i also have autism and tend to obsess over things, bad or good

[ankietyjoe]

thank you <3
unfortunately, ive tried to talk to my mother about my anxiety and depression-but she believes there's nothing wrong with me. she says that i "think i have depression" and keeps telling me that my life is blessed and ive had so many good things happen to me throughout

i know that. the problem is, those things whenever they pop into my brain, they DONT make me happy. it's really hard for me to be happy. that's the issue.
ill be looking into it more in the coming days. i just woke up about an hour ago, nothing much to report other than it kinda feels like its a little bit hard to breathe, little bit of coughing here and there, and there's a small, weird pain in the side of my head. little worried about that but trying not to think about it.

oh sorry i forgot: i cant really seem to pinpoint exactly where and when i started having HA, but i maybe can guess bc of these couple factors
- dont get sick very often so i always panic and think the absolute worst whenever i do have something even a little off with me
- grandmother passed away suddenly bc complications of diabetes (i dont know the true cause)
- mom got sick with pneumonia and panicked a bunch so in turn I also panicked as well

and maybe a couple other things, but i cant pinpoint them off the top of my head right now. doesnt help that i also have autism and tend to obsess over things, bad or good

These two things alone can be significant in my opinion. You're being taught that it only takes being ill once to be a major problem. The reality is that millions of people get sick every day and the vast majority of them get better.

Being depressed or having anxiety isn't directly related to how 'good' your life is. That statement alone is ambiguous because often people misjudge what it takes to be happy. Having 'things', having 'stuff' or happy events don't make people happy. Watching a parent constantly battle with anxiety is enough to create problems for a child, even well into their teens.

I would also consider my comments about diet. Your Grandmother had diabetes, and that is almost always diet and lifestyle related. It's possible that dietary intake is what's being passed down from generation to generation, not a genetic predisposition to anxiety. It's often diets that include a lot of bread, sugar, processed foods and sugary or diet soda's that cause the worst reactions in terms of diabetes/anxiety and a whole host of other chronic illnesses. Perhaps that's a place to focus on as well....what you eat?

In terms of your symptoms, they're all anxiety based. I would recommend researching the symptoms of anxiety, but not the symptoms themselves. There are hundreds of symptoms that can present with anxiety, so don't feel that each new symptom you experience needs immediate medical attention.

[lanerbanana]

for the past year or so ive been trying to watch what i eat, actively trying to cut out soda (havent had one in a while) and im slowly starting to cut my carb intake so that i can hopefully start keto soon!!
that is very true, and that's what ive tried to tell her/convey to her but it hasnt worked. ill be going in for a psychoeval soon hopefully for depression bc of school, so maybe then it'll convince her
i dont wanna get too personal but my mom has struggled with depression her whole life but never really got extensive help for it. she also has NPD and can sometimes be kinda mean towards me and my dad. ive also self-harmed before but even THEN nothing seemed to set off alarm bells. i dont want to be put on anti-depressants, if i can help it. all i really want is a counselor, someone i can talk to who wont judge, or have dramatic reactions.

[ankietyjoe]

It's great that you're doing something about what you eat. I'm not convinced that keto is necessary as that in itself can be a little taxing on the body at first. You could elevate your cortisol too high which can in turn make anxiety worse. Keeping your net carbs below 100g a day and focusing on whole foods is more than enough to reap physical and mental benefits. Personally, I wouldn't worry about keto for now until you have a better grip on the anxiety.

In terms of your Mother, I'm getting the feeling more and more that she is the source of most of what you're feeling now. Not deliberately, but you're very young still and to be on the receiving end of so much negativity from your main care giver, your Mother, it likely to cause problems later on in life. I think this is what you're experiencing now. I'm sorry you've had to experience what you have, but you're at an age now where you don't really have to rely on her to get the help you need any more.

There are lots of resources out there, including here where you can get things of your chest, and perhaps learn that the parenting you received wasn't the best. I don't think anything you experienced from your Mother was intentional, but that still doesn't mean that it hasn't caused some harm to you mentally. Nothing that can't be worked out of course! The anxiety can definitely be tackled without medication. There are lots of options out there.

[lanerbanana]

thank you so much for the reassurance <3 been keeping myself as distracted as i possibly can!!! i need a couple more posts here in order to play the games on here but for the moment ive been playing a LOT of online tetris!! it def helps with anxious feelings!!!
im pretty sure my mom loves me, she just shows it in weird ways. i know my mom has some issues she hasnt really worked out yet, and i can only hope that she'll eventually see the light and get some help.
she's very protective over me and sometimes that turns into becoming overbearing. everytime i do something independent, she'll get angry at me or try to pick a fight with me..
it sucks but im trying to overcome that fear of her and be as independent as i can be