Are these panic attacks?

[Kris35]

Hi all,


I don't quite get to the stage where I'm gasping for breath, but feel as though I can't breath deeply enough? My leg goes tingly and numb and I feel like I'm on the EDGE of an attack. Also when it's really bad, I can't swallow my saliva and I'm crawling on the floor feeling as if I'm having an attack in my throat?



I took myself off to hospital last week and my BP was really high but apart from that no issues.


I went to the docs the next day and got beta blockers. I might have to post this part in a separate thread but should I take the BB's if I'm feeling anxious to this extent or do I just take them daily anyway do you think? I mean, some days I'm ok?


Thanks.

[ankietyjoe]

Definitely sounds like a panic attack.

Beta blockers stop your heart racing as a result of increased adrenaline, but don't directly affect anxiety at all. To be effective they need to be taken daily. They don't really make you feel any different.

Anxiety is often sporadic and can occur without any apparent cause, but there is usually an underlying reason (or series of reasons) why it's happening. This is most often things like stress, money worries, relationship issues etc. Things that build up over time.

At this stage, one of the most effective things you can do is try and slow your breathing down when you feels the effects of panic, sit calmly and tell yourself it will pass. There is nothing dangerous about panic attacks, it just feels like there is.

[Kris35]

Hi Joe,


That's great and makes total sense. Thing is with me, when I get this really bad anxiety I feel like I'm going to pass out/get numb but my heart doesn't race. I've times my beats. And it's definitely to do with personal stuff that has accumulated - so on that basis, I know what needs to be sorted out. I thought maybe it was the drugs I've been taking but when I think about it -I don't think that's the case.


Thanks.

[ankietyjoe]

Drugs don't help, what have you been taking?

[Kris35]

Oh when I say drugs, I mean anti-depressants and sleeping tablets.

[ankietyjoe]

Some of the side effects of AD's can be increased anxiety like symptoms. Sleeping tablets are powerful too, and the short time I took them I experienced some odd cognitive issues and memory loss.

[Kris35]

Can you tell me about the cognitive issues? I've been on these tablets for five years and my anxiety has gone through the roof only fairly recently. I'm weaning off the sleeping tablets and only take half or zero tablets a night but I do wonder if the anxiety is due to the weaning off. However, there are personal issues in my life that have come to a head recently. It's confusing.

[ankietyjoe]

My main issues were memory loss and lost time. For example I would be sitting and watching a TV programme with somebody, and I would lose 20 minutes. I was awake and talking about what I was watching, but had no memory of it at all. This was taking Ambien for only two weeks. I've never taken sleeping tablets again.

If you're weaning off sleeping tablets, I can imagine there will be side effects.

[Kris35]

Ok thanks for that information. Yeah I've been on Zopiclone for about 5 years but luckily never had to increase the dose above 7.5 mg's a night. But wow, they makeme do things an hour after I've taken them. Eating - sleep driving to the supermarket and getting lots of food is just one. I'd wake in the morning to find lots of wrappers all over the floor.