Panic disorder / Panic attack

[reamary]

Hey, I tried to search for a topic with a discussion about this, but didn't find any so I thought I'd start one. Has anyone here ever experienced a "panic attack", or suffers from a panic disorder or something? Because I might have experienced my first one last night, and I'm still feeling a bit weird actually. Though I'm still not convinced myself that it was/is a panic attack, I was afraid I was suffering from an over-exhaustion or that had too a water loss in my body. I mean I could find symptoms for both of these too.

 

I just worked two nights a row (between Su-Mo and Mo-Tu) and I didn't sleep very well after either one of those nights. Yesterday I went to bad at 7 am, then woke up at 9 for the first time, and got up at 11.30 already. I was feeling a bit sleepy (no wonder) but I was stupid and went to my spinning class however. And I had had two big mugs of coffee before the class (and not almost at all water, which I realized just after the class). Already during the beginning of the class I felt that wow I'm not in a very good physical mood right now and I should probably leave. But as I'm also very shy and always worry about what "other people" think, I couldn't leave cause I would've felt so embarrassed. So I just stayed in the class, but took it extremely easy. And I felt I was very very thirsty during the class, and after it too. I mean in a way that's not usual to me. Well, after the class as I was walking home, I felt very exhausted and sort of a little out of mind.. I walked very slow (which is also not usual for me). At home, I started to think that I look so pale, I mean my whole body looked pale, not just my face. And when I was starting to eat dinner, I felt that my arms started to shiver a little and I had butterflies in my stomach and I became very nervous. So I couldn't even finish the dinner. First I tried to just concentrate on other things, I tried to come here on the forum to chat with someone, and I put on a Céline dvd to watch something very nice and calming, but they didn't help. Eventually I got my mother on the phone and as she answered, I just burst into tears... I was so surprised of that reaction even myself and was thinking like what the hell! Cause I seriously felt that there was something honestly wrong with my body and I was afraid I will faint out or something and no-one will know.. And reading about the symptoms about the dehydration and excessive water loss made me even more afraid. Well after talking to my mother I calmed down a little, and went to sleep at 8.30 pm (I was also very tired because of the night shifts). So, then I woke up after an HOUR, and tried to stay in bed for 1,5 hours more, but I wasn't able to fall asleep. So at 23 I got up and thought I'd watch something in tv or eat a bit or something to get my mind in something else but that didn't help either and soon I started to get that awful feeling of shivering and nervousness and felt like soon throwing up.. So eventually I had to call for my mother again, that she would come pick me up.. And I'm not someone who does that very easily either. I still experienced nervousness and cried a bit in the car, and couldn't really sleep well last night. I mean I was waking up every 30 minutes or so and had soo many things in my mind. Now I think I feel a tiny bit better, but not still totally, my feet feel heavy and tired and I have a little headache and that feeling of nervousness or anxiety in me..

 

So, my mother told and tried to convince me it was just a panic attack, that I should try to convince myself of it too, and it will help then. Maybe she's right and that's all it was, nothing more serious, but it was a bit scary though cause I've never experienced anything like that. And I still don't feel 100 % fine. I was just wondering if any of you has experienced this too?

 

Sorry it came a little long, I just wrote and didn't think that much. I hope some of you still had the will (and time) to read it, and will perhaps share your thoughts/experiences!

[Allysadreams]

Aww you poor thing, i think maybe a trip to the doctor is the best thing and see what they suggest as they will know more about syptoms and things, besides working you meantioned about having to large mugs of coffee but i never heard you meantion anythign about food, has your appetite gone down at all lately? The thing is there's 3 things people physically need thats food, sleep and excercise. It sounds like you have been doing the excercise but not really having the rest or maybe even the food, your body might be aorn out and it's trying to tell you...

 

I'm not an expect at all but i think that maybe it was a panic attack of some sort as you are a shy person as well and always worried about what others think so maybe you have been having anxiety attacks of some sort.

 

I know how you feel though

 

[I Surrender]

never had a panic attack before thank god. it sounds nasty.

[reamary]

Aww you poor thing, i think maybe a trip to the doctor is the best thing and see what they suggest as they will know more about syptoms and things, besides working you meantioned about having to large mugs of coffee but i never heard you meantion anythign about food, has your appetite gone down at all lately? The thing is there's 3 things people physically need thats food, sleep and excercise. It sounds like you have been doing the excercise but not really having the rest or maybe even the food, your body might be aorn out and it's trying to tell you...

 

I'm not an expect at all but i think that maybe it was a panic attack of some sort as you are a shy person as well and always worried about what others think so maybe you have been having anxiety attacks of some sort.

 

I know how you feel though

 

 

 

Thanks so much for your post! Actually I think I've been eating well the past days as well, even before exercising I had eaten two times, quite full meals. So I don't think it had to with the food part. I know that I haven't really had a good rest though for a couple of days now, working nights and sleeping only few hours per day, and waking up all the time even when I had catched sleep. I know doing the exercise yesterday was the stupidest thing to do, and that, combined with the lack of sleep and all the stress I'm having because of the work must have caused this..

I considered going to the doctor too today, as I still ain't feeling perfectly fine, but I didnt' after all. Cause then again, like my parents try to convince me, if I had a water loss or something, I probably would have fainted already.. But I decided if I'm still not able to sleep well this night and I'm still feeling weird and tired tomorrow morning, I'll go see a doctor, so he can assure me there's nothing more serious going on, as they know of course better about these things like you said.

 

It's just so scary when you haven't had anything like this happen to you before, so it might help to learn about others' experiences, if they've sometimes felt similar!

[SensationalCeline]

I read this to my friend Jessica and she said she had the same symptoms but hers was due to an anxiety attack. I hope when you go to the doctor that everything turns out alright. Please give an update.

[Jacqui]

The symptoms and experiences of panic attacks can differ a bit from one person to the next, and we're not Doctors, which makes it a bit hard to define. From reading your description of what happened, though, I think there's a definite possibility it could have been a panic attack.

If you're still feeling worried or unwell, maybe a checkup would be a good idea, though- just to put your mind at ease.

There are a lot of different things that can cause panic attacks, including stress, tiredness, dehydration, and caffine- which would probably explain your situation! Hopefully, it might have been just a one off incident that will never happen again, in which case you wouldn't have a 'panic disorder', as such.

 

As for my experiences with this- I was first diagnosed with an anxiety/panic disorder when I was 5. I would have a panic attack every single time my Mum dropped me off at school. Thankfully that passed. But I was re-diagnosed again a few years ago with General Anxiety Disorder. Basically for me that means I struggle a lot with obsessive negative thoughts, trust issues, and worrying allllll the time- to the point that I end up having panic attacks every now and then. I went through a really bad time about a year ago- so many times I couldn't go to work because I just could not calm down, and family events I missed because I was too afraid to see certain people. Many times I have ended up at the Doctors asking "what the hell is wrong with me?" only to be told it was panic disorder, again! Very frustrating. I tried a few treatment options, but none of them really worked out for me. Anyway, that's probably far more detail than you wanted. I'm gonna sleep now. But you can PM me anytime if you need to chat

[Concrete Angel]

I have only ever suffered a panic attack once in my life, and hopefully it'll be the last. I was on the phone to my Mom and I knew something was wrong but she wouldn't tell me what, and to make conversation I asked if she knew that my Nana had been taken into hospital the night before, but told her it was ok because she was fine. My Mum went quiet, and I instantly knew that my Nana wasn't fine at all and I asked if she'd died. Well as soon as my Mum said yes my chest tightened and I couldn't breathe. I was trying to talk but I just could catch my breath, it was scary. It took a good hour for me to calm down and for my breathing to go back to normal, I honestly felt as though I was going to die. I'm so glad I don't suffer from panic attacks on a regular basis, and I feel sorry for anyone who does because it's a horrible feeling.

[Allysadreams]

Hope you're feeling better now?

 

x

[KimboCosmo]

I have them often, it is not a pleasant experience. It feels like, for me, like a elephant sitting on my chest and about to crack my chest bone and I can't get a breath of air.

[KimboCosmo]

Oh yes...

 

I get them mostly when I'm already asleep...I wake up in terror with them, because it is very painful.

 

But during the days, I notice that I am very nervous all the time, and uncomfortable...I sometimes feel like people are watching me or something like that, and then other times I'm fine. It's very strange, I do feel your pain. And it is different for everyone.

 

Hope your doing better

[reamary]

Thank you all for your responses. At the moment I'm feeling a bit better I think. Finally I went to see a doctor today, because I couldn't get over the possibility of something still being wrong with my body. So she checked up some basic things and came to the conclusion that this probably was just a consequence from the lack of sleep and the exercise + caffeine which had dehydrated me a bit and then the water after the class, those could have already caused the shivering and the weak feeling. She suggested me that I should just take it easy for the next days, not to stress too much about if I fall asleep or not (cause in that case it's probably even more difficult to fall asleep!), and not to do any exercise for at least the rest of the week, or just go for a walk. I calmed down a bit cause she listened to my heart and lunges and took the blood pressure and few other things and said that nothing seems to be wrong physically. I just hope I won't ever experience that (whatever it was) again though, that scary it was.

 

You know, Jacqui, you said you're someone who is constantly worrying about something. I'm exactly like that too..! I worry about everything, all the time, and about the stupidest things you can imagine.. And I'm obsessed with what other people think of my doings. Like right now, I know I will have to call for my work early tomorrow morning, to inform them I won't be coming again, and I'm already worrying about that, and feeling little nervous because I don't know what I should say, and I'm afraid how they'll respond and so on.. But I know there's no use to think about that yet, I will have to make the call anyway, as I've made the decision to quit my work a little earlier I was supposed to, it's not possible to change it anymore (not that I would want to change it), there's nothing I can do about it the very moment.

I just have to try to think about nice things when I go to bed so I won't get too nervous again..

[reamary]

Oh yes...

 

I get them mostly when I'm already asleep...I wake up in terror with them, because it is very painful.

 

But during the days, I notice that I am very nervous all the time, and uncomfortable...I sometimes feel like people are watching me or something like that, and then other times I'm fine. It's very strange, I do feel your pain. And it is different for everyone.

 

Hope your doing better

 

I have that problem too, that I'm often very nervous and uncomfortable when I walk there on street, if I'm not with anyone. If I walk across a person I don't know where I would put my eyes (at times I feel I almost can't keep them open!) and I become just so conscious of myself and my walking and get pretty tensed. And I feel too that everyone is watching me and only me, looking what I'm doing... That's why I really don't like to walk alone. It's so silly!!

But it's good to know others have these issues too!

Edited August 14, 2008 at 07:29 PM by reamary

[KimboCosmo]

Well we do, and now you have a place to chat about it with us!

 

[Allysadreams]

Oh yes...

 

I get them mostly when I'm already asleep...I wake up in terror with them, because it is very painful.

 

But during the days, I notice that I am very nervous all the time, and uncomfortable...I sometimes feel like people are watching me or something like that, and then other times I'm fine. It's very strange, I do feel your pain. And it is different for everyone.

 

Hope your doing better

 

I know how you feel....*hugs*

[Allysadreams]

Thank you all for your responses. At the moment I'm feeling a bit better I think. Finally I went to see a doctor today, because I couldn't get over the possibility of something still being wrong with my body. So she checked up some basic things and came to the conclusion that this probably was just a consequence from the lack of sleep and the exercise + caffeine which had dehydrated me a bit and then the water after the class, those could have already caused the shivering and the weak feeling. She suggested me that I should just take it easy for the next days, not to stress too much about if I fall asleep or not (cause in that case it's probably even more difficult to fall asleep!), and not to do any exercise for at least the rest of the week, or just go for a walk. I calmed down a bit cause she listened to my heart and lunges and took the blood pressure and few other things and said that nothing seems to be wrong physically. I just hope I won't ever experience that (whatever it was) again though, that scary it was.

 

You know, Jacqui, you said you're someone who is constantly worrying about something. I'm exactly like that too..! I worry about everything, all the time, and about the stupidest things you can imagine.. And I'm obsessed with what other people think of my doings. Like right now, I know I will have to call for my work early tomorrow morning, to inform them I won't be coming again, and I'm already worrying about that, and feeling little nervous because I don't know what I should say, and I'm afraid how they'll respond and so on.. But I know there's no use to think about that yet, I will have to make the call anyway, as I've made the decision to quit my work a little earlier I was supposed to, it's not possible to change it anymore (not that I would want to change it), there's nothing I can do about it the very moment.

I just have to try to think about nice things when I go to bed so I won't get too nervous again..

 

I so understand how you feel here, i'm happy i'm not the only one

[reamary]

Well we do, and now you have a place to chat about it with us!

 

 

That's true!

Thanks so much.

[Allie]

Those are no fun, I've had one once before. I hope you're starting to feel a bit better.

 

It was freshman year of high school (I start school as a junior in a couple weeks). I've had stomach problems for a while, I just generally get a really bad case of nervous stomach all the time, and I sort of developed a social anxiety problem. It was really bad towards the end of school, I would end up in the health office every single day. And I had a friend who just created drama for herself and leaned on me too much and I couldn't take it any more. One of the days I ended up crying while laying down in the health office because she told me I had to go back to class, and I got up and had to bite my lip to keep from literally screaming as she gave me my pass, and I whipped around really fast so she wouldn't see me crying but she did and she grabbed my arm and pulled me back. I lost it then, I started crying and freaking out and she told me to go wait in the bed area and I did and I slumped against the wall in silent hysterics and she came back and gave me ice (which I later learned was because I broke out in hives, I was too hysterical at the moment to care what the ice was for) and she lead me to the psychologist's office and they made me sit down because they thought I was going to hyperventilate and pass out. They called me dad to come get me and after a while I eventually calmed down and ended up falling asleep at home.

 

It was a little scary and I felt terrible that entire day, and I honestly don't know if it is classified as a panic attack. It felt like one, I know it wasn't normal.

[CelineAndRene]

I only have panic attack in front of "the one"

[reamary]

I can't believe this, I think I almost had one last night again, though it didn't get that bad, but anyway, I had a horrible horrible dream about me and my two brothers dying, and my sister not being there with us. I was so horrified when I realized she wasn't there and I just called her name out loud! Then I woke up very scared and noticed that it had been only an hour since I had gone to bed. So, as the dream was so horrible (I've been having these strange death related dreams this past week..), I couldn't fall asleep right after it, and started to feel anxious and sick.. Again I started to feel like I had butterflies in my stomach and that I would soon throw up. My muscles also felt somehow "weak" and a bit shivering again, and my heart was pounding. Then I started to imagine that what if I'll have a feeling that I can't breathe, what will happen then, will I faint.. Too bad it was already 1.30 AM so I knew everyone else would be sleeping and so that made me more and more nervous cause I had a feeling I was all alone and I wouldn't be able to reach anyone if something worse would happen. Well, finally I did manage to fall asleep again as I just tried to talk to myself that it's just my brain messing up with me once again and that's all. But my god it was terrifying.

I don't understand why do I have this feeling now, all the time? I feel so nervous and anxious and fear of everything, really everything but still nothing specific.. And as I live alone that makes it even worse and more terrifying. I want this to go away.

[reamary]

I've also started to be a little afraid of going to bed in the evening, because I fear I'll start feeling sick or that I will wake up in the middle of the night all alone.. Exactly what happened now last nght.

I'm such a mental case.