What it feels like to have a panic attack.

Phoenixx

Phoenixx

Well-known member
Usually when I have a panic attack I start breathing pretty fast and my chest tightens. My hands and feet are suddenly cold while my face is hot. My mind just starts racing and the negative thoughts are basically in overdrive. Then I just end up crying my eyes out until the feeling passes.

What's really weird? I only experience panic attacks at night. I really don't know why. The only time I've experienced a panic attack during the day was last year when I went to go get my wisdom teeth removed. They gave me a dose of anesthesia, but my body was trying to block it. Everything I saw was so distorted, it just freaked me out. I just started to cry and shake, only to hear the heart monitor going faster so that freaked me out more. The one dental assistant had to hold my hand and the other one was trying to comfort me. They ended up giving me another dose of the stuff just to knock me out.
 
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Dayvan

Member
Phoenixx said:
Usually when I have a panic attack I start breathing pretty fast and my chest tightens. My hands and feet are suddenly cold while my face is hot. My mind just starts racing and the negative thoughts are basically in overdrive. Then I just end up crying my eyes out until the feeling passes.

What's really weird? I only experience panic attacks at night. I really don't know why. The only time I've experienced a panic attack during the day was last year when I went to go get my wisdom teeth removed. They gave me a dose of anesthesia, but my body was trying to block it. Everything I saw was so distorted, it just freaked me out. I just started to cry and shake, only to hear the heart monitor going faster so that freaked me out more. The one dental assistant had to hold my hand and the other one was trying to comfort me. They ended up giving me another dose of the stuff just to knock me out.
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Wow, this sounds exactly like me. I also only tend to have panic attacks at night. I think they tend to be worse in the dark. There's very little to distract yourself from the panic feeling. I hate waking up from a nightmare and it turns into panic.

I also react negatively to narcotics or anything that alters my state of mind too much. I need dental work, but don't know how they would do it without being able to use anesthesia. Ugh.
 
trickynix

trickynix

Active member
This is an interesting question considering my first really bad one happened last night...

Generally I feel my heart is going to stop. Whether real or imagined, I feel like it slows down considerably and I have to keep checking my pulse to see if it's still even there. I worry INTENSELY that I will die and no one can save me, even when I'm around those I really care about. Last night's, however, was accompanied by chills, slight tingling in my legs, and shakiness. It was rather terrifying, but at least I'm GLAD it's a panic attack, and not a serious condition. Well, arguably that can be a serious condition, but in the event I know it's happening, I can calm myself down and possibly make it end faster. It took me an hour to get to sleep last night because I was so terrified. ::(:
 
Phoenixx

Phoenixx

Well-known member
Dayvan said:
Wow, this sounds exactly like me. I also only tend to have panic attacks at night. I think they tend to be worse in the dark. There's very little to distract yourself from the panic feeling. I hate waking up from a nightmare and it turns into panic.

I also react negatively to narcotics or anything that alters my state of mind too much. I need dental work, but don't know how they would do it without being able to use anesthesia. Ugh.
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^ Yeah I totally see what you mean how there's nothing really to distract yourself when it occurs in the dark. God, it's scary as hell! :eek:

Also, I don't think people usually receive anesthesia when they get dental work done. I was a difficult case, that's why they gave it to me. Even though I only had two wisdom teeth removed (I never had top wisdom teeth. They never developed and never will), they were wedged underneath my other molars, and they were turned. Since my mouth is so small they had to chip (file?) part of my jaw away just to pull out the tooth. I ended up getting stitches on both sides of where they cut the teeth out and my jaw was swollen for months after that. Ugh, thank god I don't have to go through that again.
 
trickynix

trickynix

Active member
Phoenixx said:
^ Yeah I totally see what you mean how there's nothing really to distract yourself when it occurs in the dark. God, it's scary as hell! :eek:
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Oooooo yes that's awfully scary...I remember for the one I had all I could think was JUST GET TO SLEEP, IT WILL GO AWAY, but for obvious reasons, that didn't work. It's a horrible time to have one ::(:
 
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Steppen-Wolf

Well-known member
To me the worst of my panic attacks felt like dying, without the dying part.

An inmese sense of terror and a feeling of impeding doom and hopelesness.

I really hope I never feel anything like that ever again.
 
Roman Legion

Roman Legion

Well-known member
My last 1 on 1 with a person was at the college with a counselor so I could register for classes.. My chest felt weird, fast and shallow breathing, lightheaded I was shaking so it was very hard to write.. I felt sick and had absolutely no appetite at the pizza place before I went to the school.. Today it just caused quite a bit of vomiting.. But that was from being in a small area with a lot of strangers.
 
go-go-ghost-ship

go-go-ghost-ship

Member
I'm not sure if this is a panic attack but...
When I'm in scary social situations I experience:
-Crying
-Shaking
-EXTREME fear, nearly paralyzing in effect
-An overwhelming desire to leave the area
-Difficulty interacting with others, even my friends
-Loss of focus
 
go-go-ghost-ship

go-go-ghost-ship

Member
go-go-ghost-ship said:
I'm not sure if this is a panic attack but...
When I'm in scary social situations I experience:
-Crying
-Shaking
-EXTREME fear, nearly paralyzing in effect
-An overwhelming desire to leave the area
-Difficulty interacting with others, even my friends
-Loss of focus
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Almost forgot to mention, I get this feeling like the world is too small and tooo big at once... especially near crowds.
 
this_portrait

this_portrait

Well-known member
I had my first panic attack last summer one night (and then another one the next night). I started feeling an intense loneliness, and it felt like something was closing in on me. Kinda felt like I was going hysterical. The only way I could make it go away was to talk to someone.

Since then, I've felt the physical onsets of panic attacks and have had a couple of minor ones, but those all pale in comparison to what I experienced that summer. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
 
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