An almost-attack? Does this exist?

[Tary]

Hi there,
My name is Tary and I´m from Brazil. It´s my first time posting here, I´ve been reading about anxiety, panic attacks and agoraphobia all day, this is by far the most useful site I´ve found.
Anyway, I started looking into this because I´ve had a few strange episodes and I don´t seem to quite fit into the catagory here, but there´s a lot of similarities. I´ve had what I´m going to describe about 5 times, ten months ago and twice yesterday. They all happened either in a bus or a plane ( detail: I´m a flight attendant).
It felt as if my clothes were getting tighter, the scarf was squeezing my neck, I couldn´t breathe, I kept thinking I couldn´t make a scene, that there was no way to get out of where I was, but I needed to get out ASAP. In one situation I felt a little pain in my ribs and started wondering why I was feeling it, this caused me to worry that it was going to increase and take over and that something terrible was going to happen, I was going to die or start screaming and crying hysterically or something. I ripped off my scarf and unbuttoned my shirt, tried to breathe and think normally. See, this is why I don´t think it´s really a panic attack, in all those situations it didn´t last long and though I was scared as hell it wasn´t the terrifying, crushing, traumatizing fear described here. I think the longest episode was about ten minutes. Anyway, I want to know if anyone has experienced this, if there´s some explanation. Thanks!

 

[annie]

Dear Tary,

It certainly sounds like you experienced your first panic attack.

Below is more information for you:-

What are the most common panic attack symptoms?
OK, first of all, the word symptoms is used by doctors to describe the effects of illness... Anxiety is not an illness... it's a behavioral condition/ However, anxiety does produce some pretty scary sensations.

I tell you this because I need you to understand that all the feelings, thoughts and sensations you experience are products of the anxious nerve signals your brain produces, not the signs of illness! Symptoms of panic attacks are unpleasant to say the least but they are completely normal and harmless (if inappropriate).

For ease, I will, however, carry on using the word symptom, to describe these sensations.

Not everyone experiences the same panic attack symptoms; we are all different biologically and therefore react differently to each other as a response to the same or similar stimuli.

The following list identifies the most common symptoms of panic attacks. Experiencing four or less of these panic attack symptoms identifies what is called a limited symptom attack.

More Common Symptoms of panic attacks include:
Rapid heart beat, pounding heart or palpitations
Sweating
Shaking visibly or inside
Choking sensations or lump in throat
Smothering or shortness of breath sensations
Chest pain or discomfort
Nausea, bloating, indigestion or abdominal discomfort
Dizziness or unsteadiness
Feeling light-headed
Derealisation (feeling unreal or dreamy)
Depersonalisation (feeling outside yourself or like you don't exist)
Fear of losing control or going crazy
Paresthesias (numbness or tingling sensations) in face, extremities or body
Chills or hot flushes
Skin losing color
Blushing or skin blotches
Urgently needing to urinate or defecate
Experiencing different or more panic attack symptoms than are listed above does not mean that your condition is worse or different, or that you are suffering from another un-diagnosed condition. Diagnosis of anxiety disorders is very accurate so chances are you ARE suffering from an anxiety disorder. Some people have anxiety disorder but never suffer from panic attack symptoms.

Some good sites to check out about anxiety and agoraphobia are also listed below:-

http://www.anxietynetwork.com.au
http://www.pada.org.au
http://www.adavic.org.au (this site has alot of personal stories of recovery)
http://www.panicanxietydisorder.org.au

I hope this has helped.

annie