What it feels like to have a panic attack.

[Jackiechanliness]

ever since i havent gone out much at all.

This will probably make it worse It seems your panic attack may have been simply triggered by the stress of your first gig. It sucks, but it happens.
Shutting yourself in will only affirm and intensify this 'fear' that you've developped.

 

[moni10]

This is weird, frustrating and annoying...I have this dreadful fear almost every day and every hour for 4 years. It's paralyzing, I can't think, or read or sleep or anything. I hate especially cause it happens to me when I'm outside, in public. Those moments all I wish is to go immediately home or at least to be alone. I can't stand this feeling of insecurity, I feel like I'm always in danger.I don't know if I will ever be able to get rid of it.Every day I have to fight with my thoughts and worries in order to relax and be able to do something.Even this effort provokes fatigueness.I just can't be 'chill'.I'm either tensed or so relaxed and somnolent as I can;t do anything but to sleep( I guess this is because of meds).Sometimes I feel so tired of all this struggle...

 

[theslowesthand]

moni10, i would suggest you look into affirmations, and maybe subliminals. I have a program on my computer that displays a brief positive affirmation every few minutes (eg "positive"). It is called "Subliminal Relaxation Assistant". I think it does help me in some small way, and any help is a good thing!

 

[vichyssoise]

Ok, I don't know if it fits, but sometimes I feel really weird. Sometimes, when I come across my boyfriend's ex (for example, on Facebook) or if I think about something unpleasant (for example, my boyfriend once told me he would like to have a threesome, but I said that I don't want to, so we never did...), I feel really anxious and a bit angry, my heart beats like crazy, I feel really warm and sweat and shake visibly...can it have something to do with panic attacks?

 

[fife_girl]

i cant breathe properly, like my lungs have halfed in size and theres a pressure on my chest, heart races, i cant stand or sit still, i get very hot, a little shakey and teary, my hands go cold and tingly.... its awful, and when im in a ''safe place'' calming down im usually in tears n still feeling shaky/weak for a while after!

 

[theslowesthand]

Basically whats happening is that the fight/flight response is in "overdrive" (is malfunctioning). So the body is being told by the brain to do certain fight/flight things (eg increase heartrate ) and produce certain fight/flight chemicals, and do it "to the max", even though theres an absense of any real threats

 

[MaliceInWickedland]

The last time I had a panic attack was about seven weeks ago a few days before school started. I was really dreading going back to school and before I knew it I felt like... Well, it's kind of hard to explain... The best way I can put it is: you know how when you're on a rollercoaster and you get that weird breathless sensation when it takes off suddenly? It was sort of like that, but much MUCH worse because it felt like my throat was constricting and I had difficulty breathing and whenever I tried to catch my breath my heart would palpitate and that made me even more breathless. I really thought I was going to die at that moment. I've had panic attacks before but none of them felt as bad as that last one. Afterwards I felt very disoriented, my vision was out of whack, and it felt like I had been bludgeoned in the stomach and over the head with a sledgehammer. It's the worst feeling in the word, 'nuff said...

 

[panicsurvivor]

Yep. Happens to me everyday. It sucks.::::

 

[Anti Matter]

I had one at a Job interview. Was really really annoying.

 

[Obstacle 1]

well i had my first panic attack this summer in late june after i had gone to a huge gig at the wembly arena (my first gig). it was terrible, i fet like the crowd wanted to kill me and i was in the golden circle which is probably filled with the wild crazy fans. later on that night i went home and couldnt sleep. ::

A couple of years ago I had a near crush experience at a large festival (not my first).. not in the mosh pit itself but waiting to get into the barrier that is meant to protect you from being crushed.. love the irony. Basically you had a large crowd of people trying to funnel through two tiny walkways from two sides, traffic light system to let people in, light goes green, people push like there is no tomorrow.. couldn't move, couldn't breathe, felt the same like the crowd had turned into a mob, somehow squeezed through to a barrier to the side and jumped over.. I was dizzy, had shortness of breath, shaking etc. I think that event itself has had an effect on my panic experiences in the future.

I have been wary of tight crowds ever since, especially at gig's which I basically stopped going to.. but a couple of weeks ago I was dragged into a mosh pit for a metal band with a few thousand people with my friend.. I walked like I was being lead to my doom.. almost hyperventilating when the band gets on looking at the masses packed around me.. but by the 2nd song I am right in the middle of it till the end, crowd was good, everyone helped anyone who was struggling. It was good to challenge the fear, if only it were always that simple.

 

[punklove]

"and I dont have any friends because they are scared that I might have one and they dont know what to do"

That's awful! I'd be your friend

 

[Rashidan]

My panic attacks don't seem as long as many of yours. Typically it's spurred by stressful situations. I never used to get panic attacks at home because I felt safe. But lately I've been getting more and more anxious because I'm thinking about things that have happened to me where I was powerless. I don't know how to deal with it.

Now it's a mix of rage and fear. A heavy feeling which uncontrollable shaking.

 

[forksandspoons]

Does anybody else get very angry at some point during their panic attacks? I experience a lot of the similar symptoms as many of you, but I get really pissed off that it's even happening at all. I got so mad that I punched a hole in my wall before. After the attack ends so does the rage.

 

[just wanna b normal]

feels like a heart attack i thought i was going 2 die! thank god i didnt!

 

[Dr. Doom]

I'm not sure if this is a panic attack, but I have these moments of extreme anxiety. What usually happens is that I'm frozen, like I cannot move I'm so nervous, I get hot all over I'm sweating, feels like it's 100 degrees, I can't talk, I want to cry. I start getting red. Heart beats. I can't think at all, usually I just keep going over, and over what had set me off in my head.

 

[Stuckinpanic]

It feels like a bad mushroom trip. It so overwhelming and paralyzing, I don't get light headed or nauseated, it's just an extreme fear u cant shake

 

[bsebring]

i get so embarrassed when it happens. It's happened a few times at work and I've always dreaded going in the next day.

 

[WeirdyMcGee]

I get heart palpitations often, as well as vomiting and the other regular panic attack symptoms.
I've actually ended up in the emergency room quite a few times over the years because I was having a severe panic attack and couldn't stop it.

as far as length of time for attacks, mine often last for hours(45 minutes- 3 hours). They have completely crippled me in every way -____-

 

[collie]

Panic attacks are really scary, They can inter fear with any daily activities at any time.They make you feel like your going to die/Faint or make you feel like your going really crazy.
Here a some symptoms you feel while you having a panic attack
.Dizziness
.You feel like your going to faint/Pass out/light headed
.Heart races
.nausea
.Feel like your going to die.
These are just some symptoms.
For me I feel really light headed/I get hot and cold flushes and get really dizzy, And my heart races and I get a tight chest.I get teased about it sometimes and people think its weird and sometimes laugh and tell me to do something or move away.And I dont have any friends because they are scared that I might have one and they dont know what to do, They best thing to do is clam the person down, Talk to them get them to take deep slow breaths and try to get on quickly without huge fuss.
When I have one I just sit down and breathe, Thats my best option.
Thank you for reading.Tills....

Hey buddy,
I feel very much bad when this happen's to me and I feel Heart races and also feeling of pass out there.... I think that we should consult to a specialized doctor and not waiting for that time when it is so late to cured.......

 

[Dayvan]

I usually know when I've crossed the thresh-hold from anxiety to panic when my body flushes cold. That icy wave that starts in my chest. My heart starts beating ten times faster, and harder. Also, near the middle-latter part of the attack, I start shaking violently. Hard to breath, etc etc.

For me, the worst of it isn't the usual panic body symptoms, but what my mind does when this starts to happen.

I start feeling like it's the end of the world. I'm going to die. It's different this time. Impending doom. So anxious it hurts. Feeling completely alone. I get somewhat depressed after.

Unfortunately, my panic disorder has caused me to think of death in a VERY negative way. I am petrified of dying because I now only associate it with panic. I used not really have a negative view of it, just sort of "if it happens, it happens". Not anymore.