What are panic attacks like for you??

Luthien

Well-known member
I've never actually talked to another person who's had a panic attack. From what I've read about them, I don't think I actually HAVE them, but my doctors and my therapist assure me that I do.

When I have a "panic attack" I start to shake. My whole body convulses, sometimes violently, and I can't speak. The thing that makes me think they aren't panic attacks is that whenever I read about them it says that people think they're going to die, that the panic will never end... But I don't think that, ever! It's really strange, actually. When I start to panic my mind is going crazy and then I start convulsing and once I'm shaking, my mind quiets. I start to just focus on one idea or thought. I think so clearly but I have no control over my body. The convulsing actually feels sort of good, because my body is bursting with energy and it feels like the only way to release it. Though it hurts my back a lot, because even when my muscles hurt from the convulsions, I can't stop until it's over.

I'm really curious what happens to other people when they panic. If you feel comfortable writing about it, please do!
 

johnny 85

Well-known member
i believe ive only had a panic attack once in my life, i tink it was bout 3 years ago and it was a very scary experience !! i could nt breath and i actually thought i was gonna have a heart attack . if someone gets them on a regular basis that wood must defo suck !!!
 

Noca

Banned
My panic attacks are mostly related to my blood-injury-phobia. Unlike all other panic attacks from other anxiety disorders, my blood pressure drops, my pulse spikes, i start sweating, I feel dizzy and sometimes black out completely.
 

Luthien

Well-known member
wow, you both have had really intense panic attacks! I just hyperventilate and convulse.... I've never blacked out, that sounds scary.

Johnny 85, I'm really glad you've only had one!! I hope it stays that way.

oh yeah, and hooray for Piper at the gates of dawn! :)
 

johnny 85

Well-known member
wow, you both have had really intense panic attacks! I just hyperventilate and convulse.... I've never blacked out, that sounds scary.

Johnny 85, I'm really glad you've only had one!! I hope it stays that way.

oh yeah, and hooray for Piper at the gates of dawn! :)

same here , ty. my ould fella suffers from panic attacks the whole time , which is rather scary to see. when i was younger i used to tink he was putting it all on, lol, it was nt till i experienced 1 for myself to realise the seriousness of the condition !!

and are u a syd barret fan too ?? :)
 

Luthien

Well-known member
same here , ty. my ould fella suffers from panic attacks the whole time , which is rather scary to see. when i was younger i used to tink he was putting it all on, lol, it was nt till i experienced 1 for myself to realise the seriousness of the condition !!

and are u a syd barret fan too ?? :)

Yea, I think it's really hard for people who've never had one to understand. I used to have a friend who had them all the time. I never saw her have one, but she'd tell me that she did. I just never really got it until it happened to me.

YES! I am a Syd Barrett fan :) Although I sometimes forget just how awesome Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd are, I'm sort of rediscovering my love for them. When I was in high school I had the Pink Floyd singles album and it was my very favorite!! I liiike candy and a currant bun ♥
 

anomicdeer

Well-known member
I start to shake. The last time this happened to me I was actually using the computer and I could barely get my fingers in place to do anything.
If I tried typing it would have looked like this: llliikeke thhisis or whatever.

I don't call it panicking, I don't know what it is.
 

hangbi92

Well-known member
I dont know if this is panic atack or not, but whenever I feel anxious, my body and my face starts itching, my eyes ache a bit so I start winking my eyes and somtimes tears come out look like im crying. Its very annoying, I just want to take off my clothes right then to scratch my whole body.
 

Julesie

Well-known member
I want your panic attacks! They sound so much nicer than mine! T_T

As for mine. What usually happens is I get a pain in my stomach, I feel tense, I start sweating, go cold, clammy. My heart race sores, I find it a bit harder to breath - though I don't actually notice until I lay down-, A million thoughts race through my mind about the attack, the pain and how long it will last and try not to think about it which then makes me realise I am further thinking by trying not to.

I also feel like I'm going to be sick sometimes with it and I have to rush back and forth to the loo. It's not fun.

I usually have to force myself to lay down in bed and pass out.

I get these many times a week. If I'm lucky I'll only have it once a week. That's good. Most of the time I have it a few times a week >> some worse than others.
 
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Luthien

Well-known member
I dont know if this is panic atack or not, but whenever I feel anxious, my body and my face starts itching, my eyes ache a bit so I start winking my eyes and somtimes tears come out look like im crying. Its very annoying, I just want to take off my clothes right then to scratch my whole body.

Oh! That sounds so miserable! I don't know if you're into natural medicines, but my naturopath tells me it's common for emotional issues to manifest physically, like getting itchy.

I have this really rare skin condition called Dermatagraphism (which literally means to draw on the skin). When my skin is scratched or even just rubbed it turns red and gets itchy and sometimes I get these magical moving rashes. It's usually when I go to sleep at night, but basically if something brushes up against me or sometimes just spontaneously, I'll get insanely itchy, like I've just been bit by a bug, and then I'll scratch furiously and a rash will appear out of nowhere. The more I scratch, the worse it gets and then *poof* it disappears and I start getting itchy somewhere else! It's really weird.

Anyway, my naturopath says that it will subside when I get my emotional issues in order, that it's just a symptom of the bigger problem... I sure hope she's right!
 

Luthien

Well-known member
I want your panic attacks! They sound so much nicer than mine! T_T

As for mine. What usually happens is I get a pain in my stomach, I feel tense, I start sweating, go cold, clammy. My heart race sores, I find it a bit harder to breath - though I don't actually notice until I lay down-, A million thoughts race through my mind about the attack, the pain and how long it will last and try not to think about it which then makes me realise I am further thinking by trying not to.

I also feel like I'm going to be sick sometimes with it and I have to rush back and forth to the loo. It's not fun.

I usually have to force myself to lay down in bed and pass out.

I get these many times a week. If I'm lucky I'll only have it once a week. That's good. Most of the time I have it a few times a week >> some worse than others.

That does sound intense, and scary. I can't imagine rushing to anywhere when I have a panic attack! I'd probably just get sick on myself... I am basically paralyzed and I just shake and cry or whatever.

I used to get panic attacks every day, and they were worse. Sometimes I would zone out and become totally limp and my boyfriend (who had no idea what was going on) would shake me and try to get it to stop... It really scared him in the beginning... It was like I couldn't deal with reality so I just left. That's what it felt like...

Now I barely ever have panic attacks. And I KNOW it's from my remedy from my naturopath. It has helped me SO much. I don't want to impose my views on anyone, but I really wish more people would go this route, I really think it could help so many folks who are suffering so badly... I know it helped me.
 

hangbi92

Well-known member
No I dont know about natural medicines. But I know how it feels when you get itchy. Although I dont have rash appear on my skin but still the itchy feeling is very very anoying. Im not sure if mine is only a skin condition that makes me uncomfortable in social situations, or if it is social anxiety that leads to those symptoms, but I do know that it affects me a lot. I sometimes become itchier on sunny days so I avoid going out on those days, and maybe that leads to my depression.
Hope ur skin problem will subside as ur naturopath says
 

philly2bits

Well-known member
I would never shake or anything like that when I had panic attacks. For me it was a sense of dread and that I was not safe and should run away from where ever I was. This was ok if I was at home and not doing anything, since I could go outside and run. This stopped the attack for me since my body was doing what my mind wanted it to.

However most attacks happened in school or other public places, so running was not much an option. This caused the attacks to be much worse since it was like being in danger with no way out at all. Imagine being tied to railroad tracks with the train coming is the best way I can describe it.
 

Luthien

Well-known member
I would never shake or anything like that when I had panic attacks. For me it was a sense of dread and that I was not safe and should run away from where ever I was. This was ok if I was at home and not doing anything, since I could go outside and run. This stopped the attack for me since my body was doing what my mind wanted it to.

However most attacks happened in school or other public places, so running was not much an option. This caused the attacks to be much worse since it was like being in danger with no way out at all. Imagine being tied to railroad tracks with the train coming is the best way I can describe it.

That sounds a lot like what I go through, except that I didn't KNOW I needed to run and that penned up energy just converted into the shaking... I bet if I had just run when I started to feel like this (back before I was too afraid to leave the house) I might not have ended up where I am now.
 

Luthien

Well-known member
No I dont know about natural medicines. But I know how it feels when you get itchy. Although I dont have rash appear on my skin but still the itchy feeling is very very anoying. Im not sure if mine is only a skin condition that makes me uncomfortable in social situations, or if it is social anxiety that leads to those symptoms, but I do know that it affects me a lot. I sometimes become itchier on sunny days so I avoid going out on those days, and maybe that leads to my depression.
Hope ur skin problem will subside as ur naturopath says

I really believe that our bodies are like mini planets, everything coexists in harmony and if one thing gets thrown off the whole body has a problem. So I wouldn't be able to say what started the itching, but I believe it's all related and if you could find the root of the problem, the social anxiety and itching would be abated. It is definitely scientifically proven that stress and rashes are connected, but I don't know about being itchy without a rash... Good luck with everything :)
 

xxaimsxx

Well-known member
I start to feel sick and i cant eat, i shiver allot and my vision gets blurred when im around allot of people.
 

Luthien

Well-known member

Yea, see, that's the sort of thing that makes me think I don't actually have panic attacks! Because I can't really relate to that at all. I've never thought I was having a heart attack... Maybe it's because I'm only 25, but the thought never crossed my mind that I COULD have one... It's so bizarre because every doctor I've talked to in the last year and a half ASSURES me that I am having panic attacks, but nothing I ever read about them is applicable....

Sometimes I wonder if it has anything to do with how my mind works. Like, I've taken a lot of drugs in my life but I've never felt totally swept away by them like some people do... Like if I was on mushrooms and I needed to talk to someone who wasn't, I could just pull out of it, like it was nothing. I am always AWARE that I am drunk or high, I'm always aware of everything in my life! I've never been able to fully let go or lost control... So maybe that's why I don't have those fears, it's just like a bad trip (which I've never really had because I always know I'm tripping and so I just roll with it).
 
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hangbi92

Well-known member
I start to feel sick and i cant eat, i shiver allot and my vision gets blurred when im around allot of people.

My vision get blurred when im around people too.
And the feeling of being sick and not being able to eat, I think they re signs of depression. I have them sometimes
 
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