Are panic attacks different for everyone?

[Monkeysss]

Hi all, just looking for peoples panic attack experiences. Sorry if this is long.

I’ve read a lot of people saying they get heart attack symptoms. Their chest sore. From what I can remember I don’t get chest pain when I have a panic attack.

Here are my symptoms:

•I notice at first my eyes go blurry

•I feel like I’m not breathing like my throat and lungs are numb or something that’s the only way I can explain it my brain tells me I can’t/am not breathing but I don’t always hyperventilate

•my skin heats up like im on fire, after the panic attack I feel like I’m badly sunburnt mainly my upper arms and back (this feeling lingers for ages after probs a day or two but after that it only returns when I’m anxious or during/after a panic attack)

•I get insane dizziness and sense of dread I keep thinking ‘something’s wrong, this is it I’m actually gonna die this time I have to get to a hospital’(even say it out loud begging my mum to take me hospital but she doesn’t bc she knows it’s a panic attack. And just get this feeling I absolutely can’t describe with words, just convinced something’s wrong and this is the end

then afterwards I cry and get really shaky and anxious bc I’m scared of having another one.

Bc my panic attack is different to what other people experience my anxiety is telling me it’s not a panic attack and that I’m actually dying :/so is anyone okay with sharing their panic attack symptoms? Are panic attacks different for everyone?

[Happygoluckymiss]

Hi monkeysss’s

thank you for sharing your experiences and welcome!

I am fairly new to bb forums too and have found this to be a great comfort for me in further understanding how and why I feel like this. In fact, it had been the best ‘therapy’ for me.

I too suffer from anxiety attacks and it can be overwhelming scary and down right awful.

what happens to me is I get a racing heart beat, the feeling of doom, my mind snaps and I shake and get very hot. I feel bloody awful actually and then I get tired, which I assume is because of the adrenaline.

I am not medicated for this as I am intune with the triggers and know that it will pass. During the actual attacks though it’s sometimes hard to see the end. Everyone’s different too.

I hope this has helped

positive thoughts and a big welcome to you!

- happygoluckymiss

[Caliediscope19]

Hi there, I am very new to this site also. My panic attacks has lessened over the years, but I am always aware of the “state of mind waiting” for me to not recognise it coming on. Have learnt to be aware of the first thoughts of danger. The feeling of being aware of my heart. Can feel it beating hard. Not pain, but aware of it in the front of my thoughts. My thoughts start to think of everything that could go wrong and I feel like sliding down a hole and become invisible as I hate this thing so much and don’t want anyone to know what I am feeling. That I want to avoid. Which leads to not going anywhere and saying no to a lot of people for getting together etc. Have as I said, learnt to feel and recognise the fear starting to take over. At that stage or any time, I try and take deep breaths and slowly release. This changes the blood flow apparently. Seems to hold off an attack. I think also, because your mind has focused on the breathing, rather than panicking, if caught before one loses control. I tell myself, my mind is playing tricks on me. If I am not aware of the attack coming, end up crying, hiding in bedroom and exhausted. So sleep for days, if I can. Feeling very alone.

At any rate, hope this helps. This forum seems to be a help, as people on mass don’t understand and lucky for them. But to read the feelings of people who have similar experiences is a bit of a relief. Get professional help. Definitely.

[AnxiousViolet]

My one and only symptom is IBS. An anxious thought enters my head and I need to run urgently to the loo. Every time. Within seconds. That's a panic attack for me.

[Mina19]

I’m 20 now but since my late teens I’ve had terrible panic attacks one time it may be shortness of breath like I know I’m breathing normally like usual but my brain is saying no! Your not and I just can’t seem to catch my breath, numbness in my arms legs, IBS symptoms I noticed i have to run to the loo when I’m nervous or when I think about a traumatic event from a few years back. Or I get this cold sweats shaking. It’s difficult and different for everyone depending what your going through. I could keep going but it would be a really long long list.

[White_Rose]

Dear Monkeysss, Anxious Violet, Caliediscope and Happy

Let me welcome you all to the forum and good to meet up with you again Happy. What a lot of panic symptoms we have between us. I do believe we all have different forms of panic but they are all panic attacks.

I had a quick look on the web to see if there was a definition of panic attack and found this. A panic attack is the abrupt onset of intense fear or discomfort that reaches a peak within minutes and includes at least four of the following symptoms: Palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate. Sweating. Trembling or shaking. Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering. Not really happy with this definition as I feel there are more symptoms present than those listed such as some of these below. I also found this list of symptoms. "Racing" heart, Feeling weak, faint, or dizzy, Tingling or numbness in the hands and fingers, Sense of terror, or impending doom or death, Feeling sweaty or having chills, Chest pains, Breathing difficulties, Feeling a loss of control.

All of these do not have to be present every time though we usually have much the same routine each time.. These are not present in everyone or even in one person all the time. I think these panic attacks come out of the blue and are a collection of symptoms which are different for everyone. I knew I was about to have a panic attack because my ears would start burning, then the chest pain and most of all an intense fear of something though I have never found out what.

We panic, I think, because we become overwhelmed with fear of some sort and the body starts its Flight, Fight, Freeze routine which gets a bit out of hand. Remember this all happens in a very short time. It really is go to whoa in nothing flat. All of the signs you have all listed are part of having a panic attack. Anxious Violet, you seem to have the most immediate symptom and I imagine it must be so scary for you. It's one I have not come across before but I can see how well it fits in with the other symptoms.

What do you all think?

Mary

[Happygoluckymiss]

Hi Mary,

Thank you for this and for your research - how kind & thoughtful are you! Thank you.

I really liked your comment:

‘We panic, I think, because we become overwhelmed with fear of some sort and the body starts its Flight, Fight, Freeze routine which gets a bit out of hand. Remember this all happens in a very short time. It really is go to whoa in nothing flat. All of the signs you have all listed are part of having a panic attack’

I agree with this wholeheartedly. I also am of the opinion that as with any illness/mental health everyone is very different & we all react differently with some common traits.

The thing I value is that we can share these experiences with each other and this provides a sense of relief, to me especially.

I hope this has made sense & thank you again

- happygoluckymiss

[Tiffy1]

I suffered from anxiety and panic attacks to varying degrees the majority of my life . I am now recovered at 55 . Throughout My life i had different experiences which were dependent on age and the situation that took me too fight or flight . The constant throughout was the internal fear that took complete control over me like an internal trigger gun .

[Blusky]

Hi Monkeysss's,

Thanks for you sharing you experiencences with panic attacks.

I used to get these confused with an asthma attacks, the shortness of breathe, chest pains, feeling of being out of control and tiredness afterward. It wasn't until I opened up to my GP that she was able to identify that these were panic attacks.

Some are worse than others. My worst one, I was in the city when one struck, I had to grab onto a seat in the street and anchor myself until it passed. The world was spinning and I couldn't see properly. I felt so sick and confused, I went home and slept for the rest of the day.

I found mindfulness has helped to reduce the number of panic attacks. There are heaps of apps out there to help: calm, headspace, meditation melodies, to name a few.

I also read a great book ' finding peace in a frantic world' by Mark Williams and Danny Pennman. Mindful ness isn't for everyone, however I cannot recommend the book enough.

Take care of you.