Panic Disorder...does anybody else have a different sequence of events when they have a panic attack?

PD_Perhaps · ‎07-09-2015

I have always questioned the modality or symptoms associated with the onset of a panic attack. It doesn't follow the common variety described in all the text books. I get a rise in anxiety, then a "zap" on the forehead that creeps across my scalp, then I goo into panic mode, but without the hyperventilation or racing heart and all the other descriptions. I do get a racing heart after some time and get pretty shaken up...but it feels more like a seizure first. I have had an EEG many years ago but it come up negative. I know it's not that precise anyway. Does anyone else experience their panic attacks like this?

Neil_1 · ‎09-09-2015

Hi there PD_perhaps

Thank you for your post and I wanted to just say, that though I don’t experience panic attacks as such, I do hope that you’ll have someone from this site come here shortly to provide some of their own experiences for you.

Just thinking though – do you find that you can possibly predict when one might come on? Ie: are there certain things, circumstances, or even people who may assist to bring one on or to cause you to feel so anxious?

Neil

BKYTH · ‎09-09-2015

I don't experience many of the text book symptoms listed in the text books either. I think what is listed are those experiences most commonly reported. If every experience that has been reported were listed then I think it would be a very long list indeed. I don't experience a racing heart but that is not to say that that may not be occurring non the less. I don't fear that I am about to die but that is usually on the list. You may be hyperventilating without being aware of it. I know that when I experienced panic attacks I have no capacity to examine the event as I would be barely capable of saying my name. Also some people experience more severe panic attacks than others and what is experienced during the event can vary significantly. I know when I read a list of the most commonly reported experiences that are listed I cannot really relate to many of them because, as I said earlier, I am too overwhelmed by what is happening at the time and can only, at best, recall the debilitating fear and dread of which I have to function with. Are you getting help in dealing with your situation? I think with any label there is always an individual aspect to it. There is probably no common experience of a panic attack just as there is no common experience of depression. Each person brings to it their own unique story although, of course, many of the features are experienced by all. Philip.

PD_Perhaps · ‎10-09-2015

Hi Neil, over the years I have associated going places with panic attacks. I didn't become almost housebound for many many years. Often people will become house bound in a matter of days or weeks. Interesting though...there is a short 5 minute warning beforehand, but only if I'm aware. That gives me time to take a medication before I have a panic attack. From my reading, this isn't unusual. Some may put it down to hypersensivity but I'm starting to think otherwise after studying the autonomic nervous system , in particular the vagus nerve system. I don't have a social phobia but often I start to get a rise in anxiety sometimes when talking to people. Again I found a link to the vagus nerve to explain this. I found a lot of links that kept coming back to the same place. The vagus nerve. But I know correlation doesn't equal causation, so lets just say I have an hypothesis.

PD_Perhaps · ‎10-09-2015

I agree with you Philip, we are all individuals and experience panic attacks in different ways. I think it is best viewed as a spectrum, but there is a tendency for some in the medical profession to put you in a pigeon hole. I lose almost all sense of rational thought during a panic attack. I don't believe I hyperventilate or get a racing heart in the first minute or so at least. You may be correct that I am just not aware of it. If anything, I get a feeling of being trapped, that would be the only feeling I can nail down. I just started seeing a psychiatrist, so it is early days yet. I am about to ditch my doctor as he can't wrap his around the issue. Thanks Philip

BKYTH · ‎11-09-2015

I would suggest you discuss the possibility of trying some anti depressant medication with your GP. I haven't had a panic attack for about 12 years because I just happened to switch on the TV and saw part of a program about how some anti depressants are useful in the treatment of anxiety. A particular medication was mentioned and so the next day I saw my GP and asked him to prescribe it for me and why. He told me it would not help my panic attacks but prescribed it for me anyway. His assessment as to its value in helping me was dead wrong. Within a week or two I was doing things I hadn't done for years. I had had three inpatient admissions to a ward specifically designed to treat people with Agoraphobia and it was referred to around the hospital as the "agro' ward. Later I found out that many people in other wards thought that it was for people who were aggressive. I did everything required of me as an inpatient as as an outpatient but what I had learned didn't help my situation. I could not become housebound because I had no one who could go out and get things for me, and so, however horrendous the prospect of going out for me was I had to do it - You cannot make a choice unless one is available to you. So exploring the use of anti depressants with your GP is something I would strongly urge you to consider. I wish you well in your endeavours. Philip.