Anybody ever had a really bad panic/anxiety attack?

Neebo

Hi I was just wondering has anyone ever had a really bad panic attack? And I mean a really,really bad one Evil or Very Mad

The type where you think your going to die or you think your going totally insane because of SA/SP? I myself Have experienced a few panic attacks that were very bad. One of them or my first one,was in the middle of a very busy and crowded Macdonalds restaurant at the age of 13 Embarassed

Another one was on a crowded train Embarassed

And my last one was last summer when I thought I heard a couple of girls the same age as take the piss out of me when I was walking outside to carry out an errand. I just blocked it out of my mind until I got home and then I totally lost it I had another full blown panic attack which came on unexpectedly and completely out of the blue Surprised

Suddenly I couldn't breath I was hyperventilating and gasping for breath,I felt extremely dizzy and light-headed infact so much so, that I thought I would actually faint or pass out Shocked

Also add to that the other symptom of my heart beating faster than a drum and I also felt my head was going to explode because of the pressure Mad

Has anyone else had a similar experience? If so what triggered it off and did you have the same symptoms as I experienced?

black_mamba · Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 9:04 pm Post subject:

I guess most panic attacks are so sever you feel as if you're going insane!

I don't often get panic attacks so when I do, they are monumental. I have passed out from stress once, this was due to a crazy argument between me and my two sisters. I've also like you, had my heart beating so violently I thought it may burst out from my chest. That would have been exciting to watch. Laughing

That was due to someone bullying me in a very aggresive [verbal] manner.

Sucks doesn't it? Good luck to you in seeking help. Wink

annie · Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 11:44 am Post subject:

Hi Neebo,

We all experience panic attacks in different ways. For me luckily of late I have them under control. However, when I have experienced a full blown panic attack they have always been at home, only once that I can remember was whilst I was walking to a community house or should I say run when I felt it coming.
When I have had them at home I don't feel that I am going to die, but that I will lose the plot and go insane. My heart is beating so fast and I try to get onto the phone and contact someone to calm me down. I feel hot as if I am burning up even though it might be in the middle of winter. A few times what I have done is scream, scream out loud and what that did was release some of the pressure that was built up inside me. Frankly a bit embarrassing to start screaming when you live in an apartment block, because the neighbours could hear you and think two things:
1. Oh boy she is having a good time Wink

2. Oh boy she is in trouble or something like that.

I have been told if I want to scream just to scream in a pillow, but luckily I have my attacks under control.

Neebo we are all different therefore what we all experience will be different.

I hope you find a way to control them....tell them to F*** off, that is another thing I do when I am angry. When I get really angry, the anger takes over and the anxiety subsides, so get angry with IT.

Take care

annie Smile

Horatio · Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 1:06 pm Post subject:

yeah Ive had a bad one before

had heaps of panic attacks one week last year along with a rather bad spell of depression and it all built up to one massive attack

got gripped with chest pains, couldnt breathe and was rushed to hospital. at first the doctors all thought it was my heart and I was rushed into the emergency room and had all sorts of plugs attached to me along with one of those heart blippy monitor things you see in the movies.

it took about an hour wearing one of those oxygen masks for my breathing to stabilize and had to be xrayed and kept overnight for observation in case I had another one.

was given the all clear, it wasnt my heart but they said that severe anxiety or panic attacks can often mimic heart attack symptoms and they also warned me that if your overweight like I am and I have a massive panic attack it can actually trigger a real heart attack

the stupid thing was I didnt even have anyone to pick me up from the hospital. when your lying on a hospital bed being told your heart might be in trouble and they ask you who they should call and you say "noone" you know your a loser

on the up side, since that experience I have been a lot better at identifying the signs of an approaching panic attack and get myself out of the situation if I can

annie · Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 1:16 pm Post subject:

Tsubaki · Newbie User Joined: Jul 06, 2005 Posts: 7 Location: Canada

I do recall having a number of attacks when i was younger (8-12).
Profuse sweating, and the whole world felt like it was spinning out of control, faster and faster. I couldn't catch my breath and my heart was beating unbelievably fast.

I usually found myself outside almost stark naked; I think I was trying to cool down. My attacks usually happened at night, 2-4AM. It sounds crazy, but it really felt like I was going totally insane.

Like Grumblina, I'm now 25 and I havn't had a attack since.
I'm holding down a job and except for the shyness, things seem to be getting a little better.

Cacophony · Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:49 am Post subject:

I've had some very terrifying panic attacks in the past but I seem to not get them as bad and as often anymore. If i'm starting to get one i just kind of keep in mind and tell myself that im gonna get over it eventually and its not gonna stay forever. I know that it can go into severe depths of hell though sometimes, and in that case i will tell someone like my brother and have him just kind of sit with me for a while. That seems to help it for me anyways. This one time when i was 17 i had an acid flashback/severe anxiety attack staying at a friends house and i was full on hallucinating. I was so far into hell that i had to wake my friend up to calm me down. But it helped alot. As long as you have some one that can fully understand that what your going through is very serious and real it helps to be with them for a bit. Have them get you a glass of water or something. But that is another thing that everyone here should listen to, which is not to ever screw around with hallucinagens if you are a person with anxiety.

Remus · Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2005 8:21 am Post subject:

I've had two that I ended up in hospital with

the first one even concerned the doctors as my heartrate was hitting 180BPM

_________________
I'm not a moderator anymore, please ignore that title, Thelema and Zeroday are mods now Smile

ScaredGirl · Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 11:41 am Post subject:

I've had really bad panic attacks when I was younger. Lately the severity has reduced but they are still there.

Yesterday I had one and have been reflecting on it every since. A really nice elderly lady I know - who probably has ADHD- wigged me out. She was talking so fast, jumping from thought to thought. She's a good person and I wanted to hear what she had to say, but HOW she said it was making me nervous. Basically, her hyper was making me anxious. I didn't realize how MUCH another person's calmness/hyper affected me before....I like and respect this lady but have this pit in my stomach that I will have to set up boundries solely because of her hyperness. Sad

I must think on it some more......there must be a delicate way of handling this, one where I can keep her friendship and my sanity at the same time.

SG

Horatio · Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 4:20 pm Post subject: