anyone else get panic?

I am very new to this and I hope I can find someone who can help me.  I had my first migraine with aura in Dec 06,  it hit me at the mall while christmas shopping,  I had the squiggly lines, loss of peripheral vision and the blinding headache.  I have never had anything even close to this before in my life and I had absolutly no warning.

To put things mildly, I had a complete panic attack and thought I was having a stroke.

I have seen my family doctor, an optition and a neurologist.  At first there was a great concerne that I had an anyurism or a brain tumor but thankfully I had an MRI quite fast to rule out those possibilities.

I went a few weeks of wondering what the hell was wrong with me and terrified of what it could be.  When I got the results back from my MRI and realized that nothing major was wrong, also the fact that I had not had any more episodes, I began to relax and think that it was some freak thing that had happened.

Wrong!  The same day that I actually started to feel better I had two episodes in the same day!!! That was Jan 20. and since then I have had seven more.

I have tried to find out as much information as I can about migraine with aura, and I have found many sights confirming the symptoms,treatments,etc... but what I really want to know is how other people deal with this.

Every single time my vision goes I get an instant panic attack.  I can barely breath and have a hard time concentrating.  I do not know what is setting these migraines off and there is no warning so I am now starting to feel anxiety all the time.  I am scared to go out by myself as I do not have a clue to when the next one will come.

Does anyone else get this panic and anxiety?  And if so, will it go away with time and experience?  Any information would be great,  Thank-you

My husband suffers from migraines and has anxiety about when and where the "attack" will happen.  He does not leave the house without me and he hasn't driven since November 2006.  It comes on so fast that if he is walking across the room, he can barely get to a chair to sit down before he falls down.  We too have been to the ER and after an MRI/MRA and blood testing, they said he had vertigo!  DUH!  We knew he was dizzy.  Luckily we have found a neurologist to work with getting some preventative mediciation going to help with the symptoms but it is slow going.

I suggest seeing a neurologist who may prescribe something for the anxiety that accompanies these attacks.

Good Luck!  Hang in there!

thank-you guys for taking the time to share your experience with me.  It makes me feel sooo much better to actually read real accounts of what other people are going through and how they are dealing with this.

Like I said I have found many sites explaining the symptoms but none of them really said anything about panic or extreme anxiety.  I know in my head that I cant be the only one going through this, but emotionaly I am really starting starting to feel alone as I dont know anyone else that has ever experienced this.

It also seems logical that you would have this, as sudden lose of vision is terrifying, but I can not seem to get a grip and  I am having a really hard time understanding any of this.  It does seem to come at any time of day, relaxed or stressed, at home or out, and that is what the really freaky part is I think.  I can feel myself on the edge of something terrifying and even though I am trying to be strong and rational, it seems like every time I feel that Im getting back to my old self, I get knocked for another loop and every time seems to be worse then the time before.

I keep hoping that this is just a phase that I am going through but thats another scary part to what is going on, there is absolutly no way to know when you are fixed.  There seems to be no logical begining to this and there doesnt seem to be an end.  My doctor also seems to think Ill never find what the trigger is because there is just way too many differences in my episodes.. time of day, situation, stress level..etc. 

I have so many questions and unfortunatly there doesnt seem to be a lot of answers out there, so thanks again for sharing with me  and finally making me feel that I'm not totally alone.

My girlfreind has ocular migraine episodes once in awhile, and she panics at first, but when she is able to realize what is happening- "it's another ocular", she just lies down and waits for it to pass. I can relate to what you're saying about the unpredicatability of it being distressing; it even panics me a little when she starts to go through it, and I never know when she will.

Having said that, it is really a matter of getting used to it over a certain amount of time. The panic and anxiety are things that you can't control, but you Can control how you deal with them, and that's what you have to remember. If the anxiety starts to interfere too much with your everyday life, you might want to consider working with a good behavioral therapist for a little while.

That's a good tip, Leigh Ann.

Some people do get the "aura" ocular effects, without the ensuing migraine. Do you know if an abortive such as Migranal would be effective in such a case, for curtailing the aura?

Hi guys,

thank-you guys so much for all the info and advice, I really appreciate it!! 

 Since I first wrote the post I was  prescribed Amerge as an abortive medication for the migraines but unfortunatly it did absolutly nothing in regards to the vision disturbance, and as for the migraine, it lessened the pain to a dull ache for about six or seven hours but then I still ended up with the blinding headache and then I was too scared to take anything else for the pain because I was told the medication was supposed to last 24 hrs and to be carefull not to mix with any other medication.

I still panic at first when my vision goes, I dont think I'll ever be able to get past that until I figure out what my warning is, and right now I have absolutly no idea when one is going to strike. I have found that that once the initial panic goes away I am now able to get through the aura somewhat ok.

I still have a lot of anxiety too and what I am being told now is that once the migraines are under control the anxiety and panic attacks will go away - hopefully - so now I am on Topamx to try and stop the migraines from comming at all and this medication is driving me crazy, plus not yet working.  This experience is just totally crazy!!  

 I just really want to say thanks again for all your input,  it really does make a difference.