panic attack questions

Hi C.B. Yes, you are right that everyone experiences their p/a's differently, and every attack can be different form the last. This is part of what makes the disorder so baffling! Your symptoms do sound familiar to many of the attacks that I had though, and they do come from out of nowhere sometimes. It would make sense to have these anxious feelings during times of acute stress, but a/p sufferers can be blindsided by symptoms while doing nothing. The body of an anxious person is producing too much adrenaline, and other stress hormones. These have to cause a reaction at some point, and often times this is random and totally unexpected. If you keep a journal and track your life's events and p/a's, you will probably see a pattern. The stress in your life may not cause an attack that particular day, or even week, but it will probably be apparant that there is a correlation between the two.
I hope that you can take the time to do some relaxation exercises (progressive muscle relaxation, breathing exercises, ect..) as these will help you to get through this anxious time in your life-hopefully with fewer attacks.
Take care and let us know how you are doing soon,
Scaredy Cat

Assuming that you have been given a recent clean bill of health by your Dr. (you mentioned that the Dr. dx you, so I'm guessing that you have had a work up) yes, it is common. I have had this after-effect, and I have experienced the opposite as well! I have been so relieved after an attack is over, that I have actually gotten a burst of energy. But over-all, I'd say that an attack wipes you out emotionally and physically. Give yourself time for rest, get good nutrition, and when you are up to it get some exercise. You should be back on track soon:)
Take care,
S.C.

Hi Carlybob,

I think Scaredy Cat put it well. Often the timing of our panic attacks don't seem to make logical sense. It's not always that you get an attack when thinking the worst. They'll often strike seemingly out of the blue, and then because you're caught off guard it can make you feel vulnerable which leads to more anxious thoughts. So you might be fine in class until you start worrying because of your heart rate which then makes you start thinking "oh no... something's really wrong".

As far as having "only" a racing heart - consider yourself fortunate as many people have much more. That being said it's not abnormal to have "just" a racing heart. And yes, Xanax can wipe you out especially if your body isn't used to it. When I first took Xanax it would put me to sleep for about 2 hours no matter what time of the day it was.

It's tough and sometimes you don't know what to do. One doctor says everything is fine and another is ready to schedule surgery a day later. Who's right?! Hopefully the cardiologist can give you some clarity about the possibility of MVP and your symptoms. Given that you were told at one point that you had that and your "only" symptom at least initially is your heart rate - I would think that seeing a cardiologist is a safe bet. Sometimes the uncertainty (do I have this or not?) and ambiguity (what "changes" were there on the EKG?) are enough to bring about anxiety.

Let us know how it goes...

Thanks jr.
It's okay, I ramble on here, too:) I think most of my anxious feelings stem from being scared of having another bad, what they called panic episode. I can not wait to go to the cardiologist. If they tell me I am fine, I will trust what they are saying.
My heart will start racing and then thats what the bad thoughts and the whole fight or flight thing happens. also, at least once a week lately, I awaken to a fast pulse in the middle of the night. thats it, just racing pulse. no anxiety or nothing. Makes me wonder if my pulse isnt whats waking me up. This is why It is 5am and Ive been up since 330.

A/P can take many different forms and it often feels like it came out of nowhere (but if you REALLY think about it you can usually find somethign that may have triggered it). That's one of the most frustrating things about it. In addition, over time the manifestations of A/P can change! It's a frustrating process because anxiety/panic is a diagnosis of "exclusion" (i.e. rule out the other possible, and potentially dangerous, causes first), too. Mine started off as "germaphobia" then I was getting "palpitations", then I was getting tight chest and difficulty breathing with a very rapid heartrate followed by the chills, then head aches and numbness, etc, etc. The one thing that happend for the longest time was the rapid heart rate and difficulty breathing, but as my anxiety progressively got worse and worse those symptoms went away. As the old went out, the new came in. It's horribly frustrating.

Here is the deal though. A/P definitely can have genetic predispositions, just like obesity and other conditions. But, just like obesity and those other conditions predisposition doesn't mean that your fate is made for you. You can work to control and/or overcome it! The difficult part about the "healing process" is, you're basically using your brain to fight your brain, and taking medication to help you maintain composure while trying to do the things life requires of us. But, you CAN DEFINITELY beat it! You MUST be very active about understanding that the various things you think/feel/etc are anxiety, and you must challenge yourself to not allow those things to interfere with your life. You can, literally, rewire your brain with "cognitive behavioral therapy" (brain fighting itself) and get your life back. Now, there are other things you can do that will help. One of the things I believe has been very useful to me is trying to keep good nutritional habits. That is, eating enough calories (~2,000-2,500 calories a day for most people, but everyone is different) and making sure the foods you choose are healthy and that you get good variety in food types.

about a month ago I had the worst anxiety of my life for around 2 weeks straight. It was debilitating. I hit that new low and then focused so, so, so, so, so much on beating my anxiety with CBT and making sure I was eating enough, and making healthy choices and I'm now feeling better than I have in a LONG time. I still get little anxiety attacks. I'll get maybe 5 a day, of 1-20 minute durations. But, for me it was all day every day to the point I think I was becoming seriously depressed and miserable.

Good luck!