Question about panic symptoms

Hello everyone, I have been trying to find a place online that was active, and I believe I have finally found one. I decided to join these message boards because it really helps to see that others are feeling the same way as me and have learned how to cope with panic attacks and anxiety.

I'll give a short introduction, then I have a question for panic attack sufferers:
I'm a 24 year old male, currently in my first year of graduate school. I am under a moderate amount of stress most of the time, and to make things worse I have been suffering with an anxiety disorder and panic attacks for over a year now. After my first episode (which so far has been my worst) I went on zoloft. After 6 moths of feeling well, I went off of the meds and now I just keep Xanax for emergencies. My anxiety and my panic trigger is my health. I am terrified that some horrible disease or fatal medical condition will strike suddenly and this keeps me on edge. I have been able to cope and continue my education with help from the university counselling services. Today however, I had a panic attack and it really got to me.

My question is about panic attack symptoms. Would anyone here be willing to share the the symptoms they feel during an attack? Everything I read seems to be different from what I feel when I have mine. For me, I get strange physical symptoms first, then there are immediately followed by the rest of the more familiar panic symptoms. For instance, today I was in a lecture when all of a sudden my attention snapped to a numb feeling in my face, and a very strange dizzy feeling. This was then followed by my reaction, which was panic, and all of the associated symptoms that one normally hears with panic attacks. Does anyone else feel the physical symptoms before the panic as I do?

I apologize for my text wall, and appreciate any time that you have spent reading this. I hope to become a regular member and will spend some time to read some of your posts tonight after I get some work done.

Hi, Rac!
You're a guy, but I think you'll still understand my illustration well enough! :)
You can ask 100 different mothers what it was like giving birth to their children. How did it feel? How bad was the pain? How long did it take? How bad was labor? Etc, etc, etc....and I assure you that you will get 100 different descriptions. Some will make you swear that if you were a woman that you'd NEVER have a baby and then some would have you believe that it's not all THAT bad and then some would paint you a truly varied picture, from terror to horrors to joy. And still, none of them would be lying to you and all would honestly know what they were talking about.
It's the same with panic attacks. Some are milder than others. Some are extremely intense. They'll possibly make you sweat or your heart may pound fast and/or hard. You may feel sick to your stomach. You might feel like you have to have a bowel movement. You might get tingly in various places. Perhaps wanna burst out in tears. Shake...tremble...get dizzy....pant. Feel flushed and or feel faint. Panic attacks are just as varied from one person to another as having babies are from one mom to another.
And another thing, panic attacks can feel a bit different from one to the other! Like my sister had 3 kids. She said each successive birth hurt more than the last one. Some women are the opposite. PAs can be mild to intense.
At least when a woman has a baby, there's usually a good ending-a sweet baby to love! All a PA does is make you never wanna have another one! :P
jl

Hi Racoon and welcome!

We are glad that you have joined us...and yes, this is an active group that you can always count on to listen to, and support you, along your journey.:)

I too have always had more physical symptoms than mental ones as far as anxiety manifestation. The first attack I had was so physical in fact, that I was certain that I was coming on with a hard and fast case of the flu.

Here is a site that has a most comprehensive list of anxiety symptoms that may bring you some comfort as you'll surely find plenty of familiar ones:http://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety-symptoms.shtml

Understandably, experiencing these symptoms can cause us to become worried and obsessed with our health.  This health anxiety is quite a common, and a prevalent subject here in the forum.  Therefore we have a couple of books from our Resources that I often recommend.  Here are the links:

http://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Health-Anxiety-David-Veale/dp/1845298241

http://www.amazon.com/Treating-Health-Anxiety-Cognitive-Behavioral-Approach/dp/1572309989

Check them out and see if they look helpful to you.

Finally, here are some great sites with suggested coping skills to use in anxiety and panic management.  These are really effective when practiced daily.;)

Self Help sites with breathing/relaxation exercises instructions

Panic attack relief exercises:

 

http://www.healthyplace.com/

http://www.stress-relief-exercises.com/

http://www.ehow.com/video_4405003_breathing-exercises-panic-attacks.html

http://www.psybersquare.com/anxiety/panic_relax_I

Keep talking with us as well.  Support is a key part of recovery!

Talk to you soon,

Scaredy Cat

 

My life see-saws between mental anxiety and physical anxiety. Either I'm having mental panic and anxiety or I'm stressing over some physical symptom I'm convinced is Cancer of some kind....anything from brain to colon cancer. It's an awful way to live (if you want to call it living) and I certainly sympathize with all us who suffer with one or both because people who have never experienced these feelings just don't understand. I am very thankful for this site, however, as it seems to be the only thing that "calms" me down more than anything else...even a Xanax. No one likes to feel that they're alone, that they're crazy, that no one else knows how we're feeling. Well we all DO! I've had health anxiety since I was a child (I'm now 66). Sometimes it goes away for long periods, sometimes it hangs on for months and months. There was a time when I honestly felt I would be locked up in a mental institution because I was convinced I was crazy. Thank God at the time (late teens) I had my wonderful mother who was so understanding and helpful but I know there are people out there who don't have any resource for help. So you can always use this site as your therapy....it's cheaper than a psychiatrist and filled with people who understand and have empathy for what you're going through. I've been so stressed lately over alot of family issues, etc. that I have developed more issues with my stomach and now have diarrhea within ten minutes of eating anything. Well of course I'm convinced it's colon cancer. For some reason, some of us with health anxiety can't seem to believe that these issues can be caused just by stress and the reality is, they can. Everything in our bodies and brain are intertwined....when stresses of life, family, school, finances, etc. get the best of us, our poor bodies have to take some of the burden. Sad to say, even though alot of us, including me, can intellectually know these facts to be true, they still get the best of us on a regular basis. All I can say is just keep talking to yourself, try to surround yourself with happy people, visit this site whenever you can't handle things, take meds if you need them, and know that you're not alone.