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Different Types of Anxiety Attacks

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Posted 10/31/2006 5:59 PM (GMT 0)
I'm just wondering if anybody else has different types of anxiety attacks, or if it's the same thing every time?

My most common anxiety attacks consist of me feeling "unsettled" and then starting to feel nauseous, having shallow breathing, and eventally getting the shakes (uncontrollable)...sometimes even throwing up.

But sometimes I just get really lightheaded and dizzy but am fine as long as I'm lying down.  I just can't stand up.  For me, this type is usually brought on by my brain freaking out about something that's happening to my body.  For example, last night I took cough syrup with codeine in it.  The pharmacist said that I might feel a little dizzy if it interacts with my effexor (I'm quite succeptible to this - either physiologically, or psychologically - not sure which).  So I got up to use the washroom at night and thought "Hey, I feel fine!  The codeine's not affecting me!"  Then whoosh!  All of a sudden I was lightheaded and dizzy.  I had to crawl back to bed, but when I got there I was fine as long as I was lying down.  It passed very quickly and I didn't have all the other stuff - shallow breathing, shakes, etc.  This happens to me from time to time, but typically only if I'm thinking about something that's happening (or could happen) to my body.  Same thing with needles at the doctor (and I'm a diabetic - go figure).

Can anyone relate?

B.

Posted 10/31/2006 6:05 PM (GMT 0)
I do have different symptoms present during attacks it essentially varies with the intensity of my attack. It is not always the text book same symptoms sometimes shaky sometimes naucious sometimes racing heart sometimes a combo and so on. Hope that helps ya.
Posted 10/31/2006 6:42 PM (GMT 0)
I too have various syptoms of an attack or when having an attack
sometimes I will feel like I am going to faint and feel like I have no legs ya know
Then other times ( in shopping stores) I will get very tense and need in and out immediately .I do a list before going to the variety store grocery store even and know where everything is( usually stick to same places as well There are times when we have puled inot a place and I have just been in a store and I will turn t hubby and I just have to look he knows I cannot do it again so he will go in on own and I collect self in truck
Sometimes shaking and sometimes crying and shaking
I will feel really hot at times like neck and head on fire and I know I am going to go inot one
As far as the vomitting goes I am only the occasional vommiter ....dont like it at all
Sometimes I will sit in MY CHAIR and pull body up tight to self and just stare at tv ( not really hearing anything) and close the world ans all out around me
I am getting much better now thru doing breathing and other techniques to help me thru it
I believe we are the same in many things and ways but we are all yet different
Lyn
Posted 11/1/2006 2:05 AM (GMT 0)
I can totally relate. And the fact that the attacks are not always the same increases the anxiety that its not a panic attack!

I have a newsletter from a local hospital I received many years ago that I refer to every now and then (less often since I found this site!). I use it to reaffirm the cause of my symptoms. Here are a couple parts of the "article":

"Suddenly, you are gripped with intense fear for no reason at all. Your heart races, you palms sweat, your chest hurts. You think your're having a heart attack. You think you're dying. You're having a panic attack."

"According to the APA, a panic attack is an unprovoked surge of fear accompanied by at least four of the following symptoms: shortness of breath, a smothering sensation, dizziness or faintness, accelerated heart rate, trembling or shaking, sweating, choking, nausea or abdominal distress, feelings of detachment or unreality, chest discomfort or pain, numbness or tingling, hot flashes or chills, fear of dying, fear of going grazy or losing control."

While I usually experience the faintmess, racing heart, hot flashes and detachment, I have had all of the above symptoms in various combinations!

Re-reading the article helps remind my brain (which seems to take control during an attack) that I am having a panic attack, which then makes the relaxation, breathing, etc. more effective. It may sound silly cause we all know to well the symptoms, but seeing it in black and white during an attack or bad period (especially when it has been a long time since the last one) helps me acknowledge and get a handle on it.

Karen
Posted 11/1/2006 2:12 AM (GMT 0)
I do have different symptoms, but they are most of the time the same. Sometimes I will get the shortness of breath, and lightheadedness, and sometimes I can breathe just fine, but my heart is pounding out of my chest. I guess it depends on the severity of the attack for me.
Posted 11/2/2006 5:13 AM (GMT 0)
I have generally had the same symptoms. I went to the doctor Monday and she didn't want to start me on any meds yet because I have been trying to have a baby. So I said, great, I get to feel like I'm dying all the time. We are actually waiting for all of my labs to get back before I start on meds. For the past month, anytime I am not in the comfort of my own home, I feel like something is sitting on my chest and stuck in my throat. Before an attack, I get extremely flushed on my chest, face and ears. Then I start to feel like something is stuck in my throat, if I don't calm down, I begin to lose the ability to swallow and feel like I can't breath. My body is working so hard to swallow that once it is over, I am so weak, I just have to lay down.
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