this is making me nervous---please advise!

This evening about 3 hours ago I started having panic attack symptoms (shakiness, headache, dizzy, nervous, chest hurts) but my eyes also dilated. My pupils are quite large right now and I have a headache. I showed my mom and she said it did not look right.

Please let me know if this has ever happened to others. It is making me nervous which is frustrating since I already feel really anxious. Any input would be so appreciated.

Thank you all for your input and advice. This site is so helpful and reassuring.

Thank you! My pupils are still not normal but I am calming down. Took a nice walk and just breathed. I think this is my anxiety and that I am too much in my head. The more I was thinking about how I was feeling, the worse it became. I am very much trying to not be so much in my head. Thank you for your advice!

You're so right paddicake. It all started tonight with me feeling really cold at work and someone asked if my blood pressure was low. I don't know if it was but is then thought it was, worked myself up - and them panicked. I am diagnosed with GAD and panic disorder. I had a good day today (finally!) but then the night was not so good.

Anxiety is so frustrating and it's scary sometimes. I appreciate the feedback--it's so nice to hear from people who understand.

I take Vistaril when the anxiety gets bad. Now I wonder if it's ok that I take it since I'm in BP med as part of my Med treatment. I'm sure it is--a doctor wouldn't prescribe a bad combo. That's what I remind myself. I'm not a doctor and I need to trust his plan.

Thank you SO much! I really appreciate you all taking the time to offer support. Thanks.

Hi Liz,

This panic related symptom is tied into the 'Flight or Fight' phenomena.

It readies us for dealing with dangerous situations...even though none is present...our anxiety and bodies still react.

Here is a good explanation from an article that explains more.

Unreality or bright vision - When responding to danger, our pupils dilate to let in more light and to make sure that we can see clearly enough. This reaction makes our environment look brighter or fuzzier, and sometimes less real.

Use your stress relieving exercises tonight to lower your anxiety levels.

Feel better soon!

S.C.

If your pupil constricts when you put a light on it, you're all good. You can see it react to light using a mirror and a flashlight. If it reacts as fast as you flash it with a light. It's good. This was also my concern before. I was comparing my pupil with other people and mine was a little bigger or more dilated than them. It also gave me problems under the sun where my vision can get burned out easily. Like when after I went outside under the sun let's say within just 2 minutes, when I finally got indoors, my vision was all dimmed out or seems burned. I had this when I started to have anxiety. My eyes started to have weird things going on. I still recommend you to consult your doctor if you want to know more about this new thing that you're experiencing so that it'll give you more confidence that everything is fine and still normal.

Post Edited (Jojanxiety) : 10/25/2014 9:38:43 AM (GMT-6)

Cold hands and dilated eyes are 110% classic anxiety symptims. You can actually learn ways to earn your hands and bring the blod back to them. I have a finger thermometer that shows me what my hand temp is. Average for a woman I believe is mid to upper 80's, 95 is when you're totally relaxed. When I oanic mine have gotten as low as 70. Hand warming is a great tool for relaxing during periods of anxiety. I've actually fallen asleep doing it twice, which says a lot since I don't fall asleep naturally without meds.ever.

My therapist taught me about it, so you may have to do some googling. I would try searching something like hand warming and anxiety. If I find something I'll post it. You can find the tiger thermometer on Amazon.

I hate that post panic body ache feeling! Basically like you got hit by a car or had a crazy workout. Sucks.

Thanks Cornell! I've only recently found this site and have been posting frequently because of a hard time I'm having. You've all been so kind and welcoming and I appreciate you and everyone's encouragement.

Looking forward to getting to know you too and thank you!