Posted 11/11/2015 1:36 PM (GMT 0)
Hi all,
The other night as I was laying down for bed, I suddenly was very short of breath. I started to get concerned, sat up again, tried to get some deep breaths. Laid back down and same thing, but sitting up this time didn't help. My heart rate went way up, my arm went numb, I thought I was having a heart attack. I was trying to breathe calmly as best as I could (it didn't seem like my lungs could deflate enough to feel right, or inflate enough to take a deep enough breath), but I was just basically hyperventilating. Thought I was going to pass out at that point, all my fingers/toes and even the bridge of my nose were tingling. I went to the hospital (my bf called an ambulance).
There they said that I had a panic attack and that I probably have anxiety. They gave me pills. But they also made me stay for almost 24 hours to monitor my heart rate, which was acting weird - sitting right at about 44 beats a minute. When I'd fall asleep, it'd drop into the high 30s. So they said I have bradycardia and sent me on my way. Now I'm more full of anxiety over that than I have been in the last year. I'm still not feeling right a full day later, still having trouble getting full deep breaths and feeling light headed. I keep having trouble trying to sleep because when I do, right as I'm zonking out, it's like I stop breathing all together and I jerk back awake and feel panicky again. UGH!!!
So those of you that have had/have panic attacks - does all this sound normal? I keep freaking myself out thinking I'm just gonna die (I have had a lot of health related deaths in my family in recent years no one seen coming, and happened to the ones that were still fairly young and mostly in good health), and I'm sure I'm making it worse for myself. I'm 35 myself - not that much younger than some of my family members that have passed. I don't know what to think. :( I guess I'm looking for reassurance that I'm okay for the most part from people that have been there...