Living With Panic Disorder

So in my last post, I talked a lot about general anxiety disorder. Even though a lot of people suffer with just anxiety problems, I feel it's also important for me to address another common problem that is directly associated with anxiety - panic attacks.

Panic attacks are hard to describe to a person who doesn't deal with these types of issues. This can be very frustrating for both the person suffering, and the people around them. I've been dealing with my own panic attacks for about a year now, and it has been one of the toughest things I have ever been through!

My first panic attack happened in class, during my freshman year of college. It was like any normal day. I walked into class, sat down and the lecture began. Somewhere around a half hour into class, I started feeling dizzy. I told myself it's just warm in here, and drank some water. About five minutes later the warmness turned into completely feverish burning up. My dizziness overtook me, and my heart began to race. My thoughts were going a mile a minute, and I kept thinking to myself "Oh my god, I'm dying." I put my head down, tried to relax and within the next fifteen minutes, I had to leave the classroom. As soon as I got up and left, I felt better.

This particular incident was really frightening for me, both during the episode and afterwards. I had no idea what had happened- which scared me even more! Then, and to this day, I personally have no obvious and outward triggers for my panic attacks. For me, it can happen any day, any time, and for seemingly any reason.

With all types of anxiety and panic attacks, people have different symptoms and triggers. In my case, the trigger is still unknown. A lot of people I have spoken with will tell me that their triggers are things like school work, driving, and dealing with relationships. Whatever the case may be, they are one heck of an experience!

Usually with myself, I can tell when a panic attack is coming on. They usually start with feeling anxious for an extended amount of time, until finally, the panic errupts. My symptoms include an achey chest, sore arms and muscles, dizziness, hot flashes, sweating, tingling and numbess in my legs, and a feeling of impending doom.

For other people, they may experience these symptoms along with others. Panic attacks are usually really short, but they are very traumatic and tiring to the body and mind. Even though they may only last about five to ten minutes, in that short time, your body goes through the fight or flight response, releasing tons of adrenaline. A person may feel a variety of overwhelming symptoms and emotions.

According to wikipedia.org:

-Panic attacks are commonly linked to agoraphobia and the fear of not being able to escape a bad situation. Many who experience panic attacks feel trapped and unable to free themselves

"Sufferers of panic attacks often report a fear or sense of dying, "going crazy", or experiencing a heart attack or "flashing vision", feeling faint or nauseated, heavy breathing, or losing control of themselves. These feelings may provoke a strong urge to escape or flee the place where the attack began.
The most common symptoms may include trembling, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, chest pain (or chest tightness), hot flashes, cold flashes, burning sensations (particularly in the facial or neck area), sweating, nausea, dizziness (or slight vertigo), light-headedness, hyperventilation, paresthesias (tingling sensations), sensations of choking or smothering, and derealization. These physical symptoms are interpreted with alarm in people prone to panic attacks. This results in increased anxiety, and forms a positive feedback loop.
Often the onset of shortness of breath and chest pain are the predominant symptoms, the sufferer incorrectly appraises this as a sign or symptom of a heart attack. This can result in the person experiencing a panic attack seeking treatment in an emergency room."

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_attack for more...)


I feel that in general, the wikipedia site sums it all up well. What most people don't understand is that panic attacks generally trigger more anxiety, which then can trigger another panic attack. For me, panic attacks are usually short, terrifying, and come in cycles. I have gone through periods of two or three weeks experiencing a panic attack at least every single day. They are stessful on both the mind and body. As a result of having frequent panic attacks, I particularly started to feel like something was wrong with me. As the wikipedia page says, panic attacks can feel like a heart attack. I've had numerous emergency room visits while experiencing panic attacks that were completely out of control. I'm glad they weren't anything more serious, but still, they are unpleasant.

When experiencing panic attacks, it is always a good idea to see a doctor about it sooner than later. If you don't, you may continue to experience the symptoms, get them more frequently, and they may get worse. Attack symptoms, while they won't really hurt you physically, are very stressful on your mind. Along with that, many symptons of panic are also symptoms of things that are much more fatal. Self medication is not recommended ever, especially if a person is just starting to experience panic themselves.

In my next post, I will talk more about medication and treatment for anxiety and panic disorder.