Have you ever had an anxiety attack?

Canada
August 28, 2011 10:35am CST
I had some sort of weird sickness that was unexplained and lasted for a full month not to long ago. Everytime they checked me out they had no idea and they were really mean and thought I was faking it. One doctor I had was so horrible, I started feeling really weird. I didnt know what was going on, turns out it was an anxiety attack. In the end the doctors figured out what my sickness was, and kind of felt bad how mean they were, but the anxiety attacks werent going away yet. I struggled with them for a few weeks, I was having a hard time leaving the house and even had to take a week off work. It was the most horrible unexplainable feeling. I wasnt just feeling nervous, I felt like my head was spinning and my body was tingling. It was honestly the worst feeling I ever had in my life. I couldnt believe how weird it felt but the doctor said alot of people can feel them differently, its just crazy how scary it felt to me. Im a LOT better now but it was a horrible period of my life. Have you ever had an anxiety attack? and if you suffer from them...what do you do to help get through them?
1 person likes this
7 responses
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
29 Aug 11
yes ive had them for years and at first thats why i started the inhaler to help me breath through it . now i have emphezema on top of it so more inhalers. my son hasnt done the inhalers but has medication for the imbalance that causes it. what have you taken for yours? anything?
• Canada
29 Aug 11
They have given me paxil but before that I had ativan. Ativan was a quick fix to feel better during but the paxil was to feel alright all the time. I dont take anyhting anymore. My anxiety was brought on by health but since Im not longer sick I dont really get them anymore. Thats one thing that scared the heck out of me though, my attacks when i was sick could even be triggered if I couldnt breath one hundred percent perfect so smoking/being around anyone who smoked, triggered it sometimes to. What do you take?
• Canada
30 Aug 11
really? I didnt think an inhaler is usually something they would give to you for this kind of problem. Does it work alright for you? maybe you should ask about paxil, it worked great for me
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
29 Aug 11
nothing really but the inhaler, albuterol and at times a more costly inhaler xoepenex.
@Absinto (2385)
• Portugal
28 Aug 11
I usually have panic attacks when something happens and i am not expecting it. Now, what i doo is i usually find a room to go in by my self and breath. I used to have a friend that had huge panic attacks, she couldn't even think and there were only 2 or three people that could even calm her down. I found i way to calm her down and that was getting her to think about something. I never let her mind wonder off, she always had to be focused on something.
• Canada
28 Aug 11
it is a mind thing, and i hate it. When i first got the attacks and didnt know how to deal my mind would race. if i had to drive anywhere my heart would pound and id start to feel weird and get even more scared since i was driving. I found the dumbest ways to keep myself busy. I live on the water so id drive by and be like "oh look at that boat, oh look at that fish, oh look at that seadoo" as much little things id notice and acknowledge to keep my mind off of it. Thing I found that helped best was to put the radio on full blast and to sing and concentrate on the words. Not the best method if you're in the car with someone but if your not I found it was the most helpful way to not think about it. Good job for being there for your friend though, anxiety is a weird thing to explain and alot of people really dont understand. I always felt weird talking about it to people because the people who never had it never understood
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
28 Aug 11
I've had anxiety attacks and panic attacks. I've had them so bad where I had to go to the hospital,. and I didn't know what it was, I thought I was dying. My heart was beating irregularly, I couldn't hear, I was going numb all over. I've had them where my heart was beating irregularly and I've talked myself out of it. It's a very scary situation to have to go through though, and I can sympathize with you. I've felt like not leaving the house or being afraid to leave the house as well. It doesn't help that stress and depression and other mental diseases run in my family, nor that I have a mental disorder, but for my situation I've learned to adapt and get myself through it. I hope you don't have anymore, but if you do, hope you can figure out a way to get past them before they cause you any more harm like I did.
• Canada
28 Aug 11
its really crazy how it can affect you like that. When I went to the hospital they checked my heart theyre like your having an anxiety attack right now arent you when I was in the triage part before emerg. They ended up giving me meds and keeping me overnight (not for the anxiety but for others) To get meds prescribed to me, my doctor had me go to a therapist to gtalk about it. I normally dont liek that idea as I tried it before and I ended up getting a bad one who was no help.. but i went anywasy cause i had to for the meds. She was actually very amazing. She pretty much told me that it can be brought on suddently for what seems like out of no where, and it my case it was brought on by health, and once I get better id most likely not have them anymore, but she also wrote on a paper the cycle of anxiety. It was really crazy how she explained it as she was so right, she had said your body gets prepared to either fight, freeze or run. Your blood pumps to your heart really fast because your prepared to fight it off (hence the numbness and racing heart) and you start to breath irregulary becayse your ready to run. When you breath heavy you release carbon dioxide much faster then your supposed to which is why a lot of people feel weird and dizzy. She even told me thats why in movies people blow into a paper bag because they are sucking up the carbon dioxide they breathed out. I found that crazy, how there was a legitimate cycle as to why you feel so weird, I just thought my body hated me but there is a whole cycle as to why our bodies feel the way they do during that made so much sense. I am alot better, I have had them but very far and few in between and not for long at all as i can takl myself through them, and im really glad you worked it through yourself to!
@dodo19 (47336)
• Beaconsfield, Quebec
1 Oct 11
I can certainly say that I've had some panic attacks on several occasions. It's certainly not pleasant at all. What I try to do is find a calm place and just try to relax, breathe, and do something that doesn't involve anxiety, stress, or anything like that. It has helped me out.
• Philippines
29 Aug 11
anxiety has several stages.. it may vary from mild to moderate then eventually to severe then to panic.. the only difference among them is the ability of the person to be oriented to time, place and event. In a mild anxiety attack, people tend to feel tingling sensations as well as nervousness, sweating and having cold and clammy skin but they are still aware of their own environment. Such that they can still perform activities of daily living..However in a moderate stage of anxiety, people may unable to focus on the things they are doing or maybe they will not be oriented time or place or event but still can handle their emotions..Their blood pressure, pulse rate and respiratory rate increases slightly..As to severe anxiety, people may begin to loss their consciousness and struggle for their emotions then as to panic stage, the patient will now loss their consciousness and needs medical assistance..
@ralphs (209)
• Philippines
14 Oct 11
yes it affects our health by not eating healthy foods, stress, no proper sleeping, and soloing problem that may affect your mind and body.
@darile (36)
• Italy
28 Aug 11
Yes, I have anxiety attack. This problem sometimes is so serious that I can not be more rationalin my decisions