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How do you know you're having a panic attack
I'm old and I have high blood pressure but it's been controlled since diagnosis 30 years ago, more or less. It doesn't seem to have damaged my heart or circulatory system so far as I can tell from stress tests I had six years ago, doppler echo, no discomfort or shortness of breath, everything normal. But:
I was feeling really weird early September so I took my BP and it was 200/105. That's not only HIGH for anyone, but I'm five feet tall, weight 110 pounds, and had never seen a number like that. So I called 911. And the paramedics told me this wasn't a hypertensive crisis, it was anxiety and fatigue. They said they'd take me to the ER but the reading had already come down and that all the ER would do is keep taking it and observe me then send me home. So I took half a Xanax and put myself in bed in front of the TV and took a half of my 5.0mg lisinopril. Because I was anxious every time I took it, it never went back down to 120 something over 70 somethng but I didn't see that killer number again at least.
It happened again two days ago. I switched cardiologists and saw the new one a couple of weeks ago, there's a very long wait for this doctor so it took months. He said anxiety spikes are common but we still have alot of increase to do in the lisinopril if needed. Because my resting BP first thing in the morning and last thing at night is in the (at its highest) 120s over 70s (and in my age category a good reading is anything under 130/90) no one wants to increase the medication or I could literally pass out if I stand suddenly. Also, I suddenly developed a weird tingling in the pads of my feet out of nowhere and had an MRI last Saturday that hasn't been read yet but lisinopril can cause this and I'm so intolerant of meds that the other BP meds I've tried do bad things and changing this med is going to be difficult.
But two days ago, I was doing something (it was very cold here, 5 degrees f) and my fingers and feet suddenly felt cold (the tingling thing is worrying me so this upset me) and I was totally unaware of what happened to me. There was ZERO thought process. I went from something in my usual day to thinking there's something wrong with me. My fight/flight mode must have been in high gear and i didn't EVEN KNOW IT. I just decided to take my BP, pretty stupid thing to do but I didn't KNOW I was having a panic attack. So the BP reading was 180/100 and that toally freaked me out. I called the cardiologist office and talked to his PA. I took it again and it was coming down. She told me anxiety spikes are very common and that wasn't even high compared to others she'd seen but that I had to come back in and we needed a team effort. She gave me the number of the psychiatrist in their practice to try to get a med that would help lower my overall anxiety to prevent the spikes from going that high. The office just scheduled another appointment in 3 weeks and I have an appointent with the psychiatrist in February also.
So sorry for the long story but obviously no one could understand this without knowing what happened. My question is: how do YOU KNOW you're having a panic attack when you're in the middle of one? I'm always upset, I suffer from compicated grief and complex PTSD from losing my 23 year old daughter in 2011 and that is never going to change. Losing your child kills you. Im surprised to still be alive to be honest. Just as with other forms of mental illness, apparently it's possible to be having a panic attack and NOT KNOW IT. I'm totally alone so there's no one to talk to and no one to tell me I'm having one. What can I do to identify it so this doesn't keep happening? Does anyone KNOW?
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I don't live anywhere near Mayo Clinic. I live in NY state moved to the mountains in 2003 and it's not so easy to find competent doctors. I finally have a good team of doctors and it took 9 years after my primary care doctor when I first moved here retired in 2015. I've had 5 psychiatrists since losing my daughter in 2011 and I can't tolerate most of the medications they gave me. I'm not depressed. This is persistent complicated grief and there's no cure. I really don't know what kind of med this new psychiatrist is going to offer to me but honestly I've tried about six of them in the past 13 years and they did awful things to me so I don't have alo tof hope.
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2 ReactionsCheck "google" or any website on ways to deal with those feelings.
If you feel that you have a plan, it may help, along with an effective
physician & / or therapist.
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1 ReactionMy mom has severe health anxiety and has for many years. She has had many ER visits, some by ambulance in which the only thing wrong was high blood pressure. They would watch her, give her meds to bring it down….often just give her med for anxiety and it would come down. Still, she would never believe it was anxiety before hand. Later, she’d acknowledge it and regret she went, because wasted time, wasted money, etc. She still checks her blood pressure several times per day. She suffers greatly from the anxiety. She’s been tested and has excellent cardio health. But the anxiety over her health has been tortuous to her.
I hope you can find the right treatment. There are some excellent resources online for various therapies. I see my therapist via online visits.
I’m GAD so I can have real panic attacks if I don’t take my meds. I’ve been retired for 12 years now so my anxiety attacks are now gone in the past. Everyone is unique so keep looking for your specific remedy.
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1 ReactionI have had several panic attacks in my life. I never recognize it until it has passed
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1 ReactionIn reading your replies to other's comments I immediately thought of one thing that was a clear indicator to me when I started having panic attacks years ago and that is a pulse oximeter (the little clippy thing they put on your finger when you're in the ER). I was having severe shortness of breath and I wasn't very experienced with my own panic symptoms so had my mom drive me to ER, head hanging out the window gasping for air, heart racing and beating out of my chest. Once in the ER my BP was high (I have always had low BP) but once they put the pulse oximeter on my finger and I saw my blood O2 level was 98, I knew it was anxiety. Fortunately you can now buy those for home use so that might be a good indicator for you. I just know that once I saw a medical device confirming that I was okay, it gave me the confidence, with some time of course, to know that I was not actually dying.
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2 ReactionsI have a pulse oximeter, I don't have panic attacks like you're describing. I don't know I'm having one. My brain produces the biological fight/flight effect while my mind is preoccupied worrying about something like numb toes or cold feeling in my legs. I can breathe fine, my heart is not racing, I'm not having PVCs, I'm having a feeling of spaciness. So twice during these I didn't know it was a panic attack, I thought it was a symptom of high blood pressure, and of course I'm freaked out when I'm taking the BP and it is sky high because I'm freaked out. Then I'm more freaked out because I"m sure I'm going to stroke out. That's why I called 911 the first time. The paramedics told me it was anxiety. I'm old enough to stroke out. I just don't happen to be a present candidate apparently or I already would have. I have to stop the subconscious panic attacks. I think medication is the only way, I hope the psychiatrist has something I haven't already tried that messed meup. TY for your reply.
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1 ReactionThe worst thing anyone can do is ask GOOGLE these questions. The information compiled is based upon the most common questions. As AI advances, it provides far better answers than most medical platforms. But no Google is going to inform anyone how to deal with psychological issues because AI does not comprehend, cannot comprehend, what it cannot be taught and Google is just going to offer worst case scenario information. Therapy doesn't help complex PTSD. There hasn't been a medication invented yet that controls it. Microdosing might in the future but by the time the stinking FDA gets around to accepting and legalizing it, we'll all be dead. They can give an experimental 'vaccine' to multiple millions of people, thereby compromising their health for a lifetime, but they can't expedite research and release of medication for mental problems.
I can have both panic attacks and legitimate epileptic seizures. My personal rule of thumb is that panic attacks build gradually. I can feel myself getting more and more tense until the anxiety spills over into physical symptoms. But I don’t get epileptic auras and so I’m feeling totally fine and suddenly, a seizure hits out of nowhere. Same thing on the way down. The seizure ends suddenly but the panic attack subsides gradually. I don’t know if this is just me, or generally true.
It sounds like medication might be a good place to start. Your description of subconscious panic attacks makes me understand what you're dealing with more accurately. I hope your doctor's can find a med that helps you. When I first started having them, I was in my early 20s without any health problems so went to my PCP from childhood and he put me on an old tricyclic antidepressant called tofranil for 6 months to stabilize my brain chemistry. Not sure this is a standard med but might be a starting place to talk to your doctor about.