So, the other night while driving to GR, I had a panic attack. I checked myself into the ER in a town half way between my house and my brothers house.
I declined an ambulance when I called 911 because I adjust medical claims and I know what those rides cost - at least I didn't skip the ER, right? But I did have the 911 operator stay on the phone with me until I drove the last few miles to the hospital.
It's one of those things that you can't really describe the scariness because there are no words. You kind of have to experience it to know what it's like. I thought I was going to die. Like, I was saying my final prayers because this was it. My time had come. (I would write out what exactly happened but it's easier to explain in person - or by talking- so if you want to know, by all means, call me).
I got all kinds of info on it from the doctor and one of the things was a list of symptoms where, if you have 4 or more of the symptoms, you are probably experiencing a panic attack. I experience about 3 of the symptoms weekly, if not daily. Kind of weird. I blame my mom for always having a death story for every activity I ever did or wanted to do! haha j/k mom!
I am hoping this will never happen again. Obviously. But for the past 3 days, I find that I get very anxious if I think about it happening again. Is it possible to have a panic attack because you are worrying about having a panic attack?
I am curious to know if anyone I am related to has ever had these? When they started? What the circumstances were? You can "comment" or email me privately...
And everyone else who is not related to me, feel free to comment, I am just especially curious about family for hereditary reasons =)
"dear jessica" still exists!
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Me, in a nutshell
- Jess(ica)
- Twin Cities, Minnesota, United States
- I've proven to be a Minnesota girl, through and through! I live in the twin cities which is about 3 hours from where my parents, brothers, sister-in-law and nieces, Taylor, Hannah, and Abigail live. I work full time at my job as an auto claim processor for State Farm. I love to hang out with friends have intelligent conversations about God, politics, life, whatever... I am not always an expert on the subject, but I just love to have good convo's and I love to learn what other people believe and why. My other favorite things to do are hang out with my awesome husband, Karl, my family, play ice hockey, go on trips, and sleep in on my days off. And of course, I love naps... they are seriously a form of recreation!
12 comments:
Panic attacks are related to anxiety. And anxiety definitely runs in the family.
Case in point. I woke up in a cold sweat the other night out of a deep sleep wondering if my favorite Teflon-coated pan was stacked under another pan that could scratch it accidentally.
Almost every night, I have to remind myself that the thoughts I have are anxious, not reality.
There is medication for anxiety, but I have chosen personal cognitive therapy (self talk).
And, I'm signing this anonymous. Everyone can guess who I am, but at least my name's not on the dotted line.
Love you!
"Is it possible to have a panic attack because you are worrying about having a panic attack?"
Yes, it's called an anxiety spiral.
I never want it to happen again either, and especially don't want to be on the phone again while its happening, it was SCARY. I am glad you were able to get the help you needed little lady.
For my first panic attack, I tried your personal cognitive therapy... for me, that didn't work. But maybe next time (if there is a next time), it will work. I got some meds for anxiety to use on an as needed basis... hopefully I won't need them.
Thanks for sharing a little of your experience.
what are the symptoms? i have a lot of anxiety so i wouldn't want to be unaware of possible trigger points! :( sorry that happened to you!!
Just to clarify... self talk may work with day-to-day ordinary anxiety, but probably not with an acute panic attack. That's when those Xanax (I'm guessing that's what you were prescribed) are handy.
The symptoms (in general):
1. feeling intense fear that something terrible is about to happen
2. worry about losing control
3. worry about dying, going crazy or having a heart attack
4. having many body symptoms such as pounding heart, upset stomach, diarrhea, shaking, sweating, being hot or cold
5. feeling like you are choking or can't breathe
6. being dizzy, faint or lightheaded
7. feeling numb or tingling sensations in arms, legs or other parts of your body
8. feeling detached or as if you are watching yourself from outside the body
wow that is really scary. especially while driving! hope you can get it figured out and get some help so it doesn't happen again!
Jessica,
There are several SSRI antidepressants that control/diminish anxiety attacks.
Every now and then I get them while driving under certain conditions. Freeway/crowded/cars darting in-and-out/no escape route. My solution has been to let Jana drive to her parents house (one hour freeway drive) and I do all the local driving (which does not cause anxiety attacks)
Xanex is short-term? Addictive? May want to use meds if talk doesn't work.
Hope that helps. Call me if you have one again. I have been there.
Love you!
A. Lori
By meds I mean SSRI anti-deps
A. Lori
Man, that really stinks. I'm really sorry to hear you had one. My co-worker used to suffer from those and they seem really horrible. I hope that is your LAST one. My friend at work said that she could feel herself spiraling and finally learned how to stop it. I think the key (for her at least) was knowing exactly what was happening to her and feeling like she could control it to some degree.
I did have to chuckle, though, that even in the middle of a panic attack you were exhibiting another trait that runs in our family: frugality.
There is another condition that being afraid of having panic attacks can lead to. It is called agoraphobia and it runs in my family (actually my Mom has had it fairly seriously in the past). It is loosely defined as a fear of fearful feelings. Basically the way it works is that if you have a panic attack in certain circumstances, you begin to avoid those specific circumstances, such as panic attack at the supermarket = no more grocery shopping trips. Someone else used the term anxiety spiral and I really like that because that is how agoraphobia is. There are extreme cases of people who are unable to leave their homes (It sounds crazy, but the number of places that make them anxious/potentially produce panic attacks grows greatly as time goes on)
All that being said, I do not think that having a single panic attack qualifies you as an agoraphobic! I just wanted to share my personal experience with anxiety conditions. Love you :)
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