re: Panic Attacks

People here have spoken truth----if you don't know if you've ever had a panic attack, you likely have never had one. I've always struggled with anxiety, but my one and only true panic attack was an awful experience. I was driving over a HUGE bridge I'd driven over many times before--I was in the second of four lanes, not the right lane, when the panic started. I suddenly felt like I was going to black out with spots in front of my eyes, heart racing, short of breath, but worst of all was how hard I had to fight with myself to ignore the urge to stop dead, put the car in park in the middle of the bridge, and cover my eyes...... I made it to the other side, pulled off the road and cried. I haven't crossed that bridge since, and the fear I have of ALL bridges now is crazy because I'm afraid I'll have another panic attack.

I started getting them in college, stopped smoking weed and they went away for nearly 20 years. Then having a kid and going through the life insurance process brought them back. I confided in a really good friend about, so glad I did, he shared his own experiences with them and confided he's on lexipro and works great for him. So I decided I would do the same, but after having that conversation with him, they almost completely (but not entirely) went away, so I'm still unmedicated for it.

It is definitely a weird condition.

Panic attacks are no joke. I had my first big one in my 20's. I was chilling on my couch when suddenly my heart
began beating super fast. My chest began hurting and I felt like I was gonna pass out. Thought I was having a heart attack so I drove myself to the ER.

As they hooked me up to the machines I felt like this was it. I felt like I was about to die. I felt myself floating above the table and saw blackness enveloping my line of sight. I told the doc that I needed to contact my family to tell them goodbye.

Doc told the nurse "give him 5mg ativan." She injected it into my IV drip. Within about 2 minutes I felt really good and had calmed down. Doc told me it was a panic attack.

I felt like a fool for wasting their time but that shite is bad news. Never felt anything like it. Panic attacks are much more serious than just a little stress. You literally feel like you're about to die.

Panic attacks can be random, though. Great mood, beautiful day...I think meds should be taken in combination with counseling, though. Not psychiatric, long-term counseling in all situations, just learning to develop tools to deal with & hopefully prevent them.

I think the biggest thing to learn from this thread is all sorts of things can trigger panic attacks, or a variety of disorders. Some folks can self-medicate, and others require actual meds. Basically, no one can tell you what is required for YOU. But as has been said before, once you’ve had a panic attack, you know what it is. There is no doubt. And how you are able to get out of that situation, in a lot of ways, dictates what is the right course of action.

I had my first about 4-5 days after I found out my dad had a couple months to live. I was in my mid 30s and figured everyone who talked about panic attacks was just a bitch. We are country folk who don’t cry or complain. Well, lemme tell you...a real life panic attack will flat frick you up. I found out that night that about the only way I can come back to reality is to call or talk with my wife. She knows what it is when she answers the phone and immediately starts talking about something totally unrelated to anything that may be going on in our lives. Within 20-30 seconds she can have me calming down. Then she’ll ask me what it was that got me worked up and we’ll talk about it so it doesn’t happen again.

Been that way for 10 years now. No meds....yet. But it’s not too common of an occurrence. Maybe 20-25 times in the past 10 years. Not as often as they used to be. I can even talk myself out of them a bit now too.

You are 100% correct. Any event that has a life changing outcome for the worse can cause severe depression, anxiety etc.. And until someone experiences that first hand, or has lived with a loved one that has, then it's very hard to understand.


Obviously people abuse these types of drugs for their own benefit, but for the ones that really need them and can benefit from them, then they are a game changer

I also have no idea what causes it for me. I’m about as laid back as it gets, don’t feel anxiety over much of anything, haven’t had anything traumatic happen to me. Sucks.

I smoked for 20 years

First panic attack was a year or two after starting smoking

Stopped smoking five years ago, no more panic attacks

Look at Wiki under "vasovagal response"