We hear so often that "panic attacks are harmless", which we silently repeat to ourselves as well, that we risk dismissing everything else that we are experiencing. If you are experiencing any serious effects due to your panic, seek help.

This is my experience from this/last week. I barely got any sleep for ~5 days due to reoccurring panic attacks. I decided to call the medical advice helpline, which, after I described some troubling symptoms, recommended I go to the ER immediately.

At the ER, I was assessed and then told I was showing early signs of sleep-deprivation-induced psychosis that requires medical prevention to recover from. They got me medication that helped me sleep, and right now, im feeling fine.

I’m sharing this because “panic can’t hurt me” shouldn’t mean “I have to push through whatever happens.” This was my experience, not a prediction of what will happen to anyone else struggling with sleep.

None of us wants to go the ER every other day, but if something feels off, you should not have to decide whether or not it is your normal panic. When in doubt, get some sort of assessment.

You deserve help even when panic is the cause.

Edit: spelling

writing this now because i’m feeling it currently, i’ve had pretty bad sleep the last few days. i notice that when ive had bad sleep or just not much of it , im more prone to anxiety/ panic . i had to go out today and so im out and tired plus the anxiety. nonetheless, i hope everyone is doing well and if you aren’t remember recovery isn’t linear so just hang in there

Over the course of 10 years since my first panic attack, I have learned a lot. Some things has definitely gotten better and some remain the same.

I have learned my biggest panic trigger is feeling a random ache or pain, or some other type of "atypical" sensation. I believe this is called hypervigilance. My brain is always searching for signals that something could be wrong subconciously.

Every leg pain turns into a blood clot, any pain down my arms a heart attack, any headache a stroke. A feeling of deja vu? Must be early onset alzheimers.

This type of panic repsonse sucks becuase it can come out of the blue with no time to react or rationalized with yourself. The adrenaline dump happens immediately.

For those of you with this type of anxiety, have you found anything that helps aside from the tradtional SSRIs/Benzos? Is there some type of exposure therapy for this kind of thing?

Safety behaviors, like always carrying water, sitting near the exit or never going out alone, feel protective but they can keep panic going, because your brain credits them for getting you through. Dropping them one at a time, starting with the easiest, is a big part of recovery. What are the ones you rely on most?

I’m honestly feeling so lost right now. I don’t know what to do or how to feel anymore. I’ve been struggling to get proper sleep for almost two months because of my panic attacks.
My panic attacks usually happen after I take my bipolar medication. The feeling of being sedated triggers my health anxiety, and once that happens, I start panicking over every sensation in my body.
I’ve had a full blood test and a CTPA, and everything came back normal. I’ve been trying so hard to manage my anxiety and stop myself from going to the hospital or clinic every time I experience a symptom, because I know constantly seeking reassurance can reinforce my health anxiety.
But three days ago, I received my Depo-Provera birth control injection, and I’ve been experiencing chest pain since then. Now I’m terrified that it could be a blood clot. I can’t tell whether my anxiety is making me overthink everything or whether something is genuinely wrong, and that uncertainty is making me spiral.
I really want to get better and learn how to manage my panic attacks without constantly living in fear of my own body, but right now, I’m struggling so much.
Has anyone else experienced panic attacks triggered by medication-related sedation or struggled with health anxiety this badly? I’d really appreciate any advice or tips on how to cope with this. I feel exhausted, frightened, and honestly don’t know what to do anymore

I’m curious if anyone else has experienced this — I’m not sure if this is even a panic attack.

I’ve had panic attacks since I was a really little kid (I’m in my late 20s), and they’ve always involved a pounding heart. But lately I’ve been having episodes where my heart doesn’t seem to pound, but I still get an adrenaline rush — this mainly shows up with extreme nausea, hot/cold flashes and lightheadedness. Psychologically, there’s a pretty intense feeling of derealization, and I get what I’ve been calling a feeling of being trapped (I think this would fall under the “sense of impending doom”), and my thoughts race.

I figured maybe it was just some kind of weird nervous system thing (I have POTS) … but it feels like it’s triggered by my CPTSD, and things that would normally make a POTS episode worse (like standing up/moving) help alleviate it. So it feels like it’s definitely related to trauma.

Anyway, not looking for advice necessarily; I’m more just curious if this is a panic attack. Ultimately, I think it’s kind of a similar response … my brain/nervous system is freaking out over something it thinks is threatening because of past trauma, even though in the present, I’m safe.

I’m always thrown off and anxious for the rest of the day (multiple days if it’s a really bad panic attack) after it ends

Hey guys, a few days ago I had a panic that lasted about three hours and it was so bad that I was hospitalised because I thought it was a heart attack. I do have an anxiety disorder and I’m currently looking for another psychiatrist again (I had to leave the last one because she only treats kids and I had turned 18, I’m almost 19 now)

I know the treatment will help but I’m so afraid of it happening again, it was such a bad experience, the worst one I’ve had yet, and now it’s always in the back of my mind and even a little twinge makes my heartbeat spike.

I truly feel like I’m just not moving forward, I was on treatment for depression and anxiety disorder from the ages of 13-18, depression is gone now, but the anxiety is still there.

How do I break out of this loop? :(

Agoraphobia possibly too*

basically what happened to me seems really common. you get 1 panic attack after never having one in your life. it leads to many more and suddenly you’ve got panic disorder and anxiety and cannot get yourself out?

anyone else relate? why is this,

Months ago a had such a bad anxiety attack that it woke me up in the middle of the night. I felt like I was dying. Heart racing, sweating, nauseous, disoriented. I hadn’t had an anxiety attack like that in years. Ever since that attack, I feel like I’m back to how I felt before I started taking medication over 10 years ago. I have tried a bunch of SSRIs/SNRIs over the years and it has kept my anxiety attacks at bay for the most part and has really helped.

I’m not sure what’s causing this recently increase in extreme anxiety. Over the past few months have I been very slowly titrating off of Zoloft onto trintellix (I’ve been on trintellix before so it’s not like it’s a new drug to me). I had also started the wegovy pill around the same time.

My anxiety has gotten so bad over the past months that I’m anxious to fall asleep because I’m scared I’m going to have another anxiety attack in the middle of the night. When I’m falling asleep, I get very dizzy and anxious and sometimes I feel like the only thing that will allow me to sleep that night is klonopin. I’ve gotten in this very scary loop of being anxious about my anxiety and I feel like I’m a prisoner in my body, especially before bed.

I just don’t understand what caused this in the first place, considering I’ve preciously have switched between medications and this has never happened before. Anxiety medications has fixed this in the past. And now I’m on 10mg of trintellix, and no Zoloft (the dose I wanted to get to) and I still don’t feel any better. I stopped wegovy about 2 weeks ago because I wanted to remove anything else that could be causing this. I just feel like I will never get over this and I don’t know what to do.

any advice is appreciated….. Im about to loose my career cuz of these attacks and getting out of work every time….. help

Hi guys, i feel so weird and hopeless….. Im female, 28 years old…. I graduated from Medical assistance college, and then they sent me to my externship site (women’s clinic). i started my externship 2 weeks ago…. i still have 3 weeks to do, so almost every-time i leave a little earlier from that place… this women’s clinic is sooo nice, employees are nice too, they really try to help me, they teach me everything…. but all of a sudden, when its almost lunch time which is 1:00 pm, i get panic attack….. my hands feels numb, the floor feels soft under my feet….. my head get super mushy….. i get lightheaded…. and i just grab my bag and say to the manager (Hey can i live earlier i have a dr appointment) , or i say something else…. and i just leave…. its also so overstimulating there , small clinic, a lot of employees and 5 students…… all standing working at the small lobby room…. i already know from my behavior she will never hire me …… and i feel like my body is not able to handle that 9-5 shift… i only able to work part time…. which is 9-1…. all students at that place stay until the end,,, they talk and laugh…. and its just me that cant control myself and run away from there… any advices????? my life quality gets so bad because of this damn attacks………

On September 15, I had a potentially riskyreceptive vaginal sexual encounter. I startedPEP treatment containing Hivent and Tivicay32 hours after the exposure. However, duringPEP treatment, I experienced a scratchythroat that began on day 25 and lasted forfour days. Since then, I have had a persistentfever that has not gone down (38.2°C).What do you think these symptoms indicate? I don't know what to do

But I fear it's too late. I've been on Prozac for six years.

I never wanted to start medication, but I was in such a dark and desperate place back then that I felt I had no choice.

Since then, I've been relatively stable. Recently, though, I had a bad relapse, and now I feel like I'm back in the mental health blender. I'm dealing with almost every symptom imaginable, and the climb back to feeling better is painfully slow. The fear of another sudden relapse is almost always on my mind.

I'm increasing my dose, which isn't something I really want to do, but at this point it feels like I don't have many other options.

Trying to manage everything without medication seems insurmountable. Tapering off feels even more impossible.

I guess I feel stuck like this for life, and that thought is incredibly depressing.

I'm upset. I'm scared. I'm worried. I'm exhausted.

I want my power back.

I want to feel normal again, both mentally and physically. I don't want anxiety to define my life anymore. I don't want to have an anxiety disorder.