disturbedme
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posted
I'm trying to figure out if I just had a couple panic attacks.
From what I know, I don't think I've ever had them before, unless what I have been experiencing are panic attacks. I know many people with Lyme experience them.
I was sitting in the car waiting for my husband in the grocery store when all of a sudden I felt really flushed, felt a warm feeling rise up in me, had a few hot flashes on and off, then felt like I was going to faint or black out. Then I notice my heart rate was flying. I could feel/hear it without even trying to. After that, it happened a couple more times. They were really short, but were very scary as it felt like I was just going to black out each time it happened. I also felt like I was going to puke afterwards. It never got to that, but the whole episode seemed to make me nauseous.
Does this sound like a panic attack? These scare me. It felt like I was going to lose consciousness. That scares me to no end. If it was a panic attack, I don't really know what caused it except that I haven't been feeling all that good today or yesterday.
Does it sound like one?
I also notice that after all of that, I was really hot but then got cold again soon after. Cold enough that when we got home, I needed a blanket.
Thanks much! I'm scared.
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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posted
You don't need to panic to have a panic attack. You don't have to be scared at all. There are several of us that have panic attacks in my family..... my niece has them, but only when she get too hot. Weird huh?
Racing heart, hard to breath, tight chest, feel like you blacking out. Feels scary, (the physical symptoms) then if it scares you, it feels even worse.
My daughter is different. She has a lot of anxiety about a lot of things, and that can put her into a full blown panic attack.
She choked on her own spit once on the school bus. (second grade) She had a terrible panic attack while chocking on her spit. They pulled the bus over and called 911.
It seems very serious, like you could die.
I have only had a few myself, and it was good 'empthay training'. Very uncomfortable.
The thing that has helped me and the kids most is just remembering that it will pass. Having someone talk you through it or talking yourself through it.
Of course, go to the doctor and make sure it is not something else. But it sounds like it could be a panic attack to me.
(somethimes panic attack makes my daughter vomit :0) Von
Posts: 258 | From Washington State | Registered: Nov 2005
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Help Me in the top of the page now, i posted how I ended up dealing with these. It is long so wont repost, but I am telling you it works. Takes some time to get it but it does.
i was dealing with these so badly for months on end....out of the blue, knocked me for loops emotionally and physically but finally found away to get a handle on them....
If you ahve questions on my process, dont hesitate to pm or repost any q's.
-------------------- Seeking renewed health & vitality. --------------------------------- Do not take anything I say as medical advice - I am NOT a dr! Posts: 830 | From TN | Registered: Aug 2007
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posted
That's a panic attack!!! You feel detached from reality...hot flashes...the whole nine yards
Posts: 85 | From Staten Island, NY | Registered: Nov 2007
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posted
That's a panic attack!!! You feel detached from reality...hot flashes...the whole nine yards
Posts: 85 | From Staten Island, NY | Registered: Nov 2007
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Peacesoul
Unregistered
posted
yes and no. I've suffered PA's for over 20 yrs. Some are like you explain, but they ususally get to that stage when you're feeling general axiety to begin with. Did you feel like you were panicked over something? If it was a PA, the trick, don't dwell on them. They will come back if u dwell and worry it will happen again. Are you pms'ing? What meds are you on?
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disturbedme
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posted
quote:Originally posted by Peacesoul: Did you feel like you were panicked over something? Are you pms'ing? What meds are you on?
I wasn't really panicking at the time. I've just been upset because for a good month I was feeling well again. And then the last couple of days I've started to feel terrible again and it's got me upset.
Not pms'ing, though my period will be starting in less than a week or so.
I'm on Doxy, Rifampin and Biaxin.
If I start thinking about what happened, I start to feel scared/ill again. I don't know if this is just normal because I don't want to feel like that again -- it was very scary.
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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tailz
Unregistered
posted
I'd call that a panic attack, but that's exactly what happens to me if I'm in the line of fire of my neighbor's cell phone, because the microwaves travel right through my head to complete his calls.
Are you sure there wasn't someone sitting in a car a few feet away from you making a call?
Google electrical sensitivities/microwave sickness.
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Tracy9
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Member # 7521
posted
Try Bach's Rescue Remedy; can be purchased over the counter in health food stores and even some grocery stores.
It works really well for most people, is made of flower extracts, and you can use it as often as you need to.
13 years Lyme & Co.; Small Fiber Neuropathy; Myasthenia Gravis, Adrenal Insufficiency. On chemo for 2 1/2 years as experimental treatment for MG. Posts: 4480 | From Northeastern Connecticut | Registered: Jun 2005
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Peacesoul
Unregistered
posted
quote:Originally posted by tailz: I'd call that a panic attack, but that's exactly what happens to me if I'm in the line of fire of my neighbor's cell phone, because the microwaves travel right through my head to complete his calls.
Are you sure there wasn't someone sitting in a car a few feet away from you making a call?
Google electrical sensitivities/microwave sickness.
quote:Originally posted by Peacesoul: Did you feel like you were panicked over something? Are you pms'ing? What meds are you on?
I wasn't really panicking at the time. I've just been upset because for a good month I was feeling well again. And then the last couple of days I've started to feel terrible again and it's got me upset.
Not pms'ing, though my period will be starting in less than a week or so.
I'm on Doxy, Rifampin and Biaxin.
If I start thinking about what happened, I start to feel scared/ill again. I don't know if this is just normal because I don't want to feel like that again -- it was very scary.
Ok, try not to dwell on it. You'll get into the scary world of the "what if's" if you do. It sounds to me like the meds may have dropped your blood pressure and it brought on a panic attack. Most anxiety or panic attacks are not that sudden and you'll have anxiety and some warning first. They are scary and very unpleasant. Since I've been on meds, my panic has gotten worse. When I was on plaq, I was in constant panic so actually stopped the drug. Are u detoxing while on meds?
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posted
I just yelled to the next room to my sixteen year old daughter "what helps you the most for panic attacks?"
She yells "ZOLOFT!!!"
" And my big sister to talk me through."
Posts: 258 | From Washington State | Registered: Nov 2005
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Peacesoul
Unregistered
posted
quote:Originally posted by von: I just yelled to the next room to my sixteen year old daughter "what helps you the most for panic attacks?"
She yells "ZOLOFT!!!"
" And my big sister to talk me through."
I would not take meds after only having one panic attack. There are so many side effects from zoloft also.
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lymeHerx001
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posted
I had my first one when I was 13 or so. I became aware of everything and then the wall started to move, I could feel in my chest my heart beating faster and faster and with each beat it seemed that dead was a second closer. Dread has come and something is wrong.
You do feel like you will die in a minute.
After that I only had a couple more and then they went away for awhile.
They came back in my early 20s when I began to use and abuse epherine. It turned me into a scitzopherenic with suicidal depression lasting a year.
Damnnn now that I look back on that, what a wasted life.
Posts: 2905 | From New England | Registered: Sep 2004
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AliG
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posted
Had you eaten anything? Hypoglycemia can do stuff like that.
When did you start the Biaxin? It gave me something like panic attacks, when I took it.
I've found that I've felt like I couldn't get any air during a panic attack.
I did almost pass out twice. (I hadn't had the feeling of anxiety prior to the onset of the other issues, the anxiety came later.) I described what happened to Dr. but never got an explanation. (It hadn't happened again for a long time) It was like you described, but I didn't realize what was going on at that time. It was really frightening.
When I almost passed out after a horrific attempt at a midline insertion, I recognized the feeling. (it was from the pain, not the blood )
I don't know if it was possible that at the time it happened I may have forgotten to eat? I still don't know what it was, but it stopped.
[ 19. November 2007, 09:51 AM: Message edited by: AliG ]
-------------------- Note: I'm NOT a medical professional. The information I share is from my own personal research and experience. Please do not construe anything I share as medical advice, which should only be obtained from a licensed medical practitioner. Posts: 4881 | From Middlesex County, NJ | Registered: Jul 2006
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Geneal
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10375
posted
My panic attacks feel like that. My body also feels numb.
I can't swallow, difficult to breathe. Horrible.
Good news is they come only every once in a while now.
I can recognize it and just wait it out.
For me, it usually occurs when driving and I always pull over as I have my precious
Children in the car. Breathing into a paper bag helps to keep me from hyperventilating too.
I had them so bad before I was diagnosed and started treatment for Lyme.
I would have what I called Night Terrors where waves of panic
Would wash over my body all night long.
Really horriffic.
Sending you positive thoughts and prayers.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posts: 6250 | From Louisiana | Registered: Oct 2006
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disturbedme
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posted
quote:Originally posted by AliG: Had you eaten anything? Hypoglycemia can do stuff like that.
When did you start the Biaxin? It gave me something like panic attacks, when I took it.
I had just eaten, actually. We were coming home from eating out at a restaurant, and my husband wanted to stop at Safeway real quick. I didn't feel like going in, so I waited in the car. Another thing that may have set me off that I didn't think about until later was that when we parked, there were people sitting in the car beside us. I think that kind of made me nervous without me knowing totally.
I've been on Biaxin for quite a while. At least 4 or so months, if not more.
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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CaliforniaLyme
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posted
I have a history of seevre panic attacks when I was in college, the same time period they thought I had lupus. The panic attacks went away when my suspected lupus went away- with longterm abx treatment for pneumonia. Mine were severe because I acted on them. I would suddenly feel the "fight or flight" response when in a certain setting, usally a crowd, and I would literally run away to get out of whereever I was. I always had to sit in an easy access row in my classrooms because once I made the mistake of beingin a middle row and I was very rude in my flight response- trod on multiple toes & knees- & backpacks- would run to nearest bathroom and just BREATHE BREATHE BREATHE-
-------------------- There is no wealth but life. -John Ruskin
All truth goes through 3 stages: first it is ridiculed: then it is violently opposed: finally it is accepted as self evident. - Schopenhauer Posts: 5639 | From Aptos CA USA | Registered: Apr 2005
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disturbedme
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posted
California -- did what I had sound like what your panic attacks were like?
I'm trying to figure out if that's what I really had.
I will definitely tell my LLMD about it next visit. He has asked me before if I ever had them.
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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Peacesoul
Unregistered
posted
quote:Originally posted by CaliforniaLyme: I have a history of seevre panic attacks when I was in college, the same time period they thought I had lupus. The panic attacks went away when my suspected lupus went away- with longterm abx treatment for pneumonia. Mine were severe because I acted on them. I would suddenly feel the "fight or flight" response when in a certain setting, usally a crowd, and I would literally run away to get out of whereever I was. I always had to sit in an easy access row in my classrooms because once I made the mistake of beingin a middle row and I was very rude in my flight response- trod on multiple toes & knees- & backpacks- would run to nearest bathroom and just BREATHE BREATHE BREATHE-
Isn't that an awful feeling?! are you ok now? Do you still get them?
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It sounds exactly like a panic attack to me. Feels like there is no air to breathe and you are going to suffocate. Horrible, horrible feeling.
I've only had this happen to me twice, and they started literally one week before my Lyme test came back positive. Once I started on abx, they stopped and I have not had one since.
Posts: 220 | From central TX | Registered: Jun 2005
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CaliforniaLyme
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posted
Yes YES Diturbed, felt very much like that- but with me there would be this sensation of RUN RUN FLIGHT- and I literally would.
No, PeaceSoul, I haven't had panic attacks like that, running ones, since they gave me longterm antibiotics for pneumonia when I was 20, it took away my "suspected lupus", my pneumonia AND my panic attacks*)*!)*!!
When I got Lymed, I DID have 3 panic attacks (and malar rash came back and other lupus symptoms)- one we went to ER room 2 weeks after tick bite, they said, "Panic attack & hyperventilating"- It had been SO LONG since I had panic attack I thought somethign was wrong with my heart- but none since Rocephin- none since 7+ years now-
THANK GOODNESS(_!(*_!*! Sincerely, Sarah 100% symptom free*)!*)!)!
-------------------- There is no wealth but life. -John Ruskin
All truth goes through 3 stages: first it is ridiculed: then it is violently opposed: finally it is accepted as self evident. - Schopenhauer Posts: 5639 | From Aptos CA USA | Registered: Apr 2005
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Peacesoul
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posted
Thanks Cal lyme....I've suffered panic attacks or over 20 yrs so I hope these abx help me with them. So far, my panic is worse, but maybe it will get worse before it gets better.
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caat
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posted
>>>>I wasn't really panicking at the time.
No... it does NOT sound like a panic attack. It really really doesn't. It sounds like tachardia. Tachardia is enough to MAKE one panic. I probley spelled it wrong, but do a search for it here.
The hot then cold thing is interesting. A lot of people with babesia have that. Sweating then chills.
From what I understand this is caused by dead babesia getting clumped up in the blood vessels. Which can also do weird things with heart beats. Maleria also causes this and possibly a bad systemic yeast infection does simular. I took a beta blocker as needed when it was bad- didn't change some of the weird heart beats but slowed things down enough so it wasn't as scarey.
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bettyg
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posted
i SOB all comments with bolding since it hurts my eyes, so haven't read other comments.
i've had this really bad since 1 yr. ago when 1st hit me while i was having my hair cut! couldn't breathe, heart was racing, and i ran out of salon for several minutes to calm down. told my niece/hair dresser to cut as FAST as she could so i could leave.
now, i make appt. with only her there or 1 other one wih NO PERMS, DYES, OR NAILS BEING DONE! it's helped.
also get this terribly when going into SMALL dr. cubicle rooms! i had to have open door at 2 dr. appts. this week including new pcp, and he was NOT happy about that. they had to find me fans for both rooms...can't take no air flow.
as a young kid of 6-8, my younger brother o 4-5 pulled the CAR TRUNK DOWN on the 2 of us as we listed last load of groceries from trunk. we were stuck in there 3-4 hrs. until supper tme. on farm, we'd allways be playing outside or in buildings. mom didn't miss us until supper time when she heard me yelling 2' from tail light! i've suffered terribly claustrophobic episodes since.
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To me this doesn't sound like a panic attack. I used to be the queen of panic attacks for 18 long years. While I too could get all your physical symptoms during a panic attack the main and most horrible symptom of my panic attacks was shere and utter fear which came out of nowhere. I was so panicked out that I thought I had to die of fear!
Nowadays, with my Lyme being more advanced I can also get an attack of physical symptoms as you describe them but without having any unexplainable fear. This is something physical - I don't know what, though. And of course it's scary when you get these symptoms but it's not a panic attack.
Somebody who ever had a panic attack will not need to ask if it was one. He or she will know it for sure because it is such a horrible experience and the panic is so dominant you can't mistake it for something else.
However, I made the experience that doctors tend to explain a lot of strange physical symptoms with panic attacks because they have no idea what's going on. It's so easy to put the blame on the patient.
Gabrielle
Posts: 767 | From Germany | Registered: Feb 2004
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disturbedme
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posted
quote:Originally posted by caat: >>>>I wasn't really panicking at the time.
No... it does NOT sound like a panic attack. It really really doesn't. It sounds like tachardia. Tachardia is enough to MAKE one panic. I probley spelled it wrong, but do a search for it here.
I do have Tachycardia. I already know that. But I've had that for quite a long time and haven't really experienced this panic attack-like thing very often. Once in a great while. And I also took a beta blocker for a while, but my Tachycardia has become a lot better, so I don't take it anymore. I have it on hand just in case I may need it, but so far I'm doing fine without it. *knock on wood* I think the antibiotics and treatment have helped slow my Tachycardia down.
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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CaliforniaLyme
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posted
I also had tachycardia and yes, panic attacks are different-
-------------------- There is no wealth but life. -John Ruskin
All truth goes through 3 stages: first it is ridiculed: then it is violently opposed: finally it is accepted as self evident. - Schopenhauer Posts: 5639 | From Aptos CA USA | Registered: Apr 2005
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disturbedme
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posted
quote:Originally posted by CaliforniaLyme: I also had tachycardia and yes, panic attacks are different-
I am glad you agree. To me, it didn't feel like my normal tachycardia. Usually, for me, my tachycardia is just a very fast pulse and sometimes I can feel it without trying, but I don't get hot flashes with it or feel like I'm going to faint/black out or feel really hot really fast and then feel cold after it's all over. Tachycardia doesn't make me lose my appetite either.
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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Dr. Brian Fallon, m.d., columbia u. ,, once wrote somewhere that lyme-induced panic attacks can last hours.
this, in contrast to panic attacks that have other causes. this happened to me.
-------------------- pingpong Posts: 361 | From At the Pingpong Tournament | Registered: Oct 2007
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AliG
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Member # 9734
posted
quote:Originally posted by caat: >>>>I wasn't really panicking at the time.
No... it does NOT sound like a panic attack. It really really doesn't. It sounds like tachardia. Tachardia is enough to MAKE one panic. I probley spelled it wrong, but do a search for it here.
The hot then cold thing is interesting. A lot of people with babesia have that. Sweating then chills.
From what I understand this is caused by dead babesia getting clumped up in the blood vessels. Which can also do weird things with heart beats. Maleria also causes this and possibly a bad systemic yeast infection does simular. I took a beta blocker as needed when it was bad- didn't change some of the weird heart beats but slowed things down enough so it wasn't as scarey.
Hmmmmmm...... I had Babesiosis.
-------------------- Note: I'm NOT a medical professional. The information I share is from my own personal research and experience. Please do not construe anything I share as medical advice, which should only be obtained from a licensed medical practitioner. Posts: 4881 | From Middlesex County, NJ | Registered: Jul 2006
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Breathing into a paper bag helps to keep me from hyperventilating too.
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