Anyway, I don't have panic attacks as often anymore, and the last one I had was months ago, but they do usually come out of no where at the weirdest times, with no real explanation. This one that I had last night came on around 1:30 am and lasted about 20-30 minutes. The next time I remember looking at the clock was just after 2:00 am and I was feeling much more calm, better, normal, and although still sore, my chest didn't hurt as much. That is an unusually long time for one of my attacks to last, however last night i just couldn't get this one under control. I had to lay on the floor and pop a klonopin under my tongue. My right breast and chest was so tight and the pain was radiating to a muscle spasm in my left shoulder blade just along the right of my spine. (It's all still sore today!) I felt all cold and clammy and then started to panic more, because I couldn't breathe. It felt like I was being stabbed in the left lung through my back and the knife was being slowly twisted.
Usually if I have an episode like this I can get someone, (my husband), to push on the sore stabbing muscle in my back and it seems to help. That along with an anti-anxiety rescue medication seem to get me out of the predicament rather quickly before I have to deal with any residual soreness. I almost woke up my husband, but I knew he had to get up for work in a few hours, so I was determined to handle it myself.
Funny thing happened back in April, when I was at the nail salon just 2 days before my wedding. My bridesmaids took me there so I would have pretty nails for my special day. We were getting a ton of rain and my mom called to tell me our church's basement was full of water, and all the roads that lead there are flooded ...great. I'm sitting there getting a pedicure, suppose to be relaxing. I start feeling all clammy, and dizzy. It sounded like people were talking underwater. I look next to me at my soon to be sister-in-law/one of my bridesmaids and tell her "I need you to stand on my back." hehe She knows the drill though and I lay on the floor in the nail salon with her sticking her heal into my right shoulder blade. The nail techs are all asking her if they should call 911, or if we need any help. She tells them, no this will only take a couple minutes and all will be fine and she was right. About 3 - 5 minutes later I'm already back up in the chair enjoying my pedicure, laughing and having fun.
In my experience panic attacks can come on very suddenly, and they can also come on with warning signs. Usually when I start to notice these signs I get to a place that I can stay safe, or I tell whoever I'm with what I think is going to happen. The episodes I am use to, I've learned to remedy, although before I had my rescue medications these attacks were so much more severe and scary. I'm very thankful to have the tools I need to control them as well as I do now.
Symptoms and Pain Levels (1-10 being the worst)
- Head (yucky headache that keeps getting worse) Pain level 7.5 and rising
- face, arms, wrists, hands and fingers pain level 4
- neck upper back and shoulders pain level 5
- lower back, hips, butt and legs pain level 6
- knees, calves, ankels and feet pain level 3
- unquenchable thirst and dry mouth
- IBS and frequent urination
- blurred vision
- nausea and stomachache
Helpful Linkage:
Anxiety Disorder and Panic Attack Symptoms
http://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety-attack-symptoms.shtml
http://maketheconnection.net/conditions/anxiety-disorder?gclid=CJXkmIes07oCFStp7AodrH4ADA
http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/anxiety-panic-guide-symptoms-types
12 Signs you may have Anxiety Disorder
http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20646990,00.html
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