Panic attack

[rexymeteorite]

so I have been up all night once again. Its now 5:20am pst, and I wasn't feeling panicky until I started looking up norovirus. I didn't even panic looking up noro. Around 4 am I went to bed to try to get some sleep before my 9:00am class, managed about 10 minutes of sleep, and then woke up and found myself completely and totally triggered. We're talking anxiety levels at 9 or 10. Felt n*, my stomach felt flighty. I jumped out of bed, went into the living room and immediately started pacing, and just in general started acting crazy. Took my temperature like 4 times. It went from 97.0 to 97.6 within 15 minutes, and I freaked out some more. I went to the bathroom and no d*, in fact (and I know this is tmi) I was a bit constipated, like I couldn't fully push anything out. God what a ridiculous thing to be doing at 5 am. Sitting here, obsessively checking my temp, rocking back and forth, shaking, on the verge of tears. Literally pulling out my hair out of fear, trying not to wake up my fiancee. Jesus Christ I need help. I am thinking that I need some sort of medication, but I fear side effects, like every other emetophobe on the damn planet.

Oh, did I mention the dizziness? Yeah, not helping. I hope this is just a panic attack and not the dreaded noro. I don't think I could handle v* once, let alone all day. This is so ridiculous.

[rexymeteorite]

Oh and curse the trolls that closed down the chat room. It was such a useful tool for times like this.

[rexymeteorite]

now my stomach is gurgling and making weird noises....God so scared.

[Natiebear]

That is classic panic attack symptoms. You are not sick you are just over tired and need rest. Try a hot bath and some relaxing music if you can. I get that often when I'm stressed out and I take meds. I would look into some meds to help you out. I have been on antidepressants for years and the sideffects are minimal. Hang in there this will pass just remember it can only last so long and it will stop.

[rexymeteorite]

My anxiety level is dropping, maybe from 9 or 10 to 6 or 7. I am still shaking, but slowly calming down. And wow, look at that, my n is going away. I am pretty sure it was a gas bubble. How freaking ridiculous. I want to be rid of this phobia once and for all.

[rexymeteorite]

question: is it normal to have ringing in your ears during a panic attack?

[jennjt]

I feel your pain I am all too familiar with the pacing, shaking, n*, and just pure feeling crazy during a panic attack. I'm glad you are feeling better now. I take Lexapro for anxiety/depression, and I also have Vistaril for panic attacks. It does help for the most part, but there are times when I am just too worked up, and nothing helps. I have never had any n* or v* or anything from the Lexapro-- no anti depressant is fun if you come off of it, however. I have gotten ringing in ears / dizziness during panic attacks... I have this theory that it's from all the adrenaline coursing through our bodies! Again, I am glad you are feeling better. You made it!

[rexymeteorite]

the thing that freaked me out this time was that I woke up and immediately had a panic attack. That has never happened to me. Usually it takes a while to build, I can feel it in the back of my head for hours. This one was like BAM its happening RIGHT NOW whether you are ready or not. Freaked me out because I know that the symptoms of noro hit you suddenly and thats what I thought it was. Maybe reading all the sensationalized news stories about it right before trying to sleep isn't the best thing to do.