PANIC! PANIC! PANIC!
I had a panic attack around 10pm last night - I was feeling a little down beforehand but nothing really bad or unusal, and I putting sheets on the bed, then suddenly PANIC! HYPERVENTILATION! UNCONTROLLABLE CRYING! FALLING DOWN! TINGLING! WORLD CRUMBLING! I have no idea what caused it - I know what *triggered* it but I don't consider that the cause. I was pretty dumbfounded as to why and embarassed to be honest, especially because I'm worrying Andy.
Anyway, I'm feeling pretty off today as a result. My head is just not together. It generally takes a day or two to feel entirely on my feet again.
I'm curious, my friends who also have periodic panic attacks, about your experiences with things that trigger attacks and how you take care of yourselves after. Please tell me your stories.
Last night I read a lot about what is happening physiologically when one panics, it was really interesting and somewhat comforting to understand what my body is doing; I recommend the wikipedia entry on the subject. Basically the body's fight-or-flight reaction gets mysteriously triggered, heart rate goes up and breathing rate increases, but because you're not actually using or needing more oxygen (as you are neither fighting or flighting) your blood CO2 levels drop and that causes a number of physiological changes including the numbness in extremeties and fuzzy-brain-ness; and adrenaline is also released which exacerbates the above symptoms. It was good to read a step by step account of what just happened and it helps me to understand how I may react better when this happens again in the future.
I get 2-3 per year right now, not that many I don't think (I have nothing to compare to though), but it seems to be increasing with frequency as I get older. I was also interested to know that behavioural cognitive therapy is the recommended treatment as opposed to drugs; I don't get panic attacks enough to really seek treatment, but it's good to know what my options are should they continue to increase in frequency.
As for cause, I haven't figured that one out yet; I'll do more reading. I should lay of the coffee I guess and maybe exercise more; epecially interesting in my readings was that a lack assertiveness is linked to panic attacks, as in, the more often you assert yourself in your everyday life the less often you get panic attacks if you're indeed prone to them. Food for thought, as I can be fairly not-assertive at times.
So, your stories, your experiences, I want them, a comparison group will help me sort this. Also links to more good information please (info is helping me tremendously) and insight into your personal aftercare/recovery would be nice to know about if you care to share. If you don't want to share on a public post, feel free to communicate via email. Thanks and xoxo!