Had a horrible episode tonight - what was it?

[whathappenedtonight]

Sitting watching TV and all of a sudden I couldn’t catch my breath, heart racing/fluttering, feet and legs went numb, felt like I was passing out and I had an overwhelming sensation that I was going to die .

I’ve calmed down now, sort of, but still feel very strange and off . My legs aren’t quite with me yet and head feels fuzzy . When I checked my pulse it was 150, it calmed down now but I was so convinced I was going to die .

I’ve had a horrible day; hospital appointment at 10am during which had a lot of difficult information to process ... then home to help my grandmother over the phone with stuff, booking her place at church and talking to her so she doesn’t get lonely, then to help my mother as her tumble drier broke, and tripped the fuses in her kitchen ... three hours trying to figure out what had short circuited first and then sorting her insurance and stuff and trying to buy a clothes horse as she’s no dryer now .. then fixing her mobile phone, sorting her medical appointments, cooking tea, phoning grandmother again to make sure she’s alright and then home to mine .

And then that happened tonight ...

I haven’t got a history of heart problems, I’m not yet 30 even, but felt so terrified and overwhelming sensation of doom. I can’t settle at all now, as I keep thinking it’ll come back, but absolutely exhausted . Does it just sound like a panic attack or something more concerning ?

Managed a shower, three small meals and to get dressed yesterday ... last Valium was first thing yesterday morning . Wide awake just now and still on edge but nothing’s happened yet thank goodness . Hopefully get a few more hours sleep as shattered, been a horrible few days to say the least . NHS24/OOH/999 have been asking me to ring GP, experience tells me she won’t be very interested at all but will at least give it a shot at 8 .

Definitely very constipated !

NHS24 said it sounds like a huge combination of family problems, health issues, fears around money, covid19, exhaustion and being due a period ...

I on the other hand still can’t get the thought out of my head that I actually have some sort of serious heart condition and keep googling (bangs head) to prove it isn’t . Even though google says if it were some sort of arrhythmia my BP would have dropped, not skyrocketed (was up 160/110) . Not helping myself at all .

Sending hugs to you. Panic attacks are horrible and absolutely exhausting. Please try to comfort yourself with the fact you've had an ECG.

And if your GP isn't great, please try another who will be able to help you with long term strategies to manage anxieties.

Panic attacks are horrible and the fear of having them is too. But for each you have, you can tell yourself 'I've been here before and survived - the same thing will happen this time too.' Take care OP x

Op are you taking your own bp readings at home because if you are put the machine away. I went through exactly the same a few years ago and became obsessed with my numbers, which led it to keep going up and I’d just keep pressing the button to take a reading in the hope it would go down (but by then I’d wound myself up to the point the readings were ridiculous). Anyway I did have a cardiologist referral and had renal
Ultrasound, echo, ecg, treadmill test etc and I was fine. I started taking propranolol and that literally saved my sanity

Yes definitely a panic attack, my eldest daughter suffered from them for nearly 10 years from the age of 11. I've lost count of the times she called for an ambulance convinced she was dying whist at uni over the last few years. Had CBT which didn't help. She really didn't want to take medication for them despite me pleading with her to give it a try for the last three years. Definitely worse when she was due her period.

Then about 3 weeks after lockdown began, it became too much and she knew she couldn't live like this anymore so anything was worth a try. The dr gave her a prescription for Citalopram over the phone and honestly it's changed her life almost overnight. She's only had one panic attack since in 6 months. However, it was far less overwhelming than before and only occurred due to her being in a very stressful situation that she felt powerless in. She wishes she'd taken it years ago now!

It sounds like a panic attack to me

There's a lot of it about at the moment unsurprisingly. According to a friend of a friend who was in the medical profession and has a lot of doctor friends, a number of people think they have Covid but it is in fact a panic attack.

I’ve managed a tiny bit better today . GP was on phone a good half hour first thing . Said I’m having ectopic heart beats which are causing panic in turn she thinks, ones making the other worse . She was on phone a while going through lots of things and said she’s fairly comfortable it isn’t cardiac, she said it sounds much more like panic and said if it were cardiac they’d have expected to see something on ECG, even though it was delayed .

Managed to talk about lots of other things too in relation to Friday, hospital stuff, family and that helped a lot . Even simple things like knowing others were panic buying , that was panicking me again too . I don’t like the world much at the moment .

So I’ve been referred to crisis intervention team, who will call me every two days for a fortnight, rapid access to a psychology team too for several ‘psychology first aid’ sessions, beta blockers and to phone GP again too .

She’s also letting cardiology know as we as a family have outstanding referrals to familial screening clinic but said she doesn’t think that’s what this is .

I’m still getting the skipped heartbeats but managed to control it today with breathing ...

And still due a period too, hopefully soon .

Definitely a panic attack and its unsurprising as you are under so much stress. I know they are horrible but they do pass and usually become less frequent. Next time try to breathe as normally as you can and sit or stand quietly. I haven't had any for 8 years but now they are back because I'm suffering from stress trauma

Wow I'm surprised they said panic attack so readily.

When it happened to me they said something normally triggers one.
Not just come in out of nowhere...

Although when it happened, getting up definitely helped.. But so did going to the loo!
Did they check diabetes, blood sugar, stuff like that...

When I spoke to a paramedic, I felt much better I had previously told the call handler I felt immense doom!
He said it sounded like menapouse!
I'm going for cardiac exploring too.

Panic attack

I agree with the panic attack suggestion because I have experienced something similar. I was very poorly and needed surgery and I convinced myself from looking online that what I had would basically kill me. Next thing I felt numbness rushing up my legs and down my arms and i remember in my head thinking the numbness would spread to my heart and I would die there and then of a heart attack. My hands were stuck like claws in spasm. It was an absolutely horrific experience so I completely sympathise with you. It took me a good 30mins to regain feeling in my arms and legs again and for my hands to release from being like claws. Look after yourself as it completely drains your body of all energy afterwards xx

Sounds like the panic attacks I’ve had.

I use things like essential oils, lavender and Neroli, to ease the stress symptoms. Does nothing about the causes, but does help me to relax. I also use Kalms.

Hope you manage to sleep tonight and feel better tomorrow. Avoid stimulation like caffeine and alcohol.