Panic attacks - is this normal after?

[Water41]

Had my first one on Sun afternoon. Headed straight to a&e where I was medically cleared but since then I've been feeling like I'm going to have another one at any time and have come close a couple of times since then.

It came totally out of the blue - I've been doing much better with anxiety lately too. I'd literally been doing a bit of peaceful shopping and bam it hit me!

Taking 3 x 10 propranolol daily with the option to increase if I feel like I need to. Also have iron to take because I'm very anaemic at the moment.

You mean is it normal to have strong meds like propanalol after one panic attack? No.

Why did you go to A&E did you think you were having a heart attack instead?

I suffer panic attacks. When my anxiety is high I feel like I’m literally hanging on trying not to descend into another one so I get how you feel.
Do you know what has set you off? Any new stresses in your life?

10mg doses of propanalol is not ‘strong meds’. It’s is very low dose.

Anaemia makes me panicky
if you have side effects from the iron then take it every other day and get 1000mg vitamin c to take with it as well (I get the fizzy ones and use it to down all my tablets!) Amazon do cheap ones

I get "panic attack hangovers" while all the chemicals settle, it can take a couple of days and I'm usually very weepy. The thing is, your thoughts can increase your feeling of anxiety as you are more aware of them - it doesn't mean you'll have another panic attack. Be kind to yourself, eat, take deep breaths, keep hydrated. I wish you well, panic attacks are awful.

Never had one before, thought it was "just" a panic attack but my partner insists get checked out.

No idea. I've been feeling a lot better lately tbh!

Though the very lovely nurse at a&e did say with low iron, she wasn't surprised that I was anxious and it was probably related.

It's obviously different for everyone but ime yes unpleasant feelings and sensations can reverberate while you process your experience, plus you've presumably still got whatever stressors prompted it, to deal with. It's quite a shock to the old system really. Agree with the advice to cosset yourself whenever possible and also to remember that it - the panic attack itself, and how you're feeling now - are just thoughts. They're horrible and they can feel overwhelming but they are just thoughts. If thoughts were deeds we'd all be going round striking our foes with lightning and showering our loved ones with angel petals 24 hours a day, but we're not. We're plodding along having one thought after another and sometimes one of them catches us unawares. Try to get a GP appointment and work out a plan for the anaemia and the anxiety.

It's really common to end up in A&E with a first panic attack.

I have iron for the anemia and took my first dose today. I'm also on propranolol to stop the physical symptoms of anxiety which has helped a lot.

I think it was a combination of the heat (30c+, not eating much, a busy shop and getting a bit breathless because of the anemia)