To ask those of you who suffer from panic attacks...

[LokiBear]

If you would mind sharing what a panic attack feels like? My teenage DN is struggling in general. Poor relationship with her mum. Always been a little attention seeking. Recently she has been having panic attacks at school. Yesterday she had one in front of me. She was bent double, crying and seemingly hyperventilating, her leg was shaking. She seemed quite rigid. Grandma was pretty terrified. It looked very traumatic However, something seemed off to me. I held her wrist and took her pulse during the attack without her knowing. It was steady and regular. I comforted her, encouraged her to breathe and she seemed to come around fairly quickly (8 minutes from full on meltdown to back to normal, giggling about how 'embarrassing' all was). After, when we talked, she gave me what seemed like a well practised, medical dictionary definition of how it felt: she couldn't breathe, her hands went cold, her face was numb, she couldn't hear anything. I know that she heard me though because she did everything I instructed her to do. Everyone else in the room was utterly beside themselves with worry. It scared me, but I think I was scared because something nagged at me that it wasn't real. I feel awful for saying so but I want to get her the help she needs. If these attacks are a cry for attention, I'm scared she will up the ante if we ignore it. If it's real, then obviously I need to get her some help. I would really appreciate any input. I'm also sorry if any part of this seems insensitive. I just want to help.

I was absolutely terrified during panic attacks. My heart would be racing, my hands would tingle, I would hyperventilate and simultaneously choke for breath. I would flee from wherever I was and just hide. Sometimes I truly thought I was going to die. It would take me a while to fully recover and stop shaking. I was also emotional and physically drained afterwards. I can't comment on your dn, but for me I always had a very quick heartbeat during my attacks.

I haven't read all the replies but I had a mini one on Sunday. I knew I was having one and my heart rate doubled and my breathing became erratic and I felt stiff. Came out of it really quickly and no one would have noticed I had it and i don't even know why I had it really.

For me it was very high heart rate and difficulties breathing, plus chest pains. The first time it happened I thought it was a heart attack. Once the worst had passed I would shake uncontrollably for a while, then invariably get a headache.

I've only ever had one panic attack, which was a definite full-blown one. Ds1 was two days old. I'd had an awful 16 hour birth, and ds had a very deformed head due to ventouse delivery. I'd had two blood transfusions and was still feeling weak.

At visiting time, 8 people turned up. I can remember sitting in the bed and watching my tiny baby with his awful-shaped head being handed around. I felt like I was fielding question after question, and had loads of eyes staring at me and started to feel a bit odd and spacey. Then the paediatrician came in to examine ds1 and said 'Oh don't worry your visitors are welcome to stay'. Cue complete silence and everyone looking at me whilst I tried to answer the questions she asked me about ds1, with an audience.

She asked me a question (simple...my mum said afterwards it was how he had slept that morning) and I didn't understand and asked her to repeat it. She asked me again and although I could hear her words, it was the weirdest feeling ever, like she was speaking another language. I just didn't know the answer.

Then something snapped and I started hyperventilating. I could feel my heart hammering, my pulse shot up (I was on a monitor at the time because of the transfusions) and I couldn't breathe. I was in complete and utter panic, I clenched onto the bed and couldn't let go and for a minute or so was completely incapable of following any instruction. No tears at all, I wasn't 'with it' enough to cry.

It stopped after 3 or 4 minutes total.

I felt a bit weepy afterwards, but that was down to feeling stupid and complete guilt. Because i'd not long had the transfusions the mws put an emergency call out in case I was having an anaphylactic reaction to the blood so every available person came running...dh had nipped to the vending machine and came back up the hall to find all our visitors standing in the hall, with my mum and sisters all crying and medical people everywhere. They wouldn't let him in or tell him anything and he thought me or ds1 was dead and that's what the emergency was :( . It took him much, much longer to get over than me. I know it wasn't my 'fault' but I still feel so so bad for putting him through that.