First Panic attack - it came out of the blue. What do to now?

[BornToShopForcedToWork]

Had a lovely day with the little one today. We went to playgroup this morning and we spend the day in Central London. Everything was fine. The way back with public transport wasn't very pleasant due the heat and we both were tired when we came back. We both slept for an hour and when I woke up at 5:50pm I felt absolutely terribly, I started crying and hyperventilating for about ten minutes and I still have heart racing and a strong pain in my chest. I just sat there and cried and cried, I feel so sorry for the LO who didn't understand what was going on. I was dizzy and felt I am now feeling a little bit better and I am in bed now, just want to relax.

Sorry for grammar mistakes, I am just very shaken and still feel a bit nauseous.

What causes Panic attacks? What's the best thing to do?

I hope you're feeling a bit better now. Panic attacks are horrible, but not dangerous and the feelings will pass- feeling dizzy can be caused by breathing too fast. Try to breathe slowly and calmly.
I hope you have someone with you who can offer you some support.

I used to get then when I was younger - they can be terrifying poor you! The old breathing into a paper bag trick used to be helpful to me in getting my breathing back under control. Pa's can be caused by lots of things but for me the trigger was usually when I was denial about other stuff my (then) heavy drinking, my debts, falling for my DP but worrying about committing my heart to him in case he broke it. I'm sorry you had to go through this