What happened to me today?

[Greenalien1]

I've recently learned a new skill work and I'm slowly getting better at it. At first I was nervous when I first started doing it but I've slowly gained more confidence as I've gotten more experienced.

Now this morning I felt a little nervous but used all calming down techniques and when the time came to do it I wasn't feeling nervous at all and was feeling confident and there was nothing particularly difficult about doing it this time.

However when I started said procedure/skill my hands and legs started shaking uncontrollably to the point I felt like I was going to collapse. I felt like jelly and like I wasn't in the room. As soon as I'd finished doing it the shaking stopped within a minute. I honestly didn't consciously feel nervous but it's like the fight or flight part of my brain completely took over and I had no way to stop it.

Was this some kind of strange panic attack or anxiety attack? I've felt fine the rest of the day and I'm worried about this happening again!

bump

Sounds like a panic attack. I've had plenty of them when not feeling particularly nervous before hand. Maybe doing the new skill triggered a panicky reaction from the stress of learning the new skill iyswim?

Hope you're not a dentist OP 😉but yes sounds like a panic attack, I have similar uncontrollable shaking when I do public speaking. Propranolol keeps the shakes away!

Sort of low level ptsd type reaction? For eg I had a panic attack in a supermarket and then supermarkets became a trigger. Unconsciously remembering and linking?

Did you get a bit of an adrenaline rush? Maybe because you wanted to do well and it felt important. Your body prepped you to do something big and physical and gave you a burst of energy when actually it was a much smaller, more controlled activity that perhaps didn't need a burst of adrenaline! A bit of exercise soon after will help get that 'stress' out of your system as that sounds like it was what your body was priming you for. Hopefully as it becomes more routine you won't get the same surge of fight or flight going forward.

I have the same thing in similar situations it's down to adrenaline I think. Too much at once think my body over reacts abit. It's not a nice feeling though at all.

I was going to say adrenaline too. The same happens to me.

Yeah panic attack - I get those exact symptoms with mine. Horrible.

@tobee i don't think ptsd but I think you're right with the stress of learning the skill has triggered something. I felt a lot of pressure to get certified as it was a requirement for the job application and I still got the job despite not being able to do it!

@Standbyguest not a dentist thankfully!! it does require precision though but I still somehow managed it! do you just take the propranolol before the thing you're doing? someone else who does the same thing as me mentioned it and says it really helps!

@Effortlesslyaverage yes I think that's exactly it!! I think in my mind I was thinking it so much and bigging it up all morning that when it came down to it my body was expecting some huge thing I needed lots of adrenaline and energy for when I needed the opposite 😂 when I've had to do it last minute without warning and no time to think of it I haven't shook at all!

Thank you much everyone for your replies I was just a bit concerned afterwards because I've never felt so much like I have no control over my own body! It's like my unconscious completely took over x

I think you'll get used to it and the reaction will diminish. Just being aware of the likely cause will really help I should imagine.

I take propranolol in slow relief form because I was tachycardic. Works well

I take a 10mg propananlol an hour or so before I need to do something that might trigger it - usually public speaking.