Hangover panic attack?

[Danny46811]

Hi, I was hoping someone could tell me if this sounds like I had a panic attack or if its something worse?

I don't usually drink a lot, normally a few glasses of wine over a weekend but last week somehow ended up having quite a lot on a night out with friends, including cocktails which I rarely drink. Woke up at 7am feeling hungover but around 8am, I felt my heart suddenly start to pound in my chest to around 140bpm which scared me. I couldn't get any full breaths and felt shaky and weak. I was incredibly thirsty, my mouth was constantly dry. I was lying down, try to sip water and slow my breathing and heart rate. At 8.20am I had to walk the kids to school and I had to walk incredibly slow as I couldn't take a satisfying breath and my heart was still racing. I got back home, lay down more, had a rehydration tablet and my heart rate got down to 90bpm around 9.30am. By 10.30am I felt much better and was able to go out to meet a friend at 11am.

My worry the whole time was that there's something wrong with my heart, mainly because of the breathlessness and high heart rate. I was so scared I would pass out.

Has anyone had anything like this after a night of heavy drinking? Of course I'm not going to do it again (and never really do)...Can't figure out if it was a panic attack or not

Sounds like a panic attack bless you, put it down to experience, assume nothing since? Xx

Sounds more like heart palpitations caused by binge drinking.

Hanxiety. I very rarely drink because I don't like it but the last time I was properly drunk was two years ago and the next day was awful. I woke up exactly how you described, my heart was racing and I was sweating, my hands were shaking it was awful. I didn't even drink too much because I'm a total lightweight but it really scared me and I haven't had more than a glass or two of wine since.

Hangxiety that should say!

@Flipslop thanks for your quick reply. No I felt fine since (but also haven't drank since it happened!). I do have health anxiety which doesn't help things, but at the same time, I have had big nights like that in the past but never experienced a hangover like this which is what scared me, making me think something is wrong with my heart...

Beer fear. Very common.

@frecklejuice that's exactly how I felt! Did you also experience breathlessness? I think that's what scared me the most

Yes! And this is the very reason why I do not drink alcohol anymore.

Some refer to it as hangxiety, but it is definitely a thing. It gets worse as you get older unfortunately.

The last time this happened to me, it took me 3 days to get back to normal again. There and there I made the decision and have not looked back since.

And, every time I drank more than I should have, I ended up with a kidney infection wtf.

Just not worth it imo.

Yes, short of breath, anxious on a completely another level. Feeling ill, couldn't sleep, the list went on.

@isthismylifenow gosh it's such a horrible feeling, I felt scared and teary, thinking I would pass out. The breathlessness and pounding heart really threw me. I won't be touching spirits again...

I get very bad anxiety after drinking now and I am another person who has really reduced how much they drink because of it!

I've never had a panic attack after drinking but I do sometimes get mild heart palpitations so can imagine a panic attack could happen.

I did wonder if it had something to do with mixing drinks. That last time it happened to me, I had a Jagerbomb, but after having a cocktail. I see you mention cocktail as well. Often they have a mix in them, so I also wonder if this has an effect.

Still, I don't plan on testing the theory in a hurry.

How do you feel now? This was a few days ago if I understand your post correctly.

Dehydration can cause high heart rate and low blood pressure. That could explain your symptoms

Yes breathlessness as well, genuinely felt like I was having a heart attack. It's definitely put me off of drinking again!

@isthismylifenow I feel fine now thanks. I felt fine by lunchtime that same day. @HousedInMySoul you are probably right, I think the dehydration caused the lower bp (and mu bp is naturally low), but after the rehydration tablet kicked in, I felt better
But the whole episode scared me so much, I kept thinking I was dying and wouldn't see my kids again. It might sounds silly but I was genuinely scared

You had a horrific hangover
end of
did you have to call in sick?!

@frecklejuice that's exactly how I felt...

I get this if I drink too much, but early hours of the morning. I now strictly limit to no more than 3 alcoholic drinks and it seems to prevent it.