Panic attack.

[Cardium]

I feel short of breath with random muscle aches and tensions. A thousand thoughts run through my mind...heart attack? Pulmonary embolism? Stroke? Cancer? I cannot control it and am disabled until it passes. Once its done, i realize i just went through a panic attack. They come without warning or trigger and make me feel like something grave is going to happen or my body might just stop functioning. My symptoms started 3 months ago, when I got infected by Covid-19. I joined this group to talk to people who experience the same...and ca help me manage this crippling condition.

[FifLove]

You’ve come to the right place. The vast majority of us on this forum have experienced this frightening feeling. There’s no doubt it makes you feel out of control. Stepping outside into fresh air, trying to control my breathing, and reminding myself to be present in the moment and take one thing at a time usually helps me. I’m sure you will receive many helpful suggestions from other members soon. Welcome!

[JW621 in reply to FifLove]

Great advice

[alfreddy7]

Yes you are describing all the signs of a panic attack I know because it happens to me frequent. All you gotta know is that it will pass. You will feel better soon and it will all be over with.

Covid itself is causing a lot of problems for people weather they got infected or not.

But as I said before what keeps us going is that this will pass and will be better days in the future sooner than you think. We just have to keep a positive attitude.

We are here for you.

[newmercies]

Hi Cardium, im sorry you are struggling with this. I experience panic attacks and struggle with anxiety too. Panic attacks are so uncomfortable and scary. I encourage you to remember, though, that anxiety is not dangerous. It is your body’s way of keeping you safe from a perceived threat. The panic will eventually pass, sometimes you just need to wait it out. Other things that help me are grounding exercises and distracting myself. Overtime, you will learn to identify what triggers your anxiety and you can begin to work through managing triggers. I encourage you to seek out a therapist to help in this process. You are not alone❤️ I hope this helps

[Cardium in reply to newmercies]

Thank you...I feel so calm just reading that. May I ask, what do you do when you feel a panic attack coming? What helps you get through it sooner?

The thing that makes it worse for me, is that, I am a doctor and I just completed my internship. I haven't been working from the past one year as i have been studying for my MD entrance exams. And I have been living alone. The rest of my family lives in another country. The covid situation has been so scary for me, and I wasn't able to fly back home. I used to be in my room, just sleeping all the while feeling anxious and depressed and hopeless; reading news about deaths and tragedies. Things got better when after recovering from covid, i could fly back home. Im not depressed anymore. But since then I have developed health anxiety for myself and my family members. I have way too much information in my head, and its just to easy to jump to the worst possible diagnosis when I experience a mild ache. I have been trying a lot to distract myself from such thoughts but it keeps coming back subconsciously. I dont want this condition to paralyse me and my future career, which is why I'm trying behaviour therapy. It helps to know that so many here face similar issues and I'm not alone in this. Thank you! 😊

[newmercies in reply to Cardium]

Thanks for sharing that. Something that I think is helpful when you feel anxious is to notice the feeling mindfully. You could say, “im noticing tightness in my chest and shallow breathing. I wonder what my body is trying to tell me?” We can learn from our emotions and even accept uncomfortable ones like anxiety (though it is difficult). My advice with the anxious thoughts is to not try to suppress or neutralize them. This tends to make the thoughts and the feelings attached to them stronger. Maybe write the thoughts down on a piece of paper and examine if any of them contain cognitive distortions (you can find a list of cognitive distortions on google). Noticing when you are having faulty ways of thinking can be helpful in challenging those thoughts. I hope this helps.

[Barbie72]

10 years ago I had a heart attack with 3 stents put in....after that I had 3 panic attacks and ended up in the ER..."nothing wrong, just a panic attack" dr said. Okay, so again it happens and I to the ER. Dr there said "it's better to come in and be sure. Again it happened, so I went to my cardiologist and he said," nothing's wrong with your heart, you're okay". Then he said to me, "You have to stop thinking like a patient, and more like a person." That helps a lot. Psych said, "It's okay to take a Xanax and see if you feel ok, then it's not another heart attack but a panic attack." Which works.