I never get heart palpitations... is this still classified as a panic attack?

[VenusinFauxFurs]

Hi everyone. I'd appreciate knowing that someone else out there doesn't get the classic heart palpitation symptom.

Very quick background (though I could be here all day): there's no doubt about it, I am a very anxious 24 year old girl, and up until a month ago, I had no idea that anxiety presents with physical symptoms. I knew that nausea, the feeling that I'm burning up (hot flashes, i guess) and being out of breath wasn't normal, but i accepted it and lived with it. Then I started getting dizzy spells that lasted a few seconds. The sensation is really hard to describe: The room wasn't spinning, but for that few seconds I felt really out of it. But I'd quickly recover. It usually happened when I was thinking about my head, and dreading the feeling.

Home alone one day I got the dizzy spell but this time it didn't stop as quickly, so panic ensued. Being home alone i was terrified that this time i would collapse and no one is around to help me. Sure enough, the dizziness intensified and i got more scared knowing i was on my own and didn't know what this thing was. I know i was worked up because i immediately thought it was blood sugar and i grabbed icecream and shoved it down then dropped the container when it didn't cure the dizziness. I just freaked OUT and ended up in the ER, where I first learned about panic attacks. I've had the necessary tests and the doctors are not concerned.


Ever since that bad dizzy spell, my dizzy spells are no longer quick. I can become lightheaded for up to an hour, sometimes longer. I think it's because i now dread them and my mind is constantly on when the next one will happen. But during these attacks, I get the lightheadedness, hot flashes, this weird feeling that my arms or legs are restless, or numb, pressure in my head (not painful, just a weird sensation that makes me want to lose control) and i start foot tapping and lip biting. I feel very hyped up, so sitting down in a quiet place among people becomes torture and i usually have to run out of the room. But i never get the heart palpitations. Do you have to get those in order for it to really be a panic attack? I don't think about my heart at all during these episodes. I just focus on my head and the feeling I'm about to faint. The only thing that gets me through it is knowing I've felt that way before and nothing happened.

Does anyone else just get lightheaded? I'm guessing this isn't a full blown attack, maybe. Anyone relate to my symptoms? Thanks for reading :)

[Panicked]

No you dont, Panic Attacks can be a variety of any of the above. What you have went through is awful, ive been there! I get the warnings of light headed and a 'buzzing/fuzzy' feeling like a vibrating in my head, stiff neck, dizzy and then i start to get tightness in my chest or a pressure in my diaphram, then I get palpitations, difficulty breathing, severe chest pain and pain down my left arm - always only my left. My hearts been checked. I now know how to spot the signs, I try and stop it going any further.

Before I would get the sense of doom, the breathing, the dizzyness, the panic and no heart palpitations -and I was diagnosed then.

One thing I remember is telling a young (but witty) doctor it felt like I was going to die when it happened. his reply was "No-one has ever died of a panic attack, more people have died by being hit by an astroid. Your body will eventually make you faint to protect your body from damage. Thats inconvenient, so its best to notice the early symptoms and recognise it as a harmless panic attack. Once you realise its not dangerous, it will pass' <<< very wise words, it works everytime. Except now I worry about astroids lol x