I'm not new to this forum having suspected I may have anxiety related disorders in the past. But the thing I've always struggled with in terms of diagnosing that is that I'm not someone who worries, panics or generally has the mental health profile that one would associate with anxiety. It could be self denial I suppose !
What I do have is a number of symptoms of anxiety, such as palpitations, frizzy scalp, hyperacusis. But I am completely used to them and comfortable about them, I just ignore it all and get on with life. In the back of my mind its down to work stresses and bad guts but I've never been able to prove that, and don't particularly feel the need to.
Still the other day I got home after a weekend away, did a couple of hours work on the pooter and felt quite good about myself, so decided to go and sit with the wife and have a couple of alcohol free beers with the tv on. Wicked I know
Then I started to feel strange, almost "floored", guts felt unusually relaxed, and I started to feel a bit weird, but not dizzy, felt the need to lie down, heart started pounding like crazy. I'm normally quite fit and my heart rate was well over double what it would normally be just laying down. I tried to relax and control breathing and see if it went away but it just kept getting worse, I felt like I should pass out, my hands and feet went numb, and my legs (thighs) started shaking and I felt rather cold. I was unable to speak at my normal speed, I could only talk slowly.
My wife got an ambulance to come. I was still going downhill. When they arrived they did an ecg and it was all ok, and heart rate started to go down after they asked me to stand up.
In hospital they couldn't find anything wrong with me whatsoever, all they could think of was an anxiety attack. Yet I wasn't consciously paniced or worried
In the couple of days since I've been back to work but I don't feel completely functional mentally.
I was hoping anyone who experiences panic/anxiety attacks could tell me if this is consistent with your own experiences of what attacks can be like. I suppose a trip to the docs is due but I'd like to have a better understanding of whether this fits well with a panic attack or not.
thanks in advance