Bad day at work

[SSMommy]

Please tell me others do this. I went to eat lunch today in the work cafeteria which is very noisy and I sat down with friends and ate one taco then got an incredible rush of dread. I feel
It in my chest and shortness of breath and I almost feel like I can't focus on anything. It's like a sense of not being there. No doubt it was a panic attack but does anyone feel very disconnected when they have a panic attack and feel what feels like hormone surges throughout their chest? I couldn't finish my lunch and just felt horrid. I felt shaky... Just horrible.

[Enduronman]

Do you (as well as many many others here) have GER or GERD??? A taco would set that off quickly!... :)

[artaud]

.....does anyone feel very disconnected when they have a panic attack and feel what feels like hormone surges throughout their chest?

I can't imagine that anyone in the throws of a panic attack ever felt connected. It's a challenge to be sure to hold on to the things you absolutely must during a panic attack, we only have a relatively limited ability to process things. When something as powerful as a panic attack hits, everything else, except the vital things, gets displaced.

[SSMommy]

You both make good points.... Yes I have lots of belching and Ibs type symptoms but man this was like a wave... So I don't think it was that.
I have SVT which is a heart arrythmia but I take beta blockers to control it... This was weird like a surge or wave and I suddenly couldn't handle anything around me. I mention the SVT because anxiety can make it worse. I think it comes with being a super sensitive person. This surge I felt was kind of like the ones I would get with SVT but the heart racing didn't commence....Anyway, it's an odd feeling and I just felt miserable. I didn't necessarily feel like my heart was racing but it was like all of a Sudden I just couldn't deal with the conversation at our table and all the other noise. I had this thought that something might be seriously wrong or something and I just had to tell myself.... NO you're fine because this isn't the first time I've had those thoughts. I felt tingly through my breasts and very flushed in the face. Honestly I feel ridiculous writing this because I feel so many different sensations when this is happening that it's hard to even put into words. It's like my body wants to shutdown. And I think I am afraid it actually will one of these days. I keep trying to tell myself that just because I have a heart arrythmia condition it doesn't mean I'll be more likely to have heart issues later but I just can't seem to get past it.

[artaud]

You both make good points.... Yes I have lots of belching and Ibs type symptoms but man this was like a wave... So I don't think it was that.....I have SVT which is a heart arrythmia but I take beta blockers to control it... This was weird like a surge or wave and I suddenly couldn't handle anything around me. I mention the SVT because anxiety can make it worse.

I had bouts of PSVT, not sure if by SVT you mean the same, how long do the episodes go on for? (Paroxysmal SVT vs SVT) I trust your episodes last longer than a minute or so?

My brother had dementia, (he just recently died from it). At one point, after hearing of the diagnosis, I wondered if I would be subject to it as well. A horrible sensation came over me as I pondered the likelihood and thought about his condition, (he lived out of state and I had just met him for the first time since the diagnosis) and I felt the most horrible sensation and change of mood that I ever experienced. If anyone would have been talking to me or expecting meeting to do anything, I would have been incapable of responding.

In my case, following that, I went into the deepest depression of a lifetime, followed by some really peculiar intrusive thoughts which didn't help me to believe that I wasn't next for dementia. Eventually, after some Remeron and time, I made it back to normal.

Not suggesting the issue with you is similar, I'm still curious what you may have been thinking when it occurred. Lastly, hormones, adrenaline, and God knows what else may have been responsible without being a psychological thing. Just a thought.

[SSMommy]

Hi Artaud...

The SVT bouts I had were horrible. They got much more significant after having my daughter two years ago. I ended up in an ambulance after collapsing (conscious) at work about 10
Weeks post partum. That was the first long run that I knew about which lasted for a couple hours. I just remember laying in the ambulance and feeling these waves coming over my body...lights were hurting my eyes... And my body felt it couldn't be still. I could see the monitor - 166 was my pulse. It stayed between 160 and 170. All they could tell me was they thought I was dehydrated even though tests indicated I wasn't but my potassium was too low so they gave me some. After that my pulse started coming down. Still upset with the ER that I went to. They sent me home from the ER 3 hours later with an abnormal EKG telling me to follow up with my normal doctor. If took me almost 8 months of telling doctors and loved ones that something else was wrong to catch anything else. After another milder episode (still bad but not as bad) I ended up in the nurses office at work. She told me I was anxious... After a couple hours of pulse above 100, I insisted my doctor see me. She ordered a 30 day holter. They caught so many runs.... But they caught the worst episode I had besides the ER visit. It was actually while I had the holter on and it was the day my doctor prescribed the beta blockers. The pharmacy messed it up and so I hadn't started taking them yet and I woke from a dead sleep with a surge and my heart shot off racing. I recorded on the holter and told my husband to call my mom who came over immediately. I laid there thinking I was going to pass out and either die or wake up in the hospital. My body couldn't be still (probably the anxiety that accompanies the SVT) and it was at least 45 minutes to an hour again pulse was 160s (seems to be my sweet spot). My mom didn't tell me until much later that she was very scared. After my husband called the holter in they said I did not need to go to the ER and just to let them know if it got worse or didn't stop within a short while. Now..... To find out about 3 months later that the pectus excavatum (sunken chest) that I have had since my adolescence was only giving me about an inch and a half between my spine and sternum and significantly displacing and compressing my heart. 3 months later (almost one year ago now) I had a surgery which put three titanium bars in my chest and gave my goods more room.

Anyway---- I rambled a lot and all to say... Today I don't know what I was thinking. It's just a surge. My job is horribly stressful and lunch is the one opportunity I get to enjoy my friends and laugh and joke.

I do know that in general I was hopeful that my surgery would have helped more with the anxiety I was having by relieving the physical symptoms but I guess I'm a big disappointed that it doesn't appear to have since I am now off of my zoloft. About two weeks ago I started taking my ativan again and then about a week ago I asked my doc to switch it to Valium. So I am taking medicine but was really hopeful I could get away from it. I am the person you have to convince to take ibuprofen for a headache.

[artaud]

The SVT bouts I had were horrible. They got much more significant after having my daughter two years ago. I ended up in an ambulance after collapsing (conscious) at work about 10 Weeks post partum. That was the first long run that I knew about which lasted for a couple hours...... About two weeks ago I started taking my ativan again and then about a week ago I asked my doc to switch it to Valium. So I am taking medicine but was really hopeful I could get away from it. I am the person you have to convince to take ibuprofen for a headache.

From the arrhythmia forum, it appears that the PSVT and SVT, since accelerated heart rate is being driven by a point above the Ventricles (ergo: Paroxysmal Supra Ventricular Techycardia and Supra Ventricular Tachycardia, Supra means above, so Supra Ventricular is literally "above the Ventricles) is seldom considered life threatening (it may be an issue for those with heart disease and the elderly), since through one mechanism or another, your ventricles are responding to a rhythm established by the top of your heart, the normal order of things.

Here is an interesting article on it. I usually don't rely on Wiki, but I read through it, it does a good job of explaining things.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supraventricular_tachycardia

It's a wonderful design. The S/A Node in the top section of the heart is the usual natural pacemaker for the heart, it discharges, the atrium contracts, and the discharge travels to the A/V Node. The A/V Node then discharges and fires into the Ventricles, which then contract. Apparently the A/V node is a gate to limit how often the Ventricles can be stimulated to contract. But the A/V Node will also fire on its own if the S/A Node takes too long to fire. (Some older people have S/A Nodes that stop working, but due to this design, they end up with a very slow heart rate, and when diagnosed are given a pacemaker). Absolutely stunning design, we are wired to keep functioning.

Unfortunately, the heart's cells, designed to contract in response to a minuscule electrical discharge, can also get irritated, and when they do, they can generate a small electrical discharge (Automaticity) that causes the other cells to follow suit, and you end up with Premature Beats or Tachycardia. Heart Rate is also regulated by the Vagal (Vagus) nerve, some people with Tachycardias are provided by their physicians with maneuvers to do to activate the Vagal nerve and slow their fast heart rates.

Nevertheless none of this is a reassurance to people undergoing the Tachycardia. I've had PSVT, but just for minutes. I have been taking Benzodiazepines since I was in my teens 40 years ago. They help get me through the tough times, but I have learned to live with a lot of anxiety, too many tranquilizers for too long will cause them to be less effective.